2/12 & 3/12 – Fantastic Weekend!
On Saturday we went down to the “newcomers Club”, hoped to meet new people and find out a bit more about the social scene around us, it wasn’t all that we had hoped, it seemed a little ‘clicky’, but we did find some interesting information about the rail system in Spain and how cheap it can be with a particular card (if you are a pensioner!), so we will try to remember that for 30 years time – lol
We did end up speaking to a nice couple – Gerry & Trisha who were in the process of buying a holiday home in Gran Alacant, we agreed that it would be nice to meet up before they went back to the UK in two weeks time.
I met up with Mark (the guy that organises the “newcomers club”) and talked to him about a local Lions Club that he is trying to get off the ground (you know, they have them in the UK, quite like the Rotary Club, but less business orientated – http://www.lionsclubs.org/), I was interested in being one of the ‘founder memebers’ so I ended up agreeing that Liesl and I would share responsibility for being treasurer!
Not sure what I have signed us up for, but I guess time will tell.
On Sunday morning we went to “the Clot”, a piece of seemingly waste ground at the bottom of the hill, opposite the beach, it turns out that this is a wildlife reserve – you would never know by driving past!
We went because we had seen a post on the Gran Alacant Forum that guided walks were taking place. We were the only 2 that turned up, a real shame as I get the impression that the walks will only continue if there is demand for them; however it was a great bonus for us as we had the guide “Miguel” all to ourselves, he spoke very good English, however we agreed with to continue in simple Spanish to give us some practice – what a genuinely nice bloke, so willing to accommodate!
So, we had a guided 2 hour walk in stunning surroundings, having the wildlife and plant life pointed out to us as we walked – WHAT A FABULOUS SPANISH LESSON!
The best part was it was totally free, “buen precio” We were loaned a set of binoculars each and we learned more about the wild and plant life in our area in that time than we had ever known before – even saw some bunkers that were built on the land during the Civil War – although thankfully never saw action!
Afterwards we signed up for their newsletter and for some volunteer work – hopefully we will meet more Spaniards and further improve our language skills.
The only pity was that Hetty was not allowed to come as she may have frightened some of the lizards and snakes away – yea right!
Afterwards we went into Alicante to try to find a little craft market that we had stumbled across the previous Sunday, my sense of direction didn’t let us down and we soon found the place – hehe
It was tiny, only about 25 tables, all full with the wares that the locals had made and were trying to sell, Liesl was interested in whether she would be able to sell the cards that she had made and enquired, in Spanish, as to what the process was (I was impressed!).
We eventually found out that they would welcome her contribution and that we should come back at 10am next Sunday to sell her cards, they were only really interested in whether they were ‘hand made’ or not – they are so they are welcome!
The cost – nothing – “buen precio” yet again!
Following the booking of our next social event – lol, selling hand made cards in a very Spanish area of Alicante to the predominantly Spanish people there, we decided to have a wander around the rest of old Alicante – a really pretty place, narrow streets, old buildings and churches nestled in between shops, and then openings where courtyards had been made, people sitting around chatting and children playing – very nice, also helped by the fact that the day was fantastically sunny, around 21 degrees in the shade.
Finally we walked back along the harbour, saw the thousands of fish milling around between the million pound boats, what a place!
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