Holiday 2013 - Episode 5 - Alfaz del Pi, Spain

Episode 5 - Alfaz del Pi, Spain

When we got to Alfaz, where we had lived for 13 years in the 70/80's, everything was so changed we had no idea which was the right street for the taxi to take to get to Victor and Suzanna’s as it was all one way, and so many new roads, and his taxi was almost too big to get down the narrow old streets. In the end he dropped us near the church and we walked from there. Victor and Suzanna, who had been our very best friends when we lived there,  were very pleased to see us and we had a lovely chat until we had dinner about 10pm.

Saturday we walked into Alfaz to try and get our bearings from the few places remaining that we did know! On our way we found the ‘peluqueria’ (hairdresser) of Lolita, where I used to get my hair cut, and when I popped my head round the door she recognised me immediately, after 30 years! It was so nice, and she asked after Jo and John and whether they were married and had kids – in the usual Spanish way! We then met Angel, Mike’s barber, in the street and he too remembered us and was so pleased to see us. He said most of the old people we knew had died, but there were still one or two left.

The Church and the pine tree - hence the name Alfaz del Pi

 

This used to be the busy main street

All this area is has been completely changed since we were here last

In the evening we went for another stroll around Alfaz with Victor and Suzanna and had some tapas in a bar before coming back and having our evening meal.

Sunday morning we all went to the Albir markets where Mike bought a jacket and I got a pair of sandals.

We then came back to the house as it was getting very hot and had a drink and a mid morning snack. Then relaxed for bit until lunch time.

After lunch Victor and Suzanna's daughter Vera called in to say hello. It was lovely to see her again after such a long time - she was only a little girl when we saw her last!

Next morning we walked up into town with Victor and Suzanna and changed some $s into Euros, and did a bit of shopping. 

  

Then we called on Juanita, the mother of a great friend of Jo's, who used to give Jo lunch almost everyday during school time, to save her a long walk up the hill to our house. It just happened to be her birthday (or maybe Saints Day as it was the day of San Juan)! She was very happy to see us and she made us very welcome.

After a short nap after another long lunch – and wine again! - we took the bus to Benidorm with Victor and Suzanna. We strolled along the main promenade – the beach was absolutely packed! 

Then me and Mike walked up to the lookout.

The old Church

Afterwards we all went to a bar which belonged to some friends to try their own brew beer which was very good.

 

Tuesday me and Mike walked up the Carbonera road to the area where we used to live, and took photos of Mike's Dad's old house, and some of the houses which Mike built, including 'Poco a Poco' our first house and 'El Castillo' our 2nd house, and a couple of others he built.

Mike's Dad's old casa (house)

'Poco a Poco' our 1st house

One of the other houses Mike built on this hill

The new house Mike built for his Dad - it now has a different front door.

'El Castillo' - the 2nd house Mike built for us.......

......ditto

.... and it's the house on the right hand side of this photo

At lunch time we went to a bar in Alfaz for a paella as our treat for Victor and Suzanna as they apparently hadn't had one for quite some time! It was a very good one and we had creme caramel for dessert while Victor and Suzanna had cherries. We then ordered liqueurs for me and Mike. Later when I looked at the bill, I saw that the liqueurs had not been charged for! How typically Spanish!

Next day Victor took us in the car to Albir where he dropped us off at the beach and we walked all along the promenade to Altea......

View from Albir looking towards Altea......

.....and looking back towards Albir

.......and the up into the main street where the Ayuntamiento is. We were pleased to see that Altea town itself is very little changed from when we lived in Alfaz. Here we had a coffee, then walked up into the old town, right to the church at the top. 

Mike did an oil painting of this street many years ago

View from the Church square

The old Altea Church.

To-day it was open so we went inside to have a look and light a candle ‘for all our friends and relatives!

Here we found Santiago again!

 

We then wandered around the little streets for a while then came back down and had a delicious lunch of Tortilla Español and a piece of chocolate cream roll afterwards with coffee. Now feeling refreshed we wandered down the street and had a look in the covered market (fruit, veggies, fish and meat) which was also much the same as it had been.

We then decided to walk back along the promenade to Albir, as there was a nice breeze and it was quite pleasant.

Thursday we didn’t have to get up too early as the bus from Benidorm to Alicante Airport didn’t leave til 1pm so we had time to take some last photos of the area where we had been staying.

The new Sports Centre

Victor said they would take us to the bus stop at about 12.20pm. However I always like to be early rather than late so we left at 12.00pm. First thing was there was a huge truck and a load of men picking and loading up all the oranges on the road from Victor’s to Alfaz! So we couldn't get past. We were delayed about 10 mins there, then we caught all the red traffic lights on the way to Benidorm! We eventually got to the bus stop with 5 mins to spare.

The rest of the trip went OK and we caught the train from Gatwick to Croydon  where Linda picked us up. We had a lovely dinner with them and Linda played the uke for us – she has learnt so much since we last saw them!

The next morning we left for Marion (my sister) and Bill's.

Episode 6 - Holiday with Marion and Bill - should be uploaded in the near future I hope!

(To see previous episodes click on 'Older posts' in the bottom right hand corner of  this page.
To get back to the latest episodes click on 'Newer Posts' on the bottom left corner of the page)