OldiesonTour

15th May

The day has at last arrived, cards in bed followed by breakfast.  Unfortunately due to COVID we had to queue, 2 x 2 and the numbers going into the restaurant were controlled by the speed of the two girls behind a line of tables handing you whatever you wanted onto a tray.   Starting with orange juice and bread rolls, through the pastries and cold meats then onto the scrambled eggs and bacon, and lastly tea/coffee.  It was the most inefficient system I think I have ever seen but I suppose it did what it was designed to do, regulate the numbers in the restaurant.

ChristIne booked this particular hotel as it was the nearest she could find to the centre of the historic district, but it was still just under 2kms, so into a taxi we jumped, which was just as well as it seemed to take for ages to get there.   

We were dropped by the central market, a magnificent building, built on the site of the original market which started in 1839.  Todays building, started in 1914 and finally completed in 1928 covers over 8,000 sq meters and is supposedly the largest indoor market in Europe.   It has an unusual outside roof made up of domes and sloping sections at different heights.  Inside, the roof has panels letting in light and large coloured glass window at the ends.  This light and airy building was bustling with activity, and apart from a wet fish stall, everything else in the food line one could imagine was catered for.

After strolling around for a bit we stumbled upon an old, well preserved building open to the public.  This was Valencia’s Merchants Exchange, in Spanish “ Llotja de la Seda” built between 1482 – 1533 and is one of Valencia’s top tourist attraction.  Inside it has an amazing hand carved ceiling and the roof is held up with extraordinary twisted Pillars.  This building has been a world heritage site1996.  They run a film with English sub titles which gave the remarkable background to both this hall and the prosperity of Valencia during the Middle Ages, it was well worth watching.

We’ve never been to Valencia before, but have now come to realise there is so much to see and do that it is more like a week needed than a couple of days!   In fact the earliest town here was set up by the Romans in 138-BC, and from that date to more recent times Valencia has been involved in something or other, and it was here that “El CID” defended against the Moors towards the end of the eleventh century.

Wandering around the historic area, we were “accosted” by a fellow standing outside a restaurant drumming up business, looking casually inside from the street,  it looked intriguing but we were still digesting our breakfast.   Naturally as custom dictates, we walked into one of the 9 or 10 churches that are in this small area, only to interrupt a christening, but we were quiet and left immediately, oops!!!

OK it was time for a beer, we sat at a table in a square watching the proceedings of a wedding that was taking place, in fact many of the wedding guests were also drinking beers waiting for the ‘photos to be taken.   We would have stayed for another but the waiter was miserable, couldn’t give a fig about us and lost trade because of his attitude.  Had he’d been more accommodating, I have no doubt we would have stayed, enjoying the ambience and the sun, 32-degrees!  But because of his intransigence we drank up and left.

By now it was after 1400hrs and the prospect of lunch started to dawn on us.  As I was being treated I plumped for a late lunch that we could linger over rather than an evening meal.  We then stumbled across another lovely “round square” surrounded by restaurants, but after exhaustive enquiries, everything was pre-booked, so we couldn’t get a table.

After some deliberation we decided to return to the place where we were “accosted” outside a restaurant, the one where the inside intrigued us.   Fortunately we found it and went in but first we had to gel our hands under supervision before having our temperature taken, all good thank goodness, only then were we taken to our table.

The inside of the restaurant really surprised us, it sounds odd but all the walls and roof had been sprayed with concrete giving it a “cave” look and it didn’t end there.  There was a mezzanine floor and a lower area and the barriers depicting the edges was sprayed concrete and the ropes between the pillars were also from this concrete.   The floor was covered in small mosaic type tiles and put together, it was amazing, and that’s before we have even seen the menu!  This place is called “Restaurante Bacco Valencia” and advertised as a“Mediterranean Restaurant in Valencia”

Like everywhere now all menus are by QR Reader but unfortunately my phone decided to run out of data allowance this weekend, something that’s never happened before, but very inconvenient so the waitress lent us her ‘phone.   Today we went of the à la carte menu, special treat by ChristIne.   We were having a little trouble ordering, my accent was obviously crap, I wasn’t used to the Valencias Dialect and all I was trying to get across was that I wanted my steak “rare”; anyway eventually the chef arrived and blow me he was English, came from Leicester, his name was Josh but the problem was he was a Leicester Tigers Supporter, and as he said, we “could” have been friends!!!   Still everything we had, and it was a lot, was cooked to perfection.  Their wine list was small but well selected which complemented an excellent birthday meal washed down with a couple of bottles.  The problem was the Brandies afterwards.  We asked if they had a Carlos 1, no she said but did have something better, “Gran Duque D Alba”, never heard of it but ordered two, it was a limited bottling, came from Jerez and it was magnificent, but that was not all, when that time came to pay, she brought the bottle back and gave us two more!!!   How we found our way to the taxi rank and managed to get the driver to know where we wanted to go was surprising.  Our problem is that during lockdown we haven’t drunk much as we haven’t participated in parties etc.

We got back to our room and that’s where we stayed, probably comatose ‘till 0900hrs Sunday!

What a great day, sorry, what a great birthday week, thank you 

After the late night, the not so early morning!!!!   Today is our departure, and though we were in the Valencia Marina about 3kms from where our hotel is in the centre of town, our trip there necessitated a diversion via Martin and Marian’s villa, where we left and forgot to remove the milk from the fridge.   Now I expect the more astute of our readers will say, “why not sort it on the homeward journey?”; sensible question but we have an appointment on Monday morning in Benidorm, this appointment has been changed many times that we didn’t want to alter it yet again.  Alternatively we could leave the hotel early, no way!!!

After saying our goodbyes we sadly left Ollie and Anneka to carry on where they had left off at the start of the week, preparing the boat for their first charter.   Though only 4-nights aboard, it was a magical experience being on such a beautiful and so large a sailing boat, can’t wait to return, please Andrew.   Ollie and Anneka are excellent hosts and I have no doubt that when they are hosting charters, the clients won’t want to leave, just like us.  Thank you both again for making our short trip so enjoyable. 

Leaving the marina we had a little trouble getting waze to work on my ‘phone but we have a reliable back-up with Christine’s phone so we headed back to Alcalali, about an hour away.

Arriving around 1300hrs we collected the milk, checked around then left about 1330; ah, lunch time so we headed back to Xalo and Del Hierro, the restaurant we had visited on the Monday, it was that good!!!

Back in the car and we headed back to Valencia, arriving right outside our hotel at the appointed hour for getting into our room.   After settling in and sorting ourselves, we headed out but there was rather a chilly wind so didn’t go too far but on the way back we stopped at a bar and enjoyed another bottle of wine accompanied by some Tapas.   It was amusing, as last nights lateness was catching us up and we couldn’t stop yawning so headed back and tried to play crib but we couldn’t concentrate on that either, so gave up and had an early-ish night.

Thursday 13th

Breakfast was a little on the late side this morning and the skipper informed us we hadn’t got sufficient time to circumnavigate the Island of Ibiza as the wind direction had changed and this meant our planned route was windless; result, engines all the way.  We are here to sail so it’s an about turn and head back to where we stopped the first night.   Had we not got a hotel booked for Friday night, the time elements wouldn’t have been an issue!

The weather didn’t improve and tomorrow’s weather will mean we are close hauling resulting in an uncomfortable passage and because of our hotel booking, means a 0400am start.  After much deliberation we decided to stop off at Sant Antoni de Portmany to stretch our legs and have some lunch before sailing back tonight, shame but that’s the nature of sailing having to rely on the wind.

A little later than planned we arrived in Portmany but after having an excellent snack lunch there wasn’t much time left before we had to leave so cancelled our shore visit for today.  Note to self, this is where the Denia ferry comes in so must make the effort sometime in the future and come over.

We hoisted anchor and left the shelter of the town at 1630hrs, hoisted the sails in the bay and headed back to Valencia, ETA  0030hrs.   Once in the open sea Elton gathered speed, settled into a nice 45-degree list as the wind was coming from the south west, the perfect angle and we were cruising along between 10.5 & 11.5 knots all was well as the sun was shining, though the wind was rather on the chilly side.  

As the evening approached the wind got chillier Christine and I went inside and to wile away the time we played crib but unfortunately halfway through the third game Christine was overcome by the dreaded nausea and had to make a hasty retreat, conceding the game, much to her, and my discuss.  Unfortunately that was the end of Christine for the rest of the passage!!!!!!!!

Apart from the above, all was going well as we were zipping along with the Skipper making tiny adjustments to the sails all the time to coax every bit of speed from the wind, things were looking promising that we would achieve or even beat our predicted time of arrival 0030hrs, well that was then!!!!!!   Soon after we passed the headland around Gandia, disaster,  the wind dropped and no matter what Ollie did, so did our speed👹👹.  Oh dear, back to running on engine and 7-knots ETA recalculated, arrival time around to around 0200hrs.   This time the Skipper left a tight main up to steady the boat whilst under engine power and the smoothness together with a sleep, brought ChristIne back to life

Returning to our mooring was a little tricky as there wasn’t much help about when we pulled in around 0200 hrsand to make things worse the wind was pushing us off, still the skipper with his chef “turned” deckhand soon sorted things out and we berthed.  I have to say very little time elapsed ‘till we were all in bed for our last night on board but 0300hrs

Wednesday 12th

Christine was lulled to sleep very quickly last night, I unfortunately wasn’t, and to make it a really bad night, my breathing machine wouldn’t work.   After playing with it, and checking other things plugged in I realised it wasn’t my machine but the power circuit.   Unfortunately by this time Ollie and Annica were well and truly asleep so I had to struggle through the night causing mayhem for Christine as without my machine I snore for the whole of the U.K.!  The annoying thing is I have a special battery I normally take with me if we go sailing to avoid such occasions, but not knowing anything about this treat, it was at home!   After much apologising it turned out to be an odd occurrence, Skipper Ollie was aware of my need and rather than run the generator, he switched the big fridge off, not realising that for some inexplicable reason this also switched off the power circuit.   Fortunately we are both aware of boat electrics, they seem to have a mind of their own!!!

We lifted the anchor mid morning and headed out to sea, the skipper put out all the sail, tweaked them and we wizzed along at 11.5 Knots at a nice 45-degree angle, right up our street and a exhilarating experience to travel under sail at that speed.   We then turned and headed the back of Ibiza, unfortunately the wind didn’t favour us so our speed wasn’t so fast, never mind there’s always tomorrow.   

Skipper found us a nice quiet bay, out of the wind and swell for lunch where “chef” prepared a vegetarian lunch that I must say it was amazing washed down by a long Caribbean punch mixture, again very nice, one for my bar!!   After a little discussion about going for a swim, we lifted anchor and departed.  

We carried on with our circumnavigation of Ibiza but had a destination in mind.  We said to Ollie and Annica we would like to take them out to dinner and show our appreciation for everything they have done for us.  Ollie searched online for somewhere along our route and found a beach restaurant, in a bay where we could anchor and we could book a table, so far so good.

Eventually we arrived into Sant Joan De Labritja, the bay we want to drop the anchor but with the wind blowing in the wrong direction, the swell not looking too good our thoughts were slowly being dashed, still we could see several other yachts moored near the beach so came in to check.  

Once into the bay, everything calmed down and we dropped anchor and after showering etc., we boarded the dingy and headed to the beach, fortunately and by pure chance I had thrown a pair of flip-flops into my case before leaving home and as we disembarked the dingy on the beach, we had to paddle.  Christine who had organised this trip, hadn’t brought hers!!!!!!

The restaurant, “The Boat House” was very busy, so good job we’d booked.  The decor was very rustic and the place was heaving which is always a good sign.  We studied the “interesting” menu which had North African influences as well as Spanish favourites whilst enjoying unusual cocktails.

After 3-hours of excellent food of gigantic proportions, a couple of bottles etc., we headed back to the boat in pitch darkness which naturally re-kindled our memories of times-past.  Our skipper navigated his way straight to “Elton”, and virtually the moment we got back on board, we all said good night and headed to bed, knackered, which was just as well as near to us was a super (Gin Palace) Yacht full of revellers who partied well into the wee hours.  From what we could see there was no social distancing or limited numbers; lockdown rules, what lockdown rules????

Monday Evening 10th May

“Elton”, Andrew’s magnificent 110ft yacht takes your breath away. Having been kitted out for the charter market, everything was catered for and we felt very privileged to be “allowed” aboard.  

Our hosts made us very welcome and settled us in to the “owner’s suite”, very sumptuous, before enjoying a couple of drinks and a “get-to-know-you”chat.   

We also met up with the skipper of Andrew’s other yacht, who gave us the grand tour of this beautiful Italian classic boat that he rescued from a breakers yard last year, and it is now going through restoration by a local ship-writes.  Once complete this one will also impress!!!

Tomorrow we’ll head off to Ibiza, should take around 8-hours but due to weather and sea state we’re not leaving till 0900hrs.

We spent our first night in untold luxury; we’ve both slept on many different boats over the years but never had such a big, comfortable bed with a luxurious en-suite including a bath!!!!

Tuesday 11th May

Following a very comfortable night moored in the marina, we were ready for the off.  As planned we slipped our mooring at 0900hrs and took a course to Ibiza and after we left the protection of the harbour moles, we hoisted the sails.    It was fascinating to watch Ollie unfurl the jib from the cockpit by just pushing buttons, everything is hydraulic and we were now underway.

Though the wind was cold and causing a certain amount of disruption to the sea, we had blue skies and the sun was shining, but we appreciated why we held off leaving ‘till later!!!!

Making good progress, we sailed along the coast towards the headland near Gandia when we then then kicked off towards Ibiza at which point Ollie put a reefed main out.  Again the main was hoisted hydraulically, the only manual import was pressing the button and securing the reef, we were fascinated especially after the hours we have physically pulled on sheets to raise mains, and pull jibs in and out etc, etc.,  mind you when you see the size of the sheets on Elton, there would be no-way one could do this manually.

Travelling along nicely at around 10-knots we were making good progress though the sea-state  was a little on the choppy side.   Then gradually the wind died, Ollie took the reef out and played with the hydraulic buttons coaxing the sails to gather as much wind as was available until the inevitable happened, the wind vanished.   The jib was furled, the main dropped into the boom box and on went the engine; Shock Horror but it is what it is, we just got on with it but our timings were now well and truly comprised.

Running on engine with the main stowed, our rapid progress slipped and the boat rocked for the rest of the journey much to ChristIne’s stomach disgust though I have to say this brave girl contained everything!!!!!!!  

Earlier in the day ChristIne, tongue in cheek, asked the skipper what time will we see the Dolphins to which he replied, midday: Guess what, midday came and went, no dolphins.   Around about four o’clock the skipper said, the dolphins have arrived, albeit a bit late, ChristIne asked if he was joking, no he said so we both headed to the pulpit and hey presto, there they were, having a wale of a time playing around the bows.    We watched for ages before they left, it reminded us of the time we sailed across the bay at Soufriere (St Lucia) in Anam Cara, amazing sight.

Though there was minimal wind, what there was was cold and we now wished we could get there. One reason ChristIne wanted to sail is to see how she would be if we both join “Elton” and do the Atlantic crossing in November, as you can imagine the answer flowed both ways and I’m still none the wiser to the answer, yet!!!!

Land ahoy, great but unfortunately it seemed to take ages to get there.    Due to the size of Elton, entering a marina is rather expensive (€450) and as we are totally self contained we headed for a bay that was out of the path of what little wind there was and also out of the swell.  Due to the slow speed on engine our original ETA of around 1700hrs was well and truly blown out of the window, as by the time we had dropped the anchor it was more like 2000hrs, oh well the joys of sailing.

Now it was the turn of Annica to head to the galley. Being so late we would have been more than happy with a simple snack but no, she had the necessary ingredients for her Pork dish, we just had to wait!   Well it was certainly well worth waiting for we thoroughly enjoyed everything, if this is her regular standard we are in for a treat.

Coffee followed by bed after a thoroughly enjoyable day, out in the sun and out on the sea.

Friday 7th May 2021

Following a convivial full English at our local Panaderia with Jim and Hazel, plus Frank and Sue we headed towards Martin and Marian’s Villa situated in the hills behind Denia for a few days prior to being taken to a “posh” hotel in Old Valencia for my birthday treat.   After being cooped up for so long due to the Covid restrictions, we felt “free” at last, well that is within the restriction of staying in Valencia’s region!!!  We also felt safe having had our second moderna jab the day before but unfortunately “this second jab” was affecting Christine.

After a pleasant couple of hours we arrived and soon settled in for 5-days. ChristIne had progressively got worse through the day so we had a quiet evening and went to bed early.

Saturday 8th May

We weren’t in too much of a hurry to rush about, especially as Christine was far worse today than yesterday, the second jab has really blunted her enthusiasm for action.  Today we had the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying to look forward to later and also I had everything crossed for Northampton Saints, they had to win their game against Gloucester to have any chance of making the top four championship playoffs, therefore we decided to head for Xaló to visit the pharmacy, take a stroll around the flee market held in the big car park and have a mid morning coffee etc!!!  When we eventually arrived for our coffee it also turned into a light lunch, but that was not all!!!

Whilst we were enjoying our coffee etc., ChristIne made an admission.  Apparently yesterday I had asked her a direct question about Andrew’s boat which is currently in Valencia having a minor re-fit but her admission was that she had told a lie yesterday and felt guilty for doing so.  The truth came out, she had actually arranged with Andrew and behind my back, a surprise a trip on “Elton” (the name of the boat) to Ibiza and back and instead of being in Denia for five days, we were spending 4-nights aboard, wow!!! Was I excited or was I excited, I was over the moon by the thought of leaving the mainland for the first time for 14-months.  I must say I had no idea whatsoever about this surprise and apparently friends and family were in on it too, but no one let any “cats out of the bag”, well done them!!

The upshot of all this was our planned trips from the villa had to be severely curtailed; anyway they can be done another time, an opportunity to go sailing is far more appealing.

Having done the things we had planned, we returned mid afternoon whereby I looked at the disastrous result, Saints lost heavily (7 – 31), and therefore scuppered their chances of reaching the playoffs, a bitter disappointment as they have been doing so well of late.  ChristIne stood up well to the rigours of the day but was wilting after dinner, it was as if she had flu, coughing, aches and pains etc., so after a few games of crib, (honours even!!!!), another early night was called for.

Sunday 9th May

ChristIne was feeling a little better this morning so after watching the Andrew Marr program and catching up with the last of the election results etc., we headed out to Llíber, a small village nearby where there is a pretty little square that we knew was busy and frequented on a Sunday by cyclists.  Here we naturally had the customary bottle of “vino” and a number of Tapas which constituted lunch.  It was lovely to sit in the warm sun enjoying the vibrant atmosphere, watching everybody.  

Arriving back at the Hacienda just before the rain started, and boy did it rain, not what we expected, anyway after dinner we settled back and watch Hamilton drive brilliantly to win the Spanish Grand Prix, a bit more crib then bed.

Monday 10th May

Exciting day today, but first we had chores to do, after all we couldn’t leave Marian and Martin with used linen etc., so got “stuck-in”.   ChristIne had arranged a late afternoon arrival and also agreed we would have eaten before, so around 1330hrs we headed for a restaurant, but unfortunately, according to Google most seemed closed locally so headed into Xaló and eventually found one that did a menu del Dia, a little more expensive than normal and didn’t include a drink, “what”I hear you say!!!!, but looked very nice inside.

This restaurant turned out to be a little gem, their menu del dia was excellent, the house wine was surprisingly good, attentive service and a young chef who really knew his stuff.  The shame of it was we were the only ones in there but looking at the full menu when we left, we guess it’s more of an evening destination.  (Note to self: return).    

We returned to Complete our chores, but was hampered by the rain though did manage to sort the outside furniture.  Again it came down in stair rods and we got soaked as we packed the car before heading to the Marina in the port of Valencia just over an hour away.    

Arriving at the marina gates met up with our skipper “Ollie”, and our hostess “Anneca” who walked us to Elton and welcomed us aboard