Christmas Eve in El Escobar

[Heavy bit - sorry. I guess Christmas means different things to different people. It does concern me that many people get sucked into the commercial traps laid by the profiteers, but, for us, Christmas is about people and enjoyment and I don't think these things are mutually exclusive.]

IMG_7131As we did last year, we travelled over to Chris and Gaynor’s in El Escobar with Derek and Anne. We all take some part of the Christmas dinner, which, with careful planning we each cook in our apartments, bringing it all together for our Christmas feast. This works really well, and after rehearsals last year we were confident that there would be no problems. Food for Christmas Eve was a buffet again prepared by all of us. Continue reading “Christmas Eve in El Escobar”

Lesley’s birthday

IMG_6917Well, I have to confess that Lesley found and booked this hotel, but what a great choice (the RH Bayren, in Gandia). The idea was to have a relaxing break and enjoy some time running and using the gym and spa facilities.
IMG_1586The journey was straight forward, about 150 miles of mostly easy driving on dual carriageways. We were very pleased to see our room, large (2 tvs), fronted by a large glass wall and a bath in the middle of the room. The bed was so big that it covered two time zones. The panoramic view of the beach was stunning. Continue reading “Lesley’s birthday”

Torre Pacheco half marathon

IMG_1519IMG_1525Our second consecutive year of running of the Torro Pacheco Maratón. We like to arrive early which means getting up at 6:30 for our tea and porridge. An easy drive taking about half an hour gets us to the race start area where we are able to park near to the start finish area. We had to pick up our chipped numbers (Dorsals) before settling into the nearby tennis club where we were able to get a coffee. Continue reading “Torre Pacheco half marathon”

Parque de la Artilleria – Cartegena

IMG_6732Parque de la Artilleria, a free museum showing a range of artillery from across recent centuries and used to defend Spain. In particular, there are a lot of canons used as anti-aircraft weapons but also some of the weapons used during the civil war. There is much of interest and as it’s free there is no reason not to pop in many times (I need to go again with my flash as I forgot to take it this time). They have a 3D model of the local area showing how it has been defended over the years. Quite interesting to look at some of the running routes we have run.