Too many Pirates!

Hello - again - sailor!

It had to be a Blue Rock Mojito!
 

We re-entered Fraggle Rock on the first Sunday of Carnaval so had already missed a little of the action. As there would be few buses we engaged Windows Dave for the transfer home. He told us that two more British owned enterprises had closed, the main road was now fully open, there is a police scandal (see below) and that Blue Rock Claire was having her (significant) birthday bash that night. Sadly the last passed us by! The flights, the early morning and the highly resistant jet lag met the "little siesta" lasted until 11.30 pm. So we gently returned to normality during the week giving events a wide berth and looked forward to the weekend. The theme this year was The Caribbean:- plenty of scope one would imagine!  Ruth went down the Carmen Miranda route with the help of artificial fruit from one of the Chinese shops. Bob's outfit bore an uncanny resemblance to that of last year's South Pacific. Out there on Saturday evening there were a few zombies, a Fidel Castro on a bicycle, some Rastas with or without real or fake spliffs, and many, many pirates! Star Prize for originality went to Sandra and Dave whose costume is barely captured here (must sort the flash!), but was a meticulous evocation of Haitian Voodoo. Only a few chickens had been harmed to produce those bones! 


Fruit Wars at The Rock!

The procession was about "normal" size, with some glorious Rio-style glitz. There was one austerity float-load of thirty odd men who had done nothing on the costume front but were consuming a lot of beer and presumably waiting for the outcome of the on-board barbecue which was smoking dramatically so it was as well the Wacky Races bomberos were behind! Wittiest of all - given the local news - was a set of Guardia Civil trailing white powder! (It is safer than usual out there on the roads at present with each week seeing new arrests of people in either the Guardia or local police force for various acts of corruption.)

Meanwhile! Sunday saw the Sardine thing! The fish in question was a good one - and those balloons made for spectacular popping at the cremation. The fireworks were spectacular and the crowd was enormous, with some mumbling about council expenditure, but in fact they were sponsored this year by Fund Grube. 'Hate their shops, but Gracias!





Not quite retirement.. not quite restful paradise holiday!

The last few days have been frantic and follow on from multiple frustrations for our final week in Goa. The reason is the unexpected early departure of our tenants in our old house. This left us trying to get new ones in at short notice, at the wrong time of year, and in strange market conditions. After a flurry of early viewings we

were given very negative feedback about décor and furnishing, so we organised a big painting job to tone things down.  No problem with being absentee landlords for that bit, but then we realised the living room curtains were going to have to be replaced sixteen years after being lovingly crafted by Ruth. This is not easy to do remotely, so after pondering on the beach we decided we would have to spend time on site and the obvious plan was to jettison our onward flight from UK to Fuerteventura, book into a Croydon hotel and fly home four days later. This despite having appropriate clothes for only 12 hours each way!



Bob collapses under the stress!

So having made the necesary bookings we turned attention to ordering curtains online, often with very slow internet speeds. Debenhams seemed to be able to supply and we wrestled through to the end of the tortuous ordering process and heaved a sigh of relief, but within hours our tracking showed the order had been cancelled for some credit-related reason. Fury! We started again with an excellent company recommended to us, and now by us:- Tony´s Textiles. Within 24 hours the delivery arrived at our neighbour´s. Conclusion: Debenhams for Curtains? Curtains for Debenhams!

 

We relaxed for the next few days with the sea becoming increasingly inviting, and the temperature rising, and we left Palolem at 5.15 am on Tuesday morning. It had been a wonderful stay - even with the UK rental problems taking up time. In addition to the changes described in the last post there is now a Greek (Corfiot) -owned beach shack.



In the South of Goa? Weird!

For the return journey we had booked a slightly later domestic flight that would give us less time hanging around Mumbai airport, as the general rule is the fewer hours of that the better! We got the impression that our flight was going to be full (Something to do with a change of tariff after that day?), and it was a 747:- new to us on this route. It turned out to be almostly completely full. We had chosen our own seats online and had managed to pick one of the only two on the plane with non-functioning video (Bob got it!) As we made clear to the cabin crew and later in our complaint to BA the irony was that we could have paid a lot less for the flight with Jet, but were lured by the in-flight entertainment. Add to this a defective seatback in front of Ruth and being in the last row to receive the hot meal with no choice, and we were a bit disgruntled. We watched movies in shifts, were brought extra newspapers (unfortunatelty including the Daily Mail!) and then were given a glass of complimentary good champagne. (Since then we have also received 60GBP in BA vouchers, which feels like a result all round!)
So we are now post-Croydon resting up at the Radisson Blu at Stansted and due to fly at 6ish tomorrow morning with dear old Ryanair, where we will doubtless experience a rather different level of customer care! On each of the three days we took the train down to Balham and put in some hours prettifying the house and clearing out rubbish left by a succession of tenants. We took our decorating team out for a drink on one occasion, ate various British delicacies, bought teabags and opened a Metro Bank account which will give us free foreign currency withdrawals. (Watch out Nationwide we may soon be parting company!) It rained a great deal, and our one set of outer clothes - which doesn´t include coats -  has just about lasted out. We are exhausted, but feel it has been worth it. 

 

 

The Other Side!

"Maybe next year!"

We left Shikara assuring the manager that we would not mention the state of the towels on any review sites:- so we haven`t! (We also told him we liked the location, the service and the value for money, and we literally didn´t bring up breakfast - though we could easily have done so!) We were at the taxi a bit early and the driver got excited at the prospect of making it to the imminent ferry. We weren't expecting to be able to go this way so we were excited too:- followed by scared as he raced down the narrow roads and sounded the horn to delay departure and wait for us. They are erecting a bridge across the River Sal, as otherwise it is the ferry or a long diversionary drive. To us the bridge looked the same as last year, but there were signs of life, and the driver said it might be finished next year.... Mmmm! It took about 10 minutes on the ferry and 5 minutes later we at a stop monitored by the police!  We told the driver it was fortunate he had just put on his official shirt, but he said it wasn´t a traffic check but filming. Again! This time it was apparently something to do with coconut oil! We were held up for about ten minutes, but then sped down to Palolem, where we were greeted by Prakash´s wife and taken to our huge room. It was immediately clear that John and Tracey´s foam rubber mattresses would not be needed. There is now an enormous bed with a deep European-standard mattress, and above the bathroom is a stack of various previous offending ones. Downstairs there is now  a cookery school as well as the good restaurant and we have wi-fi from 9am to 10pm. Our residency has a number of long-stayers, and has been described as a cross between Fawlty Towers and One Flew over the Cuckoo´s Nest! We fit in perfectly!

 

.So off to The Office to see if it was staffed! We knew of some who had needed to send apologies, but Peter and Maggie have been on duty since the New Year, and Bob and Geri are doing most of the season, as is Pat (though John has gone to UK) and Brigitte from Switzerland arrived just after us. This gives a quorum for Beer O`Clock, but daytime activity has been modified in the light of an insane council ruling that this season there are to be no sunbeds beyond the boundary of each beach bar. Mohan has put a dozen closely packed ones up from the beach between the huts, and this is OK, but down below it´s a case of just mattresses with umbrellas. The pond life at the Nest has re-surfaced and makes its presence felt from time to time, but we seem to have missed the worst of it. Not much else has changed! The fireworks notice has been removed and we have some sort of display from somewhere on most nights. There seems to be less live music in the evening (and some is quite bad!), but the open-air cinema at the Steak House has been excellent. We saw Les Misereables and Django Unchained. This year´s "Very Apt for Goa" award goes to Life of Pi, of course. (Best Exotic Marigold Hotel being disqualified as we had seen it before!)

 

From the list of "Differences between Up North and Palolem" (see previous blog) we have seen plenty of everything except Toddy-Tappers. We can also add that prescription spectacles are also cheaper here. Bob had a pair of "all singing, all dancing" made for 5100 rups (about 65 GBP), and the Russians seem to have migrated en masse back up there to the relief of many.

 

Yesterday was the nadir of our experience as absentee-landlords. That´s another story.  The next post will be from Croydon (Ah, bliss!)

 

 

 

Bollywood Night and Goan Soft!

This post is being composed during a spot of Vasco de Gama´s Revenge during which Ruth dare not stray too far from civilised sanitation! We are having a month in Goa and have been here a week. The last two occasions have seemed a bit like freebies (apart from return UK flights, return domestic flights, insurance, visas and vaccinations, of course!) as we started depleting the Sainsbury/Tesco Airmiles, but now they have all been turned into Avios and are barely worth the paper they are not written on, and the London-Mumbai flights were going to cost so much in uncovered elements that we could have spent as much on the whole flights with an airline other than BA and saved the Avios for something else. (Like what?) However after due cursing of Tesco for doing this, shared sentiments about getting on a bit, and Bob´s expressed desire to work his way through BA´s in-flight movies and wine selection we bit the bullet and booked the same route again with a pathetic subsidy from Avios.

Our outward journey went like clockwork, starting with the usual cattle-herding of Ryanair, then smooth exit at Stansted with time for some Greene King (first beer for 3 months for R!), fast coach to Terminal 5 where once again we got a member of staff to check us in, food and bev goodies from M and S and a shuttle to Premier Inn. The last represents a gesture of economy over previous Heathrow hotels but was very good indeed! The Mumbai flight was half-full, entertainment good on Films, too US-based on TV, food uninspiring and we landed early. The new terminal is not quite finished so there was bussing and then potentially queuing, but we played the Senior Citizen card and jumped to the front. We topped up with Duty Free French wine to the maximum and proceeded to the domestic terminal in the only way possible which makes Ryanair look like The Ritz! And then a funny thing happened!

1.30 am or so February 5^{th :} In Mumbai Domestic Terminal Father Christmas is sitting patiently waiting and occasionally ringing his bell! Around him there are many young and giggling people with no luggage, some people looking uncomfortable in faux airline uniforms, and some men doing some lighting rigging. Santa engages us in conversation about the Women´s Cricket World Cup and the joys of East Sussex. People with clipboards arrive, some seats are moved, girls are given new tops to put on and a Christmas tree is brought in. We hold our ground! We know seats are precious in these hours until check-in desks open at 3.30, and now new arrivals are being directed by the police away from the area. We are told that we are OK where we are, but later we are politely asked to move because filming is about to begin. R says there is nowhere to sit and she needs a chair. “OK then, but please keep your head turned away from the camera!”

And so it was that she found herself in a Bollywood Movie!

The excitement and embarrassment became too much and we moved through to the quieter bit and so had our first Kingfisher by 3.45am, domestic flight  left early, we got a taxi at Dabolim  and were swiftly in Cavelossim, desperately searching for our hotel!

Last year we had two occasions to visit this area:- Betty´s Cruise with The Office when we were intrigued by the River Sal´s mouth, and the trip to meet Ken and Kate (Paleo) who stay regularly just to the north, during which we loved the long quiet stretch of beach. So this year we planned ten days based in Cavelossim. We booked through UK based Sunshine Holidays who have always served us well for cheap and cheerful. We had a voucher, a name for the property, a mental map, a (non-functioning) mobile contact and a vague image of the site from their website. After a lot of U-turns and shaken heads we eventually tried a place that had the name Luisa by the Sea over it. This was right! There is obviously some story as to why this two-pool complex of one-time lavish privately-owned bungalows and a few rooms changed its name but doesn´t publicise the new one. Anyway it is perfectly located for both beach and restaurants, and we have a large airy room with a big private balcony and a view of the main Mobor road and (just) the sea. Fellow guests are Russian and Russian, with the odd bit of English from folk who may still own one of the villas.

(Bob has been waiting for the moment to shout "Pussy Riot good  - Putin bad!")

Mission accomplished in terms of exploring said river and long expanse of beach! We rode bikes beside the river to the final bit of beach at Mobor and spent the day at the Blue Whale. We were delighted with it all, and even quite liked the dogs sheltering under the sunbeds, but by mid-afternoon it was unbearable in terms of dogs fighting and chasing. We rode back along the beach – which is a wonderful experience. (Update:- As R languished Bob rode an even worse bicycle all the way up the beach to Benaulim and back!)

Yesterday we did Betty´s cruise again, sitting alongside a party which surreptitiously scattered ashes and flowers out at sea. Just as good as last time except for absence of Office friends, and we saw a good lot of both dolphins and birds (including Brahminy kites, an osprey, cormorants and bee-eaters. We also met a very nice Aussie couple of silver  travellers and picked up some tips, and a Geordie who was attracted by Bob´s Cropredy T - shirt.

Brahminy Kite

We will soon be off to Palolem. We overheard Brit tourists bad-mouthing it after a visit. We, however, are looking forward to the differences – a case of chacun a son gout! The beach here is striking by its sheer length, but it is not as sheltered as the bay at P. and was a bit frightening in the waves at times. There are plenty of good restaurants with all the trappings of European service and décor, and there as many dentists, night time fireworks, botox merchants and punters, jewellers and opticians as one could wish for! Second only to the Russians for numbers are British elderly couples, many of whom seem to have been nowhere else and love it. Not many good bicycles for hire here.

Nor have we seen here:

• beach huts for rent
• cattle and pigs on the road (let alone in restaurants)
• dreadlocks
• backpackers
• muesli on the menu
• toddy-tappers
• tuk-tuks in any quantity.
• open air cinema
• "pond-life" Brits

We can´t wait!

Getting on and going over the edge!

January comes to an end and Greyrocks looks back and senses that a great deal of time has been spent relating to the Canarian Health Service. Bob has been visiting the local Health Centre three times a week to have his blood pressure monitored, and Ruth made a visit to the hospital to report in on the knees. The latter was a pleasant surprise. The surgeon was so amazed at the weight loss that he called in his less-than-thin nurse to hear the news, then dosed one knee with cortisone, which he said can be repeated as often as necessary. No denying the advancement of years as we applied for our oldies´ travel insurance for Goa and had to declare it all!
Out on the streets of Corralejo, however, we don´t feel that aged! It is quiet, and the most numerous tourist group is grey Scandawegians behaving strangely (and not spending much money). There have been restaurant casualties. We went a few weeks ago to La Parilla, which is up on the top road so not on our radar. We were recognised by chef/manager Felice whom we met 20 years ago at Dunas Caleta, the steak was good and we got a discount. There was no hint of problems. Now it is gone! One of the oldest Chinese - Hong Kong - also suddenly shut and is being fitted out as a gift shop:- just what we need!
The most exciting event of this anti-climactic fortnight was the swift descent of a private car into the sea at the harbour on Friday evening. The Armas ferry has been out of action and so was in Lanzarote rather than at its usual berth, so there was nothing acting as a barrier, Rumours differ over whether this was a hand-brake-related accident or a suicide attempt. Either way the driver got to dry land!

 

That's Enough Festivities!

This post has been delayed by ****** Google fooling around with Blogger!

No Boxing Day Sales here in Spain! With children not getting most gifts until Kings Day on January 6th it is a long slog through till then, and we have just emerged. The Municipal Gym, for example, closed on 23rd Dec and re-opened on Jan 9th. Nor, of course, do the decorations come down on Twelfth Night as was traditional in Ruth's childhood home :- nothing has yet shifted on the streets of Corralejo! Chez Greyrocks there was a spot of irony on the decoration front. We grudgingly put up the same mean little coffee table tree ornament each year,  and wind lights round the stair rails. We were given these by a benefactor who thought we couldn't afford more! The latter look very good at night, but Ruth wants the whole lot packed away on Jan 7th. Bob has developed a fondness for the lights and refused to agree to their timely removal. On January 8th they would not come on and are irreparable. Oh Joy!

"The" Blue Rock

So how did Mr and Ms Scrooge get through it all? During Christmas Eve the girls started preparing the feast, and we went to Blue Rock to collect our gift of chocolate delights etc from Eileen.  This resulted in an invitation for the next morning for fizz and more. The sun was shining! Then it was back to finish off cooking and hunker down to eat it. There was a  life and death struggle with the avocados for the starter. They are grown here, and there always mounds of them in shops, but finding ripe ones is rare, so these had been bought five days early. Every trick on the Internet was tried bar the microwave, but two of the three refused, so the starter was a bodged one. Still the pre-ordered duck was delicious, and a pleasant family meal was had.

After traditional Christmas breakfast we went to see Chris and Eileen for more bubbly stuff, and Chloë had her hair cut! In another life Chris was a very successful hairdresser, and he was kind enough to deal with her substantial mop. Then back to Blue Rock for an afternoon of roasties and rolls. (Well not, of course, for Ruth!) A nap and then to La Tasca for traditional chateaubriand!

By the 26th (a normal working day) Chloë declared herself "meated out"  so we did fish:- both by jointly cooking a fish pie, and also by going together to Juan's fish spa for nibbled feet; and then on Thursday afternoon we put her on a bus, and she returned to Amsterdam for some 20 hour dance thing!

A brief respite with displaced "Moth" days and Ruth back on some sort of diet and we hit New Year! As usual we went "gastro" for the meal and were amongst the full house at Caracoles for their menu surprise, which this time was:

Chicken consommé and fish terrine 

Prawns, mussels and razor clam in a curried dressing

Fillet steak

Praline sorbet with figs in ron miel

New Years Day was rather windy so we didn't spend long at Blue Rock after our Round The Horne morning, then back home to cook a pheasant!

We had a few days of feverish administration of both a remortgage deal that has taken months, and the February Goa trip. We waited together for an age at the private GP's for our hepatitis boosters, and Bob - not exactly fluent in Spanish - has had fun and games seeing various nurses for blood pressure readings at the Health Centre, but the weather has been lovely during the day, and we have also got in some sunbed time.

Then into the final straight on Saturday 5th:

Kings passed quietly, and normality has resumed; and here is the weight loss bulletin for Ruth:

19.1 kg gone in 11 weeks of which nearly 3 weeks were festive!

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL READERS!

Penguins off Piste and one Girl short of a Calendar!

This December is the 20th anniversary of Greyrocks in Corralejo. No need to lay out again what we have been attempting to escape about British Xmas, and the relentless move here towards something nearly as commercial and gawkish here! Suffice to say that increased access to UK TV has convinced us that it is still miles worse there! Nonetheless it is always a delight to discover what Claire and helpers at Blue Rock has come up with as festive decoration, and this year it is a beauty:- lots of snow white that looks glorious in artificial light, and hosts of penguins performing various feats on skis - it might well be the best yet!


Here is a coven you wouldn´t want to tangle with! We started at Los Compadres with excellent tapas and Ruth still on  Dukan diet rules and fizzy water! Rachel´s late arrival brought down the average age considerably and took us nearer to a dozen. It also amused a Madrileno known to Ruth who had been drunkenly and repeatedly pointing out that Eileen up to that point was the only non-blonde (or silver perhaps!) We then moved to the sidreria on the front, and then to H2O in the plaza and finally to the bar that was Suzo´s. Somewhere along the line the first daytime wine for weeks passed Ruth´s lips and things went downhill. There were many casualties, including Ruth who needed both Sandy and summonsed Pete to get her home! The next few days passed with little sign of Christmas cheer chez Greyrocks!

 But Chloé arrived on the 20th to inject some! We cycled down to the port to see if she had managed the long shot of catching the 12noon Princess Ico. This is the new (foot passenger only) service from Playa Blanca on Lanzarote which is also cheaper and slower than existing ferries. She had done so, owing to being the only booked transfer off of her Amsterdam flight, so all had worked well for her since setting of on her bicycle with rucksack at about 3am. She has brought a lot of academic work with her, but the weather is glorious so she will go back with a tan and having consumed many of her local favourite foods. (She is not impressed with Dutch cuisine!)