Travels

Reading, Berkshire, England // 12.36 am // Mostly clear 11ºc / 52ºf

So after a rather hectic couple of weeks, here I am back in the house in Reading. How long we'll actually be here for now remains to be seen, but I'll talk more about that later.



Elle was just a couple of days short of being able to take enough leave from work for the usual 2 week holiday, so we had to make our main holiday only one week. However, we also managed to slip in a few days away in the UK before that.



So a couple of weekends ago we set off for Portsmouth to catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight where we had booked up in a self-proclaimed "luxury hotel and spa". It certainly was that. The hotel was in a beautiful part of the island (although to be fair the whole island is stunning) and the hotel itself was well kitted out, and the rooms very nice indeed. We got a ridiculously good deal on the hotel, and I was waiting for the catch the whole weekend. But there was none.

We got to use the indoor and outdoor pool, public and private jacuzzi, sauna, golf course and other facilities for free, and had the option of special treatments for a low price. Also as part of the price we had dinner on the night of arrival, which was really fancy gourmet stuff (complete with table magician!). We also got a full English breakfast both mornings.



We made a lot of our time on the island, pretty much driving around the whole thing over the weekend we were there. On the Sunday morning we headed to the west of the island, to The Needles, which really is a beautiful part of the island geographically, with quite a lot of tourist stuff happening. Including a chairlift which takes a steep plunge over a cliff edge! There was also a glass making factory, which was really interesting, and a sweet factory. We visited the town of Ryde afterwards and had a classy dinner at the local Wetherspoons!

The town we were actually living in was called Sandown, which was a tourist town itself. It actually reminded me of how I expect my own home town, Saltcoats, may have been in the 50s and 60s. It was fully kitted out in all the expected tourist shops, stalls, restaurants, piers etc. But you could tell it was in decline too.

The whole weekend was brilliant, and the weather was absolutely fantastic. The Isle of Wight is a lovely place to visit too, and I'm sure we'll be back at some point.

Then after a night back home in Reading we flew out to Alicante, Spain on Tuesday and onward to Benidorm on the Costa Blana. Our flight out was 2 hours late though, which meant we didn't have much left on Tuesday night, although we did go out for a few drinks after sampling the hotel dinner for the first time.

On Wednesday, the afternoon was a nostalgia trip for me, as I visited a few places that I remembered from the first time I was there in 1995, when I was 12. We went to my old hotel, the Flamingo Playa. It was as if I was there the day after I left in 1995 - nothing at all had changed. We had a drink there and went to some other bars to shelter from the rain, which was the first and last we saw all holiday.

Something about our holidays now is that we always seem to buy a bottle of really cheap gin for the hotel room. This year was no exception, and it was slightly better than the "ginebra" that laced our holiday in Greece 5 years previously! After a few of those, we headed into town. The main idea that night was karaoke, which we found in a bar called "The Queen Vic". I had a couple of beers in there, sang a few numbers, then noticed the sheer amount of spirits being poured for other people's drinks. No 25ml measures here.... each long drink was being laced with at least 100ml of straight spirits. Not one to want to miss out in a good thing, my next drink was neat malt whisky and ice. Half a tall glass full. About halfway though that glass, my memory stopped. Apparently I sang some more, despite not being able to walk or talk.

Next thing I remember was being violently sick at 9.30am the following morning. Apparently I spent a good part of the previous night doing the same, after Elle literally carried me home. I spent the whole of Thursday day and evening in bed. Ill. Very ill. I don't think I had ever felt as bad in my life, and it was such a waste of a day. Still, I managed to go out for a few soft drinks with Elle that night.

On Friday morning, we were evacuated from our hotel, as much of the local area had been cordoned off by police. I assumed it was a bomb threat, as Eta have bombed Benidorm a few times. However, while watching Spanish-language CNN+ later that day, it transpired that a petrol tanker carrying tens of thousands of litres of liquid gas crashed into a bridge alongside our hotel, and there were serious fears of an explosion. Nice.

Otherwise, a slightly more chilled day on Friday, including a few drinks in the Scotsman bar, which is - as I'm sure you can guess - a Scottish bar. I remember spending many nights there with my parents in 1995, and again it has hardly changed since. Except they are selling up after running the place for 35 years.

On Saturday, Elle and I decided to venture north to the city of Valencia. We had to make a mad dash in the searing heat to Benidorm bus station, which helpfully is nowhere near the main part of town. When we got to Valencia, we made a huge mistake by completely underestimating the size of the city. Now I know it is the third largest city in Spain. But on the day, I decided it would be a good idea to take the short walk from Valencia bus station to the port. Two hours and several friction blisters on my groin area later, we arrived at the post. Absolutely buggered.

We took the local bus into the main town later after a couple of drinks and a stroll along the beach and markets, before heading back to Benidorm. It was, despite the 10 miles of walking, a really nice day.

That night, Elle and I went out on a large one, visiting a few of Benidorm's clubs and staying out until 7am. This time, Elle and I swapped places as I carried her home (almost getting mugged by a woman on the way) and she stayed in bed ill all day Sunday.

I spent most of Sunday in the sun, and we relaxed for most of Monday, before flying back to London 90 minutes late on Tuesday.

Benidorm is a really nice place to visit, despite the bad press it gets. The Old Town is beautiful, and some of the views and scenery are stunning. The nightlife is great too, although we didn't partake in Sticky Vicky's show. It was a little pricey due to the strength of the Euro right now (generally, not Sticky Vicky). But we didn't find the pubs that do 1 euro pints until the second last day!

The hotel was really nice, and the food was great. The only exceptions were the rabbits legs and pigs ears. The weather was fantastic, especially considering it had rained for 6 weeks solid until the day after we arrived.

Despite all that, it was nice to get back home and into the routine again. Although it is going to be a very stressful few months ahead, but for a good reason. Elle has secured a new job in Central London, starting in a couple of weeks time. That means that we will be looking for a new place to stay in London almost immediately, and it won't be easy. Hopefully, though, in a few months time we'll both be moving into a new apartment much closer to our places of work, and I'll be able to carry out another one of my dreams, with the woman that I love more than anyone.