Come Fly WIth Me

This time, on my return flight to Spain, I had mum with me. This time, we took the car to the airport and left it with them right outside the door. On Mums return, it will be available to her just outside the arrivals door. Perfect.

Having bought some bulky stuff, I had a suitcase, which was actually a giant holdall of mums. A quick tryout on the scales at a spare check-in desk, followed by a minor shuffle of bits and bobs, and we were soon checked in and through customs.

I'm always amused by the other passengers. Gone are the days of traveling in your best suit, with matching luggage sets, but really, some people need to look in the mirror before they go out. Ah well. I've always said that the biggest problem with Ryanair is usually the customer.

This time, the flight took a slightly new route south. I had a pretty good idea of where I was, but I was still suprised at how low we were as we passed over Valencia. A few minutes later, and I could see Verni Prens, where we bought our patio tiles from. Shame we could get dropped off there, as we were just 5 miles from home. Had I been on the other side of the plane, I would have seen our house. (It would have been very easy to see the road tunnel from that height.)

As it was April, it wasn't particularly warm, but it was certainly much better than in England. Mum was happy to sit by the pool, wearing her trousers and a jumper!

On one of the days, she had a visit from her old neighbours (Pat and Roy), that now live near Taragona. They were holidaying near Altea, so called in on their way back. It was lovely to see them again. They were particularly taken by one of my garden ornaments, an oversize gecko which would look wonderful at their house. They had been looking, but hadn't found anything right. Mine was perfect. To my total surprise, Ed said that they could have mine. I knew he didn't like it that much, but it was my birthday present! Before I knew it, a price had been agreed, and Ed was unscrewing it from the wall. With great reluctance, I wrapped it up for them.*

As she isn't too mobile at the moment, we didn't go too far. We had a lovely day in Xativa, strolling around the old part of town, as well as a day shopping in Ondara, in a big shopping centre. I really wanted to take her to the top of the mountain by the house, so she could see all around us. Ed drove up the mountain road, with mum in panic mode, looking at the drop at the side. Sadly, after the spring rains, part of the road was too rough to pass, so we stopped half way to the top. This still gave us a great view across the valley (Val d' Albaida) and I pointed out our house, and all the other points of interest. I think she was glad to get back down.

While I had been away, Ed had done lots of jobs around the house. The pool was all clean and lovely and the garden was nice and tidy. Jobs I had anticipated for May had all been done.

I think a week was long enough for mum, but hopefully it won't be so long before she is here again.



* The following week, Ed and I drove out to Guadalest again, where I bought an identical gecko. He is now decorating the wall, looking very handsome, as his compatriot had before him. I hope Pat and Ron get as much pleasure from theirs!