Saturday - our first day

Up at 3am, out the door 4am, arrive airport 5am (it was a bit of a walk from the car park) and in the air just after 7am.  A quite uneventful start to the journey, apart from having to completely disassemble my carry-on luggage to have it all swabbed for explosives at security – they’ don’t seem too keen on lots of electrical stuff, he kept muttering “unbelievable” every time he uncovered another charger.

We arrived at Alicante slightly ahead of time to bright and very warm sunshine (25deg C)

The Mercedes, or similar, 9 seater we had ordered turned out to be a Fiat (nothing like a Mercedes), but apart from a terrible gear change should serve well.

After heading south for a short while (should have used the satnav!) we managed to turn round and head north and we arrived at the villa just in time to meet the rep, but too late for any lunch.   The villa definitely lived up to expectations (if not quite as clean as certain parties would have liked) with stunning views. loads of technology and a welcome Welcome Pack.  Unfortunately the pool was not available as it had just been cleaned and was full of chemicals.  We were told that the pool man would be back at 6:3pm to sort it out, but in the end he didn’t get there till the next morning (we are in Spain!).

Into the Arenal to find a supermarket and a quick late lunch (for some – beer for others) before heading back to the villa, via the Masymas.  After a cup of tea me, Eunice, Lou and Tony took quick trip to find the quick route down to the beach.   This unfortunately is vertical, so I think we’ll be yaking the long route down in future.

One or two (well just one really) wanted to eat out, so Iain took Lucy out to Scallops on the Arenal while the rest of us had very tasty baked potatoes with cheese and the odd glass of wine.   Got to bed about 11:30pm.

Memory of the day :  Lou’s baked potatoes.

[photos to follow when we sort out the internet]