Tuesday was a damp and cold day, drizzled most of the day, clearing up a little in the evening. Rosemary and Carol visited the market in Jalon, finding it rather wet and cold. John and Steve went to Benissa for the evening provisions, meeting up with Rosemary and Carol in the Hallelujah Bar for beers and coffee.  No pictures from today, so have inserted one from previous day to colour up the blog.

Chef was on form today with and excellent rabbit stew in an almond sauce (Conejo en Salsa de Almendras).  Nothing was left over for the dogs or cats.

Up again for breakfast by 9.00.  Quick drive into town to buy some black pudding and eggs, but were

defeated; nothing was open at all.  So home again for a store cupboard raid, ending up eating the intriguing mushrooms from the market on toast, thin slices of fried black pudding, fried tomatoes and potatoes and Heinz baked beans, oh and of course some Cava to celebrate Sunday.

Into the charabanc and a drive to the seaside resort of Altea.  Altea is just North of Benidorm.

Saw the large boats in the harbour, a fish farm out to sea and the tall skyscrapers of Benidorm in the distance.  We walked up the hill to the church, through lots of nice, narrow, winding paths, streets and alleyways.  Arriving at the top with a rather disappointing view of the closed church.  This area was filled with rather posh shops, and lots of restaurants, and we were enticed into one such place for a glass of beer each.

On the way back, we stopped off at Calpe in the hope of viewing the flamingos from a nearer spot.  Rather difficult to get near the water’s edge from that side.  Ended up Steve walking

down to the rushes on the edge, not seeing the flamingos.  Drove around to the other side and found the little pink beggars had already flown off.

Home and back to the warm fire, with a Sunday evening roast of chicken, potatoes and flat and the red mottled beans form the market (which had lost their stripes in the cooking).  Early to bed, but Steve undertook a little bit of nighttime photography first – but of views, nothing else!

Up for breakfast at 9.00, and then out to Senje for a walk up the local hill.  The walk takes us around the back of the hill and to the top where there is a white cross.  The land around here looks terraced, but in fact it is where the rocks have been removed and piled up in rows to allow plants to grow.  We did pass by old wells and a deserted farmhouse on this walk.

On the way home, stopped at a supermarket to buy some prawns for lunch, which were eaten with garlic and (Chris’s) lemon flavoured mayonnaise.  After a few glasses of wine, into Jalon where Rosemary & Carol went scrubby thingy shopping and the men to the local wine co-operative to replenish our stocks.  Ended up buying a bottle of sweet wine, and 5 litres of rose for a satisfyingly ludicrous price.

Back at the ranch, Chef prepared an excellent repast of pork chops with a caper sauce, those being the female-chosen ingredients for Chef’s latest Ready, Steady Cook test.

Up unnecessarily early to catch a flight from Luton to Alicante, Rosemary is a bit of a worrier when it comes to catching flights.  Flight left Grande Britannia in sunshine and landed in Alicante in bright sunshine, early and without the fan fare of Ryan Air.   We were met, greeted and promptly ferried to the Villa in Lliber where Carol and John were staying.  On route we had a good view of Benidorm and Calpe rock. I do admit Benidorm is quite an impressive view, when seen from a distance.

Quick settle-in and then lunch followed by a walk through the local vineyards, back to the Villa, more wine and drinks followed by Rabbit Paella cooked by

Chef Juan.