Preparing for Blighty yet again. I wish I had shares in Ryanair!

Hi Guys From a surprisingly rainy and coldish Spain. Corr have I been busy. Doing what? Heaven only knows but nipping backwards and forwards to the blooming UK is becoming a favouriter pastime. No not favourite..Im not that sad! Life at Marjal continues to be pretty much the same with the normal but the weather hasnt been too bad. I have entered theSpanish Health system which somehow seems to have taken up most of my time and is a real education in itself.
aving been released from the excelleny spanish hospital that undoubtedly saved my life I was put on medication. We bought it over the counter and it came to about 140 euros for a month medication. ouch! Thinking that I was being clever I booked an appointment with Medcare, a British Dr at Benijofar. 90 euros. Thank you very much. What a waste of money! I had gone as some people are apparently only on these expensive drugs for a month, others 6 months etc and you cant just stop taking them. I wanted to know what I can and cant do etc. All I can say is if you have any suicidal thoughts do not go there! No padel?! No alcohol! No red meat! No fat! No dairy products! Not even a cup of flaming tea. Her words were "Dont go drinking that semi skimmed stuff. It must be totally skimmed! See you ina year!" What?! Is she for real? Dave was feel ing as dispondant as I was. We got in the car. He said "What are you going to do now?" He could seethat it was a rare occassion that I was lost for words. "I can tell you what YOU are going to do next/ Take me to a restauramt and buy me an f off piece of steak with a glass of red wine!" Yum! Its not something I normally do, well the red wine bit is! Life is not worth living. Rollocks to this. I managed to trackdown the Consultant cardiologist who treated Dave 9 years ago. Well he obviousdly did something right as hes still here! I tracked him doen. He had retired from the NHS but worked 2 days a week privately. Yes an appontment! Ryanair booked! One big problem..they cant turn my blood resulrs round in 24 hours in Hull! Ok. I will get Medcare to take my blood andf take the results to Hull. 200 euros please! Despite knowing the urgency etc, and assurances that they would be back 2 days before I flew I found myself demanding my blood results from Medcare an hour before I flew! Avoid stress she said! She was the bloody cause of it! My blood pressure through the chuffing roof with rage!
Anyhow getting off a plane in Leeds at 5pm is not stressful at all! I love traffic jams on motorways! My daugher and grandaughter had picked me up. Time to stop for a coffee. Costa Crap. 2 coffess 2 biscuit things and a drink of Pepsi.hardly any change from 20 pounds! Yes 20 pounds! Im surprised you didnt hear the Yorkshire War cry "How much!" Its only 1.20 a cup of decent coffee in Spain. Thats about 80p!
Anyhow without turning into Mrs Mildrew or her sister. The appointment went great. When I askred him if I could dtink he looked at me as though I was stupid! Exercise? Of course! oh what a sensible man life was so much better except I have to stay on the expensive tablets! He was greatly impressed with the condition of my heart as there is minimal damage and it is just about normal. I asked him to repeat it..something about me is normal?!! He stated that Spain is leading the way in cardiology but there afterv care was a bit hit and miss! "no shit sherlock!" He put it doen to the speed of their intervension....phew! A family meal and a flight back to spain. All very civilised except for the bloody hen party that was going to Benidorm and about 2 rows in front of me. Dave was waiting for me. "You ok?!" "No noyt really Ive just bumped the car!" Ok he was trying to break it to me mildly. Anyone who knows Alicante airport car park will know about the low and narrow concrete walls..well believe me they are strong! 600 euros worth of damage to the car! sH""T Happens. I think it hurt his male pride more than anything else. So life carries on as normal with a dented car and a dented husbands pride! Could I care less after everything thats happened? Could I hell!
A very good friend of mine suggested that I got a SIP card. This is a bit like the Spanish EHIC but sallows you to use the Spanish Heathcare system. Most people only pay 10 p[ercent of the cost of their medication..hmm I will have some of that! Well what an education that was! Into Crevillent we must go. To the Social Security Office! Ive never been in a Social Security Office in my life to claim anything! Anyhow its wierd. There are Doctors, nurses, a health centre in the same building! Eventually we get called through and within seconds I am the proud holder of a SIP card.I have arrived. I couldnt see a Dr the same day spo I madr an apppointment for yesterday at 1030 in the same building. Well firstly its all so informal and really quite nice in a bizzare kind of way. The Doctor came flying to her office at 10.20 to start her day! Queues of people to see her. I just sat like the others and was eventually seen over an hour later! She was so ordinary! No airs or graces. Friendly and helpful. I was given a prescription for 6 months supply of my tablets. Victory! Its all been worth it..until I went to the pharmacy! I have to pay 50 percent because Im only 55! If I was 60 I would only pay10 percent! Did I choose to have a heart attack at 55?!!!!My dad has a lot to answer for! Its all heriditary! S""t happens! Thank goodness I have a decent pension. It does make you think of those less fortunate who would be struggling. Many out here just cheat the UK but our Doctors imposed very very strict rules...now dont get me going on that one as honesty is not always the best policy! lol
So why Blighty today? Well when my brother was taking me to the airport he received a phone call that his operation is due to take place on Friday in Hull. Its on his leg and he lives in a flat ON A FIRST FLOOR with no lifts! Good old Hull Royal. He has to be there at 0730 in the morning. My daughter live the otherside of Hull and has to get her daughter to school etc. Theres only my mum who is also in Spain so Ryanair win again! Blighty here I come! I cant wait to hit Leeds at 5pm and sit in traffic jams! Yorkshire the largest County in the Country and no decent friggin airports only in the middle of the Moors on the outskirts of a busy city! Grr!!! Please can we have Heathrows new runway or HS2 or whatever?! Northern Powerhouse , City of Cultutre and all that rubbish.. we cant even get there! It takes me longer to get to the airport than it does the flight! Knowing the way my luck has been running of late the hen party will probably be on their return flight! I have a spanish learning programme downloaded on my tablet that I use on the plane..Given the amount of time Im spending in aircraft I should be fluent in Spanish  by next week! oh and broke!
Oh and if anyone else says to me "You going all that was with your heart!" My stock reply is "Well I dont want to go without it could I?!" Dont we all say some stupid but well meaning things?! S""t happens. Im still here! Get over it! Move on! Have a good day. Adios amigos!

Even if you don't know you are ill-come to Spain!

Well whoever said that keeping slim,eating healthy and playing sport is a damned liar! oh yesSo since coming back from Morocco I have bought a tegine and have been eating so many vegetables it's untrue. My idea of cooking is to open a bag of salad. I still haven't fathomed how to open some bags though and at what bloody gas mark they should be cooked at. I do love chocolate as that's another "ready meal". When I can't be bothered to make a cup of tea wine is another "ready drink" so what is the bloody problem?! I have been playing padel 3 times a week and going swimming and I'm always riding my bike- My heart is the bloody problem! I'm not even that chuffing old!
I was "warming up" last Wednesday to play padel and oh how I cursed having my Weetabux" before I played..only problem was it had nothing to do with my Weetabux I was having a heart attack! Forget all the nonsense about breathlessness, just a pain in the centre of my chest and sweating. If I was to do it anywhere this was the place! My mates and fellow padel players were fantastic. No wonder the NHS is in crisis-all the best nurses were retired playing padel with me! I hadn't realised how many of them were retired medics!  Even when I'd parted with my bloody Weetabux all over them-they didn't give up on me! Absolute stars. Apparantly the Guardian Civil were the first to arrive.."oh they have come to fill in the death report but they are too early!" thinks me. I later learned that they are like first responders! Anyhow an ambulance arrives but they are not happy with me and call for another. At this point I'm not too happy with me-but hey Ho another arrives with a doctor on board and before I know it I am flying-well it felt like it up the AP7. I guessed I was in a bit of bother when I was aware of the blues and twos going! (no wonder I was a candidate for the CID!)
Anyhow before I knew it I was in this state of the art hospital. I mean really state if the art. I thought I was just having an x ray but there were a lot of people around. Next thing I really knew was that I'd had 2 stents put in! How amazing was that?! Quick,efficient, painless, oh and so clean with lovely lovely staff. I was transo erred the their Intensive Care which was different! It was more like an individual glass room! This was probably the most painful part and difficult. My arm ..ouch..the bruising where they had gone into my main artery and not being allowed to move!   As you can imagine someone like me got more rollicking than a few! My entertainment in there was seeing my bruising come out!

How many colours? looks as though I had been ran over! 

 A small price to pay. After all this I really thought that I had lost the plot as well and was halucinating -I could see my daughter Katie. Yes she literally jumped on a plane and was here the same day-even though we live a good 2 hours away from any airport in the Uk! What a surprise.
The following day on to a ward. No not a ward. My hotel room! Yes that's what it was more like and the same design! I cannot fault anything except the food

This was breakfast..dried toast! oh how I wished I had hung on to that Weetabix! 

Things could only get better for tea..?!

How the hell do you manage to burn vegetables and then serve them up cold?! That must be one of the advanced cookery courses because even I can't manage that one! It was so funny as they kept giving me laxative powder that I didn't take. When asked why not I laughed and said 'I haven't eaten enough to make me want to go-keep your laxatives!" The weight I must have lost! 

Anyhow on Saturday I was finally given bail from the hospital.I tell you it was far better than BUPA or any of our private hospitals. Clean? They were obsessive! Spotless. Nursing staff? Clean, slim, smart and I'm afraid to say so efficient, unlike many of ours today. Their appearances were the striking difference and their caring,friendly attitudes. In all my time there I never saw one that was overweight. They were all make up free, jewellery free and all had their hair smartly tied up but all wore a smile. I will never be able to thank them enough. Without being political or offensive to anyone in our current NHS and even private hospitals there is something seriously wrong with our system-well certainly in Hull! So how much did it cost? Oh what a time to discover that your EHIC  card ran out 6 weeks ago! No problems I'm pleased to say...a fantastic Group Travel Insurance that took care of it all! Lesson learned. Go and check your EHIC card now!

So back to the campsite. Corr people...you are all amazing! kindness is the understatement 

! Good wishes, cards, presents. My awning looks like a florist shop! Thank you all. I really do appreciate it.For heavens sake if you plan on being ill make sure it's in Spain!

Exciting Times Ahead?!

Ok guys after my visit to Morocco I was somewhat exasperated as I fell in love with parts of Morocco and was frustrated at what Tours were on offer so I decided that I wanted to do it better! Some apparantly involve wild camping and to say dubiuos places would be me being very kind. To put it mildly I would not take anyone to some of the places that I went to but some were just simply to die for! Quite by coincidence a friend of mine who also owns a campsite had come up with the same idea as myself that we believe we can do better and do a luxurious Tour to the nice places and nice campsites so we sat down and have gone for it! She fell in love with the place like I did and really believe that it is the next Spain! Yes some of the beaches..dare I say it..were probably better than Spains! Places were spotlessly clean and it was incredibly safe! This was not what I was expecting!
Please can you go to my web page oooh get me.... no thats not the name of the company its www.letsgotouringholidays.co.uk! If I was clever I would put a posh link on here but I am also on facebook. Please could you like it and share it. We take our own Coach with us and its all legal, insured etc etc. We hope to add to our Tours shortly.
So thats a lot of exciting stuff done but its involved as lot of hardwork so because I am a mug , brave or incredibly stupid I am braving taking my mother camping! Yes you are never too old! She is in her 80s. She would kill me if I said how old. We are only trotting up to Javea just to show her another bit of Spain and of course to the wonderful Scallops restaurant. Well it would be rude not to I will be damned if Im cooking! Its so blooming hot here still but Im not complaining and it has a lovely pool and beach.
I also need a break from my new addiction..padel! I used to think that the spanish were mad but now Im totally hooked. I played one morning and went out in the afternoon to buy a bat/ Dave laughed at me until yesterday. He had a go,and yesterday went out and bought a bat  too! Give it a go. Its a really good sport but if you saw Dave walking today Im not so convinced that it did him so good! We are playing first thing in the morning and then off to Javea. We will get withdrawl symptoms.I only wish that I  had bought shares in Decathlon!
So not a lot else to say apart from adios and please check out my website!
http://www.letsgotouringholidays.co.uk/

A Mixed Experience-but I love Morocco!

Ok guys Ive been quiet for a while but  I have been exporing places new as Ive nearly ran out of the european continent. I had the opportunity to visit Morocco with another Tour Operator to see if it was suitable for Britsh motorhomes and Caravanners. In other words "guinea pig!"We were to travel with the other Operator so we left our caravan in Spain and off we went in his van. One thing anyone ommitted to tell me was that he keeps 12 dogs. Can ypu imagine the smell in 30 degree plus heat?! Not the best of starts.
We crossed from Spain and into Tangier Med. It was interesting to see a few Immigrants trying to get out of the Country and into Europe. Just an hours ferry ride away and to another continent but it feels like another world.Amazing looking from the ferry. On one side there is Spain and good old British Gibraltar and then there is Aftrica! Crazy or what. The entry formalities into Africa were pretty straight forward. We reached our first stop at a place called Matril. Wow! I could have been in France! Immaculate. Beautiful promenade,. Immaculate beaches, modern hotels CLEAN beyond belief. Modern Hotels that were aslmost American standard

 The thing that amazed me most was the ladies dress! There was such a mixture. Some women were wearing all the Islamic clothing on the beach. Some moroccan ladies wearing western style clothing and then mixed amonst them were totally western visitors and no one batted an eyelid. Girls in bikinis and others in burkahs all on the same beach! I guess that is the ultimate tolerance.
We walked into the little nearby town and watched the world which was really interesting. There are 2 types of taxis. The petit taxis and the normal ones. The normal ones are old mercedes and the only rules are you can get as manty people in as will possibly fit! We saw one taxi with 10 people in! Health and Safety "what is that?!" A normal form of transport for a family is a moped. No crash helmets. Wedge the baby or young child in between its parents and off they go! One thing that was also very apparent was how safe I felt. Yes amazing. The most immaculatre police officers on almost every junction. Nearly everyone speaks Arabic or French. At this point Spanish seemed to be the third language but in the hotels and cafes english was spoken.We ate at a local cafe and all I can say is that the food was excellent! Yes I was amaazed. The locals were so friendly and smiling. What a different, relaxed way of life. Morocco couldnt be that good surely.
Our next stop let Morocco totally seduce me.We visited Cherfchaouen. What a place. Its only since about 1930 that they have let non muslim people in. Its known as the"blue town". What a vibrant place.Culture and history in abundance coupled wit the most friendly of people.

Dont ask me what the hell I ate but as you can see from my plate it was empty! They just kept bringing more and more food. I thought it was never going to stop!

What a hive of activity at night with little alleys which are the souks

Restaurants and cafes galore. It seemed strange to see people sitting outside with only water or mint tea! No alcohol in public!

 I fell in love with this charming little place. As I was walking down one of the narrow alley ways some young boy tapped me on my back " Oh my god" fearing the worst at how stupid I had been as I realised my handbag was not fastened. He was tapping my shoulder to tell me . and everything was there-yes I really did feel safe! I really wanted to spend longer here.
We then frove on t osee the Roman Ruins of Volubillis and then on toMeknes market

Sorry- this just tickled me! 

The colours, the smells. The hussle, the bustle. I love it! I really wasnt too sure about the next place but then I was welcomed into a Moroccan house for a homemade meal WOW!!!!

 Vegetables to die for with couscous and lamb

The village from the roof top

I made some great friends. We were something of a novelty seeing westerners. We managed to get by in a little french and I tried to teach them some english. What genuinely lovely friendly people who welcomed strangers into their homre and showed such generosity and warmth yet compared to us they have nothing! 

The next day we visited a school. The little girl in the pink dress broke my heart. She spotted me from miles away in front of her classmates she gave out a squeel and just blew me kisses! I had to leave as I stood there a wreck crying! There classroom was so basic. It was so humbling, yet they are rich in so many other ways. I weill never forget her.

Onwards towards the great Sahara desert and to another Hotel. I do hasten to add that I was looking at campsites along the way! In thge middle of nowhere, appeared on the horizon....

This was another incredible experience. The solar panels power the hotel during most of the day and then at 6 pm at night the generator starts up to provide the electricity! It was well over 40 degrees here and by heck you were grateful when the genrator kicked in to start the air con! The other interesting thing here was all the different nationalities staying in the hotel, Portuguese, New Zealand, Moroccans, Egyptians. It was like a UN convention! Because the Hotel is so remote the staff actually live on site. 

Onwards we go down the most scariest road imaginable

 Actally it doesnt look scarey there. but believe me it was! We stopped at a campsite and then off to Marrakkech, via the film studios at Essouria
Another world!

Ther fantastic Ibis Hotel with a free pool! Breakfast included and SOOO Cheap! Thank god for the pool!

Square of the Dead at night. You just HAVE to go. I could not possibly describe this atmosphere here!

I fid the touristy bit and visited Yves st Lauren gardens. We stayed 2 days but 2 weeks would not have been long enough. The amazing thing is that we then hopped on to the most wonderful motorway and were back in Spain in no time. Marrakech for breakfast and Spain for tapas, passing British Territory along the way! 

We did stay in some grotty places as well as the nice ones. There are good roads. Some hotels left a lot to be desired

My en suite! The smell kept me wake all night!

Prisoners are kept in better cells in our Country!

Hey but what a fantastic experience. I learnt so much and thats what it was all about.  Yes Morocco is an amazing place and I cant wait to go back. There are some great roads, great campsites , great hotels. I have been busy. Thats why I havent blogged. Without giving too much away all I can say on here  is WATCH THIS SPACE! 

Wandering again-what a difference 24 hours can make!

Well after we had Hosted the Russian Tour for the Caravan Club we had a lovely week camping with our grandaughter in North Yorkshire and after that everything went down hill, Including the British Summer! We suddenly had coughs and splutters that we hadn't had for at least 5 years and had forgotten how grotty colds are. We simply couldn't shake it off.  One day it was pleasant and sunny and then there was rain,damp and more bloody rain! We were extremely fortunate that the Club wanted some muppets to do a "recce " in Morocco  so who did they ask? Hmm "do we have mugs written on our fore heads?! How could I say "no". We have taken groups across there before but never really stayed..so here goes! All that was far too easy. Getting a ferry at fairly short notice was also problematic due to the problems at Calais more people are looking for alternative routes. Eventually we managed to squeeze on to the Plymouth-Santander Ferry on Sunday night. We were only able to book a 4 berth inside cabin but hey Ho we were going! Thank goodness we left Yorkshire early. The M5-what the heck is all that about? ! 9 hours to travel to Taunton! We really are a third world country where our basic infrastructure can't cope and even if you ever managed to get into fourth gear beware of the speed cameras at 50mph! Eventually we stayed in a CL which was basically a pub car park. £13.50  A night! No showers and only loos when the pub was open! Oh the business was up for sale and he informed us that no matter what he shut the pub at 10pm! What?! The pub was quite busy but true to his word it closed at 10pm!
Sunday morning came and the Devon hospitality continued to excel Thunderstorms, lightening and the forecast predicted a tornado! In torrential rain, coughing and spluttering we headed slowly and carefully for the docks. ......dockside and sunshine! The ferry was late in but who cared we were getting on it. The wonderful Pont AveN that we have been on many times over the years.  Yes she is old but has been taken care of and has had at least one major refit to my knowledge. We opened our cabin door with no natural light and it was dim to put it mildly but it was clean and the beds felt comfortable. We had a lovely meal on board and bought at the bar! Unlike the pub where wine was £5 a glass and P and O prices things were reasonable. Not cheap but not a total rip off.  A great evening. The sea was like a millpond until 2am! Wow! Angry wild sea,tossing our little boat all over the place. I am not a good sailor and I'm not frightened of water but I was seriously beginning to wonder if I could swim ashore to France if I had to!  Things flying, crashing banging all around us. Security were closing the bars and restaurants and apparantly everyone was told to stay in their cabins.  I say "apparently" as at 2am I was already well in the land of nod. Things in our cabin were creek ing and it had nothing to do with our bones! Awake all night as in between the tossing (behave!) staff were using the lift that's shaft ran next to our bloody cabin!
Anyhow we arrived safely with no swmiming involved. In a different world. Few cars on the fast and efficient motorways.  Sun shining. Beautiful scenery. Tired as we were it was a sheer joy.
We only drove for maybe a couple of hundred miles to an old favourite El Astral at Tortillas, South of Burgos. The pool was open. Kids having fun. Sunshine,warmth,cleanliness all as standard. What had I been thinking of?  We needed euros and milk. We just nipped into the town.  Free parking just about everywhere. Just being able to "nip". No bloody machines to pay. No yellow paint plastered everywhere. What a difference in 24 hours! A drink of wine on a lovely terrace  €1.50! Well it would be rude not to! Hey and not only do I have a phone signal but spot on wifi in the caravan! Why the he'll would anyone WANT to stay in the UK?  How can they afford to camp there?! The waterproof clothing and groundsheets are already dried out.  Our coughs and splutters have gone. I've had a great nights sleep, now what shall we do? Breakfast outside watching the world wake up and a day at the pool?! Yep the only thing that's not here is my family but hopefully I will catch up with them again soon when they fly out to us. All I can say is wandering is the best way of living! Europe is the best continent but who knows what Morocco will bring? I do know that I am one very lucky old gal!

We actually went camping in Yorkshire!

Ok so I've been quiet for a bit. The reason being is that I've been camping on the North Yorkshire Moors. O2 and all the other network providers don't think that the sheep need phone or wifi signals! The sheep might not but there again I guess we went up there for something different and it didn't fail to deliver! We decided to take our 5 year old grandaughter away for a week. She is camping mad so we knew that we wouldn't have any trouble on that score.
wow researching campsites in the UK,  what a minefield! Initially I went on the Caravan Club Web page to check out there sites as they are always good but.. £25 a night was just not going to happen! The Yorkshire lasses war cry reached fever pitch "how much?!" Some had different offers on but at the end of the day it was all about the same price. All I wanted was a clean toilet block,electric and water. In an ideal world a playground too. I then checked out CLS in the area. Basically farmers fields. £20 a night! The world has gone mad! After hours of research I found

£12.50 a night that fitted the bill perfectly. I telephoned. The lady said "That field is full. We have another 2 fields that take caravans" That will do for me £12 a night! Great. OMG we didn't bargain on the first bit of excitement as soon as we arrived, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance arriving on site. There had been a car accident on the road outside. It looked bad where the car had landed but fortunately there were no serious injuries but what a first class display we got!  The wind from that helicopter tested our awnings! The scenery was simply stunning with the modern aircraft in the foreground. 

After that excitement we had a look around. This was a real working farm and we loved it. Cows in the field next to us. Opposite was a cow who had literally just given birth, There was a donkey with her baby, goats with their kids, chickens, pigs and a super playground and toilet block...Heaven for less than half the price!  We virtually had to drag our grandaughter away from the site! We HAD to go to Whitby,or rather I wanted to!

Even in grotty weather this place is still stunning!

A really great boat trip out of the Harbour is on the replica " endeavour ". Fun but educational. All about Captain Cook. Even for grown ups (well nearly grown ups!) It really is inspirational what this man achieved.

We also visited Scarborough. Well we visited several times to be honest!

The first seaside resort in the Country and some things just haven't changed since I was a kid and probably my parents time too! 

Hmm.  She kept this business interest quiet!

She fancied herself as Doctor Doolittle

Now who said painting by numbers was just for kids?!

On Saturday we visited one of the Many country shows. Horse jumping, dog shows, rare breeds etc etc. Molly has a habit of mixing with the wrong people and was quickly led astray

We had a great time enjoying the simpler things in life. We couldn't help but notice all week that the CL up the road didn't have a caravan on all week, yet the site we were on was busy..hmm anything to do with price and sheer greed?!

Honestly, I know I am biased but Yorkshire is simply stunning. The locals are friendly, although we noticed cars from all over Europe there, maybe trying to find some good old English nostalgia too. Nothing has changed. Time has stood still.If Queen Victoria dropped by tomorrow she would still recognise the place! This campsite and area I would recommend to anyone. My only complaint is the prices of things £38 EACH to get into Flamingoland! North Yorkshire Steam Railway simarly priced. Caravan sites empty. No one using them?! Hmm why?! Stick to the simpler things and you can't go far wrong and save a fortune. A great week. If only it had the weather I wouldn't leave!