Camping at Marjal Costa Blanca. A husband barely alive!

How I haven't killed him I don't know! He WILL look after his teeth and go to the bloody dentist as soon as he has a bit of toothache. Sod this macho stuff! Grr!
Yesterday we visited a Spanish dentist in Catral that had been recommended to us. He was lovely. Both him and the nurse spoke fluent english. The offending tooth was removed-hey presto! An x ray and then he said the terrible words " I've had to put a couple of stitches in when I drained the infection. Can you come back on Monday or Wednesday?! Ahhhh we have to stay even longer! No! We agreed to go back on Monday. The escape plan is just not going very well at all! The other amazing thing was the bill. We had been quoted 70 euros at Medicare just to remove the tooth. We paid 45 euros and that included the x ray, stitches and removing them! Dave has learnt his lesson and has promised to go back to get everything sorted in October if I don't kill him first!
I spent most of the day yesterday sewing an awning zip in 28 degrees heat but it saved me from being bored.The outdoor pool isn't even open so I might venture to the beach today.
Now yesterday I received a Facebook message from a friend regarding the Dieppe/Newhaven crossing. I shall try and copy it here as all in all it sounds a pretty scarey experience....

Its not a crossing that I use regularly and its certainly put me off. It seems the problems aren't confined to Calais anymore!  Oh the joys of touring! It seems so long that we toured I can barely remember it! 

Ah well things could be worse...at least I'm packed up and ready for when we can eventually escape! Have a good day folks!

Camping at Marjal Costa Blanca . Get us out of here.

OMG the least of Davids problems is his teeth. His wife has become the bitch from hell. I've had enough if the sympathy rubbish now and I think even he agrees its well past our time to leave. I've also come to the conclusion that private Health care here is not always the best and its very much " hit and miss".
Dave had an abscess on his mouth on Saturday. I took him to a supposed " international' private hospital where the nurse didn't speak a word of english! Only Spanish...I know I'm in Spain but this advertises as International and english speaking. We were with the nurse for less than five minutes and she gave us a prescription. Bill 95 euros. A little on the steep side and we were told we had to ring and make an appointment Monday morning to get the tooth extracted. Easy enough one would think and in fairness the pain killers and anti biotics began to work.
Monday morning I called IMED dentistry." No one speaks english". OK so this isn't going to work. I can just about get by in Spanish but talking about health issues is a different matter on the end of a telephone..Me care! Yes they advertise as english speaking and my own experience with them was good. Yes they would see him yesterday...too good to be true and it was! 'We can't take the tooth out,even though its loose until you stop taking your heart tablets for at least 5 days!" What? Risk having a stroke so that he can have a tooth out?! Has this dentist gone mad?! Now I'm no medic but there's a reason that the Doctor put him on this medication more than five years ago and to suddenly stop taking them?? Its going from bad to worse...I will just get the bloody pliers out myself!
I know I will try IMED again " do you speak english please" reply 'no' ...'can you put me through to someone that does speak english please?" ...'no!" and slams the phone down! What? How much have I spent here and I am going to spend here?! Fuming wasn't the word. I e mailed IMED to complain. I left messages everywhere. Now what?... Retail therapy to improve my foul humour! I went with Lynn shopping and we found the best sticky bun shop called ' Tummies' in LA Marina. A lovely little tea room with home made bread and cakes. I'm sure that they were all calorie free ( not!) Yummy. Not cheap but not OTT Highly recommended!
OK I came back here..battle on. I had heard of a very good Spanish dentist that spoke good english in Catral...off we went. What a difference. Instantly they checked all Dave's medication " no problems. Don't stop taking the heart tablets. We can extract the tooth on Wednesday!" When you sit down and Annalise everything its about private healthcare making more appointments than necessary to charge you or the insurance company more money..95 euros to see the nurse?! The proof of the pudding will be in the eating..
We had nicely got back in the car when my phone rang. An english speaking dentist from IMED! 'Yes the heart tablets are not a problem. We can take the tooth out on Thursday!" Too bloody late and you be had your chances! They had a licence to print money and they blew it! They can speak very good english when it comes to asking for money but not when I need help! We shall see but after having a good experience of IMED I have had one so/so and this horrendous experience.
OK so we are resigned to the fact that we are stuck here until Dave's better but it does feel like a prison now. All the things Marjal promised that they wouldn't do they are found. I'm absolutely cheesed off being woken at 7 am every morning by some motorhomer who just wanted to stay one or two nights. Heaven knows they have enough empty pitches now. Why put them in the middle of people who are staying long term?! It is also very much a security issue. Suddenly we are all having to lock everything away. At the weekends its soooo noise and at times was a bit much to drive down the road......5 Spanish units on this road alone. I don't mind the Spanish but their culture is so very different. I have come to the conclusion that Spanish children must be born deaf because even when a 'mother' is talking to a child-they are shouting! I know I'm loud but at least I come with a volume control! I definitely think its time to move on..we are being driven away! Hopefully Dave will get his tooth out tomorrow or its my right fist! One way or the other we are going! Its also really hot here. 28 yesterday and probably the same if not hotter today and no outdoor pool open! WWW. Bored.com! I even cleaned the car and caravan! This is getting serious. Countdown now to the great escape! Have a good day!

Camping at Marjal Costa Blanca-what a 48 hours!

I seem to think that I last blogged in the middle of the surprisingly high winds that weren't forecast. Well my little awning did manage for a time but then its main support ( the awning rail of the actual awning began to loose strength. Rather than losing the entire thing with the help of our lovely neighbours it was quickly taken down and we were confined to barracks in the caravan.
When Dave had got up that morning he was even uglier than normal and had a slight swelling to his face. Being the caring sympathetic type ( not!) I had taken him to the chemist and bought anti biotics over the counter as he had either been bitten in his sleep ( not by me!) Or he had an abscess.Ahh well husband broken, awning broken..shit happens!
O dear he got up this morning and I am living with the elephant man! Really,really ugly! Lumps on his jaw and up to his eye. Even his mouth was bigger than normal. No messing, straight to the private hospital at Elche IMED. It advertises and prides itself on speaking english.....well not on a bloody weekend they don't! Admittedly the receptionist did but that was it. The nurse confirmed an absess and prescribed more antibiotics and pain killers. 95 euros for the pleasure of seeing a nurse?! I should have charged her for me translating!
Anyhow I don't think that she liked Dave as the pain killers have just knocked him out. He's slept all day and that's even with the noise Spanish around. If this is a 'warm up' of things to come I'm really pleased not to be staying here this summer. Hell on earth!
So my playmate was broken. I didn't have an awning to even bloody sit in! I went to my mums to examine my damaged awning and I quickly repaired it. I can't believe that it was ever going to hold. The main awning rail hadn't been sewn on but glued! I ask you all that pressure and with the heat?! Derrr! The sewing machine came out again and I can now confirm its sewn on good and proper. I just wish it was as easy to repair the old man! We were supposed to be leaving here on Monday but I think we ought to get the old man fixed first. Fortunately we had allowed ourselves plenty of time and I could do the drive in two days if I had to.
I was so bored that I even washed the car! Yep that is bored. As usual there was a queue. It got me thinking again as people are still complaining about the price hike and lack of facilities particularly on D block. The campsite has bays for 4 car washes/motorhome service points. Why is only one operational?! OK so the vast majority on here are either cars or motorhomes. There have been approx 1200 units here using the one facility! Come on how much does another length of hosepipe cost?! That's all that's missing to have them all open! Why was I cleaning my car there? The campsite advertises that it has a car wash!  A little useless information coming up here...have you ever wondered why you never seen the Spanish cleaning their cars in the street or even on their own driveways? Its because its illegal! Yep crazy but true. Now tell me that this isn't an educational blog!
Well they say that things come in threes don't they?! Some silly bath cube repaired the monstrosity of that fence opposite and stood laughing!

Don't worry Mike I've had a word with your neighbours and you should see what they re building! 

Ahh well tomorrows another day. I've got to make the front bed up as I all be dammed if I'm sleeping with elephant man...hmmm I wonder....trunk?! No cold drink and bed.....sweet dreams folks!

Winter Camping at Marjal Costa Blanca. Spanish Healthcare

Well my mum is out here with us. She owns a fifth wheel on this site. Last week she did something to her eye and it didnt seem to be getting any better. You only get one mother and one pair of eyes so as it was not a medical emergency I booked her into the private IMED hospital at Elche to see a specialist.
What service! Even BUPA have something to leaarn here and I cannot even begin to compare the NHS. Wehad an appointment to see a specialist in under a week. We arrived at this most amazing modern building that truly resembled a Hotel. Marble floors even in the lifts!! Mum saw and Optician first of all and the equipment was like space age. Then on to another room where her eyes were examined using a laser and then to see the specialist and more "beam me up Scottie" equipment. My mothers eye was then shown to me on a Tv Screen! She had bad lacerations to her cornea and cataracts. She could be operated on next monday for the catarcts if we chose although it was not urgent. The pain was being caused by the laceration. Al involved spoke very good english. Two hours later, having seen an Optician and a Specialist and all that expensive equipment -the bill?! 90 Euros! That was all! I couldnt believe it! It would cost more than that to walk through the door of a  blooming BUPA hospital and as for the NHS we would still be there! Im sorry but the NHS is a thing of the past or there should be a two tier system like here. Why cant I have those facilities and that service in the UK? I have paid all my life and dont mind paying a bit more if I get that service! The Peace of Mind was worth every penny or rather every cent.
On my way back to the campsite I saw the daftest thing going. You often see nutters on bikes taking their dogs for a walk using a bicycle carrier thing. Its like a kids buggy that fits behind the bike. Well are these people getting confused between a dog and a baby? Taking a dog for a walk when it sits in a carrier and some muppet of a human being pedals a bike?! Have I lost the plot or have they?! Well I could just about cope with this situation, though it is bloody crazy but today I saw one with a cat in it! Yes a cat in it! Mother confirmed that it was a cat and she now has nothing wrong with her eyes as she had just seen the optician!  Hello! Its a cat!! I have a sneaky feeling that they are motorhomers from the not so friendly club! Oh and by the way they had those muppets matching cycling crash helmets on! Im suprised that the cat hadnt got one on-maybe I ought to suggest it! Sometimes I am so ashamed to be a camper! Or Maybe I should suggest that they should also visit IMED but there again they might just get sectioned!