Another day of a cloudless sky greeted us all as we gradually emerged from all our rooms to have a leisurely breakfast outside. There was no firm plan for today for everyone but after a discussion it was decided that 8 of us would walk down to the marina and beach at 10.15am whilst Alex & Susie opted to stay behind to chill by the pool.
It was a very pleasant walk and we were soon admiring many of the large boats moored up in the marina trying to pick which one we buy if we had the money.
We made it to the beach. I found walking on it was not so good for my knee so walked along the wooden pathway instead. It was only a short distance to the café that the girls had discovered the previous day and we all made our way there. On the girl’s table they all had a cold Frappuccino whilst the boys had a mixture of beers and coke zeros.
After enjoying the café for probably far too long we made our way back to the marina and thought we would walk slowly all around it. It was by now getting very hot. We met a girl walking a 13-week-old cocker spaniel that even Karen said she wouldn’t mind taking home.
Eventually the lure of a posh ice cream shop proved too much to resist. Apart from Karen who wanted a hot coffee we all succumbed. Even I had a small tub with a mixture of Lychee Raspberry, Coconut and Plain Chocolate. It was delicious.
Walking back, we look at various restaurants to see if they were options for my birthday meal out on Sunday. We were almost back at the villa when we came to a Bakery that had some nice seats outside and full of locals. Karen & I decided to stop and have a drink and perhaps something for lunch whilst the others all headed back. I had a couple of the Brazilian Cheese Bread balls with a Custard Tart whilst Karen had a miniature chicken pie also with a custard tart.
Whilst I am enjoying spending time with everyone it has felt as though I hadn’t spent any time with Karen since we got here. So, we felt we had a proper catch up and lingered here again probably longer than we should have. Then we called in Spar to buy 3 additional custard tarts to replace the ‘missing one’s and put them in the fridge so that it would appear they had just been misplaced. I also saw Spar branded litres of wine for 99 cents and got one for us to try later.
The rest of the afternoon was spent just lazing around with everyone outside.
It had already become custom before dinner for everyone to meet outside for G&T’s. Graham put on some music and after a failed attempt to get us in a mood for Eurovision tomorrow we quickly decided to we wanted something more local. Trying to make it very local, first of all I found the Singing Postman and followed it up with The Nimmo Twins and their version of ‘Living Next Door to Alice (Carol).
Very quickly we realised that the words could be changed for those residing in Ashby to ‘Living Next Door to Alex’ with usual the rude refrain chanted afterwards. Ian immediately changed the words to the chorus to being all about Alex as well. By the time the track ended we were all crying with laughter.
This set the scene for what was to follow.
For dinner we had Sardines on the BBQ followed by Prawns again. This time though the Prawns were heated in a pan with Olive Oil & Garlic as they had been difficult to peel cooked on the BBQ. They were superb. Then we had fresh Tuna cooked on the BBQ. It was the best Tuna I have ever had. It was just a shame that Tuna isn’t Karen’s favourite fish. This was followed for everyone else by caramelised Pineapple cooked on the BBQ. I opted for another custard tart instead as Pineapple is not my favourite fruit as I find it terribly sweet.
During all this time the wine was flowing very freely as it turned out more freely than any other night. We suggested before Graham put some dance music on that we should have a repeat singing of Living Next Door to Alex which even Alex joined in with. There is video footage available upon request.
Jo wanted to dance and we all suggested to Graham what we were trying to call ‘Bangers’ for him to play. In reality it was all music that we all being of the same generation had liked in our younger years. Gradually everyone got up and we were all dancing and singing to the tops of our voices. Even Graham was cajoled into dancing by Jo. It was just as well none of the villas nearby were occupied with all the noise. Sarah at one point was dancing on the table much to everyone’s equal amusement and concern.
Then nearing the end of the evening Sarah wanted to play Spoons again. In the end only 5 of us played as the others were still dancing. I believe I was distracted by joining in the singing that it ruined my concentration playing and I soon lost my hard-won title.
It was a proper full-on night where everyone let their hair down. At 11.30pm we closed it all down and cleared away as tomorrow had an even earlier start for the golfers.
