Hard to believe…
This year I have surpassed myself and achieved many firsts – I paid my first ever trip to Mariano’s, the famed 24-hour chicken outlet just past the indoor market in the Rincon. It’s amazing to see it rammed at 4am with revellers returning from a night out and getting the munchies, digging into a plate of chicken and chips. Mind you, I must admit I only managed a coffee… slowly slowly as they say.
I invested in a pair of lycra leggings and trainers – well if truth be told, the trainers were my daughter’s and I have now adopted them and in the summer I became an honorary Liverpool supporter when they played against Tottenham (I can’t actually remember what cup it was for and not really motivated enough to google it either but am certain as night follows day that someone will educate me). That’s already a hat-trick!
Then on Saturday just gone I joined my friends at the poolside of the Marina Hotel to watch the England v South Africa Rugby World Cup final on the giant screen. Now my knowledge of football at best is limited – I know that there are 11 players and each half is 45 minutes with the objective of getting the ball in the opposition’s net. As for rugby – well that really is just way beyond me – but I certainly enjoyed the atmosphere and watching the groans and build up of excitement as England came close to scoring.
The game kicked off, I assume that is the correct terminology, at 10am Spanish time and I was somewhat taken aback that copious amounts of beer was already flowing. I’ve heard of the term ‘liquid breakfast’ but thought that at least a beer would be accompanying a fry up of sorts. But this was just hard core drinking, something I found quite hard to get my head around at that time of the day. One interesting observation I did make when driving in was the lack of any police presence or television crews – unlike when any major football matches where being played. Last year when England was in the World Cup, there were ugly scenes between fans and riot police on Calle Gerona after the match, all of which was relayed across television networks and appeared in both the Spanish press and UK tabloids the following morning. There was also a heavy police presence this summer for the Liverpool match but thankfully there was no sign of any trouble. Maybe it is just a reputation of British football fans that signals the riot police, with helmets, shields and batons be at the ready?
Almost all of the bars had their huge screens on, broadcasting the game to fans – but I did wonder who the Welsh, Scottish and Irish fans would be supporting, knowing the fierce rivalry between the four nations. Would they have been cheering on England or the Springboks? It was definitely an extra bonus for all the bars – a little prequel to the Benidorm fiestas and the British Fancy Dress Day in particular, which takes place on Thursday, November 14! It is Europe’s biggest fancy dress party although if I am honest, last year seemed a lot quieter than previous years. Wonder whether it’s the airfares, rocketing hotel prices or poor exchange rate which is putting people off? With stiff competition from the likes of Greece, Egypt and Turkey, Benidorm needs to be careful not to get too greedy and put Brits off. But the bunting has been going up ready to welcome all those that do make the effort by many of the bars.
However, it was fabulous that the weather was so sunny over the weekend, with summer wear still out in force – incredible considering that we are now in November! We certainly have been blessed this year with an extended season. It turned slightly on Sunday, with heavy winds blowing, resulting in a red flag going up but it wasn’t cold by any means. The water sport kiosks at the end of the Levante beach were at long last being taken down, which signals the end of the summer season to many, but the weather this week has still been incredibly mild. I haven’t even thought about putting the heating on yet – I’m still under a light summer duvet… but I’m sure autumn and winter will catch us up at some point. Until then, we’ll just relax and enjoy.
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