20th November Setting off for sunny Spain

 

As with all our jollies away, the major thing to achieve on day 1 is to still be speaking to each other by the time we reach our destination. Tune in later to see if objective one was achieved. 

With flurries of snow falling in Matlock we decided to drive to Buxton, leave the car there, and take the 199 bus across to the airport. Standing at a freezing cold bus stop, my trousers, fashionably fit for the Benidorm sunshine, were certainly not suitable for the actic conditions of mid Derbyshire. Thankfully the heaters on the bus soon helped to thaw out my legs, a situation I am sure Mo Farah didn't have to contend with before his big races.

Formalities at the airport were very quick despite TOM having his crutches swabbed yet again for gunpowder residue or traces of hard narcotics. It was like being in a real life episode of Border Control, only without the need for rubber gloves.

 A mini delay getting on the plane, but with both our possibility oversized bags managing to avoid detection, just over 2,5 hours later courtesy of East Jet's crumple class and we touched down in Alicante, where the new multi million pound EU border security system  couldn’t detect my fingerprints.

A brief respite allowed us to grab a cup of coffee at the airport before the 45 bus ride along the coast to our final destination of Benidorm. With the help of a fellow passenger we alighted right in the centre of 'the strip' and with the help of his directions and Google maps, we were checked into the hotel Gala Palacidio just a little after 10pm. And amazingly we were still speaking to each other!!

A swift half sat by the pool, purely for rehydration purposes you understand, serenaded by the sound of "Glinda', this evening's star artist, and we were both ready for bed, certain to dream about the delights of Benidorm that lay waiting for us in the morning.