Went to visit a friend who lives in Southern Spain. She comes from Scotland, lived in Amsterdam for more than ten years and now lives somewhere between Alicante and Valencia airports. She has a beauty salon and we went to be pampered.

My friend ET from London and I stayed in a fab finca, run by two Brits. My other friend Harsh Betty was tere at the same time - she stayed with Beauty Salon owner and had the pleasure of BSO's handful of a three-year old.

The whole area is distinctly lacking in Spanish vibe - its all Germans, Dutch and the omnipresent Brits. But we had a good time, avoiding tourists and ex-pats by heading to a lovely Spanish beach in our hire car most of the time. We nearly went to Valencia as I've been told its a gem of a city - but frankly, the weather was too good to waste on a car trip and a city wander.

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We stayed in Benissa, or Calpe, or Moraira, or somewhere. We trooped off into the hills to a Sunday pork loin meat-fest with a bunch of friends. We went to various bays along the peninsula. We visited a brilliant church that was designed with a roof like the hull of a boat (and sported a Jesus made of rope on the outside wall). We ate a lot. We even discovered a restaurant which used Delftware mugs of traditional blue and white with windmills on them. Go figure.

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