Murcia

We reluctantly leave Jalon and head down to a new stop near Murcia for a few days and a visit in to the city. The Aire is part of a huge retail car park with more space than they know what to do with so fits the bill nicely for our purpose

Nina spots a Christmas Puppy in nearby Ikea

(Less looking after than the real Larry, hey Deb!)

I prefer sausages at Xmas TBH....

There's an excellent new tram system in place in the city with a stop near us so decide to walk in but tram it back in the evening

Eventually we find a really nice cafe for elevenses'

We had to move from here shortly afterwards as the sun was just too strong (at last!)

The route in is not sexy with lots of development work going on, alas not in this case

Nina's Nirvana, Yuletide shopping heaven..

Murcia's Town Hall

€1.00 a pop for a quality beer, bargain!

Plenty of big green areas here in this busy city where folks can chill

Water urn fountain that just needed switching on really..

As with so many Spanish towns and cities its easy to get lost in the maze of tiny streets and passageways so rooftop towers and Maps.me become the navigational aides for the day

The 'North Remembers'

Perhaps a 'Bridge Too Far' as we decided to take a look at the other side of the Rio Segura to discover  far too much walking was required to do it justice so wandered back to the old part and those tapas bars...

It was the Catalonian parliamentary vote today and we were aware of more Spanish flags than usual, perhaps just a sign of allegiance and a public moral boosting exercise given the area is a long way off

Apparently Christmas is around the corner

In the Plaza Circular the man made light & sound tree dominates proceedings

We stuck around here in the evening and listened to the local gospel choir bang out their seasonal offerings which they did admirably.

We'd walked a big day today so decided the swish new tram was our sleigh ride home...

Altea/Benny/Jalon

Its a beautiful winding road that leads us down out the hills to the metropolis known as 'Benny'

I'm taking no chances here getting recognised

Us, but on a bad day!

Yes we hit the tapas bars...

and yes Picadilly karaoke bar saw us misbehaving,,,,again!

One of many glittering hotels that are packed this time of year with 'The Older Folk' and thats OK because why would you stay in damp, cold Britain in the winter?

Our hard working elders deserve some sun on their backs in later life... 

We are settled at 'Camping Villasol', strangely not packed as it was earlier in the year, and these guys are up the coast similarly holed up but in the posh end of town at Albir...

An RV via Max is a defo and soon we are strolling the promenade under blue skies towards Altea

After a lot of hunting around the Old Town Tracker Elliot..

Spots a brace of restaurants atop the hill next to the old church

We settle in the 'Octopussy' (I had my reservations at this point) restaurant for a superb menu del dia

Both Salmon & Entrecote dishes were divine..

A couple of days later Keith & Chris step off the bus on the top Benny road to be met by their tour guides and hastened away back to 'Our Gaff' for coffees and convincingly large brandies on the terrace overlooking the site's pools

It sort of went downhill after that 😂😂😂

'I can see daylight through your tabs Pete!"

'Riviera Girls'

Our companions are dragged in to one of the cheap Tapas bars to get them lubricated for their tour of Benny

No visit here is complete without experiencing the unbelievable offer of 5 tapas and a jug of beer/bottle of wine for €5.00 all in...

They are on their way now...

Its still lunchtime BTW 😂

Several Tapas bars later Keith poses with his Catch of the Day up on the high ground overlooking the two bays

Its at this point later in Picadillys (They forced us to go there honest Guv) Keith demonstates his ability to wind up the Looky Looky guy plying his trade in the bar by using the product but not actually buying it...

To be fair he didnt ask for a demo fee either so the guy got off lucky

The Elliots forced us to endure this place from around 7.30pm till past 3 in the morning when at last they let us go home 😂😂😂😂

There are a lot of grainy videos and photos that alas wont make it to this post but remain on the phone for further embarrassment at some future point in time

Nina was 'apprehended by the 'Lady in the Red Trousers' for a duet on our way out and so broke her karaoke duck at long last

(We both said never again, but it was really good fun!)

We leave our Chums behind and head back to Jalon for some R & R for a few days walking the valley and visiting the nearby villages

Just needs a roof really

Last of the Walnut crop

Its on the list don't worry...

View of Parcent where we ate our packed lunch in the church square in glorious sunshine

Some really nice properties here sat up in the hills overlooking the valley

The village of Alcalali

Lunch here perhaps on another day?

The vines in winter mode sharing the surrounding land with orange plantations