We are still in Barcelona enjoying the sunshine, walking on the beach where everyone tells me the young ladies are almost wearing bikinis, I of course don’t notice, the ocean is warm and the sky is blue and we are struggling to keep cool. And I am of course dreaming it is very cool over here, maybe not as bad as back in the UK but jeans and jackets are required instead of shorts and t-shirts.


A bit of a problem for me as I for some reason expected it to be warm enough for summer clothes so that’s all I brought but naturally no problem for Christine who also brought summer clothes but has now made three trips to the Barcelona shops and now owns a new Autumn Collection. I can spot a issue coming up in that when we came to Barcelona Christine’s case overflowed into mine so I’ll wait for her solution as to how she will get all her new purchases home.


Although someway along the line I can see it’ll be my problem and I’ll finish up leaving enough of my stuff here to get her new stuff home.



The kids are very excited this trip they have been adopted by Dougie Kitten a little cat that has taken to living outside on their back terrace. When we arrived the kids were giving it a milk drink now and again but since Christine’s arrival we now have cat food in the cupboards and it waits outside to get fed morning and night and in between times it does cute tricks outside the patio doors to keep everyone’s attention.Its aim is obviously to get into the house and become the family pet.


It has two problems to overcome, Alex who doesn’t want a pet as she knows she will be the one left to look after it and clean up any mess it makes and Dave who simply won’t have in the house. Grumpy or what! Well not really he is allergic to cats although he can be found from time to time on the terrace playing with little Dougie Kitten.


The problem created by having a kitten on the terrace outside the patio doors that isn’t allowed in the house is that it holds everyone hostage. Open the door to go out and he is in quick as a flash and even if you get out you can’t get back in again without him getting his foot in the door. So here we sit in the middle in the day when it still gets quite warm with the air coniditioning on as we can’t leave the doors open.


It’s obvious that at some point either the kitten has to go or they must let it come in, it makes no sense being held hostage in your own home by a very small ball of fluff. Will the kids and Grandma have their way and let it in or will Alex and Dave find somewhere else for it to live? We wait to find out.



We all seem to be unhealthy with coughs and colds at the moment which in my case I put down to the weather and the Bodega. The weather is stopping my keep fit routine as there is no-one on the beach and The Bodega is open again leading to nightly sherbets before dinner. Of course there may be other ways to keep fit but not as much as fun and as for the sherbets, lack of will power I’m afraid.

Tucked away in Castelldefels is a bar run by an Argentine guy called Alfonse which is unfortunately about three miles away from where Alex and Dave live. I say unfortunately because it is just over walking distance home after a few sherbets. When I say it’s just over walking distance I mean almost three miles over walking distance. Particularly when the local Bordega is just around the corner but Alfonse has one thing the Bordega doesn’t supply. Football.


Living abroad it is not always easy to see all the games you want particularly when your friends are possible German, Turkish, French or Argentinian and of course Spanish all wanting to watch their own football leagues. Well this is where Alfonse comes in.


In his quite small bar he has the most astonishing television network I have seen all controlled from his PC behind the bar. He directs and controls his several satellites masts to pick up channels from all over the world and puts them out on one of his TV screens for whoever has asked for that match. It is quite usual for him to be showing six different matches from across Europe at any one time with the further a field games to come on later.


So there we were last week, in the Argentine bar in Spain, drinking Argentine bottled beer watching Arsenal play Steaua Bucharest on ITV4 from the UK whilst the group next to us were watching Sporting Lisbon and on the next TV was Manchester United with the big room tuned into Barcelona. But this isn’t really what this is about.


What this is really about is Alfonse attitude to people who just come in for a drink. Basically he doesn’t get on with holiday makers, which is perhaps a little surprising as his bar is in a holiday resort. But he seems to be very happy with his regulars and I have never known him not be able to get any match they require.


As for holiday makers, a couple of weeks ago two Brits wonder into his bar a little bit loud and a little bit worse for drink, but not too bad and notice us watching Arsenal on the TV, they suggest to Alphonse that he should put a big poster outside advertising English Football and all their holidaying friends would be around to watch. With that they dash out to round them all up for a Saturday of football and drink. Unfortunately when they get back five minutes later we are in the back room watching the soccer and Battle of the River Plate is on in the bar and by now of course Alfonse can speak no English. They eventual leave and Alfonse rubs his hands chalking up a victory for Argentina.


But there are things I have seen him draw the line at even for friends. Cricket just did not grab him. After four overs, five runs and no wickets of an England One Day international he suggested we find somewhere else and closed his bar.


But last Sunday took the biscuit, Alfonse as I have mentioned is from Argentina and as everyone following the Rugby World Cup should be aware they had unexpectedly reached the semi final against South Africa. So we have gone along to see who England’s opponents are going to be in the final and quite naturally to support Argentina not just because we need to keep on the right side of Alfonse for the football matches but also because we think they may be easier to beat in the final.


The problem is that all the local Argentine population is also in the bar and the big room with the big TV has a group of girls on holiday enjoying themselves drinking and generally having fun, not causing any problems and probably quite nice to look at although I of course didn’t notice. Their only problem is that they have wandered into Alfonse's bar and are not interested in the rugby, the seats are required by more suitable people, Us.


They probably don’t understand even now what they had done to suddenly found themselves on the street outside the bar with Alfonse taking their drinks off them. Alfonse is rubbing his hands chalking up another little victory as we all settle down to watch the Argentine destroy South Africa.


But not to be, it turns out a sad night in the bar. A couple more beers, a quick change of channel and it’s Estudiantes verses Bocca Juniors. We must go home soon it’s a long walk.

We are back in Barcelona. It’s seven in the evening and the temperature is still a balmy twenty three degrees. The tall maple trees are swaying gently in the almost non existent breeze creating long dancing shadows as the late evening sun serenely sinks into the ocean. The wispy cirrus clouds in the otherwise pure azure blue sky drift almost imperceptibly towards the horizon as the rich aroma of tonight’s meal wafts hungrily across the balcony.


OK that’s enough of that but it is quire refined don't you thnk David. What I am trying to say is that it is another beautiful evening over here and I am outside cooking on the Barbie at 7pm on an October night with a bottle of cold beer and Joe my grandson helping. These are the times that I know why I retired early.


We arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday and on Friday morning Alex and Dave set of for a long weekend watching the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup in Marseilles so we have a week end with Joe and Amber to look forward to.


So plans need to be made, trips need to be organised, board games have to found, packs of cards, things to make, we need to get ready so out comes the Black Book. Well it’s actually a different Black Book as Christine has left her Pink Black Book at home. Christine is busy doing other things and doesn’t seem too interested in planning ahead so I start to make lists.


Friday after school complete all homework, Friday night watch DVD. Saturday morning we play maybe Monopoly or Scrabble and after lunch a bike ride to Castelldels for a drink and some Tapas and then home for another DVD. That should do nicely.


Sunday we can walk down to the local shops for whatever food we have run out of, and after lunch perhaps a walk on the beach and a swim in the ocean. Follow that with a game of cards before an early night as it is back to school on the bus on Monday. Need to be up early.


I show Christine the plans and actually she seems less than interested as she carries on doing whatever whilst I am doing the important bit of organising our weekend. So with no further input available the plans are agreed and we have a day to ourselves until the kids get back from school.


Christine meets them as they walk back from the school bus and they all seem deep in conversation as they come in the house. I immediately show them the plans as I know they will be excited but then again perhaps not, they also seem less than interested and smile at grandma and go off to their bedroom to get changed.


An hour later I point out that the Black Book says homework and as yet I have not seen any being done. They both look at me with the same sort of look I often get from Christine. “Grandad we have been at school all week, it’s very stressful we just need to chill for a while” they both say “We will do the homework later”. Friday’s DVD also disappears as they are still chilling in their bedrooms. I assume they will come out at some time if only for a meal.


Saturday morning’s games turned into “we always have a lay in and a slob on a Saturday Morning Granddad”. Saturday afternoon’s bike ride was cancelled because both the kid’s bikes had punctures, so they did homework whilst I sorted the bikes out and the evening DVD was also cancelled in favour of bedrooms, laptops and the need to keep in touch with numerous people around the world.


So now it’s Sunday, the shopping trip is cancelled due to lack of interest so that just leaves the beach in the afternoon. Amber’s friend Natalie arrives and they are now re-mixing Hilary Duff songs with images from the internet to post on You Tube. What ever happened to playing Monopoly and who on earth is Hilary Duff. Joe is of course into much more serious conversations regarding homework with his friend Nick from school.


But what do you know Joe, Amber and Natalie all want to go down the beach so at least I got one of the plans OK. A walk and swim is followed by more bedroom time with their laptops and as bedtime arrives Joe can’t go yet as he is halfway through an episode of Simpsons and Amber simply cannot turn her computer off yet as she has so many friends on line. I give in and pour another glass of wine.


The weekend is over the kids are back at school for another stressful week and Alex is on her way back from Marseilles so things should be back to normal later today. But perhaps not for long. Alex and Dave were there to watch England stuff the Aussies and are now trying to get tickets for the semis next weekend if we don’t mind looking after the kids again.


Well don’t expect me to make all the plans, that all I can say. I seem to have missed the bit about them growing up. We did get to play cards but the last time we all played it was Fish, Cheat or Rummy but now it’s Poker, Texas Holdem it appears, with all the proper poker chips. We played on two nights Grandma and myself did not win.

Well the shopping day has arrived. I set of to take Christine and Margaret to York to do some winter clothes shopping with the intention of finding a decent coffee shop somewhere, getting a morning paper and whiling away a few hours until they finish their shopping. Maybe we will meet up for lunch, it depends if they can tear themselves away from the shops.


But what happens when we get there? There are lots of posters about a food and wine festival taking place and when we get to the town centre sure enough there are a lot of stands with all different types of food and would you believe stands with bottles of wine waiting to be tasted.


I very quickly get Christine and Margaret on their way to the shops and I start to look round. I notice the stands with the wine bottles and remember the Food and Wine Festivals out in the Bahamas, I also remember that the first one I went to out there I spent sixteen hours quietly sleeping off an excess of sampling so maybe some restraint is needed. It certainly is at the moment because I am driving but just maybe a text to Christine reminding her that she is driving home may be a good move. Perhaps she will think she has agreed so I send the text.


Now working on the principle that having sent the text and not got a reply she has agreed I head for the first wine stand. Well it is eleven o-clock, the school bus must have gone passed somewhere in the world. I have also turned off the phone to ensure a reply doesn’t arrive.


I decide to start with a little white, nothing to heavy before lunch so to start it’s some very nice Sancerre and Chablis followed by a delicate Burgundy and a couple of samples from Savoie, where we have just been on holiday with Chris and Gwen. This is very difficult because so far no money has changed hands, they just keep pouring the wine. Bearing in mind the Bahamian Festival experience I decide to explore the food samples on offer.


Naturally I decide to pick at the free samples before spending any actual money, I am a pensioner remember so I set off in search of food. Mushroom Stroganoff is followed by Sweet and Sour Pork, only sample helpings remember so they are quite small. I then discover the sausage stand with the English Breakfast Sausage as well as the Cumberland Sausage and that’s not to mention the many other varieties of filling including Blue Cheese and Apple.


I quite liked the sausage stand but reluctantly move off to investigate what else is on offer. I think it’s wise to move on before either they have no sausage left or the young lady behind the counter decides to throw me out. So what’s next?


I come to the pie section. Can the day get any better? A small sample of Game Pie is followed by Pork Pie with red currants on top and after a couple a sausage roll samples it is obviously time for some more wine. The Rioja and the Bordeaux nicely wash down the pie and I decide that it’s about time I catch up with Christine and Margaret.


Turning the phone back on I have a couple of miss calls from Christine so I ring her back and explain the phone reception where I am is not good and I have only just got a signal back.


She tells me they are just going for lunch and as it’s only a sandwich I set off to join them. So over a prawn sandwich Christine agrees to drive home which is probably a good job seeing as I have by now had thick end of at least one bottle of wine in various samples.


As Christine and Margaret set off for an afternoon of shopping I pop back for some small samples of cheese and chutneys with side orders of Salami, Chorizo and perhaps a little Serrano ham. All in all it’s not been too bad day for a day out shopping and it gets even better when we arrive home.


Christine ‘tries on’ the clothes she has bought from M&S and decides they don’t go with whatever they were meant to so they are going back to our local Beverley store tomorrow, a nice little saving. But then both Christine and Margaret decide they don’t want to cook tea so it’s off down the pub for fish and chips and a carafe of wine. As we watch England stuff the Tongans the ‘not too bad a day’ is now a brilliant day. Just think people have been at work today, this retirement is OK.

Well we are home again and guess what, it’s still raining. So after our few weeks in the sunshine of Barcelona and the French Alps it is back to the real world, rain and Christine’s Black Book.


We have only been back a few days and already I have painted one bedroom window and according to the Black Book there are three more to go and that’s just the first item. There is a lawn to lay, a compost bin to set up, trees to prune and the gutters to clean all with my name next to them, but what I don’t really understand is the note to herself saying “winter clothes from York”.


Next week we are going back to Barcelona for a month or so and we will be over there again for Christmas, so I can’t see the need for winter clothes, which I mention to Christine. I also just happen to mention the wardrobes and drawers already full of winter clothes that have not been used for the past two years or so while we have been over wintering in firstly The Bahamas and now Barcelona.


Christine looks at me with total exasperation, as if I ought to understand. “Those are winter clothes for English winters” she says “not for Barcelona. I can’t wear the same winter clothes in England as in Barcelona, totally different styles”. With that she pencils Wednesday in the Black Book as the day to go shopping in York. I assume the styles of winter clothes in York are similar to those in Barcelona but I keep this comment to myself.


I think back to the Bahamas days and remember that Christine had clothes that were only suitable for the Bahamas and now we have clothes that are only for Barcelona, I hope Alex and Dave don’t up and move again anytime soon I can’t keep up with the shopping days.


Mind you I think we may need some English winter clothes before we go back to Barcelona next week, we have just had mugs of hot chocolate at Hornsea Freeport shopping centre with the temperature at nine degrees, for those still in Fahrenheit that’s about 48 degrees in other words pretty cold for September. I mention to Christine that we could have stayed in Barcelona but she just opens the Black Book and looks at the list of jobs and shakes her head.


But on a different note we have just booked our Christmas flights with Ryanair with the return flights costing 2p plus airport charges which sounds pretty good and comes to about £30 each. But then it goes downhill. A further £10 is added to put a case in the hold, a further £4 to use the check in desk and a further £4 for using a credit card. So the cost of a 2p return flight is actually £48.


Why don’t they just charge the flight at the right price and stop adding on all the extras, it’s Dixon’s Car Services all over again or the Habitat tables that could only be delivered. I have just looked at a return rail journey from Hull to London and the cheapest fare is £53, so a return to Barcelona at £48 is good value. So why annoy us with the add ons? Just say what it costs up front. OK that’s my rant for today.


On a plus note our garden is looking very good, my sister Margaret and her husband Howie are staying with us at the cottage whilst their house is being rebuilt following the floods in Hull so she is spending all her time putting our garden right for the autumn. At least that’s some jobs that won’t appear in the Black Book for me to do. If I can just get her to take the wall paper of the dinner room whilst we are away on the next trip that will be another job off the list. Then there’s the bathroom to decorate and one more bedroom but maybe that’s going a bit too far.......!




The even better news is that by time we get back to Barcelona next week the Bordega will be open again so all will be back to normal, long lunches followed by a siesta and dinner at eight thirty with Dave and I turning up late around nine.