August 21st - Elche

The last episode of An English Fool Abroad With his Sketchbook, Summer 2018. Thus ends the expedition, not exactly with a bang, but then not a whimper either.

We left for the hospital relatively early today, and were there before 10 am. We were quite hopeful that John would be allowed home today. He’d not been put on the nebuliser last night at all, which we took to be a good sign. So we took the big car, put the wheelchair in the back, and generally acted as we would if he was definitely coming home.

So we went up to John’s room, and we waited. And about 12:15 the Doctor put in an appearance. He told John that he could come home, and we gave a little cheer. However, we couldn’t go until they’d given us some forms and some medicine. Fine. So we waited again. It was between 90 minutes and two hours, but finally we were good to go.

By way of celebration we parked up by the nearest restaurant we could find, which was almost in the actual shadow of the hospital. This was the Restaurant El Mixto – El Mixto literally meaning ‘the Mixed’. Well, maybe not the most exciting name for a restaurant, but an appropriate one, since when you sat down you were confronted with three separate menus – the Spanish Menu, the Chinese Menu, and the Japanese one. The food was great, but they have a rather idiosyncratic way of serving a party of three. Jen was served with her starter and main at the same time. John and I weren’t served anything. Jen almost finished eating before my starter and main arrived together. John wasn’t served anything. Finally John’s starter arrived. Not his main, mind. That didn’t arrive until long after Jen and I had finished eating, and John had long since finished his starter. Oh well, as I said, it was extremely close to the hospital, which was all to the good. Normally I find that the hot weather is an appetite suppressant, but I was so hungry by the time we left the hospital that I could have eaten a scabby dog. In fact . . . no, let’s be fair, the food in the restaurant was fine.

I could have maybe gone on a another sketch hunt around the village after we got back, but then enough is as good as a feast. As it is I have just one double page left in my sketching journal, and that will do for the airport and for the journey home tomorrow. If you’ve been with me for the whole trip, then thanks very much. Watch this space for An English Fool Abroad with his Sketchbook again later on in the year.