Hello, and let me first off start by
apologising for tonight’s somewhat truncated episode of An English Fool Abroad
with his Sketchbook. It’s not so much that I don’t want to tell you what
happened today, as much as nothing really happened to tell you, and there’s nothing
remotely funny that I can say. What’s new? Charming.
Okay, so today was pretty much a
nothing day, a recharge the batteries day. I didn’t think for one minute that
anything was going to go desperately wrong, or that Jen was going to have a
relapse and have to go back to hospital, but on the other hand, I just didn’t
want to take the risk. After all, we’ve had two hospitalisations in two visits,
and they do say that bad things come in threes. Having said that, off the top
of my head I can’t think of that many bad things that come in threes. Well,
excepting the obvious example of Bananarama, that is. There will now be a short
pause for younger readers to ask their parents/grandparents about Bananarama.
All back now? Okay. San Isidro, near
Alicante, is a village/small town of about 1500 inhabitants, which was largely
built from the 1950s onwards, close to the former site of a camp where General
Franco used to send people whom he didn’t like to disappear. Incidentally, I
learned last year that Alicante was the last large city to hold out against
Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Coming back to San Isidro, the fist sketch
I made, which is of an ordinary cul de sac just literally around the corner
from the Casa Me Duck. Now compare these houses with any British residential
estate built since the start of the second half of the 20th century.
Okay, they might not be everyone’s cup of sangria, but at least they look like
houses built for people, not boxes built for animals.
Coming to my second sketch of the
day, this is what used to be the Café Rincon, literally the corner café, in the
village. I say used to be because it’s all shut up now. It’s a bit of a shame
because on pretty all of my previous visits there’s always been tables outside,
under a canopy, and it’s been a great place to enjoy a coffee – I don’t think
I’ve ever had a bad coffee in Spain – and to people watch. The good news is
that the new café Rincon has opened just over the road, but this place does
hold some memories, not the least of which was Jen’s last milestone birthday
party a few years ago.
And that really is it for today,
gentle readers. I haven’t any firm plans for tomorrow, but Jen has seemed
better today than yesterday, so we’ll see. Tune in tomorrow to find out.
No comments:
Post a Comment