Sunday, 5th February: moved to new digs in the El Carmen part of the old town. The check-in was handled remotely – a first for me: on arrival outside I called the AirBnB host who opened the door lock via a  phone app, and the keys were waiting inside – very slick. Comfortable, equipped with all the essentials, strong heating – useful today as it’s colder and has rained – though rather gloomy inside, with  the only view of the sky being from the kitchen, which overlooks some sort of abandoned archaeological site,  and making it a stretch to describe it on AirBnB as a “Renaissance gem”. So, not a huge deal, but a bit of a disappointment.

By way of contrast, some more views of the modernistic buildings in the Turia gardens, taken during a ride down to the beach:

9th February: Jimmy Glass Jazz Bar

It turned out that a well-known  jazz club was very close by, and I went there with Javier to see the American tenor player Scott Hamilton who was performing with a local rhythm section. He’s been a presence on the international stage for many years and, while not a leading figure, has appeared on over a hundred recordings, both under his own name and with others. His style is mainstream, deriving more from Lester Young and Stan Getz, rather than the Charlie Parker or Coltrane tradition – melodic and lyrical, mainly playing  standards: Autumn Leaves, Caravan, … Not ground-breaking but very accomplished. It was also a treat to enjoy a gig in a small venue, sitting close to the band.

17th February: Birding La Mancha

A trip inland towards Albacete with Virgilio. This is his Trip Report. We found two of the target birds, Little and Great Bustards, fairly quickly, thanks to his local knowledge. In spite of continuing issues with the new camera I managed to get some flight shots.

Among others we saw Iberian Grey Shrike, Hoopoe, Flamingos, Cranes:

Wide open country, very thinly populated, red earth, accessed by a network of public tracks:

19th February: Morning ride with Ángel along the dunes down the coast to El Saler, then to a restaurant near the airport for calçots: a cross between spring onion and leek, and a speciality at this time of year served in a few restaurants. They are roasted and served on a terracotta roof tile, the outer leaves stripped off and eaten suspended from above, a bit like the way the Dutch eat raw herring.

Friday 24th Feb: Anne and Rich

They arrived late on Friday and checked into their AirBnB, just around the corner from mine. On the Saturday morning they got bikes from one of the many rental shops, then we rode down to the Central Market, stopping for chocolate and churros on the way. The dozens of traders are mixed together, with the spectacular fish and seafood section along one side.

We climbed the 207 steps of the nearby Michelete tower, rewarded with views all-round from the top: the sea in the distance, mountains on the other side, the track of the Turia park (the former riverbed), and right below us, the roof-tops and narrow streets of the old town. Then down to the dramatic buildings of the Arts and Sciences complex. For lunch we headed into Ruzzafa and the excellent Masusa restaurant. Just warm enough to sit outside (with the help of a gas heater) and we shared a black rice seafood paella, with starters of croquetas and aubergine in batter.

Back to our respective digs for a siesta then we gathered at my place for a simple supper of bread, cheese, jamón, salad, fruit salad and a bottle of local red.

Sunday, 26th Feb: I called on them around 8:30 for a run along the Turia, 2.5km there, 2.5k back. After breakfast in the nearby back-street café we rode down the Turia as far as the harbour, marina, and beach. Their rental bikes were due back at 1pm, after which we planned to see the opening event of the month-long Fallas festival, called the mascletà (from the official tourist website: “The city vibrates every day with the traditional mascletà, a concert of explosions of gunpowder with a unique sound that takes place daily at 2.00 p.m. in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.”) However, as we were running a few minutes late we found ourselves wading through crowds of people coming the other way, as it turned out that the mascletà only lasts (a deafening) ten minutes!

Hastily recalibrating, we went instead to lunch in the small square in another part of the labyrinthine old town where I stayed last year and had a relaxed meal of calamares, papatas bravas, and chipirones tapas. Perhaps worth adding that here, tapas are plates rather than small portioned ns, so sharing works fine.

Monday, 27th February

Went over to meet Alan and his children Nael and Lola in Patreix, where the final finishing touches are being made to his impressive atelier. He and I go back a long way to Holland.

Later, said good-bye to the rental bike, and had a final meal (lamb tagine) with Ángel and Elsa.

Tuesday, 28th February: Heaved my 19.5kg bag into a taxi for the airport for a late morning Ryanair flight. Michael met me at Bristol airport and, after  lunch in a newly discovered greasy spoon in Knowle, he dropped me off at Temple Meads station for the train to Abergavenny,  where Elaine picked me up for the last miles home.

We boldly set out to join the local Park Run only to find that it was cancelled due to the wild weather. It was blowing a serious gale so we instead did our own shorter version up and down the sea front. A modest 3.1km on Strava …

Bright blue sky on Sunday, though a cold wind still blowing at over 30km/h. Along the front, past the Upside-down house. Eggs Benedict for brunch then searched for pebbles with holes and watched some acrobatic kite surfers.

Tuesday 22nd February: after leaving Alcocebre I headed up the coast on the AP-7, past Tarragona, Barcelona, and Girona to the French border. Easy driving on immaculate Spanish roads, though an accident somehow smashed a piece of the concrete central barrier(!) and blocked the road for over an hour. While we were stuck it was noticeable  that two of the static lanes were full with lorries and just one with cars.

Got to Richard’s about 6pm. He and I go back a long way (over 65 years!) and we see eye-to-eye on most things, though I don’t share his enthusiasm for Bridge. Good long chat over supper, with the escalating conflict over Ukraine on the agenda. No prizes for guessing that our sympathies were not entirely with the Kiev regime …

Wednesday: following long-standing tradition, we returned for lunch to the Grand Café des Sports for steak tartare with all the sacraments (mustard, capers, shallots, parsley, Tabasco, Worcester Sauce (nb the ripped-off Heinz version, not the original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire version, unfortunately), tomato sauce, … plus their most excellent chips:

On the last occasion, a few years ago, Richard had an argument with the waiter whom he accused – rightly – of being rude or, at least, very off-hand with Flo who had joined us. In reprisal, we sanctioned the place (to use a popular  term), though the measure probably affected us more than the café, as there was nowhere else serving a good steak tartare. However, we held our nerve and time solved the issue for us when the waiter in question left, allowing us to lift the sanction …

In the evening after supper we watched Almodóvar’s classic black comedy, Volver.

Thursday  25th: the final day of my trip, so time to head back to Luz. Good to go away but also good to get back …