Oct 14th Raining in Menorca

April 22nd ...Day one of the season... me un my roomie Amanda looking white and fresh,  full of anticipation ready to conquer the world of Tourism....

October 14th

Today it is raining in Menorca.... Thank goodness my girls are here with me so we are having a lazy wine and chocolate day... doing absolutely nothing.....hence catching up with my final blog.. unfortunately not been a very good blog site as life turned out to be a lot busier that I expected.





The weather for October has been excellent and I could have been on the beach most days at some point.... the beaches are all back to the wonderful empty spaces that they were in May... 





My girls have arrived on the island and we have been out and about but the island is so very quiet, all the bars and café and restaurants are closing down for the winter, still at least they are both relaxing from their hectic life styles... We have done some sight seeing so that they can get the real sense of Spanish life.. The old town of Ciutadella is very pretty made even more special having the chance to share it with them....






We have been out eating and tasting the local cocktails... melon with caramel provided by my local Spanish restaurant..









We have had our EOS party (End of season) party, and we have all learnt where we are may be going next season, I have been offered a position here in Menorca for summer 2015... This is Amanda and Penny and myself..


The Three Sovereign Specialist ladies, over looked and understated.
Well done to us finishing the season on 88% against a target of 85%


I have had a great new experience and loved the island of Menorca and a big thank you to the wonderful Menorca airport staff, my mini bus and taxi drivers, hotel staff, my line dancing ladies and the guys and girls I have worked with I am now looking forward to getting back into the social swing in England.
 Dusting off my dancing shoes and heading out for a social life....



 My final favourite view of Son Bou... I love this vista
 Returning home every night after work what ever the time always made      my heart sing....

Sunday 24th August....wall to wall sunshine

Sunday evening and feeling chilled... decided to have my own "Twinwood music festival on the terrace"  dancing between posts... my own personal show ...

Well the weather continues to be fabulous ... almost too hot... but at least I can keep the tan going..

Laura has been and gone.. great to see her, trouble was I still had to work and to anyone who knows me well I don't do slacking on work well...

but here is a taste of the things we did..#

Lots of beach visits and sightseeing..

 the beaches are the best at 5-8 at night still warm

but a little quieter... Bliss

 Sunset jeep safari.  Mad drive across the countryside, watch the sunset over the sea.. really good fun, great to see Laura smiling and laughing...

 

Our Favourite past time eating and more eating...so many wonderful restaurants to choose from.. 

 
 
And of course drinking the local sangria... best drink in Sonbou.. ( still no discount tight ....)

 

 

Party time watching the holiday makers " dad dancing " to the "Drifters" all good fun...

 This is the local Fiesta ... there is one nearly every week end.. The Spanish just love any excuse to party... they  have these strange huge tall people to entertain the crowds followed by the black horses charging down  the streets and standing on their high legs... ( which I have yet to see but planned for next weekend.)  Dance party starts after fireworks at midnight so need to do this on a non work day...

August 2014. yeah we have wifi....

Yess. the arrival of my daughter and now I have internet again...

so an update for the month of July...

The weather has suddenly got hot hot hot. so I have made a list of all the beaches on the island and I am busy working my way through them..  In June the beaches looked this this now they are packed, no parking spaces, no spare sand... The best time on the beach is 5-7pm perfect....

Work has been pretty full on but we are finally beginning to get to grips with it. Should I chose to do this again next year I will soo good at it but for the moment it is still a steep learning curve.. I just start to think I am getting it sussed and then the next new situation arrives..  I have leant so much about people and their expectations of their holidays...



The fall out of employees from the industry is really surprising, a continuous stream of boys and girls leaving the island, for various different reasons.. including my Cosmos mate and my Saga mate so really miss them for my social.

Talking of social still enjoying my line dance classes. Last week class was outside in the village square which was surreal...

Now is fiesta time still not found time to visit one but our local village has one next week so in

training for that, will be a late late night...


Off to enjoy my daughter.. lots of trips planned...

















 

June 24th...potential air strike....

I am a Francophile but come on..  no strike please.....

Today we are told the French baggage handlers went on strike..  so my customers leaving today at 17.15 are still in Mahon airport.....and tomorrows customers are "enjoying" their last night oblivious if they haven't heard the news or worrying if they have....

will keep you updated as this new experience is going to last until 30th June....

June 23 / 24 Cuitadella fiesta

This week was the beginning of the fiesta season.... madness rules...

The whole of the island turns out for this occasion, the shops close, cafés put away all their furniture, bolt the doors and move out.

The general idea seems to be to drink as much of the local "pomarda" (gin based) until your legs no longer work.

The festival lasts three /four days until the last man or woman finally gives in..

The whole town throws hazel nuts at one another...insane.. In England this would turn into a massive fight, in Menorca they just get patched up and off they go again..

The Famous black horses ride the streets even when the crowds are in the way... hospitals are busy places.. my friend got her foot stood on by a horse and is now in agony..  such fun..

six week on..june 17th...

Just spent a very nice hour listening to Si Cranston on radio two with Terry Wogan, and feeling quite relaxed because finally did some rock un roll dancing last night... may have been rock and roll Cuban style but well acceptable....two or three sangrias to oil the limbs may have helped...

The diary is slowly getting filled, Spanish line dancing on a Thursday evening, grapevine slide is the same in any language...line dancing, mixed with exercise routine and throw in a bit of folk...different..

This week at work has been an experience ...We should have been wearing a nurses uniforms...  I have spent a lot of time at the hospital, clients, slipped, fell, tripped, resulting in broken ankles, legs, and thighs,  Not an experience I want to repeat.... I felt useless not being about to speak Spanish to help the clients...nightmare, sadly one customer is staying in hospital and will be staying there for a quite a while...

Moral of this story is MAKE SURE you bring your European health card and your national insurance number and keep in on you at all times.... and your FULL health policy ... not just the policy details... BE PREPARED..it may happen to you....

Six weeks on and I am beginning to get into the swing of the Menorcan life style.. feeling very proud of myself when I go out @ 11pm and return 3am... only to met the Spanish people just coming out to party... by the time November comes I will be completely out of sinc with the British...


The weather here is fantastic.. suddenly got very hot...managing to find an hour or two to catch a few rays.. turning a nice rusty colour...biggest problem, I am struggling to fit into my clothes, too many meals out, too many glasses of vino and not enough exercise, still brown rolls look better than white rolls...or so we all keep reassuring each other...even the once skinny teenagers are struggling..

Official day off tomorrow so just deciding which beach resort to hit, meeting up with a cosmos rep and a saga rep,, so will be an afternoon of story telling...stories  you would not believe !!! about our wonderful holiday makers... Remember the next time you feel compelled  to complain,,, its not my fault...  you are in a hotel with "fat " people..

off to pack my beach bag... xx

June 2nd Nostalgic thoughts....

Today ..... home thoughts from abroad......feeling nostalgic for my family.....

Tomorrow my baby is 21 and I am in a different country what sort of parent I am..  but I have bought her a one way ticket to the sunshine..   and I intend to spoil her rotten....

Watching all the arrivals in the airport today, had to keep my sun glasses on to hide the runny eyes,,

love is a splendid thing which seems to overflow at airports.... poor Laura when she arrives she is going to be  so embarrassed... I am so gonna cramp her street cred......

This evening watched a middle aged lady waiting for her lover to arrive at the airport, was defiantly a lover not a husband.. he arrived carrying a rose and she would not stop hugging him.. who says romance is dead... take note lads...

Amanda parents arrive tomorrow so she will cry enough for both of us....

Sarah is still having a great time in Aussie and has discovered my work telephone number so just like being in England...

Enough of this sentimentality,  day off tomorrow.. going on a boat trip around Mahon with a new mate so should be good...and then going to see "fake That" in the evening....

Happy birthday to my darling girl....have a good one...make sure your dad looks after you well..