Spain Diary
Joan Downing
Visit to Costa Blanca October 25th – 30th October Sunday 25th October It was bright and sunny as we met at King John School.Our baggage handlers, resplendent in their fetching Spanish hats, swiftly loaded up and we left promptly. All went smoothly at Gatwick, especially for Ken Jobson who was chauffeured to the gate in a buggy, and we were soon in the air. John Riddle conducted an impromptu “Magnificent Men”, which David pronounced “passable”, then “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”, which David said was “one too many”! The cabin staff were impressed, and even the Captain commented on the P.A. We gave them a poster as a memento, and suggested they might like to become sponsors! There was a beautiful sunset as we arrived at Alicante, and the transfer to the hotel, Albir Garden, was very smooth – again thanks to our excellent baggage handlers. Finding individual apartments was not quite so easy due to the unusual numbering system, but eventually everyone succeeded. It was so warm (22º) that Janet appeared at dinner without her sheepskin jacket. David said he would consider the idea that we should wear shorts and flowery shirts for our part in the hotel entertainment the next day evening. Monday 26th October A bright sunny morning. We looked out from our balcony onto the Sierra Gelada mountains standing majestically in the distance. Most of us had slept well, although Sue and Malcolm Bridges were disturbed by a dog barking for about two hours overnight. By 4 o’clock Malcolm was searching for his gun. They thought they were hallucinating because no-one else had heard it, but Paul Bearman eventually restored their sanity by saying it had also disturbed them. Breakfast started at 8, though most of the choir arrived around 8.30. There was a wide range of choice – many of the men enjoyed a full English breakfast! The coffee was good, if a little frothy! After breakfast several people went to the supermarket across the road for milk and water before “choir practice”. The venue had to be changed twice before it was eventually decided to rehearse in the bar – surprise, surprise! Near the end of the rehearsal Martin and Mick returned from the local radio station, where they had been interviewed about the trip and the forthcoming concerts. This was followed by sangria for all and a quick update on arrangements for the rest of the week from Martin. Gasps of horror were heard when people heard that they had to be ready for the trip to Valencia on 27th at 9 a.m. So early. Clearly it was already a relaxing holiday! We walked through the town to Alfas del Pi beach, where the choir sang three songs (My Lord, What A Morning, Magnificent Men and Siyahamba) in front of a sculpture of an anchor to entertain the sunbathers and drew interest from several passing men. Quite a few of the ladies joined Pat’s Paddling Party at the water’s edge, while others (both male and female) took the plunge in the warm water. Harry Rowson was lured into the water in his shorts after being assured that they would dry on him during the day. John Riddle showed his Primark underpants to everyone, as he couldn’t resist the water, but he drew the line at changing out of his underpants into his shorts in view of everyone. Instead he spared our blushes by walking into the distance to find a cave where he could change! Afterwards many people retired to a taverna for a relaxing lunch. David and Janet were supposed to go to the venue for the concert later in the week, but in true Spanish style it was a case of “mañana”. A free afternoon was followed by dinner, then the choir interrupted the hotel’s normal karaoke with a group of songs which were very well received, with cheers and whistles from a very varied audience. Tuesday 27th October Malcolm and Sue began to believe they were being persecuted when the TV in their room switched itself on at 4.30 a.m. with a Spanish football commentator loudly describing a match. It was another lovely warm day, and we set off for Valencia only ten minutes late, guided by Pam from the local branch of the AECC, a Spanish cancer charity. We saw herons, egrets, many orange groves and to our surprise rice fields and rice processing factories. Our first stop was at the Blue Lagoon Natural Park on the island of El Palmar, where we walked through the street market and had coffee. We went on to the Oceanografico in Valencia, a sort of super version of the Sea-Life Centre but with sunshine. Pam asked us to give her love to the polar bears, and we all tried very hard to find them – even though there weren’t any! We did see many different sea creatures, such as penguins, sharks, seals, and walruses. Many of us enjoyed the spectacular afternoon show given by the dolphins (oh – and their trainers, of course!) before it was time to return to the coaches. Once again we had to wait, but this time the four absentees weren’t late – all the rest of us were early! There was time for Paco, our driver, to take us on a short tour of the city, with its varied and fascinating architecture (except for the bullring), before driving us back to the hotel. After dinner we sat on the terrace to enjoy a drink in the balmy evening and exchange some banter, with Pat saying that David was a “common” name. David commented later that “no good soloist would sing at the Palace Theatre”. In both cases, it was some moments before they realised what they had said, though by that time everyone else was in tears laughing. Through the bar windows, we also watched the late entertainment – a man displaying birds of prey and flying them (indoors!) over the heads of the audience. Ed took the opportunity to have a picture taken of him holding a large owl which he said he was going to tell his grandchildren was the real Hedwig from the Harry Potter films. Best of luck, Ed! Wednesday 28th October The day was warm (24º) although it was overcast. We had a leisurely start to the day as we were free until 4 p.m. Some people took the opportunity to get the bus into Benidorm, or stayed around the hotel and rested, but we walked down to the beach and took a gentle stroll along the promenade towards Altea, followed by a coffee. Several people followed this with a slightly less gentle walk of about 2.5 km up to the lighthouse through the Park Natural de Sierra Gelada and a larger than usual lunch, as we knew that we would not get dinner until after the concert, probably around 9 p.m. We were all back at the hotel and ready to go off to the concert by 4, although Mick Jacks was feeling very unwell and did not go. It was a short journey to the Casa de Cultura in Alfas del Pi. This concert was to be in aid of the AECC. The ladies relaxed and walked around the town before adjourning to a local bar for drinks, while the men practiced as much as they could and then, in true Spanish style again, waited for the sound man to appear. When he finally did, he was very good, and his ingenious method for hanging a microphone above the choir (move both back rows out, lower an enormous boom from the flies, then use most of a roll of sellotape it seemed to wrap around the cable, leaving the microphone dangling and swinging) was at least effective. As this was Spain, the concert started a bit late (mañana, mañana), but nobody seemed to notice or care. The theatre was full, and the mainly “ex-pat” audience thoroughly enjoyed the music. Overall, the concert was a great success. Although our male soloists (Martin, Geoff and Ian) sang well, they were far outshone by Pat, who also looked more attractive. She removed her cap before singing, explaining that she too was suffering from cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. She was roundly clapped and cheered. The audience appreciated the music, especially a group of Welsh ex-pats who cried during Gwahoddiad. 20 CDs were sold at the end of the concert (a record for a single concert according to Chris and Pam). The raffle raised €500 for the AECC, and the choir were able to join the audience in the bar for a friendly drink before setting off back to the hotel. Altogether a very successful evening, except for the thorny problem of getting the right people into the right coach. Some people seemed to have difficulty in distinguishing between the coaches, whilst others simply wanted to experience life on the other coach. David declared that he had struck a blow for freedom of choice by travelling on Coach 2 for the first time ever. Thursday 29th October We all gathered after breakfast to await the coaches taking us for a short trip before the concert in Teulada, all that is except for Mick who unfortunately was still suffering from the flu. The trip was to start with a visit to the old town of Altea, a very short trip up the coast, and despite the fact that the church which was our target was plainly visible for most of the trip, the driver of Coach 1 managed to get us lost. However we got there eventually, with some help from the other driver (by mobile phone – whilst he was driving!) and our guide, Sue. We walked through the old town to the church “Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Consuela”, where the choir had a chance to sing. The first line of “My Lord, What A Morning” was enough to make David wait for what seemed an awfully long time before starting the second line, because the reverberation time was so long. Ironically, despite the problems this caused for the choir, the acoustics for the audience were absolutely excellent. “Siyahamba” was also a problem for Geoff on the claves, not being quite sure whether he was hearing the strike of the claves or the echo at times. We finished with “Gwahoddiad” and were surprised to learn that two of the fairly small audience were Welsh and had been duly impressed by our pronunciation as well as our singing. They said we were “good enough to sing in Wales” (a real compliment) and asked when we would do so. It was with some satisfaction that we were able to inform them that we regularly visited Morriston and sang in the Tabernacle. There was (just) time for a coffee in the square outside the church before returning to the coaches for a trip up the Jalon Valley, a local wine-growing area, and a visit to the Bodega de Cooperativa Valenciana Virgen Pobre de Xalo (honestly – copied from the sign outside). We sampled the local wine, made purchases or not as desired, and returned to the coaches to go for lunch. Before setting off, there was just time to visit the loos, where Chris Walker got himself locked in the cubicle and had to be rescued by Geoff. When we told everyone on the coach about this, David immediately offered Geoff €10 to go back and lock Chris in again. Lunch had been booked at the Bar Funteras on the way down to Teulada. This turned out to be run by at least three generations of an English family, who produced a very English carvery meal of beef, pork and turkey (fish for the non meat-eaters), with roast and mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, four or five vegetables, etc. Afterwards Pat’s Paddling Party re-established itself on the edge of the pool on the terrace, but fortunately it was only John Riddle who ended up in his underwear for the second time this trip. After lunch we were running rather late, so we went straight to the Town Hall in Teulada for a sound check for the concert. Either communication had been a bit of a problem here, or the theatre had shrunk by about 50%, but it turned out to be a pleasant acoustic to sing in. The programme was to be a repeat of yesterday’s, but shuffled around so that Kings of Swing went into the second half to maintain the expected audience participation. To our surprise, the concert began almost on time, and was compèred by Martin Bentley, MD of the Costa Blanca Male Voice Choir. Fifteen members of this choir, and members of various other local choirs, were in the audience. At the end of the Cole Porter Medley, David gave them a chance to show their willingness to join in with “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and they certainly didn’t hold back. After that, the evening went even better, with the audience again helping out with “Consider Yourself” and giving our two soloists, Geoff and Ian, a warm reception. At the interval Martin came into the changing room to inform us that the compliments were really flowing, and suggested that we had particularly impressed the ladies of the audience. Once again, Martin’s solo was well received, but Pat outshone the men yet again by getting the audience really involved in “All I Want Is A Room Somewhere” and “I Could Have Danced All Night”. Finally, they were invited to perform “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”, which they did with relish, and we sang Gwahoddiad as our last item. David then invited the members of the Costa Blanca Male Voice Choir to join us to sing “American Trilogy”, which they did very well without any rehearsal and which was greatly appreciated by the audience. Finally, by popular demand the combined choir sang “Softly As I Leave You” and the concert was over. We hurried back to the hotel fearing that the restaurant would close before we could eat dinner, but all was well and no-one had to go to bed hungry. Friday 30th October Mick Jacks who was feeling better today proposed a vote of thanks to Martin, Pat and all those who had helped to make the trip so successful. Important Note For those intending to join the choir trip to Paris next year, Martin is proposing to organise a weekend course, led by the Coach Marshals Barry Wilson and Tony Grellier, on how to distinguish between Coach 1 (that is, one) and Coach 2 (that is, two). If the number in the party continues to grow and a third coach is needed, the course may be extended to cope with the extra complication.
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