Sandcastles
I have just enjoyed a week on the Costa del Sol and never gave a thought to the weather in Yorkshire as I was too pre-occupied with the glorious sunshine, the fresh air and plenty of exercise. There’s nothing better than a walk along the sea-front and on this trip I had the advantage of being accompanied by my parents, quite a rarity.
Dad has recently celebrated his 80th birthday and doesn’t look a day above 65, which has to be attributed to regular gym attendance, healthy eating and a positive attitude. It seems he was the talk of the hotel and the young receptionists couldn’t get over his fab looks and stature and thought I had been joking about his age.He has often been taken as a Tom Jones look alike as well which I have always considered to be quite fun, especially in the earlier days when we were all too often stopped in the street for an autograph. It’s true!
As for me I’m truly blessed as sadly many of my friends lost their parents years ago, so I intended to make the most of the time I had with them before dropping them at the airport and taking the fabulous scenic drive from Malaga to Murcia via Granada. Spanish countryside at its best!
The Costa left me with some great memories and no doubt I will return soon as I seem to be establishing good business contacts – all will be revealed in due course – not to mention great friendships on the coast. Don’t think I would want to live their mind. I prefer the quieter rural region of Murcia myself, not to mention my beloved Yorkshire. That said, life is hectic enough for me in the UK without the madness of the Costa and all its tourism as well.
I was impressed with some of the displays on the beach, particularly the fab sand castle which the kids all loved and the scene of Jesus and the Last Supper, so aptly done as the Spanish celebrated Holy Week.
It was just starting to show signs of crumbling having taken ten days to build and lasted about 10. A chat with its sculptor, Paul Blane who told me he had been making his living building sand displays for many years, relying on the good will of passers-by who threw a few euros into his box. Don’t think he will ever get rich and by his description it sounded like flipping hard work to me, especially during the scorching months of July and August. Then November to March when there were hardly any tourists, he had meagre pickings. By the way for those of you who think these guys get paid by the local council, no such luck. In fact Paul informed me that he had just come from a meeting where the powers that be wanted to charge him 5.000 euros per year for the privilege of being allowed to build his sand castles, ’that’s more than I earn,’ he said.
Don’t these people realise that our sculptors are bringing a fab and interesting asset to the coastline. The least they could do is provide them with some decent sand!
A pleasant distraction, we chatted for a while about his next project, then I had to sprint to catch up with dad who was striding ahead but who I suspected had stopped for a cool beer somewhere waiting for me.
Mum was around too and she can be a sweetie, but by the sheer nature of the blog anyone can determine I’m a daddy’s girl.
Have a great weekend, chat soon.
Anna
