Friday is 'bus day'

Today we took the bus from Los A to Torrevieja. Nothing is ever straight forward with public transport in Spain! We had asked for a timetable at the Tourist Information office and been given a booklet which stated the time the bus left Los A but not from where nor where it would pass through or stop. We worked out which bus stop to use and checked with an old Spanish guy who was at the stop.

Eventually, and somewhat late, the bus arrived and we all got on. A quick question and answer session with the driver informed us that they don't do return tickets.

It was a good trip apart from the moment the driver failed to slow down for one of the speed humps and my back nearly fell to bits !! My hip ached for the rest of the day. We noted down all the stops near to where we may wish to visit next week which was the purpose of the trip. When we arrived in Torrevieja we were relieved to see the bus station as up to that time we knew we were heading in the opposite direction to where we wanted to be. All's well that ends well.

There was a lovely English family on the bus by us; 6 children some with, and this is pure conjecture, their foster parents and some with mum and dad. They were beautifully behaved and had some interesting conversations with Mum (short hair, ash blonde, down to earth, south east accent; and dad ....... er ........ looked like a Millwall supporter ! studs, shaved head but very well spoken and polite). One of the girls couldn't remember the name of the place they were visiting and when told couldn't pronounce Torrevieja, so just substituted the nearest sounding place she could think of ........................ so kept asking how much longer it was going to take to get to Tokyo !!

We spent a couple of hours in the resort and had some lunch; walked along the raised paseo. Some parts of the area we like; some we don't. The newer part of the town is typical 1960/70s with high rise blocks of apartments; that aspect we don't like but the older part of the town with its narrow streets is much more stylish (but a nightmare to drive around). The beach area looking out over the Med is very pretty and they have placed interesting sculptures along the beach. It's great to look at but gets really busy and is very British.

After our walk we returned to the bus station to catch the bus back. Nothing is ever clear at these places.

• Nowhere had we seen a number for the bus route we needed
  
  
• 2 bays were marked Cartagena (final destination for the bus we needed) but the buses for Madrid were parked in there
  
  
• Then the Madrid bus left and another bus came into the Cartagena bay but it had Alicante on it which is in the opposite direction
  
  
• There was a drunk beggar making a nuisance of himself
  
  
• We were joined by a german lady who wanted to practise her English and tell us her life story while asking us which bus she needed



• The bus marked Alicante, we finally discovered, was leaving at the time our bus was due to leave and was going in the direction which we wanted but in reply to my question the driver said that it was not our bus and we had to wait for the next bus
  
  
• The next bus came in and along with several others we lined up to get on it but the lady driver said it was not our bus !
  
  
• We waited a further 10 minutes and another bus arrived; it did not park in the Cartagena bay but it was the Cartagena bus and we were allowed on it at last as it was going to Los A. So we did eventually get back safe and sound.

Each way cost about £2 each and took about an hour and a half .... so good value.

We managed to get off the bus at a stop a little nearer to our apartment than the one we had used this morning. The bus was air conditioned (great as it has been 40 degrees today), curtains which could be drawn across the windows if the sun was too strong and had reclining seats. I guess I got too comfortable and in an awkward position. When I got off the bus my hip felt odd, I tripped on the high pavement, stumbled and fell over on my knees .... how embarrassing and I only had a coffee at lunch time; honest. So now I have two bruised, sore knees and an aching hip and all for a few quid!

We are getting into the habit of taking a late evening stroll down to Bar Alaska. We will miss it when we return to Exmouth. It's a great atmosphere as spanish families set up their bbqs and tables ready for the family gathering across the generations....... sometimes at least 30 people all gathering round, beach chairs all over the place, babies in prams and pushchairs, grandma or grandad in a wheelchair, youngsters taking a quick dip in the Mar menor, dads doing a bit of quiet fishing and 3 or 4 women all prattling away and laying out the food. Music plays from various sound systems with electric cables passing over the walkway into various seafront properties. We love it.