Home Sweet Home

On my way home.... I leave the villa in Moraira at 7:45 to meet the shuttle that will take me to Alicante Airport.

I wait at the bus stop between Moraira and Calpe.  It’s another lovely morning.  Sun is just coming up.

Finally get my morning coffee at the airport in Alicante.  I’m flying to Barcelona and then to Nice.

After arriving in Barcelona I take the shuttle from the airport in to Barcelona and wander down La Rambla, a pedestrian only street with shops and restaurants.

There’s a famous market on La Ramblas where you can buy all types of food.  

After a couple of hours wandering Barcelona I return to the airport to take my evening flight to Nice.  I overnight in Nice and arrive back at the airport at 5:30 am.  There’s nothing like a flaky croissant and cappuccino in France.  Off on my flight at 7:30 to Frankfurt.  No pictures of Frankfurt as I had to run to make my connection and then due to a problem with the communication system on the plane we remained on the tarmac for 1.5 hours as they fixed the problem. We then left for Vancouver arriving at approximately 1 pm Vancouver time.  Totally exhausted.  Sue and Steve were there to pick me up.  

The sun is out, blue skies.  It’s crisp and cold.  My trip was wonderful!  So many great memories but as Dorothy once said “there’s no place like home!”

Countdown to leaving

Mixed feelings as the time approaches to head home.  Can’t wait to see family however it’s hard to leave this weather.  It’s December 1st and 20 degrees.

I walk through town along the coast.  I pass the Castillo de Moraira (1734).

As I walk along the colour of the sea is beautiful.  You can see the watch tower in the distance on the hill. The jut of land is Cap d’Or.

I approach the Platja del Portet which has a beautiful sandy beach.

There are still some hardy souls swimming...

And paddle boarding.



I do what I do best. 😉

And head back to the doggies and the Villa.  Three more sleeps!

Fresh seafood

I was taking a walk to town when I noticed four young men emerging from the sea.  They had spear guns so I ventured closer to see what they had.

Octopus!  Fresh calamari for the local restaurants. 

Beautiful sunrise.

Cappuccino at the beach!

We had really high winds last night...all the patio furniture got blown down the deck.  All the houses are really solid so I felt safe and cozy.

A meal of mussels...a large bag for €2.60.  Great dinner of salad, mussels, bread and wine.  Lots of garlic for the mussels.  Yum!

The Coastal Trail

Today my friend Gwen gave me a ride to Calpe.  It’s a small town further down the coast from Moraira.  She had told me there is a lovely walk along the sea so I decided to go.

I start at the town of Calpe. 

This rock is called the Rock of Ifach.  You can actually hike this rock....mmmm...perhaps another day?

The coastal trail is a very sensitive ecological area which is protected.  It’s very interesting to read about this coast and how it changes and survives from stormy Mediterranean weather.

The colours of the waters are beautiful. Wish it was summer and I could go swimming!

A last look up the coast before I meet up with Gwen for a ride back to Moraira.

Back home with the girls. ❤️

Day to day in Moraira

It’s a beautiful small town.  Really a vacation town where lots of people from England, Germany, France and other European countries come to enjoy the Mediterranean and better weather.  It’s pretty quiet at this time of year.

As I took this picture people were still sunbathing and a couple of people took the plunge and were swimming!  Too cold for me.

It’s still 20-21 during the day but it does cool off to 14-15 at night.

This is today.  High winds and clouds coming in.  They forecast rain for the next week.  Guess it can’t be beautiful all the time!

When the temperature drops below 20 the locals bring out their “winter” coats.  Puffy, down jackets.  I’m still too warm wearing a hoodie.

Had to do something special for my birthday so I found this seaside bar to have a glass of wine.  The weather has cleared a bit and it’s quite pleasant.

I then walk over to the Irish pub Father Teds.  It’s comfortable here on my own and the food is home cooked by Gwen.

A pint of Guinness and steak and Guinness pie is my dinner complete.  Then it’s off to the dogs and that’s it for my birthday.

They’ve arrived!

Lisa and Alex dropped the dogs off!  It’s so nice to have company.

Meet Izzy and Mya. 

Mya is only a year old.  So sweet...very active!

Izzy is twelve.  Very sweet and not quite as active as Mya.

Today I went and had my hair cut and coloured.  Couldn’t stand it another day.  Took 45 minutes to walk there.  Passed so many large, impressive villas.

Quite pleased with it.  The company called Top Cat is in Moraira and the two women working there were so pleasant.  Very busy place.

Daily life is getting to be like Groundhog Day!

Without having the dogs to look after I’m actually bored.  This is a lovely town but being by myself and without a car there’s little for me to do.  Dogs are being delivered to me on Tuesday.  Then I’ll be busy.

The weather has been good.  Warm during the days and cool in the evening.



The colours of the Mediterranean are beautiful.

People are still sunbathing, swimming and paddle boarding and it’s November!

Lots of people have boats.

Always an Irish Pub.  Can always count on friendly service and comfort food.  This one is about a 15 minute walk from where I am staying.

Today I decided to try out this “club” in town.  Live music and it’s very popular.

This fellow was an amazing guitarist.  Really enjoyed the music.

It’s mostly people around my age.  Felt quite at home.

And this gorgeous boy was enjoying the music too.  There was actually two of them and so well behaved.

All Saints Fair

A very large celebration in Spain is All Saints Day.  Everything is closed except for restaurants.  I decided to go on an excursion to Concentaina for its historic, medieval fair.

The bus picks us up in Moraira at 8:45 and then goes to several other small towns on the Costa Blanca picking other people up.  Unless you have a car this is the only other option to see other places.

It’s super busy.  Tons of people.  Glad I came by bus.  Parking is a nightmare.

Very colourful.  Food of all types.  So many stalls to visit and sample.

This is Rosie and Sue.  Two women that I was exploring the fair with.

Interesting medieval costumes.

All the vendors were wearing medieval clothes.  Looked very authentic.



Rosie purchased a mobile that she loved.  It was a long day and we didn’t get back until 7 pm.  It was dark and I was so fortunate that someone offered to drop me off as they live close to where I do.