Just a small one Mrs Wembley
Our room in the San Sebastian Playa
Day 2 of our epic adventure led to just one further drama, (after the demise of the RudyMenTerry website and the rebuilding of the same), which took us rather by surprise. Now, let me first begin by saying I love everything about Spain, (well almost, but we’re coming to that!). I love the country, I love the food, I love the drinks, I love the people, I love the culture, but there is one thing that I categorily hate … the mosquitoes! I have to confess that I had completley forgotten about them. They are rare to non-existent in Tenerife and in Sitges I don’t recall them being very prolific, but boy oh boy oh boy. Captain Clarke was sat on the balcony of our room and, I was inside. He opened the door to tell me that there were mosquitoes about and that was it – one, (and it was only one!), mosquito slipped in through the open door and that was that. She, (and it was definitely a she because only the females bite), had a field day!
Cream and tablets make the bites tolerable!
As soon as Captain Clarke told me that there were mosquitoes about, I sprayed myself with repellent. Evidently I missed a bit! She bit my right let three times, my right foot, my left foot, my left leg four times, my left arm, she was having a feast! And the bites were painful. Not just itching, but actually painful. Captain Clarke came into the room, saw the bites and immediately left in search of some cream for mosquito bites. By the time he returned about half an hour later, I was literally hopping around the room, partly in pain, partly with the itching and partly trying to avoid the nasty little thing. Unfortunatley, Captain Clarke had returned without any cream as, being Sunday, the pharmacy was closed. However, two good things did then happen. One, with a loud clap Captain Clarke caught the little blighter and she was dispatched permanently and two, I turned out my bag to see if I had some antihistamine in it and out of the bottom fell a little tube of seriously powerful bite cream. One antihistamine tablet and a good spread of the cream and half an hour later, normal service was resumed. True, the bites are still painful today, but the cream and the tablets make them tolerable.
The ‘Chicken Shack’!
We were going to go to the Chicken Shack for our evening meal but, being Sunday evening, we anticpated it being very busy indeed. In all truth, it wasn’t. For those of you that have never been to Sitges, the ‘Chicken Shack’ is a restaurant called ‘La Oca’. Although this is all irrelevant, as is the fact that they have quite a varied and comprehensive menu, the only important thing to know about the ‘Chicken Shack’ is that they serve the very best spit roasted chicken in the world! It is, by a million miles, the best that exists. We always go to the ‘Chicken Shack’ when we are in Sitges. What makes the whole experience even better is that we always wash it down with what can only be described as the worst ‘vino rosado’ in the world! But after the second glass you just don’t care! However, as we anticipated it being very busy, we thought we’d come up with a ‘Plan B’.
Captain Clarke contemplates a ‘Plan B’
Obviously, making a ‘Plan B’ is a complex task and one only to be undertaken by those fully experienced in the creation of a ‘Plan B’. This is not a task for the feint hearted. So, we retired to a bar to contemplate our options. Captain Clarke was of a mind that he fancied a small gin and tonic, (I should point out that this was at 20:00 hours, and his first of the day! I, therefore, felt it would be rude not to join him in a small libation and took a small glass of ‘cold tea’. Actually, the size of the glass was akin to a large bucket and did remind me of that time honoured phrase, ‘just the one Mrs Wembley’! (For those of you too young to remember, just Google a TV comedy called, ‘On the up’!) And so, a plan began to form. Now, walking around Sitges during the afternoon, (we did our usual and walked almost 10km around town), we noticed that there are now at least three Indian restaurants. There have never been Indian restaurants in Sitges when we have visited in the past, so this intrigued us. So much so that eventually we decided we would go and try one. Called simply, ‘Chai’, it is tucked away down one of the many side streets, but rates as number 44 in Trip Advisor for Sitges!
The church in Sitges
We went along and had a thoroughly good meal. What was different was that, a) they preferred to speak English rather than Spanish, b) the food tasted more like the food you get in India than the stuff you get in England and, c) we both had dishes that are familiar names to us, but totally new flavours. Captain Clarke had a Chicken Balti, (which was delicious, but nothing like a Chicken Balti in England), and I had a Chicken Biriani, (yes, chicken Great Uncle Bulgaria!), which tasted nothing like a biriani that I have had in England, but I suspect was much closer to the real thing – delicious. The chaps running the place are from the Punjab and are Hindu as opposed to Sikh, (Punjab is the largest Sikh community in India). They were very friendly and the food was really excellent. Following the meal we made our way back to the hotel via the steps and the church. Again, those of you that have been to Sitges will recognise the church instantly. In fact, our friends S&M, (That is S&M by name as opposed to them being into S&M. Although … no, maybe not!), will recognise it as being one of the many places in which ‘M’ has taken photos of a wedding. (No, he isn’t a wedding photographer, he just always finds a wedding wherever he is and takes a photo. Weird, hmm, we’re coming to the incident with the man in the pink thong later in the week!)
Breakfast on the sea front and our second ever selfie!
And so, once again we retired to our room. I should explain at this juncture that whilst we love the San Sebastian Playa, the room is a little tired. The bathroom particularly could do with a bit of an uplift. It is all fully functional, just a bit SBD, (seen better days). The air conditioning is a bit cranky. It seems to be either off, (although it is turned on), and the room gets really quite hot, then it turns itself on and you freeze to death. Never mind, it is actually a nice hotel and all its quirks make it a bit of fun. So, this morning we went off for some breakfast once again. We decided on a change from yesterday and went along to the sea front on the other side of town, (not in San Sebastian but on the other side of the church). Jolly nice it was too – Café con Leche, Croissant and Zumo de Naranja – spiffing!
Our first even selfie by the church in Sitges
Now, you have may have noticed that the photo above is, in fact, a ‘selfie’. I am not heavily into this concept, but we realised on our wonderful journey down that three are almost no photos of the two of us throughout the nearly 30 years we have been together. There are a few taken by our friends, but very few. So, I thought we’d have a go. Now, I should say that I am a bit of a virgin on the selfie front – in fact I have taken more selfie photos in the last 24 hours, (two), than I have taken in my entire life, (I have only ever taken one selfie – myself at the Parthenon when I was in Athens for a meeting which I then accidentally Tweeted from the wrong account and sent to 5,000 company followers!). You may wonder why this is our first ever selfie and the previous photo was our second, it is largely to illustrate that I am very much in learning mode. And, judging by this photo, I have a lot yet to learn! Today, though, is another day and I am quite sure that three will be more to report when today has panned out. I have already learned that mosquito repellent is a must, even at this time of day. Another bloody bite, (literally), from another hungry mozzy! Tomorrow I shall remember the repellent from the moment I awake, it is, after all, RudyMenTerry!
Oy Selfie man, soz about moz bites….hope you have a bite free, gin fuelled, sun packed rest of your holiday!
Thought we’d been dropped having not received the blogs until now. Gorgeous was so ill on Saturday she barely made it out of bed all day! Have you visited our lovely apartment yet, aptly re-named ‘Hell’ by the local graffiti artist?
Don’t forget the Bacardi museum either, Gorgeous’s only fond memory from Sitges.
Have fun.