Jose Mourinho

Well after two seasons without any silverware Read Madrid have replaced their Chilean manager Pellegrini.

And the new coach - the eleventh in seven years - is the forty nine year old Portuguese Jose Mourinho who has been given a four year contract.

Mourinho has had great success in recent years with Benfica, Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

The question is - how long will he last at Madrid ??

.

Alcoy

One of the major problems in taking a car to Alcoy is the lack of signs showing you the exit routes and way back to Alicante.

We spent quite a time driving around in circles - the pouring rain did not help either !!

On our journey back to Alicante whilst on the A-7 we encountered a fierce hailstone storm which bounced off the car and left the road surface covered in ice - not the best of journeys home.

.

Alcoy

As soon as we arrived on our day trip to Alcoy the heavens opened and we dived into a cafe opposite this square - the rain was extremely heavy and we remained in the cafe until we decided it was best to return home !!

This was a great pity as the city looks very interesting and I would like to return sometime for a good look around.

.

The road to Alcoy

A few weeks ago we took a hire car up to Alcoy which is up in the hills not too far away from Alicante.

With a population of 62,000 it was a surprisingly large city and not what I was expecting.

Most people would I imagine take the A-7 but we ended up on the N340 twisting up and down the sides of the hills and to our surprise we entered an area of low cloud and mist - something we had not expected !!

The hillsides and woods were shrouded in a fine white mist as we drove along in sunny Spain.

.

May 28th 1588

This day - May 28th 1588 - the ill fated Spanish Armada with 130 ships and 30,000 men set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel ( it would take until May 30th for all the ships to leave port).

The were later to suffer a heavy defeat by Sir. Francis Drake and the fleet scattered and destroyed.

And thus England saved from invasion ..... again !!

.

Guardamar - Down by the park.

Down by the cafe at the entrance to Guardamar's pine forest - Run out of conversation ! Drunk your beer ! Then look at the adverts on the cafe fence.

.

ABC Wednesday - S for Spain

Lot's of S today - Spain Sea Sun Sand ......

.

Spring flowers

They look very pretty in the Spring sunshine but if they are from the bindweed family they can be a real pain - difficult to get rid of from the garden or allotment. They grow around other plants and basically strangle them.

.

Guardamar - CAM

Guardamar main square is always a good place to hold exhibitions - this one was organised by the CAM Bank .

.

Alicante - Floral motif

I'm not sure what this is meant to celebrate or whether it's just the coat of arms of the city - whatever it looks very nice ..

.

Alicante - The Protest

Whilst roaming around the old streets of Alicante we came across this protest march which mainly consists of older people.

We are not sure what the protest is about but it does seem to have something to do with banks we think ...

.

May 20th 1902

Did you know ?

On this day - May 20th 1902 - Cuba gained independence from the United States .

Tomás Estrada become the country's first President.

.

Guardamar - Camper Vans

Camper vans are a popular way to travel and can be found in abundance down by the sea front in Guardamar.

.

Guardamar - Fisherman's cottage

This looks a very impressive building - but I'm afraid it will not be here for much longer. If the sea does not sweep away the sandy foundations then in a couple of years it will be on the local council's hit list for demolition.

.

Alicante - Airport

A very busy airport is Alicante .. thousands of Brits pass through on their way to Benidorm every year.

Major construction work going on and I understand that this below will be part of a major shopping centre - gossip only !! Yet to be confirmed !!

The control tower - looking rather modern ( someone tell me it's been there forty years !! )

.

Return ..

Well back to the UK having managed to avoid the volcanic ash - today Manchester Airport is closed - so we were lucky to come back home when we did ..

It is cold in Manchester compared to Spain - very much so !!! Back to coats and cardigans.

Hopefully more new photographs to follow over the next few weeks ..

.