ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

Archives for May 2016

Journal from Oliva – Weekend Paradise

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This weekend has been dominated by two lovely house parties hosted by two separated groups of people, firstly John Melville and his weife (President of the U3A, Oliva) for committee – a wonderful feast of tastes in a lovely setting in the country; and then on Sunday Mary from the Mabs Charity (which provides support for cancer patients etc); again I came away stuffed almost to the point of bursting with wonderful Indian curries and vegetable side dishes, followed by home-made tiramisù.

medieval banqueting hallMary’s home is like a medieval banqueting hall, and that combined with the company and the accompaning background music of jazz, made me very comfortable.

To cap it all, Mary then popped around this morning to drop me off enough of a ‘doggy’ bag that I could eat another two meals – thanks Mary.

Weekend food too good to waste

The weather over the weekend has been wonderful, with temperatures hovering around the 17-19 in the evening – we did have a slight thunderstorm, which meant nothing for us in Oliva, but in Gandia they did have some hailstorms – but nothing of significance.

Costa Blanca Weather

 

 

 

Journal from Oliva – Shopping and things!

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Yesterday was a day for posting some letters asking various places to change my address to Spain, something I did do before I left, but for some reason I seemed to have missed these ones.

throws throws-2Then I went shopping in the local Friday market – I wanted some oranges for squeezing and was able to buy 3 kilos for 2 euros, and I also was looking for some throws for my bedrooms and also for my settees to add some colour to the rooms.  I had checked the prices in the local shops (around the 20-25 euro area), but on checking the market I was able to find them at 10-15 euros; I also wanted to check out the plants as my patio, which I will be working on next week, needs plants to finish it off, both for the ground and also for hanging – again the prices are much better for these in the market.Black Plant Pot

For plant pots, I will be going to the local Chinese Bazaar (surprisingly I have found five so far in the town), where I spotted large black pots with handles which I will use for my plants and they were only 2 euros; much more reasonable than ordinary plant pots.Chinese Bazaar

 

It is always worthwhile checking the local markets, as well as the various supermarkets.  There is a supermarket quite close to me in terms of walking, about 5-7 minutes, and here during the week at about 1pm you can pick up fresh home made paella (two kinds, one with rice as the base, and one with pasta), and at least 10 other meals ready for heating and eating all at two euros – just add some salad which isn’t expensive in Spain – you couldn’t make it yourself for these costs.

 

paella - a taste of spain

 

Journal from Oliva – U3A and IT Things

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Today saw the AGM of the U3A Oliva – this event held just before the close down of most groups for the summer, and a time for people to review the past year, look at the finances and vote in the new committee.

John Melville

John Melville, our President of the U3A Oliva

We had an interesting talk from Daniel, a local accountant, who advised us on how the various taxes applied to both residents and non-residents – if you haven’t sorted your taxes out please do so, the penalties can be severe.   Make certain you keep your records up to date, and pay your taxesMake certain you keep your records up to date, and pay your taxes

After this meeting, I met with Iain Mumgall so that he could continue guiding me ontaking over the U3A Oliva website – with over 40 groups, other events, a selling page and also a wanted page, never mind the admin for over 540+active members – this is no small job, but I look forward to developing my skills and also to hopefully writing a ‘Dummies Guide to Working On Our Website’ over the next year.
Then my evening first aid call was to a lovely lady, whose laptop seemed to have stopped working. When I called down, I found Windows 7 frozen, a mouse with a battery dead, and also the laptop was unplugged from its charger. A quick ten minutes and all was back in line with what it should have been – however, I expect there will be more calls.

Computer when happybattery resuscitation

Journal from Oliva – Tourism – Wednesday 25th May 2016

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A quiet day following a successful ‘amble’ with the U3A Oliva Amblers group yesterday. I was able to sne some items through the Spanish mail system in their equivalent of registered post – ‘Carta Certifilada Con Acuse’ – for which you get confirmation that you have sent it, and confirmation that it has been signed for.
I also made use of th ‘Orange’ mobile shop to see whether I could get fibre optic broadband into my house – not so far. But research still continues.
And most successfully today, a very helpful member of the Oliva Tourism Office provided me with maps of the Costa area in which I now live, with supplentary maps in greater scale so that I can start orientating myself into the area better.
Oliva is a wonderul town, easily navigated by foot, and yet it is so close to other towns and importantly to wonderul beaches and countryside.

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