El Sardinero

It all began when this time last year dad went off to Spain on the bike, when he came back he was saying how good it was and i decided that i wanted to go the following year. Well that came round quicker than i thought and i finished the work on the Sunday ready for a week and a half off. On the Tuesday morning we were up and getting ready having packed our belongings into boxes that are smaller than the bag i take to work everyday and off we went. The first trip was to Portsmouth, we arrived in good time i have to admit that my bum was some what numb by now, and we went out for lunch with Robyn after the viewing of her lovely new flat which i intend to visit again in the very near future. Unfortunately the boat was delayed for 2 hours due a medical emergency turns out that someone needed to be airlifted off the boat and it had delayed it for 2 hours. We boarded the boat after a long wait to get into the vehicle hold. We found our room which was lovely and i took residence on a top bunk with a view out to sea.

So we were on the boat for 24 hours, we went to the cinema to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean, we ate (a lot), slept, ate and then it was time to get off the boat in Santander. The directions to the hotel were some what limited luckily there was 250 other bikes going to the same hotel! After a small detour we arrived at the hotel, parked in something similar to a military bunker and then made our way to check in. You can imagine what the reception looked like with 500 people trying to check in at once! Our room was lovely and apparently was nicer than the hotel last year. After a quick walk down to the beach that was it bed for the night before the early start the next morning.

Breakfast every day was lovely and consisted of full english, continental, doughnuts, cereal and fresh orange juice. So we ventured out into the mountains every day and drove through some stunning scenery. The roads were awesome, the people were lovely and the bikes were very interesting. We had two formal dinners one was quite uneventful and the other was lets just say interesting... We sat on a table of spanish people who it turns out were with the VIP for the evening and only 1 spoke basic english. It made me realise how bad my spanish is!!!!

The journey home was good, the crossing was smooth and we watched Bridesmaids on the boat, i had forgotten how funny that film was! I'll definitely be going next year and hopefully riding on my own!

Ibiza and the meaning beihnd "952 parties"

I remembered that i hadn't blogged in a long time so here I am in a Spanish hotel with a few hours to kill so what better way to spend them!

So since my last blog there has been Ibiza, it was amazing lots of LOL's, sun and double rings! Most of the days were spent on the beach outside our hotel either lying on the beach or laying in a double inflatable ring just floating out in the sea! One tip wear shoes if you are going swimming in the sea....the rocks are bloody sharp i still have evidence to prove that now! The evenings were spent in various establishments including the famous Mari Pins, BN3,club tropicana, soul city etc. Drinks were ludicrously cheap with a pint of vodka and orange being 6 euros!! Some of the best nights were spent in various 90's bars dancing the night away to lots of songs that you haven't heard in years but can remember the words (and dance routines) to! However the best night by far was Ushuia, Swedish House Mafia, a massive hotel, dancing round the pool, awesome music just plain amazing!  Defiantly somewhere that i want to go again next year!


So I came back from Ibiza nice and brown and dived straight back into work for a busy few weeks....... I then had a random weekend off after having worked some closed days during the week. Chloe and Andrew asked me if i would like to join them, Mansell and their other friends at Center Parcs. So i travelled up on Saturday morning, arrived at Center Parcs mid afternoon, to be questioned like i was going on to a military base! Off i go into the car park to try and find a space, epic fail so i just dumped it on a corner somewhere! I unloaded my bike and waited for the Tappings to come and find me. The afternoon saw us going line dancing, now bear in mind i was sober at this point! It was very amusing and actually good fun, Mansell being the most amusing one to watch as her nearly bundled into one of the speakers! In the evening we got dressed up and headed to hucks for dinner, it was yum! We then went up to the bar and "the forum" drinks were flowing and in the end we were on the dance floor with Jamdrew showing us their moves. Then came the cycle ride home, in the dark with no lights and 12 pissed people wearing inappropriate cycling clothing......*BANG* "What just happened......HA HA HA Tappings down" i turn round to find Tapping (mrs) with her legs in the air rolling round in the dirt! Back to Villa 952 and the party really got started... Mansell in the shower, Chloe stung all over and lost in the woods wearing Masell's shoes, Mansell in a selection of Maz's clothes, Chloe in Maz's pants, Mansell naked in Chloe's PJ's, Mansell naked in general, Dancing on the furniture, John Smiths, line dancing, more john smiths till the early hours of the morning.....The next day in the words of Mick "I'm really going for it tonight!" The term "952 Villa Party" will go down in history!

Since then again been really busy at work with the nice weather causing everyone to want to go out and visit places. We had the cinema which was good fun and also the Jazz in the garden,again really good but hard work.

Thats all for now, the blog about this weeks holiday will be drafted on my 24 hour ferry crossing back to Portsmouth!