Hi,

Just back from a week of sun and family time on the Costa Blanca. Unfortunately our eldest sibling didn't manage to make it over from NZ so the party was cut to eight. Flights from Edinburgh, Manchester and London led to us meeting up at Alicante where we took two hired cars north past the ugly looking structures of Benidorm to the beautiful beaches of Calpe, dominated by the huge landmark of Penon De Ifach, where our villa was situated

During the week I managed to climb the 322 metres to the top of the aforesaid rock with Dave who also joined me on a couple of relaxing scuba dives. The local fish market was ideal for sourcing barbeque main courses, although eating out was also good value. Another highlight was a day trip to Valencia with Chris and Stacey. Hope the photos do it some justice. We only had time for a two hour tour but hope to go back and do it some justice at a later date.

Other aspects of Calpe are the Old Town and some buildings by the Catalan post modernist architect Richard Bofill (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Bofill).

Anyway, enjoy the photos

Take care

Murdo