24 April - Tuesday

Well, it's been a busy week since I last wrote. We had a German couple in for 4 nights last week and then John and Rose came up from Alhaurin for Rose's birthday. John and Rose spent their honeymoon with us a couple of years back already and have stayed a few times more since. We had a couple of late nights with them and then we had the hen party.... and 6 rooms of guests on the same night!

The hen party was last Saturday night starting at 10.30. There were 34 women from the village in the end, quite a good crowd. It was a lot of fun actually. They were all calling me... "David!!! David!!" Later they a couple of them said they would have liked me and/or Ivan to do the dancer stripper bit but we don't do that! They had a very nice young Argentinian man in for that from Malaga... we left them to their fun when he was in there performing for them! Before I knew it, it was 3.00 AM. We were all dancing in the restaurant by then and several of the ladies wanted to dance with me and Ivan. In fact, one of them was teaching me how to dance Sevillana and Flamenco. I need to practice for sure but I did learn that one grabs the apple reaching very high from the tree, elegantly, bites it and then tosses it away behind you, curving/spinning the fingers. I asked if it was always an apple and the answer was yes! It was fun.

I found out that there are many people in the village that think I am very serious but was told that it was obviously not true and I should relax more, enjoy life, not worry about tomorrow (typical Andaluz approach to life, I must say and nothing wrong with that either). They do like us and think we’re very nice and (modestly I say this) handsome! The whole event was quite good for us as we got to interact with the village ladies in a different way than before. In fact, this party was probably the best one we’re had in the hotel so far! Ivan made a special cake to order for them that was a rather large, orange-chocolate penis with caramelized sugar for hair which was delicious. Of course the cake was a smash hit. I will be loading it up on our cakes website shortly along with the female version we had for Rob's stag party last month!

After the party wound down, we were asked to come down to the Tele-club, you know the one next to the Juzcar church, which we did. By this time it was after 4.00. When we walked in to find a good crowd, I was immediately called over to where few of the guys were. I looked over at them and said “Who, me?” “Si, si, ven aqui David!”, they said. So I walked over and was immediately picked up and tossed in the air by about five of the guys including the groom to be! It was very nice and fun as well. Ivan got the same treatment after me. After sipping one drink for a while and watching a few of the boys doing that flamenco clapping, fast and hard to the rhythm, we headed home as it was about 5.oo by then and we had breakfast at 09.30 for the hotel guests.

Actually we didn’t make it to the hotel until 10AM but they were all fine with that, no one was waiting outside the dining room door when we arrived. We decided to be closed after they all left as we were absolutely wrecked and it was raining anyway so we didn’t think we would be disappointing anyone passing by. We were also told that this party was a very good thing for the village; I guess they mean that a lot of the people are coming together for this and any bad blood, so to speak, has been put aside so it is all good for us as well in our relations with the village folk.

The bar and restaurant were cleaned up Monday although I did clean up the restaurant Sunday morning, clearing tables of glasses and bottles and dirty ashtrays & table cloths.

Yesterday afternoon we were asked if the boys could have the stag party here for the groom this coming Saturday. They will be more participants, 40-50 men, and they will no doubt drink more. This coming weekend is a long one as 01 May is a national holiday in many European countries. So far we only have two rooms booked for Saturday night. I don't think having the stag event will be a problem for our guests either. I must say though, a male event is very different to the female event as the boys tend to drink heavier than the ladies so we shall see.

Next Friday is also our first music night in the bar / restaurant as well so we have been very busy these last few days preparing, advertising, etc.

The radio interview this morning on REM-FM in San Pedro went quite well I think. I suppose we shall know how well it went depending on how much business, if any, comes our way as a result of it.

The weather yesterday and today has finally become spring like. The ambient temperature is quite comfortable while being in the sun is the same as always... hot!

Hasta la proxima.

Sunday - 15 April

Today is tax day in the USA, the final day to get your annual tax return submitted. I suppose it will be tomorrow as today is Sunday.

Well, it is finally beautiful weather again, no chill in the air as has been the case up until two days ago. Today there is bright sunny skies, light clouds, light breeze and very comfortable.

Our three rooms all had breakfast promptly this morning and then departed, having had a good meal last night with us and then a restful evening. Today we have three new rooms staying one, two and three nights respectively. We also had a few tables for lunch so not a bad day.

Then we had some of the village people come in and request to have a hen night here next weekend. Ivan is making a wedding cake for this couple who are getting married on 19 May and who have booked Suite 11 for the night. The wedding cake will be for 300 people; we are also invited to the wedding. Well, the ladies that came into this afternoon are looking to have a despedido soltera, as we say in Spanish, for 25 women next Saturday night. That should be a loud night, I would expect. Ivan will make a cake appropriate for the occasion as well and they said they were going to have a male dancer come in too, a first for us in this hotel! I like first time things.

I was hoping to have a first time thing on 27 April with a music group but I have not yet heard back from the musician after waiting for 3 days and having left two messages and one SMS. I think I will have to change that date as I don't think I will have enough time to publicize the event to get enough of an audience. oh well.

Anyway, just a short entry for the moment to cover the weekend's activities.

Ciao for now.

13 April Friday

Today we had another meeting of the Genal Valley group at the hotel in Benarraba. We had about 15 attendees. Again there was confusion on when the meeting was supposed to begin, some having arrived at 10 and the rest at 11 or later.

When we got under way, I suggested that we needed to make a decision on the group name and the form sooner rather than later. A small committee was agreed to complete the form creating an association. We also agreed to close the door to new members until this was settled, hopefully by the next meeting. We agreed the monthly dues to be paid and that would give a vote to the member. So all members now need to pay their monthly dues in order to be able to vote at the next meeting. We will also need to vote on a president, vice president and treasurer.... I think I will stand for the treasurer as I already opened the bank account for the group.

So we are making a bit of headway but it sure is slow going.

Friday, 13 April

Well, busy we have been for the last few days. It's been a while since my last post so let me tell you about the bookings we have had in the last week or so.

First, our guests from Barcelona arrived on Sunday and stayed for eight nights; they plan to return for the month of August as well. Then we had a foursome from Belgium arrive on Monday for 3 nights, four very nice ladies. A German family of four arrived on Tuesday for four nights so Monday through Wednesday, the hotel was half full. Then another three rooms arrived on Thursday bringing us up to 7 rooms, almost full and for Friday and Saturday, the hotel was complete. It did not stop there either as we had five rooms for Sunday including a threesome from Madrid in addition to a Dutch couple that stayed four night through Tuesday.

On Friday, we had a group of 21 motorcyclists arrive at 2.00 for lunch which we were expecting. Thursday was a disappointing day for lunch but the weather was not cooperating at all with cloud, fog and rain. We also had a bad experience on Friday with a Spanish couple that came through right at the height of lunch. As I told everyone that day, no one could order anything that was not on the menu. This woman however insisted on ordering fried eggs with manteca. Actually, this story is starting to bore me because this couple reeked havoc with us this afternoon and I've already recounted it a few times. Basically long story short, I told her she could only order things on the menu but she insisted on her fried eggs. I tried to make her happy but there was just no doing that! In the end I lost my cool and told her and her husband that if they passed through this village again in the future, please pass the hotel!

She asked to speak with someone who understood Spanish (a bit of a slap in the face for me, no?). I told her I was the owner and we were doing the best we could for her which obviously was not good enough. After I told them not to come back, she asked for the complaints book, a first for us!! Of course I did not know where the book was and was so busy in the restaurant that I did not have time to spare to look for it (although I did try to find it and gave up). I thought they will have to wait as my diners were more important than her complaint. Meanwhile, her husband decided to call the police because we did not have the complaints books available, a requirement!! This couple was just completely unreasonable, no. Everyone around them saw what was happening and were very supportive of us. Ivan came out of the kitchen to speak with this woman after having told me that I should not be telling guests not to come back. He was with her for a few minutes apologising and trying to make things better but when he returned to the kitchen, he said he wanted to wring her neck!! She and her husband were just intent on making trouble for us no matter what anyone said or did.

Eventually I found the complaints book (an official form from the Junta de Andalusia) and she completed her form which neither one of us signed. She took all copies with her and then paid her bill willingly even after Ivan told them he did not want their money. Ivan refused to sign the form because she did not write what actually happened. Some of the other people around told us not to worry as we did not sign it and she did not give a copy so we had nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, this couple had sat around waiting more than two hours to complete this form on a holiday weekend. We all thought they should get a life. Anyway, that's behind us now.

So Easter in Juzcar... they have a tradition here of cutting down trees in the countryside to decorate the whole village, kind of cool actually. Branches adorning all types of surfaces, a creche of sorts by the town hall for the Virgin of Moclon (the patron saint) and Jesus. There are things happening thorugh the week with lots of drinking, another tradition. Unfortunately some of the village festivities during the week were somewhat rained out, not as lively as in the passed two years. There was dancing on Sunday afternoon though in the school with a music group playing. And we had a bigger procession this year than in the past I think because this is an election year; a big band arrived at 10.40 on Sunday morning, some of them dropping into the bar for a cafe or juice. They accompanied the virgin and Jesus through the village on its way to the creche. In the past, the band was comprised of people from the village and the valley... this year, I'm not sure where they were from but certainly not here.

The weather is still not so great; it's like winter arrived when spring was supposed to start. It's been raining here on and off all week and there is more forecasted for the coming week. We had water in the bar of course with this amount of rain. And to top that, a hole appeared in the yard a couple of mornings ago. Francisco is repairing it today, the result of the rain and low quality work of the previous owner, yet again!

I've been taking more bookings which is good. We had two Danish couples stay one night this week who had tried to stay with us in the fall when we were full. They promised they would come back as they enjoyed themselves but want to return when we have better werther. Last night we had three rooms including Diana and Francisco from Cadiz with their loud daughter. They've been to see us a few times now and will be back for sure.

Tonight we have no one in the hotel but we are looking forward to sleeping in a bit tomorrow as we have had little rest in the last couple of weeks, a good thing actually but tiring nevertheless!

Hey, readers, I have a request of you.... my mom asked me if anyone ever comments on my blog. Now I know that I have some readers as I have been told by some that they do read my blog and enjoy it. So my request is please make one or two remarks if you will. Do you enjoy my writing, am I boring, do I write too much... not covering something you'd like to know? Mentioned something once and never mentioned it again. Any questions.... really, anything, please!

Speaking of parents, Ivan's were here for 10 days along with his grandma, and we really appreciated their help. Paz made a few dishes which we sold as well such as veggie soup, a fried milk dessert (yummy) and torrijas, Spanish sweet toast.

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we have three rooms and then on Sunday two new rooms for a couple of nights each. In fact, we have some bookings every week through June. And I received another group enquiry for October 2008 thanks to my friend JoAnn in Colorado. I'm waiting to confirm that booking; it is a group with a different theme than painting which is fantastic as I would like to branch out into other areas besides painting!! When that booking is confirmed (thinking positively here) I will add it to the theme holiday index page and you all can see who and what that will be about!! In the meantime, I await some of your comments, please.

Hasta luego!

05 April -

Today is the first day of the long weekend. There has been a bit of noise out there in the streets of Juzcar as the fiesta starts with bangers going off (scaring all the dogs in the village) and car horns blaring. The hotel will be full tomorrow and Saturday which is good news. We still have a couple of rooms available for tonight; the phone keeps ringing with enquiries but they all want more than one night and we only have tonight available. C'est la vie.

We had four very nice ladies from Belgium depart today after three nights with us. I asked them to sign our guest book but forgot to take their photo. We also have a German family of four with us until tomorrow as well as our clients from Barcelona who have now booked for the month of August, same as last year.

We had one cancellation this afternoon for tonight which was a one night booking. I just had a feeling this reservation would not materialise and I made the mistake of not taking a credit card number to charge them as is our policy with cancellations, especially for this holiday period. Occasionally, there are bookings that just don't sound legitimate and this Montse was one of them. She called and said she had enormous problems and could not come. Well, this is a mistake I will not make again as someone else did the same thing to me a few days ago. I am rather annoyed about that and want to move toward only taking bookings with a credit card for confirmation; that way I can always charge the card when they don't turn up or cancel at the last minute which is outlined in our policy.

We did not have many tables for lunch today which was disappointing but we are hopeful for much more business tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. Ivan has prepared lots of food which will keep if we don't sell most of it this weekend but there is a lot of money invested in that food and it would be nice to see it move. If nothing else, we do have a group of 21 bikers coming for lunch tomorrow. Some have been here back in October including the organiser. They were a group of 53 back then. They should have a very nice meal tomorrow. Ivan's mother has made leche fritas and torrijas, which is a traditional Easter dessert.

We had a very nice couple from England staying next door earlier in the week and they have already booked for their 20th anniversary in June 2009 with us. Gavin had an iPod as well so he let me copy his music collection so now I have another music file to go through. I still have not finished going through the music that Din from NYC gave to me back in January 2006 not to mention Alberto's from August 2005. Lots of tracks to go through and decide if I want them. Anyway, Gavin and Linda were very happy to have discovered this area and the hotel bar. They were very complementary and we do look forward to seeing them again, our first booking for 2009. So now we have bookings for two years ahead of time which is fantastic!! Now if we can only get this year's book filled to at least 50 percent capacity everything would be dandy!!

We had Lolita's father here this week as Bandit had gone into heat. Otto, as he is called, stayed with us for three nights but it was too much work for a holiday week so we sent him packing back to his owner's place on Tuesday. We hope that the work that needed to be done got done; the timing was just unfortunate. We shall see if we have more pups after 7 weeks or so.

Thanks to one of our clients recently, I am going to be on the radio on 24 April, as I mentioned in my blog entry from 26 March. This radio station down in San Pedro on the coast called REM-FM which stands for Radio Europa Mediteraneo broadcasts to the Costa de Luz, Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Mallorca, Menorca and the Canary Islands. It is an English language talk radio station covering various topics about things happening in Spain. As I mentioned in my 26 March entry, I contacted them at the suggestion of Campbell who stayed in the hotel recently. They spoke with him as well and then made a date with me. It will about 15 minutes and I need to put together a list of talking points about the Genal Valley and the hotel. Ivan and I will both go ... so that is kind of exciting!

The weather so far this week has been very disappointing. I am sitting here writing this entry with cold feet under the table and wearing a sweater. It's been cold and cloudy outside as well as slightly damp which does not help. I was told by a Norwegian client that dropped in last week that their daughter was sitting out on a terrace with short sleeves last week in Oslo[!!] while we are cold with fires going and this being the start of April in southern Spain!! The forecast is not so bright either and those folks that told me the weather would improve by today were obviously wrong! This weather is so unpredictable... after all that warmth we had back in January and February. I know I should just enjoy the cool temps now because when it heats up, it will be scolding but it's hard to think of that now with cold feet, sabes!!

Well, I'm going to relax for a while with an episode of Grey's Anatomy so ciao for now.