What a week!

I finally finished my 3 week assignment 5 months after I started, and I will miss the people there, as I have really got on well with them. There's only one question I ever used to ask when taking up a reference for anyone I was thinking of employing and the very same words were said to me by the FD - he would employ me again. He'll give me a good reference for my new employer and I'm happy I did a good job for them.

And so, I had a week off before starting my new job on Monday.

So, what have I been doing with my free time?

Well, I've been in Spain catching up with some of my old friends. We flew in the early hours of Monday morning with another couple, the idea being a week of winter sun to give us a break from the grey, cold english weather and an opportunity for Neil to play a few rounds of golf at his old course and for me to catch up with some of my friends back in Terreros.

We had been watching the weather forecasts since New Year and they had been having a good few weeks of warm sunny days - but that all changed as we flew into Alicante and the further we drove south, the heavier the clouds got.

By the time we reached Terreros we were certainly glad we'd got our winter jackets on. It was highly probable that it was warmer back in the UK.

As we drove through Terreros it looked as if more bars were closed than normal but La Venta was open and serving Menu del Día, so we parked up and grabbed a table. An hour or so later, we were ready to meet Ava for the keys to the apartment we had booked.

We had a couple of friends with us, Alex would be on the golf course with Neil, while Susan and I would shop, sight see and generally chill out. Monday saw us with great plans that, by Wednesay morning, would be completely changed.

But for now, we'll focus on Monday. The apartment was a bit chilly after being closed up for a while and so our first priorities were to get it warm, get some shopping, call and book a tee-time for the guys for Tuesday and have an early night after being up since 2am.

All went according to plan. I knew Neil was excited about playing his old golf course and this was re-affirmed when he was up and dressed by 6.30am when he wasn't due on the tee until 10am. He was like a little boy on Christmas morning who couldn't wait to open his presents. It was so sweet to see.

And so, golf clubs in the back of the car, we started our first day's holiday.