From: The Racketeer 56, January 2005
Five Go Mad in La Manga
by Anita Jones
OCTOBER 2004 saw the 4th annual La Manga trip, once again superbly organised by Diane.
This year's group consisted of Rosie, Anne, Debbie, Diane and me. We all met up in good spirits at East Midlands Airport on a fine Saturday afternoon.
We were having the usual giggle about passport photos but I couldn't remember ever seeing Anne in a school uniform and pigtails, so it was no surprise to hear that she'd got her daughter's passport, packed (so she claims) by husband James who was soon on the end of a severe ticking off heard by everyone within a three-mile vicinity of the airport - a phone wasn't really required.
He did, however, save the day (and his skin) by returning to the airport, correct passport in hand, in plenty of time for our flight.
Was this the shape of things to come, I wondered, but the remainder of the journey passed without a hitch and we safely arrived at the La Manga resort in our Renault Scenic 'team bus'
The villas at La Manga are of a very high standard and well equipped with all mod cons. For reasons I can't remember we had booked a villa for four (for five of us) and for another reason I can't remember, I offered to sleep on the camp bed. Not a problem I thought, I can generally fall asleep on a clothes line if necessary but where to put the camp bed wasn't too obvious. After much moving of various bits of furniture out to the patio, it became apparent that the only way it would fit into one of the bedrooms was if half of it was in a cupboard. Well, as you can imagine, I was the butt of many jokes throughout the week and constantly introduced to people as 'Anita - she's the one sleeping in the cupboard - tee, hee, hee'.
I would just like to say that by the end of the week I had become quite attached to my cupboard and my little camp bed. So there!
As our coaching didn't start until Monday morning, we took the opportunity on Sunday to get out and about and make the annual pilgrimage to the Pabo de Calos market and its famous leather bag stall - you must have heard of it. Diane bartered marvellously to get a discount on her annual bag purchase but her request for a loyalty card fell on deaf ears. The rest of us, like good English tourists, happily paid full price.
Monday morning soon dawned and we all nervously got ready for our first session at the tennis academy hoping to impress the coaches. The tennis academy runs for two hours Monday to Friday and provides excellent coaching for all levels.
With a 9 a.m. start there was no opportunity for a lie-in and with Rosie's sleep-talking (or should I say shouting) there had been little opportunity for sleep either.
We were split across various groups with other players of similar ability with Debbie, our resident superstar, making it into the 'top' group, impressing the coaches with her fine technique or was it that short skirt she was wearing?
The coaching was hard work but great fun and after two hours of sweating it out, there was nothing else for it but to drink sangria and beer on the terrace bar. A daily ritual we felt obliged to partake in; it was tough.
We quickly mastered the tennis and a new challenge was needed so one cloudy afternoon we headed to the pitch and putt with Diane leading the way as our golf 'expert'. Well, just how difficult can it be to get a ball in a hole? Very difficult we soon realised and whose stupid idea was it to put water in the way? I think the correct etiquette would have been to shout 'fore' rather than burst into hysterical laughter as Rosie missed by centimetres the head of an unsuspecting golfer as she launched the ball high into the air to clear the water. Stick with the tennis, Rosie - it's safer for all concerned.
Tuesday saw us head off to the nearby city of Murcia for a bit of sightseeing and culture. After several toilet and coffee breaks, a lunch stop and shopping in the Spanish equivalent of Debenhams we finally found the culture in the form of the spectacular cathedral in the city's main square. As luck would have it, there was a coffee shop nearby where we could rest our weary legs and admire the view. The whole day obviously made a big impression on Rosie whose comment on the journey back: 'I wonder what Murcia is like', left the rest of us slightly bemused.
Our evenings were taken up with some excellent meals out at local restaurants where good food and wine was in abundance - it would have been rude not to take advantage of the local hospitality.
I've been told I can't finish this article without mentioning Diane's success in the end of week tournament. She did MPTC ladies proud and came first. I'm also supposed to mention that she came first in pitch and putt and first in crazy golf. Strangely, she was always last to the washing up and making the tea.
Oh, almost forgot, we weren't the only celebrities in the resort. We spotted Michelle Gayle - remember her? ('Your Sweetness is My Weakness'). The first time she seemed genuinely pleased that we had recognised her and happily chatted with us. The second time, she looked decidedly nervous when Debbie got her video camera out. Were we the paparazzi hoping to sell photos to the tabloids?
It was a great holiday, with lots of tennis, food, beer, wine and most of all, good fun and good company. If anyone is interested in the 2005 trip, then speak to Diane or check out the details on the website www.lamangadirect.co.uk.