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Sunshine followed by snow, gales and huge seas hit the southern Spanish coast in January.

Snow in the Med!

We’ve not been out to Spain since our holiday here with Ali and the girls in September so were looking forward to a week of winter sunshine. Xabia is a great place to visit anytime of year and in January it’s ofen warm enough to eat outside– though the temperature drops to a chilly low at night. The first few days of our visit lived up to expectations with blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

Xabia port, winter day

From this…..

Waking up on Wednesday morning, we discovered a strangely quiet world and a thick covering of snow! Just the weather I come to Spain to avoid since tripping over a garden fork and breaking my hip a couple of years ago! Apparently this was the first snow Xabia had experienced in 15 years and of course it  caused chaos. Many villageswere temporarily cut off due to road closures. By late afternoon, the snow was melting, replaced by heavy rain and gales. Even the short drive down into the town was difficult with huge puddles at every road junction (no drains here!). We made it into Xabia, but most of the restaurants were closed. But as they say  ‘when one door closes another opens’ and driving along the Jesus Pobre road we discovered Chalet-Suizo, a new (to us) restaurant.

This charming restaurant was open despite the weather and offered an extensive choice of tasty menus. Service was friendly and efficient and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The salad was outstanding and one of the best I’ve tasted in years. It reminded me of the delicious salad bar at the old Swiss Centre in Leicester Square, in London. Alec and I would often meet up for a quick and healthy lunch when we worked in town.

Jan day in Xabia

… to this …

Although there’s been no more snow, unfortunately we’d had no sunshine either. Gales and heavy rain have persisted all week, often accompanied by thunder and lightening and then the inevitable power cuts! Fortunately we have candles and a cosy log fire, but had to buy some new heaters for the bedrooms as the warm setting on the air con units no longer work.

Winter seas in Xabia, Spain

To this……

The rain stopped for a few hours on Friday, enabling us to do some tidying up in the garden and have the trunks of the large palms renovated. They look quite different now as though they’ve had a short back and sides!

 

This has been a memorable week in more ways than one – the worst weather we have ever experienced coming out to Xabia (Javea ) – and the inauguration of the 45th president of America, Donald Trump, which we watched on TV yesterday despite a few breaks in transmission due to power cuts. It’ll be interesting to see what other surprises 2017 has in  store for us.

 

 

 

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