Blogs from Minorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, Europe - page 3

Well since the last update, I’ve managed trips to two continents, flying across the Atlantic to Los Angeles for a week, and just recently, a long weekend in Menorca, a gorgeous island off the coast of Spain. First things first though and it was off on my 10 hour flight across the pond to be quizzed by a thoroughly intelligent individual obviously doing customs work as a night job from his regular job at MENSA........ Apparently because I am entering the country, therefore I must be a terrorist. I have met many American’s who give their country a good name, but people like that….. Honestly. After getting out of LAX(barely), I headed to my hotel. When I booked it, I found one that looked close to the airport and relatively cheap. Little did I know that ... read more

A pretty quiet morning getting ready for the big final. The selection committee decided on keeping the same team as the semi final. We once again had a hit around in the nets, while the plate final was being played. We lost the toss and got put into bat. Brooky and I got an alright start, but we lost a few too many wickets and it was left up to AB to smash 33 at the end to get us up to a competitive total of 93. We knew if we bowled like we had in the last two matches we would win, but we bowled a few too many wides and bad balls. We picked up 3 wickets near the end but it was too little too late. Everyone was a bit dejected until we ... read more

Another morning of lounging around, with people playing table tennis, pool and foosball. (I don’t think Brookey was happy with the 9-0 thrashing I dished him out in foosball). The selection committee of Wilco, Jacko & Longy had an easier task of picking the side for the semi final because both Jacko & Spraggy had injuries. We had a knock around in the nets whilst the other semi was being played. Our side batted first again, and changed the order around a bit with AB and I opening. We got off to a good start because they bowled plenty of wides. AB got a tough LBW decision, which bought Wilco in. We managed to both retire, and the lower order all chipped in leaving us with 122, the highest total of the tournament. This total proved ... read more

Everyone was a little jaded so we decided the best plan of attack was to hit the beach. We drove to es Grau up the coast and found a really nice spot. AB and I found some energy and threw a tennis ball around in the sea for about an hour. Miser made a sand castle which Banjo trampled and Spraggy got bitten on the arse by a jelly fish. Later on that evening a few of us went fishing at the dock. There were some big fish circling around but we were unsuccessful - Longy caught a boat, Spraggy a plastic bag and Brookey a tiny fish. We had dinner and a few beers at a restaurant overlooking the bay before heading back to the hotel.... read more

I woke up on Friday feeling a little rough after a big night celebrating Diane’s (Paul’s Mum) 50th birthday. The team met at our local pub The Clarke’s Arms and set off for Leeds Bradford airport. I met Greg Jackson (Jacko) whose place I am staying at for the first time. He is an engineer on a cruise ship and had just flown back from New York. I also met Paul Spragg (Spraggy) who lives in Barrow but has spent 3 years living in Wellington, so was good to talk to someone about the mighty Hurricanes. The other members going were some of my close friends here - brothers Chris Moore (Fizzer) and Stephen Moore (Miser), Stephen’s girlfriend Steph, Chris Brookshaw (Brookey), Paul (Wilco) and I (Cheese - a nickname I still don’t know why I ... read more