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It's a very Vera Playa Chriiiiiiiistmaaasssss!!!
Chris • 13 December 2019
What's Vera Playa like at Christmas time? I'll tell you...
It doesn’t take much to get me into the Crimbo spirit. In actual fact, Christmas started in our house the last week of November. The tree was ceremonially shoved into the front window much to the amusement of passers-by. Then, at the beginning of December, Steve and I opened our respective Advent Calendars. Three days into Advent, a local supermarket was doing a special deal on leftover super-luxury Quality Street Advent calendars…so of course we had to buy one on the agreement that I would be odd day numbers and he would be evens. Chocolate-appreciative reader, on the evening of day four after a couple of glasses of wine, we lost all self-control…opened our respective windows then spent the next half hour trading chocklits with one another. It ended surprisingly amicably!
So, what’s been happening this yule time at VP? Well, no rest for us. I had promised to Sellotape my mouth shut in order to kick-start the old diet however at the very beginning of the month, our neighbours had a birthday party – venue for same being on their terrace and the sun was blinding…and I got all red faced on account of over sun exposure which due to my ethnic heritage is rare for me! It was a great afternoon and it was really nice to meet a number of people properly whom we have seen time and time again on the beach in the summer time but until now had never actually spoken to…we even invented a new language that day, a cross between Dutch, German, Spanish and English. A typically cosmopolitan VP party in other words.
Literally, two days later, a storm came to VP. The waves forced part of the front section of the pirate bar to dislocate from the main structure and we watched from our dining room window as the sea spray came perilously close to the foot of our building.
“Oh, the sea, it does not bother me”, says our neighbour who has lived here for over 30 years, which gave me a little comfort that night as I heard the waves crashing outside my window.
By the following weekend, the sun returned and many naturists were back on the beach sunbathing exactly where the earlier storm of the century had taken place. Ironically, post-storm, the sand on our section of beach was smoother and more bountiful than ever – the tides have washed up a load of the fresh stuff. Nevertheless, we still need to continue the pressure on the Coastal Ministry to improve the coastal defences as we are very vulnerable here in the winter – as, of course, are many coastal locations around the world.
Being the season of giving, we are getting a lovely steady trickle of cards and e-cards from guests past and present. We even received a parcel of chocolate goodies to hang on the tree and a chocolate Santa each from our lovely friends and guests Diane and Simon. Needless to say, Steve had bitten the head off his Santa within moments of opening said parcel. Oh and the chocolate tree decorations? Well you can decide whether or not they actually made it to the tree!
This weekend, we are off to some friends for a Christmas get-together which we know will happily involve too much of everything…too much eating…too much drinking…too much talking…too much laughing. These friends of ours are nothing short of culinary geniuses and they blow us away with their inventions every time. This time however, they are on the ‘Keto’ Diet. Reader, we’ve Googled it already and are intrigued to see how this talented couple will interpret Keto into their culinary delights – can’t wait. The following day, more excess as the nice German people who bought our old apartment have invited us over for a little Christmas soiree. Add to the fact that the town hall have adorned all the street light posts in the naturist zone with sparkly Christmas lights, the whole ambience is very festive…with some sun thrown in – a perfect balance!
Steve has been overjoyed because one of his favourite birds of prey – a Kestrel – has taken regular perch on a pillar on the edge of our terrace. It’s the perfect place from which he can survey for prey on the naturist beach before swooping down for his quarry. He doesn’t seem at all bothered by our presence. I think Steve’s up on the terrace as I type, trying to take a decent photo of Kessy.
So with only a couple of weeks left before the big day, I’m wondering for Christmas lunch this year, what shall it be? Turkey or Duck? Hmmm, how about Kestrel? I wonder what Steve would think if I managed to capture Kessy and rustle up something with roast potatoes? Oh stop it!
Happy holidays everyone and best wishes, health and happiness for 2020! For those coming to VP next summer, we’ll see you on the beach as usual, Cheers!
Steve and Chris offer two beautiful apartments to rent for the discerning naturist traveller. One is directly on the Vera Playa naturist beach, the other just a few footsteps away. See more here
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