MAY 2008

WELCOME TO THE NEW SEASON

Today 1st of May

Throughout the whole of Spain and the Balearic islands today is the official bank holiday of the workers very similar to the may day holiday in England but here in Spain what ever date or day it falls on that is the holiday.

Last night saw the last semi –final in the champions league Chelsea vLiverpool so it’s Man Utd v Chelsea in the final it’s just like a double header for the premiership and the champions league lets see how it goes.

It’s really strange here because some fiestas the buses run every hour and for some they are running as normal ,I will try and find out when and why this happens.but it probably won’t again until next year.

For anybody coming on holiday it is getting warmer every day,

Today it has been absolutely roasting touching the 30 degree mark.

This weekend in the U K it is like the official first holiday of the year with Monday being a bank holiday, over here in Ibiza nearly 60 per cent of the bars etc in SanAntonio are opening ,it’s beginning to look like a holiday resort again.

I’ve heard today about the problems the fans may have getting visas to go and watch the final in Russia I can’t really see it being a problem because surely they must have thought about the possibility of two English teams getting to the final no doubt it will get sorted in the end.

May 4th

Well it looks as though I might be wrong maybe Bolton will stay up if so I hold my hands up ,but I think there will be a lot of changes next season.

Watched the Man Utd game against West Ham they are a different class and I don’t like saying it but I think the title is their’s.

Here in Ibiza there is now a lot of people starting to arrive many looking for work but also stag nights and hen parties as the season gets under way .then again the weather over here is absolutely roasting and I believe it is pouring down in England I know it is in Bolton as friends of mine have just gone back and can’t wait to come back.

They went back two days ago.

I must say well done to Stoke City and West Brom for making it to the premiership,

Let’s hope they can stay there but what an experience for the clubs and their fans.

Of course West Brom have been there before but we’ll have to wait until next

week to find out who will join them….

May 5th

I’ve just watched Newcastle v Chelsea when I left it was 2-0 for Chelsea ,so it goes to the last day of the season and it’s Chelsea v Bolton I think as long as Chelsea don’t score more than 5 or 6 then Bolton will survive, optimistic or not we’ll see

Also today I saw Torquay v Exeter what a good game 4- 1 to Exeter but at one time they were 3-1 down an absolutely fantastic performance by 3-1 down I mean on aggregate a brilliant advertisement for the lower divisions absolutely no disrespect meant at all ,and I will definitely watch the final it was really end to end stuff.

May 6th

Unfortunately the road-works on the Ibiza road are back on re-surfacing from can tomas

To San Rafael hopefully once again they should be finished soon.

May 8th

Today it’s been raining nearly all day but it’s still warm .

Last night turned out to be a easy win for Real Madrid 4-1 in the end and they made it look easy a lot of people here at work are a little sick as most of them are Barcelona fans especially Diego he keeps telling me how good they are.

Many good places are now open in San Antonio close to our Sa Clau apt’s, and Don Juan hostel for a good Sunday lunch I would recommend the Cat & Parrot at the top of the west end plus of course the usual fast food outlets.

Also the Highlander in the west end good for breakfasts it also has a big screen for sports etc.

If your staying in the bay area of San Antonio close to our San Remo-Estanyol complex

You can always get a good breakfast, at the Yorkshireman not a bad recommendation from a Lancastrian also midway between the bay and the town is the Don Juan bar not to be confused with our own hostal you can always get good food there at reasonable prices and don’t forget you can always get food and good entertainment at the café royal around the bay.

May10th

Tomorrow sees the final day of the premier league and it looks like some nail biting for some teams top and bottom as I said before it looks like Bolton are safe but not mathematically

Birmingham v Blackburn, don’t know Rovers can still get into Europe?

Derby v Reading I think a draw?

Portsmouth v Fulham cup final next week who knows?

Wigan v Man Utd I think Man U to strong

And of course Chelsea v Bolton best I could hope is another draw at the bridge?

On all accounts the weather should be quite good

Definitely some good games in prospect, some very happy fans and some very upset

but either way I’ll put the scores here tomorrow.

Still think the title will go to Man Utd on goal difference

At the other end it’s so very close don’t know all I can say is best of luck to all three teams.

May 11th

Well what results

As I thought Man Utd won the league and I guessed right about Bolton a draw

But I feel sorry for Birmingham winning 4 -1 and going down

Also Reading winners 4-0 and down really you can’t ask for any more on the last day of the season the results your teams needed but that’s football

What about Middlesboro’ 8 Man City 1 who would have thought that

And Portsmouth 0 Fulham 1 so they escape again but as I said before it’s the cup final next week

One good thing now is I think the weather is changing for the better after nearly a week of rain it’s now looking bright and sunny and nearly everything is now open or will be by the weekend.

Unfortunately they have in San Antonio decided to dig up the road again at the side of the hotel Florida so that road is now closed again good timing eh? Good news though I think the road works on the San Antonio –Ibiza road are coming to an end as they have done a lot of the road markings and re-surfacing so the traffic should start to flow a little better we hope until in their wisdom they decide to start again.

Around the bay a lot of the road works have now been finished I think after a lot of complaining by the shop/bar owners and of course the hotels where in some parts the coaches couldn’t get near, not very good dragging suitcases about when there’s no footpaths plus the buses and taxis have had to be re-routed or in some cases even cancelled maybe things will get back to normal hopefully.

May14th

Tonight sees the UEFA cup final should be a good match maybe Rangers can do something in Europe I hope so because I have a lot of Scottish friends and I think they deserve a good run.

This weekend sees a lot more hotels opening and there is a lot more people here now.

Good news I have just had friends come back from England and has told me that no delays had been reported so far we’ll just have to see as the season goes on.

They said that the weather in England was very good but over here it’s a bit of a mixture and the forecast is about the same cloudy with sunny spells but it’s still quite warm but it goes a bit chilly at night

Well Rangers didn’t do it again they lost 2-0 maybe one day?

Unfortunately the road works on going on again it looks as though they are going to go right up to the roundabout as you go into Ibiza town in one way I suppose it’s better doing it one go rather than in bits but I think they could have started it a bit earlier than waiting until the tourist season started good planning eh! It’s taken me an hour to get from San Antonio to near the casino, and the queues going the other way are massive one minute the tunnels at San Rafael are open and the next time you get there they are closed but just recently one lane of road is normally closed off and in some cases the bus has had to let people get off in the middle of the road dangerous or what?

This weekend sees the FA cup final Portsmouth v Cardiff should be a good day out and definitely a fantastic experience for Cardiff good luck to both teams.

Today it’s been really overcast but still warm around the 20degree mark.

May 16th

Today our Catalina hotel opened without doubt the ideal setting for watching the sun go down unfortunately today this morning it was raining and the rest of the day it has been overcast so tonight there’s no sunset ,it’s a shame really because you have bars like Savannah and café del Mar if your not sat on the balcony watching the sun go down these bars are just as good to see it.

This stretch of the coastline is now quite pleasant with it’s new walkway which goes from the harbour all the way round to Cala des Moro they have also installed many benches along with floor lighting so you can sit there and just chill out .

As you get to Cala des Moro you can walk past our Formentera 1&2 apts and brings you back into the town centre of San Antonio just walking round takes about half an hour nice to look out to sea and look towards the horizon a nice time to do this is when the sun is just going down and rays glitter on the water ideal for taking photographs you can also get a good view of the lighthouse from the walkway as well or just sit there and watch the boats come into the harbour.

Also this week the water-taxis have started to run or should I say sail this is good way to get round the bay from the harbour this year they’ve put them in the corner in front of the new sun-sea bar this is definitely a lot better because they are now all together and from these taxis! You can virtually reach all the hotels on the other side of the bay I think the cost of the trip is 2 euros

And it takes you 1 hotel Hawaii 2 San Remo-S’estanyol.3Pinit-Playa4Sea View-Costa-Sur etc

Obviously these are just the places of call that are listed and where the ferry’s pull in

Today I’ve just watched the FA cup final between Cardiff and Portsmouth for those who don’t know it was 1-0 to Portsmouth I must admit not the best match I’ve seen but there it goes .

The match on sky just before it Rochdale v Darlington was an absolute cracker 2-1 to Rochdale on the day making it 3-3 on aggregate and then it went to penalties it got to 4-4 then Darlington took there’s and missed Rochdale scored and won and for the first time in their history they are going to Wembley and a chance to get out of the now second division for thirty something years .coming from Lancashire myself I’ll bet Rochdale will be deserted over the bank holiday weekend.

And they play the winners of Stockport v Wycombe Wanderers later today what a fantastic result for the town of Rochdale well done…unlucky but well played Darlington a superb advertisement for football and how to take penalties.

Well next week it’s the play off finals and one of them is Rochdale v Stockport a really good north west derby at least one north west team will be promoted good luck to both teams

And of course not forgetting Wednesday’s big game Man Utd v Chelsea the European cup final

Don’t know but I think Chelsea will want to get something out of the season other wise it will be a lot of money spent and no results except that they will be back in Europe again next season.

And maybe spend a lot more money but how long can it go on probably more players will come in and players will go and maybe another new manager who knows?