SPANISH SUMMER NIGHTS AND ME

The year is 1990. I am sitting on our patio by my swimming pool on the Costa Blanca gazing, and observing how the soft evening breeze creates ripples on the surface of the illuminated pool which, in turn, were reflected on the walls of the patio and pool side and made the whole villa appear to shimmer in the bright moonlight. It was a truly remarkable sight to behold and I never tired of seeing it. My wife, Lynne, and I have been out to dinner at one of the many restaurants along the coastline. We have enjoyed a very nice meal, with a very acceptable bottle of Rioja wine, and after a short walk along the promenade, all the while hoping we might exercise away some of the calories we had consumed, we had returned to our villa. I have to say that it has been a very nice evening, and we know we are exceedingly lucky, to be able to live like this when one considers where we came from or, more accurately, where I came from, i.e. the slums of the poverty stricken East End Docklands. I am now actually living the dreams I dared to dream when younger - but back then they were only dreams. Miraculous - and seemingly impossible dreams ! However, sometimes even miraculous dreams sometimes come true. I know this for a fact - they did for me !

Lynne likes to read before sleeping and so she went to bed soon after our return. But I am a late bird and, come to think of it, an early bird too – so I tend to burn the candles at both ends ! However, after returning from a very pleasant evening out I invariably took immense pleasure in sitting for a while on our patio beside the pool. I always switched on the pool lights as well as all the other external lights, for similar to my mother, I liked houses to be well illuminated. Quite wasteful and extravagant – but very nice. At times I felt our villa was like a beacon lighting up the sky for we had quite a lot of external light fittings. I went to the kitchen to pour myself a nice, cool, glass of wine, and then I decided to savour one of my rapidly reducing small stock of Cuban Havana Cigars – the real McCoy. I knew they would be extremely good for the box had been a gift presented by the Cuban Minister of Finance no less to my very dear Czech friend, Jiri Stepan, or George as I call him, during a visit of the Minister to Prague to confer with George’s boss – the Governor of the State Bank, Prague. As Assistant to the Governor, George’s duties included caring for the wellbeing of the guests of his boss, most of whom were international visitors. I imagine the Minister was very pleased with the arrangements George had made for him and therefore presented him with the box of cigars. In his generosity, and since George doesn’t smoke, he gave the box to me during one of my Prague visits.

So there I sat, wine in one hand, cigar in the other and until the day I die I shall never, ever, forget those wonderful, balmy, Spanish nights. To sit there, with millions of stars twinkling above, and the moon shining brightly, whilst listening to the faint sounds of guitar music coming from down in the valley where a Spanish family lived; or if not, then the beautiful strains of Mantovani’s string orchestra playing soft, romantic Spanish melodies on my hi-fi which we had installed in our patio barbecue house. Those evenings were heavenly and it requires a much better writer than I to describe them adequately for they were superb and out of this world – as near to Heaven that one will ever get on this earth. Our villa was situated up quite high in the hills and so I was able to watch the lights of the fishing vessels slowly setting out from the port far below me passing the Penon de Ifach, a sea mountain which had risen from the depths many millions of years ago and which, by the way, I have climbed six times. The views from the top are truly remarkable and on clear days it is possible to see all the way to the Balearic Islands.
No doubt this small fishing fleet were hoping for a good catch and the glow of their lamps was reflected in the waters of the Mediterranean. Taking it all into account, it produced a wonderful, peaceful, tranquil, and romantic picture. Why – who knows, maybe we shall even eat some of their catch if we decide to go out again to eat the following evening. ! Back then it was exceedingly cheap to eat out – sometimes even cheaper than eating in ! The Spanish fishermen, who often also ran fish restaurants as a profitable sideline with their families, used to say that their fish from the Mediterranean were so fresh that they actually jumped out of the sea straight into frying pans of the various fish restaurants ! Meanwhile, the soft breezes continued to blow, the walls of our villa continued to shimmer in the bright moonlight, the stars continued to twinkle, and I absorbed it all in every little detail, I felt very relaxed.

But as the time passed I began to feel just a little drowsy, my eyelids began to droop somewhat (I think the shimmering villa and the atmosphere had a hypnotic effect), and, confirmed nostalgic that I am, my mind started to take me back through the years. I knew and appreciated very much indeed the fact that we were so very fortunate to be able to enjoy the terrific life we had selected there on the Costa Blanca; both Lynne and I were very grateful that we had the opportunity to choose our retirement and such a life at a relatively young age – we were still in our 50s. In my now sleepy state of mind I started to think about what a great journey through life it really had been our good fortune to experience. In my thoughts I went back – back to the very beginning – to the slums and backstreets of London’s East End Docklands where it all started long, long, ago.
From there, and despite many handicaps such as (1)being born on the wrong side of town (2)education ruined by the war, (3)coming from a poor family which was unable to help me get on in this world in any way. No – everything I have managed to achieve I have achieved by myself – No, that is incorrect, my dear wife Lynne has always been there to support and encourage me. Without her support I do not believe we could have accomplished or reached the ambitious goals we set ourselves. She has been behind me 100% all the while and I am so grateful for the help she gave me through the years. She made the blackest times seem just like the breaking of dawn on a new day – like a burst of sunshine. Could one ask for anything more ? And is it any wonder that I rose from nothing to become a successful international businessman ?
Summer nights in Spain were lovely and living high in the hills we were not bothered with any nuisance factor such as mosquitoes or other ugly flying things – although during the day we did have a few quite unusual visitors. Our two little grandsons always spent their summer holidays with us and I remember one occasion when we managed to get the VCR Tape of the children’s film PINOCHIO from the DVD Club we belonged to. Well we played it and the kids were enthralled with the story (and so were we by the way) – they liked JIMINY CRICKET especially for he amused them. And little Grant, being a born imitator, began to make us laugh by his impressions of him afterwards. When the film had finished I wandered out on to our patio and there, and this is absolutely true and I can prove it for I have it on film, sitting by the side of our swimming pool as if getting ready to dive in, was a large cricket !
Quickly I returned to our lounge where the boys were getting ready to play billards. I knew I couldn’t fool the older one, Darren, - he was to smart for my pranks - but young Grant was not even five yet ! Yes – him I could fool. So I cried out “Tin-Ribs (that’s my nickname for him) quickly – come here – Jiminy Cricket has come to see you !” With that Tin-Ribs stopped playing billiards immediately and rushed out.
When he saw the cricket he kneeled down before it and started to speak. “Hallo Jiminy” he said “How are you ? And thank you very much for coming to see me”. He seemed to be convinced that it really was Jiminy and was very impressed. It was a very touching scene and an example of childish innocence. But all too soon the cricket tired of this baby talk and hopped away somewhere for a little peace and quiet perhaps.
On other evenings we would take the car and go down into the town of Calpe. There we could either have dinner out – and there is no feeling like sitting, after a satisfying dinner, a good bottle of wine, and a glass of Soberano with one’s coffee, looking out over the Mediterranean. No – it wasn’t blue then because it was dark but when you keep gazing towards the sea it is surprising how many things you can see. I recall the time very early after our arrival in Spain when ordering a Soberano after dinner in one restaurant. The pretty waitress asked me “Helo ?” which means “With ice ?” But I didn’t know that the pronunciation of “helo” was, as in English, “yellow”! Not knowing any Spanish then I replied “Yes please – I’ll have the yellow one !” My thoughts were that I would try anything once ! Afterwards we would stroll along the front and being cheerful people we would smile at other couples walking in the opposite direction and bid them “Good Evening”. Did we know them ? No – we didn’t. But that doesn’t stop people being nice to each other and offer greetings does it ?
Not once in 9 years did we ever witness trouble along the front. But that was then and this is now – I wonder if today all is as peaceful as I recall ? However, in that atmosphere it would be exceedingly difficult to cultivate bad thoughts or indeed carry out bad actions. From time to time there were bouts of pickpockets and some people lost their wallets or whatever. Having been warned we learned to protect our valuables but these people were extremely clever. However, careful though we were, one evening we were at the promenade phoning England. We were obliged to use one of the phone booths because living in the hills as we did the cost of have our own phone fitted was phenomenal. Later it got better and more reasonable to the extent that instead of speaking of thousands of pounds installation fee we spoke in hundreds. That we didn’t mind paying. Anyway we exited the phone booth and almost immediately Lynne said to me that her solid silver bracelet with many luck charms attached had vanished ! We retraced our steps immediately and searched everywhere. But we were not able to find it. Now I cannot be 100% certain of this but I have a strong feeling that it was taken off her wrist by a pickpocket – and she didn’t feel a thing ! The thing is the bracelet was secured by a safety chain ! We doubted it could fall off by itself and that’s why we feel very strongly that the hand of a pickpocket was probably responsible.
For a very special night out we could motor into BENIDORM – about 25 kilometers along the coast – and there visit the Benidorm Palace. There they put on great musical show of flamenco dancing and other forms of entertainment. We went there quite a few times and were never disappointed with the quality of the entertainment. It was not obligatory to eat there – although you could. But we became a little wary of eating in crowded places where entertainment was going on and recall especially the TALK OF THE TOWN in London where I used to take business clients from time to time. We had a few disappointments there.
On the other hand, we also frequented the Lyon’s Corner Houses – and I refer especially the one in the Strand just before it opens out into Trafalgar Square. These Corner Houses were of a very acceptable quality standard but the prices were cheaper than the Talk of the Town. There one would walk down a thickly carpeted winding staircase to The Brasserie below – that experience alone was very good and an excellent introduction to what was to follow. You could either have lunch there in which case you would be served by pretty waitresses with black and white lace uniforms; the same waitresses would serve afternoon tea if you wished. And then – about 6 pm it was all change ! The girls went off home and were replaced by men with long white aprons. Now a so called “gypsy” orchestra was always playing and as you began to walk down the luxurious carpeted winding stair case you began to hear the strains of the sounds of the orchestra and as you became nearer to The Brasserie the music got louder and louder – what a wonderful welcome it was and what a place to take your wife or ladyfriend !
The people there were very kind and obliging and at the end of the evening you really felt that you had been out and had enjoyed a great evening because you also saw a very good cabaret show and afterwards you could dance. Once we took our eldest daughter on her birthday. The waiter heard us talking and a little later came with a cake and one candle. He then signalled to the orchestra which began to plat HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JACKIE. Of course Jackie went as red as a beetroot but she enjoyed the experience and recalls it in conversation even now although she is pushing 60 ! We saw some excellent shows there too– including probably one of the finest magicians I ever saw in my life. Because as a boy I worked on the limelights, or spotlights if you prefer, in a theatre/music hall to earn some much needed money. I was only 13 – I lied about my age ! So I saw a lot of magicians in my time – and the one at the Corner House was the very best. It may sound a little tame if I write a description but in one part he came on the the stage – a slim man dressed in evening wear. There was simply nowhere he could put anything bulky without it being noticed. But he opened his jacket and brought out a very large, flapping, rather angry cockerel ! Feathers were flying all over the place because Mr Cockerel was very angry and indignant. He continued flap until the very aggressive fowl was taken off stage. Everybody there was asking the same question: “How could he possibly have produced a large bird like that from nowhere ?” It was an amazing experience.
But the point I wish to make about the Corner House. It was a place where ordinary people could go and enjoy themselves without it costing a fortune. I have to say that, on occasions we, found their cabaret better than The Talk of the Town and one thing I must emphasise – the food served was infinitely better, was warm when served, and nicely served to the table. It was a place you could take anybody too and know they would have a nice time.
Sadly, Lyons as a popular company with about 6 Corner Houses, plus The Strand Palace Hotel, when it really was one the best hotels in London, plus many Lyon’s Tea Houses or Cafes, with it’s own bakery making much of their food items from bread rolls, cakes, and a whole range of goodies which became so popular that Lyons began to sell them to wholesalers and shops all over, was taken over by another company after the war and very sadly the new people changed the policies in many ways. The Corner House were changed into places more reminiscent of Burger Bars or Pizza Parlours. And so another piece of good old London was lost to us.
The Strand Palace Hotel was always remembered by the man standing outside in green dress coat and top hat. If it was raining he would come to your taxi and cover you with an umbrella and see you safely to the entrance of the hotel. Then, if you fancied a snifter before dinner you could go down to the Exeter Bar where you could comfortably sit and be served with drinks. Then you entered the Exeter Bar where they served excellent food. The hotel was more expensive when we compare price standards with the Corner Houses but still very good value. Right opposite was The Savoy Hotel and The Savoy Grill Room where, if you were lucky, you might bump into Winston Churchill himself – for it was one of his favourite restaurants – or even Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh plus many other stars and well known people. As a boy born in the wrong end of town, but now a prosperous businessman, you can imagine how proud I felt mixing with such exalted company. And what a way to spend a summer’s evening !
The Strand Palace hotel still exists and so do the Corner Houses and some of the Tea shops/Cafes but it is not a patch on how it used to be. They tried to modernise Lyons – but it didn’t need modernising. Everyone liked it just as it was.
Years later, when I was running my own company, I was trying to think of a nice place where I could take my staff for a Christmas dinner and celebration. My mind wandered back to the good old days and I wondered if there had been any change in policy at Lyons. So I phoned their Head Office only to be disappointed. But the lady I spoke to there told me that I had no idea of the number of calls received there enquiring if the old Brasserie and Showboat might be making a comeback. The lady told me that the question is under active consideration by the directors – but could give me no further information.
So when I think of summer evenings I think of those amazing Spanish nights and, in it’s own way, those amazing nights in The Strand too ! But it is a very expansive subject because I also think of summer nights in Paris, in Budapest, in Prague, Cologne, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico as well as London.
Happy summer nights to all !

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 06.07.2010

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