I woke to another warm day after a good night’s sleep. It takes a little while for the sun to come up but it was still lovely to swim in the pool before breakfast and enjoy the magnificent view. What a fabulous treat to be able to enjoy this. And how lucky I am to have such lovely friends to invite me to share it with them for a few days at one of the nicest times of the year to be here.

Then it was breakfast at the table in the nia, a covered outside area, where meals are eaten for most of the year. Linda put a bowl full of fresh figs she’d just picked on the table.

Late morning we headed into nearby Moraira where Linda had a 2-hour meeting to go to and I had arranged to meet Karena in Algas Port Bar – a venue I suggested as I’d been there yesterday so knew where to go! Karena is the sister of food writer Gareth Jones (www.garethjonesfood.com) and has lived in Moraira for many years, having married a Spanish man. Gareth told me Karena would be able to point me to good food places in the area. It was great meeting her. She told me of a couple of good restaurants and also that the bar next door to where we were did very good tapas. She suggested we could meet there another day and told me what some of their best dishes were.

Karena had to go off to meet her daughter at 12 and I, with still some time to spare before meeting up with Linda, headed back towards the marina. I’d found a bar selling ice cream there yesterday and well, you know how much The Single Gourmet Traveller likes ice cream!

It was a delicious yogurt ice with a dark fruit ripple. Very refreshing for a hot, sunny day. I walked down to the sea edge and sat on a bench to eat it, relaxing in the sun and looking out to a magnificently blue sea.

Moraira, which sits on the Marina Alta coast, 80km north of Alicante, was once a fishing village. Now, it’s a favourite tourist destination in the area; an attractive town. There is a fishing market by the marina but I’ve never seen it open so I must find out if it still operates.

Near the marina stands a large statue of a fisherman’s family, obviously in honour of the town’s history.

Then it was time to find Linda and head home. It was lunch in the nia, more of that gorgeous Serrano ham, Manchego and other cheeses, salad and a beer.

And then, dear friends, it was time for your holidaying blogger to settle by the pool again, a little more reading of my book, a doze in the sun and then another 20 lengths in the pool before a shower. Now, as I sit on the terrace writing this, the sound of George’s saxophone ripples across to me – isn’t a saxophone a wonderful instrument? – and Linda has just come out to say it must be time for a drink and some nibbles before supper. Which means, it must also be time for me to sign off for the day. Till tomorrow … have a good evening!