LETTERS

At Jalon Market

Dear Karla and José,

Thanks a lot for your great hospitality during our time in Spain from 2006-09. 

We really appreciated getting to know you folks and all of the help that you provided to us over the three years that we lived in Spain. 

It was also a lot of fun seeing all the sights that you showed us - especially the local secret haunts.  I like the time that José and I went to a little sandwich bar - I can't remember the name but I remember that the ham bocadillo was to die for and the cook was working like mad to keep up with the constant demand. 

It was also very helpful to be kept informed of the local political developments. I think it would be very difficult for most foreigners to get to know the municipal and provincial developments without contacts like you and José and these are the levels of politics that can really surprise foreigners with their effects. 

And of course Stacey really enjoyed all the shopping deals that you showed her. 

We miss you both very much and wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavours.

Take care,  Wayne and Stacey XOXO

Ottawa, Ontario - CANADA

Hi Everyone:

At La Sella Golf Club

We visited Spain in 2005/06 and landed in Alicante, a beautiful city that we would like to spend more time in.


Thanks to Karla & José we very lucky to find a home rental up the coast at Cumbre del Sol and found the area very peaceful for hiking, touring and visiting ancient old villages.

The hike up Montgo was one of the best ever and the windmill trails behind Javea are not to be missed. I wish we had more time than the 3 months we spent there as there were so many things to do.

There waas good golfing just below Cumbre del Sol on a nice 18 hole course, excellent beaches and grottos and always another festival in a nearby town.

When we wanted to stay in we could rent the latest films & watch them or we could watch sky tv and keep up to date on the UK and US stations. The house we rented was well equipped and the winter months are ideal for sightseeing as there are just no crowds at all during those months.

We live in Canada and love to travel when the weather here is cold ' whereas in Spain the weather is perfect for hiking and golf.

John and Myrna Tozer, Lions Head, Ontario/Canada

Dear Karla and José,

It's Paella Time

Thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality when my family and I visited Spain. Alicate province is beautiful and Cumbre del Sol is absolutely stunning! After the grey days of a London winter, it was so refreshing to walk the hills along the coast, with panorama views like no other looking over the blue water that can only be the Mediterranean!

Thank you so much for taking the time to show us so many special places - from inland to the sea! We will never forget the long walk in the orange groves, the sun setting on Xativa castle, the adventure of driving down tiny cobble stone streets in the heart of Altea, or the time just relaxing down at the pool or El Portet beach.

You guys really helped make our Christmas there special by explaining all of the local customs, traditions and, importantly, the history behind them. It made our trip so much more fulfilling to have also learned a great deal about Spain’s history, political contexts and other things that tourists so often never learn.

All in all THANK YOU! And see you again soon!

Danna Ingleton - Waterloo, Ontario - Canada

Dear Karla and José,

Viva Madrid

Where do I start? I remember many years back, Karla telling me stories about Spain. I'd think she was exaggerating, as we all do when memory makes events bigger and more important than they may have actually been. I could tell she liked Spain - maybe even loved Spain. Would I visit? Hard to say.

I remember years later when Karla moved to Spain. José was a big part of that (and for those of us who know them, that's an understatement). "You have to come visit" she would write, or tell me on the phone, or in person on those rare visits back to Canada. Would I visit? Hmmm... well maybe.

And then my life changed in big ways - the usual stuff - kids get older, marriages dissolve, new living arrangements. But some messages remained the same: "Come and visit!" she said. Would I visit? Well, why not?

I almost didn't go. I tried to talk myself out of it (I'm not half as brave as I pretend to be...) but friends here kicked me off my backside and off I flew to the most important, most influential, most life changing two weeks of my life. Two weeks? No, it seemed like more time than that - it was one of those experiences so packed, so intense in sensation, that your memory cannot fathom that it only happened over 14 days. The two of you gave me a look at the world I'd never had. You showed me a pace of life, a way of life, an outlook on life that probably exists no where else on this planet. I felt at home minutes after I arrived. For me, Spain fit. I began to understand what Karla's stories really meant, all those years ago.

A part of me has never left Spain, and that two weeks is now three years in the past. I look at the pictures I took everyday. Really. I know that I'm not finished with Spain, or Karla and José. Would I visit again? I'm counting the days. I know I'll be back.

Bruce Wolff - Waterloo, Ontario



Cave at Moraig beach - Cumbre del Sol



Thank you Karla and José for being such fantastic hosts while visiting Spain.

You both have so much to share with interesting facts and history abound.

Your kindness and fun loving spirit made our visit so much better than we had dreamed.

Both Venetia and I would return in a flash and hope to some day.

Deanna Knight - Vancouver, BC