La Manga Holidays
La Manga Trips
The La Manga Big MP House - May 2007
12 noon Sat: It started at Dublin airport, 20 MP members met, some for the first time, we made the flight and on touchdown in Alicante we travelled to La Manga with the local bus driver getting lost on the way.
Foolishly being my first trip I thought, being late, it was going to be a quiet night until a few of us ended up in Mulligan's until 4am. Sunday was a lazy / hazy day but we all got together for some food in the evening before returning home early in anticipation of the tennis.
9-11am Mon - tennis coaching began, the sun was shining, with water bottles in hand a knock up started, the coaches split us up into groups and the drills began, this was followed by video analysis but alas we lost Morgo who had to retire injured after diving to reach a deep spinning back-hand. The coaching continued 9-11am each day, followed by Mixed, Men's and Ladies doubles events on Wednesday and Thursday. MP's Sheila K and Colombo won the mixed event and in the men's doubles John D and Colombo lost out in a pulsating match v English opponents. Deco C supplied the light refreshments.
Note: In case you're wondering for some reason everybody's name ended in 'O' on the trip, who knows O?
The week wasn't all tennis; some managed to play golf, cycled, hit the beach and / or sat by the pool with Morgo and the B's (Elaino/Kareno/Maro/Nico/Dervo). Night life was good La Manga has some great restaurant and bars, 'Si, La Bodega and the sports bar" etc... There were a lot of sore heads at tennis each morning.
On Friday the majority travelled to Murcia, if you've haven't been it's definitely worth a trip, Ryanair fly close, we stayed in the Zenit Murcia, which was very reasonably priced, the town has a fantastic cathedral, theatre, historic squares, great bars / restaurants and shopping, the first night we managed tapas, the second Argentinean, were the weeks awards were handed out to the group. Congratulations to Stevo L who won the Best Hairstyle award.
Sun 8am: we travelled by Taxis to Alicante airport and home.
Overall, I'd like to thank my fellow La Manga housemates for a great trip with no evictions and great fun.
Don't miss the next MP adventure!
Davey Orro
La Manga Trip - March, 2007 (By Aideen Sheehan)
Mountpleasant's first eleven headed for La Manga on St Patrick's Day, with Irish victories in the rugby and cricket arenas boding well for our fortunes on Spanish clay. Our team consisted of Garry Cleere, John Finnegan, Paul Barry, Fergal O'Dubhghaill, Louise Cullen, Pat McGoran, Geraldine Duggan, Mary McGrath, Anne O'Connell, Carol Cunniam, and last-minute addition Aideen Sheehan.
Alas fortune was not to favour the brave, and just an hour into our first coaching session, our great white hope Garry was hobbled by a bruising encounter with unlucky court number 13. Despite a forensic inquiry involving lots of staring at the culpable spot, foul play was quickly ruled out. The bridegroom-to-be, his ankle swollen up like a mango, was dispatched to hospital to find out would he be limping or striding up the aisle for his wedding this summer. The good news was that no permanent damage was wrought, and Pat initiated a campaign for restorative justice that, as well as financial restitution and an open-ended invitation to return, involved dispatching terrified La Manga staff the length and breadth of the Costa to secure crutches for the Mountpleasant boy wonder's epic journey home via Alicante, Cork and Heuston Station.
Our numbers thus reduced, the group decided to do its bit for Anglo-Irish relations by inviting London tennis ace Andrew to the bosom of our party, an invitation he took quite literally (say no more, The Ed). So enthralled was the Cockney lad by tales of 505 bacchanalia and bachelor auctions where comely maidens throw barrel-loads of dosh at the prospect of a date with any willing male, that his arrival in Ranelagh is expected any day soon, reversing the 800-year flow of emigration in the other direction.
Back on the tennis courts, the group slowly came to terms with topspin, despite initial protests that the courts were "too small", "too clay-ey" "too red" and (insert excuse of your choice here). Those entrusted to the slavedriving talents of the lovely Miguel were left panting the loudest (and it wasn't just the women, honest!), but by the end of the week both Maria's and Carlos's charges had also made remarkable improvements – and sometimes even got the ball in play.
The video analysis served up an array of painful home truths of the "That's not my stomach" and "I can't believe I thrust my chest out like that when I serve" variety. Woody Allen-lookalike coach Jorge became increasingly frustrated by the group's preference for sipping Sangria and cappuccinos instead of rushing back to the courts to do more drills, but the on-screen performances he captured are said to be among his finest comic work.
Despite the near hurricane blowing most days, the group did manage several expeditions to the beach, and shocked locals were aghast to see the occasional flash of sunstarved Irish flesh leaping into the water, though mercifully for them it was too cold to keep our clothes off for long.
In a week of revelations, the most dramatic was Paul's confession to having been narrowly pipped at the post at last year's song contest to choose an Irish Eurovision entry with his self-penned ditty about friendship, peace and other nice things. The revelation drove fellow songwriting wannabe Fergal (If I Could Make You Happy) to a frenzy of competitive jealousy which he could only assuage by grabbing the mike in that classiest of joints The Last Post and deafening the permatanned audience with his karaoke talents.
The Piano Bar in the Hyatt Hotel was a classier hang-out for the ladies of Mountpleasant Square to fling themselves about the dancefloor with abandon while spurning the advances of teenage cricketers from Kent and geriatric Norwegian golfers – "Is there nothing inbetween? It's as bad as a 505," the women were heard to wail into their many, many cocktails.
The week ended as it had begun in perfect sunshine, and the group headed home after a fantastic break, sharpening their excuses for the inevitable questions about where was the big improvement in their games, "my topspin doesn't work on this surface", "the court's too big/fast/wet/sandy," and a personal favourite, "I'm more a clay court player, me".
La Manga III - Week 3 (April 2006)
Another great week in La Manga III...
Nineteen of us met in Dublin Airport on a wet Saturday afternoon. A few hours later, the flight having passed smoothly, we were in the warm sunshine of Alicante with Seamus there to greet us. A few of us passed by Nicola in the airport on her way home from the Week Two trip – she very kindly continued to send us weather reports from Dublin by text throughout the week.
We embarked on our coach journey from Alicante to La Manga resort. Upon arrival in La Manga, we were given our keys and presented with the task of finding the matching villa amongst the jigsaw of villas. The villas are bright and clean with spacious balconies and all the basic facilities needed including washing machines and dishwashers. For our first meal together, we met in the square and finding it still just a tad chilly to eat outside, we ate indoors. Afterwards, we made our way to the pub, 'The Last Drop', which was to become our regular haunt, for what was meant to be just one... but often became a few more...
Sunday was a lazy day. Individuals from different villas rose throughout the morning and early afternoon and meandered towards the square for food or the pool for a little dip and to work on our suntans. Unfortunately, Emma was a little too enthusiastic taking a few sun rays too many that first day, but by the end of the week it had settled into a nice tan and she'd definitely won the 'Stephen Lalor Best Tan Trophy'. At 4pm we went to the tennis courts for a short knock up with the other tennis players in the academy, which was followed by Sangria on the balcony. The La Manga tennis centre is definitely very impressive with up to 28 clay courts, a swimming pool, gym and jacuzzi. The blue skies and sunny climate also helps!
The real tennis started in earnest the following morning, Monday at 9am. There were twenty one of us when Sheila arrived having played in the final winter league in Dublin the previous day. We were placed in groups, broadly aligned to our ability, of five to six people per coach. Each day, we focussed on the technique of different shots: forehand, backhand, serve, volley and even smash, slice and spin. The groups came together for entertaining demonstrations from the tennis coaches, whom are all superb tennis players as well as being mostly gorgeous. After two hours of repeated drills, of which the time fled by, most of our group underwent video analysis. This involves being videoed playing a particular shot, it is then played back and feedback is given by the coach on where improvement can be made. It is honestly not too frightening an experience and for some members of the group, it was even an opportunity to display their acting skills, such as Imelda who while posing for the camera said 'hello to all in Ireland'. The video analysis could have brought Brian too into the world of fame; his backhand was so good, the coaches wanted to keep the DVD to demonstrate to other tennis players in the academy.
During the afternoons, a number of activities were available. We sometimes played more tennis; there were always a few relaxing by the swimming pool; on one afternoon Declan and Sheila played a few rounds of golf and on the Friday afternoon, Catherine and Avril treated themselves after an arduous week by visiting the spa and having beauty treatments. On a few of the afternoons, tennis tournaments were also held. On the Monday, Feargal received an astounding applause for having come fourth in a tournament. For the Mixed-Double Championships, on the Wednesday, Catherine was very happy to partner Garry and reach the semi-finals in which they were beaten by a Father/daughter team. The finals of the Mixed Doubles, which were played out on central court was won by Seamus and his steady-playing English friend, Jane.
On the Thursday afternoon, most of the Mount Pleasant ladies didn't participate in the Ladies Championship Doubles, preferring to sun themselves by the pool with Philip keeping them company. However, a few of the men participated in the Men Championship Doubles and bets were on Seamus and David as winners. We were all quite surprised when two young thirteen year old boys beat our great Captain Seamus and our champion David Mathers in the finals 5:4. The young teenagers came up to the open air terrace bar, all shy and gauche wearing railway tracks to collect their prize, watched over by their proud parents. The coach later questioned Seamus and David why they hadn't taken the simple tactic of lobbing the ball over their opponents' heads? Oh well, some comfort was taken in that they'd also beaten Garry and John.
In the evenings, we sampled many types of cuisine ranging from Mexican, Asian, American to of course, Spanish tapas, Apart from tennis, other talents that individuals had in the group became apparent over the week. Maria has brilliant Spanish to the extent that she received her instructions from the coach through Spanish; Feargal is great at winging it in Spanish and was only caught out when he asked the waiter for a 'Coca largo'. The group had tremendous singing ability and could sing The Queen, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in an amazing harmony with Feargal conducting. David Mathers sang Wet Wet Wet – 'Love is All Around' beautifully and received a standing ovation. Philip's musical talent shone through in his one liner in the Commitment's song 'Ride Sally Ride'.
Besides musical and language skills, Heather is great at collecting balls, so you may see her around Mount Pleasant in the future with a Tesco trolley. When we heard Dervilla's wonderful laugh on the tennis courts, we all felt at home in Mount Pleasant. Linda's cool, calm demeanour and Donal's youth were also very much appreciated. Germaine's shoulder and upper body pilates and physiotherapy exercises were welcomed. Philip and Marta formed a mutual admiration society continuously reminding each other that they were both 'very good-looking' whereas Feargal, a man of so many talents and Marta excelled in their tango and pole dancing. Susan has great stamina – she was always the last to leave the pub.
As the great week came to a close, we had our last supper together eating Spanish tapas and our singing reached new highs. Before returning home, a few went on to Murcia for a final cultural experience of impressive cathedrals and squares and nice shops, not to speak of rum and cokes, more Spanish tapas and dancing. We arrived back in Dublin airport to wet weather, tired but happy after a great week of tennis and fun had been had by all.
Thank you to everybody who was part of it. A special thanks to Seamus for his great organisation!
Catherine Byrne
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La Manga II (Sept 2005)
What a great week!!!
18 of us met up in Dublin airport, racquets, golf clubs (not guitars), in tow last Saturday. Aer Lingus took us to Alicante and a lovely warm evening. All went to plan with the coach waiting for us, the keys picked up and everyone found their apartments (some more easily than others!).
Later on we all met up in the square and sat outside for dinner - everyone in good form and excited about the week...we then moved onto the Irish bar where there was a scary karaoke with George Bush masks going on. Being last to leave that bar, we then made our way to the Spike bar in the Hyatt where yet again we were last to leave. A good start!!!
Sunday was an easy day with most people relaxing after the journey and the Hyatt. We all met up again at 4pm for an easy hit with the other people in the tennis academy before retiring for sangria on the tennis balcony.
La Manga has some superb facilities, 28 courts mostly clay, huge pool, well equipped gym, jacuzzi, paddle tennis, volleyball etc. There is a great balcony in the sun overlooking the exhibition clay court where some evenings we were able to watch some of the coaches play each other.
Monday was the start of the serious tennis. This time we played at 11am for three hours. The sessions involved 5-6 people working with a coach for the week covering technique, intensive drills and full video analysis. Everybody was soon taking notes on everything they needed to change - we didn't run out of paper but it was a close thing. It was a tough three hours in the heat of the sun but there was lots of variety and demonstrations to keep the body willing. The coaches were a mix of Spanish and English. After lunch, generally on the terrace, it was either more tennis, pool time, golf, mountain biking or a visit to the spa.
Most nights we went out and about in La Manga in various different restaurants and bars. On Monday, we went to a fishing village and sat outside on the harbour and ate wonderful fish. The drinking games ensued with an interesting local tradition with a desert wine in a scientific apparatus, which the person on your left pours into your mouth...we soon learnt who we could trust! On Friday night, some of us made the journey into Murcia, a beautiful old Spanish town where we did a bar and tapas crawl which included a late finish but may not have included responsible drinking!
Off the tennis court there were some remarkable achievements that need to be honoured:
- Attendance: to Liz Sheils and Ger Farragher for the hours of hard graft, sweat and tears in the Piano Bar. Am sure it was just a coincidence that the bar had to do a stock take on your last night!!!
- Fashion: to Marie Bergin for the new outfit everyday even if half of them were her sisters
- One to watch: to Mr Morgan Pembroke - where did that backhand come from?
- Overachievement: to Sandra "6 handicap in golf" Atkinson
- Talent spotting: to Joan 'I'm a natural' Ward and Catherine Byrne 'and exactly how old do you think Roger is?'
- Broken promises: to Michael Ryan 'would anyone like to come to a BBQ in ours on Thursday?'
- Blister / bruise count and food appreciation: to Avril 'does anyone else hit themselves when they play?' Slevin for the previously unknown combination of an orange Bacardi Breezer and a donut - now a La Manga classic
- Worst memory: to Finbarr McDonnell 'is there anything else I could lose and then find again?'
- Best recovery: to Michael Conway playing through the pain to finish the week strongly
- Winning: to Mairead Cashman and Claire Bergin with a 100% sweep of the top prizes in the final open tournament on Friday
- Innovation and focus: a double award to Sue Galavan based on 'who needs a lighter when you have a toaster' and the belief if I repeat it often enough it will happen 'donde esta la discotheque?'
- Stephen Lawlor Best Tan trophy: to Philip 'who needs Speedos anyway?' Moloney...
- Bloodhound: to Declan Byrne for being able to remember all the pubs / clubs / taxi ranks in Murcia from six months ago right down to the same drinks and the same 6am finish
- Worst packing: to Paddy 'could my suitcase be any bigger?' Butler
Sheila Kilduff
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La Manga I - Uncovered
On Saturday 23 April 2005, 22 brave souls met at Dublin airport for the long-awaited La Manga trip. Tennis racquets in one hand and suncream in the other, we all turned up about three hours early to avoid the much-heralded security chaos. No queues, no chaos - plenty of time for the duty free and bonding with our fellow players. A few unlucky people tried to carry their racquets on board in their hand luggage but were swiftly sent back as they were considered "dangerous weapons". (They had obviously seen these people play!!) At the other end, a bus journey of about one hour from Alicante airport brought us to La Manga club - a maze of roads and avenues filled with apartments and villas.
The apartments were all clean and tidy, and on a quick reconnaissance we discovered the complimentary bottle of wine and beer in the fridge. This we toasted to good weather, good tennis and, hopefully, good housemates. It was reminiscent of a Big Brother opening night. The burning question was who was the first evictee going to be? Following the quick disposal of the beverages and the dumping of cases, we all headed to the nearest restaurant for dinner and then headed up to the Hyatt Hotel for some entertainment.
Entertainment .... Hmmmmm yes well it could have been called a few other choice things. Seamus was the only one caught out by the Hyatt dress code of "no shorts" and got a few disparaging looks but was let in nonetheless (obviously they were aware of his lofty position in Mount Pleasant!). The other clothing item of choice for the Hyatt was a well-cut blazer, and we uncovered a hierarchy amongst the blazer-wearing inhabitants. The pecking order was decided by the number of gold buttons on the sleeve. The more buttons, the more lolly you had to throw around. Botox and fake tan were the order of the day.
Deciding that this really wasn't our scene, we decided to try and get take out (how posh is that, take out from the Hyatt?) but ended up with the dilemma of how to transport the said libation back to the apartment. At this point, Davie M stepped forth with his life-saving fashion accessory, which we aptly named the "man-bag". Now don't laugh, the "man-bag" is the latest fashion accessory for the modern man who has too many items to be carried in his pockets, not to be confused with a purse, I might add. Anyhow we discovered that the "man-bag" could hold five bottles of beer. Now that is a bag not to be sneezed at, Louis Vuitton eat your heart out! The holiday had truly begun!
As tennis was not scheduled until Sunday afternoon, Sunday morning was a leisurely one. Sipping coffee by the pool, we watched Seamus, Philip, Eugene and Declan race each other in the water. The only surprise from the competitions was when Philip failed to complete a length of the pool under water. As everyone knows Philip's lung capacity for hot air, he was strongly tipped to be able to complete several lengths underwater non-stop. The competition was finally broken by Philip's first purchase of the week - a nice pink Barbie ball! It was going to be that type of week.
For most of us, Sunday afternoon was our first experience of clay courts. Having got used to the very high bounce, we were all warmed up before meeting our coaches and our fellow players. You could be mistaken for thinking that, as a group of 22, we would be the dominant group there but that wasn't the case. As we sat quietly waiting for our introductions, a posse of tanned English women of varying ages from Eastcote Tennis Club, all wearing the same clothes emblazoned with the words 'The Golden Girls' and all sporting giant-sized coloured sunglasses, arrived. These women go to La Manga the same week every year and are committed to their organised fun - crazy wigs, false teeth and policewoman uniforms were just some of their adornments during the week. Since our return, they have even managed to track Seamus down, and I think a visit to Dublin may be beckoning - Mount P will never be the same again!
Monday 9am was the start of our academy. We were divided into groups of six or so with a coach each and for five sunny days, we were put through our paces in the forehand, backhand, volley and serve. These lessons and drills were for the first two hours of every morning and were generally followed by some very welcome sangria before we had to head back out to do our video analysis. Most of the group chose to do the video analysis, which was well worth the extra time and money. Having got over the initial shock and embarassment at watching ourselves on court and the little idiosyncracies that are part of each of us (leg kicks, hair flicks, etc. and that was just the guys), this extra hour was probably the best bit of the academy.
Tournaments were held on a few of the afternoons, and Mount P took its fair share of the glory. Stephen Lalor won the first tournament in which you swapped partners throughout. The second tournament, mixed doubles, was won by Sheila Kilduff and David Mathers - a really good final played out on the show court against Gary Cleere and one of 'The Golden Girls'. With three Mount P players on court, our loyalties were naturally divided, but the support on the sidelines from the remaining 'Golden Girls' was something else - I'm sure the chants still echo in Gary's ears. The men's doubles tournament was an all-Mount P affair that was narrowly won by Seamus and Declan against Stephen and Gary in a classic display of mens doubles. The interesting thing here was that all 4 individuals were from the same coaching class, Dani's.
On the final day all the different classes played a doubles tournament and this time the pride of the coaches was at stake and once again Mount Pleasant came away with several of the prizes. Philip Moloney, Declan Byrne, Brian Murphy, Seamus Murphy all spring to mind, apologies if anyone has been left out.
The early mornings of tennis meant that there was plenty of time for other activities in the afternoons - golf, swimming, hiking, siestas - were all on offer. Great facilities and all within a few minutes' walk. Evenings were mainly spent in restaurants and the Irish pub on the complex.
On the final night one of our coaches, Dani, volunteered to take several willing participants on a cultural experience in Murcia, a town about one hour's drive from La Manga. This involved a tapas pub crawl of the best places to go in Murcia. Our starting point was a little bar in a small square in front of the magnificent cathedral. After knocking back a few San Miguels and admiring the architecture and form of the building, Dani and his wife Maria arrived and asked us why we were looking at the back of the building. Guess we were easily impressed. The front, needless to mention, was far more impressive. Following this little faux pas, we were treated to some incredible local cuisine and for a fraction of what you would expect to pay at home. Everywhere we went we were welcomed as guests of Dani who seems to be pretty popular there. The cuisine soon gave way to cocktails, shots and rum with coke as we bounced around the hot spots of the town. There were a few casualties along the way whom we solemnly captured on film lest their actions be forgotten. In true Mount Pleasant style we outlasted our hosts who claimed they had never met a bunch of people who enjoyed partying as much as their tennis. After much hugging and swapping of numbers, they departed into the night to leave us party on. Finally we arrived home tired and exhausted at 5:30am after a very memorable night out.
Hopefully the photo evidence will do justice to this part of the holiday and will prevent us from spreading malicious gossip. Particular photos, captured on digital camera, spring to mind. A misplaced hand, a pavement in Murcia...
For further details, check the photos, ask the participants and enjoy listening to their attempts to worm their way out of that one.
Memorable quotes from the week:
On seeing everyone eating their burgers with their hands rather than using cutlery, Dave Mathers was heard to say: "So it's all hand jobs then is it?"
Coach Dani's comment on Declan Connolly's footwork: "Is that a national dance?"
Coach Jorge to Mount Pleasant participant during the video analysis of her missed smash: "The most important thing about a contact point .... is to have one!"
All in all, a great week. Thanks to Seamus for getting us there and great organisation and to everybody who helped make it a really nice break. Looks like La Manga will now be a regular feature of Mount P's tennis year.
Names and places may have changed to protect the guilty!
Orla O'Flynn & Seamus Murphy