We recently had the pleasure of having the Theemann family from Germany visit us for a few days. They arrived with their son and daughter as well as one of their daughter’s friends, and we assumed they were here for a few days’ winter sunshine during the break in the school term. They had booked the self-catering apartment for four nights, but as they arrived fairly late in the evening they had also arranged to take advantage of our evening meal service.
During dinner, it transpired that although they certainly were looking forward to a spell of much warmer weather than they had left behind n Germany, the main purpose of their trip was shopping – but not the usual souvenir shopping that many of our guests treat themselves to. Back in Germany, the Theemanns run a garden nursery business with several outlets, and they were here in order to place orders for palm and citrus trees and other Mediterranean Garden Plants for the coming season.
This is an annual undertaking for them – they come to our part of Spain most years for this – and as a result they have contacts and lines of supply already well established over here. They were therefore able to set off on their first morning straight to a supplier near Valencia city where they knew what they would be able to order Mediterranean Garden Plants with no problems. They returned to us in the early afternoon in time for some food shopping and then an evening taking it easy in their apartment.
The following day was time for some proper holiday activity, and so they decided to have an excursion to the inland town of Xativa, where they wanted to explore the narrow streets and quaint squares. The town is dominated by a spectacular castle which gives beautiful views for a huge area all around, so they were able to spend a thoroughly enjoyable day there and also take in Xativa’s weekly market as an added bonus. The next day, though, it was back to the main purpose of the trip and so they went down the coast to Elche – a world famous centre for palm trees – to order not only some palm trees, but also citrus trees and other Mediterranean Garden Plants. They spent the rest of the day sightseeing along the coast, making their way gradually back towards Gandia with the intention of having a family dinner in their self-catering apartment one last time before returning to Germany the next morning.
Since this is an annual trip for the Theemann family, and they loved the location of our villa and the convenience of the self-catering apartment, when they left to catch their return flight from Alicante they said they would certainly be back with us next year. We certainly hope this is the case, as it was a pleasure to have them visit us, and we look forward to welcoming them again on their next Mediterranean Garden Plants buying trip!
