Group news

Romeo and Juliet Ondara

Retail Therapy to recuperate from winter blues!

Don't miss this important meeting to hear from your Committee, approve the accounts and vote for this year's fee.

A range of services for Members who need a little extra support. Our objective is to be good neighbours and good friends to our members and the wider Community of Jávea

There will be no meeting in September. The first meeting for this group will be 24 October. Group members have been notified by email by the leader Robert Sedgley.Contact Robert on talking.art@u3ajavea.com if you wish to join this group.

Tuesday 10 October 11am – Javea Players Studio Travel back in time to the years of the Second World War – as you’ve almost certainly never known them before.  Dave McCall will be our speaker on October 10th at 11am.  Javea Players studio doors will be open at 10.30am. He will tell us the “stranger than fiction” stories behind his 2022 book, A Betrayal of Heroes. Tales of Casablanca and Brazzaville, of the Spaniards who fought for Free France, of the 1940s celebrities and spies who were involved.  This is the…

More than 90 members of Javea U3A’s Dining Out group enjoyed a get-together with a difference at a Summer Party on the terrace at the golf club. Group leaders Linda Coughlin and Alan Guest turned the usual monthly event into an occasion to remember – with a special tapas meal and dancing under the stars with music and entertainment provided by the popular James Hurst. It was great to see everyone enjoying the party and dancing the night away. Well done again to Linda and Alan for organising yet another…

Another fun afternoon at the (June) monthly Wine Appreciation Group lunch at La Plaza 6 restaurant. Five wines – two whites and three reds – were expertly presented by WAGS group leader Trevor Rush. And there was a surprise presentation to him: a special bottle of wine generously gifted by returning member Geoff Spinks. This month’s meetings, held on Wednesday and Thursday, are the last of the current season. The group will return in September.

So popular is Javea’s Chalet Suizo restaurant with the U3A Dining Out group that members went back for second helpings! Group leaders Alan Guest and Linda Coughlin, who staged their very first Dining Out event at this location, took 50 members back there for their latest (June) soiree. And the restaurant did not disappoint with members again voting it a big hit. Congratulations to Alan and Linda for organising yet another successful event. They are currently planning their next get-together – a special Summer Party with music and dancing at…

Two Javea U3A members had a fun time exploring Egypt and Jordan, which was clearly illustrated at the latest Travellers’ Tales presentation. Brenda Bates and Diana Jarvis recalled their adventures in an amusing and informative talk entitled ‘Egypt and Jordan on a Budget’. During their holiday last October, our two intrepid travellers enjoyed close-up the must-see sights around Cairo and Petra including the Pyramids, Dead Sea, the Royal Tombs and much more, mixing with the locals – not forgetting herds of camels! Well done to both lovely ladies for their…

As usual last Friday of the month we had the Discussion Group meeting and this time talked about What are the pros and cons of a falling fertility rate? The fertility rate is the average number of live births per woman in the population.  In order to maintain the current population size, the fertility rate needs to be 2.1 children per woman.  If it is bigger, the population will grow. If it is smaller the population will age, and ultimately reach a point where the proportion of the population which…

We had a great talk at our last History group meeting.  Gary Johnson told a big audience all about the affairs of Edward VIII long before Wallace Simpson came on the scene.  One “lady friend” was able to use blackmail to evade a guilty murder verdict!  Thanks to Gary for doing so much research. Ally took Gary and wife, Lindsay, for a well earned coffee after the talk and presentation of a gift of wine.

During the March meeting, the Discussion group members talked about the new Artificial Intellect application which since November of the last year has become the biggest news in the world of Information Technology. I asked Chat GPT – Generative Pre-trained Transformer – to give me a short and interesting introduction to the post and here it is: ChatGPT is a cool technology that can simulate human-like conversation and provide intelligent responses. It uses machine learning algorithms to learn from vast amounts of data, and its sophisticated algorithms allow it to…

Another great Dining Out evening – this time at the beautiful Bacchus restaurant. More than 60 U3A members enjoyed a fabulous evening, once again organised by group leaders Alan Guest and Linda Coughlin. Congratulations to them and also to restaurant owner Milena and her staff for the excellent service.

It was an eventful day for 47 Javea U3A members on a Travel Group trip to the Vera de Estenas winery just outside Utiel. They were delayed by not one but two traffic accidents on the motorway on the way to the vineyard. But despite arriving over an hour late, their disappointment was short-lived thanks to the organisational abilities of group leader Amanda Jordan, who phoned ahead and ensured that everything went as planned. The group were given a guided tour of the family-run business, set up by our guide…

The U3A Wine Appreciation Group (affectionately known as WAGS) held its March meeting at Plaza 6 restaurant in the Arenal. Group leader Trevor Rush and member Sue Parham presented four wines for tasting. Sue’s two whites were well received while Trevor’s two reds proved the stars of the day. Members also enjoyed a one-course meal prepared and served by restaurant staff. Thanks to Trevor and wife Sally for organising another successful meeting.

Last Friday of the month, the 24th of February, we had a second meeting this year. Our last discussion meeting of 2022 was about Russian refugees fleeing mobilization and if they should be allowed entry to shelter in European countries. That discussion touched on the subject of International Laws and their implementation regarding migrants from all countries. This time we wanted to elaborate more on International laws and discuss why some countries felt they could choose to ignore them on occasion. We started with a brief introduction to what International Laws are:…

We will be looking at the early paintings, which are not so well known, and including the time he met and painted alongside Pissarro and the Impressionists; a period which saw the maturity of his style. This will be the first of two sessions on the ‘Master of Aix’ who Picasso referred to as “the father of us all.”  Please let me know if you are intending to come by email to: talking.art@u3ajavea.com However, as usual, if for some reason you haven’t notified me, no bother, just come anyway. The January meeting,…