Well, I finally made it to Salamanca! The city that H and Jules have been through several times but which had eluded me thus far. We had a very smooth sail from Portsmouth to Santander and sucked up the first few rays on the way, on the not exactly crowded back deck.
And then it was Salamanca for one night en route south. Amazing golden stone ancient buildings everywhere and a university in the centre of town, so quite a buzz about. Had a slight heart-stopping moment when we used the key safe to let ourselves into the apartment for the night, only to find the TV on and a large man in it, but it turned out he was the cleaner and we were, to be fair, a couple of hours early. Phew! A first chance to wander about and take in the many sights…
And after a 6 hour drive the next day – we were back in Chiclana de la Frontera. Where the rented house is just as nice as we remembered it being from last year. Quite frankly, anything bathed in sunshine is a joy after the crappy endless winter and wet spring at home!
Maddie was beside herself at the sight of 'her' pool and wiggles with increasing desperation every morning until the cover is removed and her first ball of the day is lobbed in for her. We have been trying to do an hour's exercise every day and she loves the walking mornings, though look less than impressed when it's a bike day and she has to stay at home..
We've been back to the various nearby beaches, ranging from the more orange sand of Bongo's Beach – Mads very happy to check out the sea here.
And just us – plus lovely David & Mands, who arrived this week – on the giant, endless yellow sand beach. Hardly a soul in sight, what a huge pleasure. I thought H was mad packing the windbreak but have had to eat my words as actually it does stop the sand from whipping into you…
Add in a few wanders up the boardwalk, trips to the food market – nom – and generally pottering about, and all has gone well. Slight buggeration factor in that Mad's dodgy paw (where she pulled a claw 2 months ago and had an infection) has gone rogue again, so we were back at the local vets yesterday. Blanca, who was so helpful when Mads became ill last year, is still there, so we are now giving her antibiotics and antiseptic spraying the sore bit in the hope that it mends. If not, there might be a claw removal next week – and we are hugely hoping she can keep going in the pool as otherwise dog life will be unbearable!
The best thing so far has undoubtedly been our return to stunning Rota beach. A ma-hu-sive stretch of sand, no people and the best beach bar, Azucar de Cuba. Can't believe we were last there 6 years ago already! H pulled the driving short straw so it was free pour gins and margaritas for the rest of us – yay!
Suspect it won't be our last visit there on this trip… just glad it was another woman who fell backwards off her bar stool/tree trunk into the sand and not me (this time…!) x