{"id":69,"date":"2024-05-08T18:16:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottysblog.com\/spain-the-middle-bit\/"},"modified":"2024-05-08T18:16:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:16:22","slug":"spain-the-middle-bit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottysblog.com\/home\/spain-the-middle-bit\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain – the Middle Bit"},"content":{"rendered":"

H and I have got about 10 days on our own, before Mark & Charlie come out to join us. We're only part way through but it's amazing how easy it is to settle into life here. You wake up to great weather, every day, with the odd bit of strong wind or something slightly out of the norm, to mix up the days. <\/p>\n

We've been REALLY good at doing exercise, pretty much every day. Yesterday we notched up a speed walk of 4.75 miles in 1 hour 16 mins, averaging 3.8 miles an hour – all according to H, whose magic machines track this stuff. We did at least get out early before the heat of the day kicked in, as part of one of our loops goes through what we call 'the swamp' – a huge open area with various waterways, gullies, paths, thousands of crabs, a few spoonbills and seabirds – plus the rather cute 'duck house' where about 20-30 ducks and various birds wait for families to come and feed them. There's no shade to be had in there, so best to be back on the roads, scuttling along on the shady side of the street as soon as poss. Still no sign of the flamingoes which were here last year – they seem to have flamin-gone.<\/p>\n

Hence we were out on bikes this morning, pedalling into the major wind – me, furiously, trying to keep up with H who kept saying 'stay on my back wheel, you'll find it easier' – only for me to reach his back wheel a few times and immediately fall 10 metres behind as he surged forward again. Bikes are just not my 'thing' – I managed an hour in total and was back at the house 1.5 hours before he was!<\/p>\n

But there are lovely beach afternoons to laze off the sweaty times – and it's so quiet still despite the weather being, for a Brit, bloody great. A few people walking the shoreline and tons of space for us!<\/p>\n

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Every other eve or so we potter out to one of the seafront bars for a giant G&T (we reckon with the free pouring about a quadruple each time), a caipirinia or a Zombie (last night's unwise pick, I did have a bit of a thick head this morning). H here having Maddie cuddles mid-drinkie….<\/p>\n

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And we feel hugely lucky to come back every day to our rented house – very quiet as none of the Spanish owners of the other holiday houses tend to come down this early in the season (we think its only busy late June, July & Aug!) – so its pretty much us, the birds, two cats on a ledge opposite, the occasional weekend visitor and some bleddy massive grasshopper thingies the size of your hand that take us by surprise (cure British swearing!) once or twice a day.<\/p>\n

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Here's the pano of our back view – see, majorly fortunate to be spending a whole month here, no sodding Parkside, lots of sun and the smell of chicken wings, asparagus and roasted peppers on the BBQ wafting through the door right now… I'd better go and pretend to help! x<\/p>\n

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