Spain 2023 - February 26th to 28th

Sunday 26th February

It was a nice sunny morning, so we donned our “sunny” clothes and set off for Villaricos to go to the Sunday market there.  I dropped Richard and Muffin off at a café and continued walking to the market.  I was still on the lookout for a jumper but didn’t see anything I liked.  The market was a big one today and was quite busy.  I hate to think how busy it must get in the summer. 

We keep seeing photos of bare fruit and veg shelves back in the UK.  I took these photos this morning.  I guess the Spanish must be keeping their veg for themselves. 

I joined Richard at the café for a drink then we wandered back to the car.  We passed a café where a guy had plonked a “suitcase” down and, by magic, music came out of it!  Such a clever bit of kit.  He then stood there and sung Nessun Dorma.  He was amazing.  I would have liked to listen to him for longer but Richard was anxious to move on. 

We sat out to eat our lunch, it was quite warm really. 

I have been feeling so rough in the evenings recently.  I start to shiver and sit with a blanket over me.  I’m just exhausted I think with the bug.  I decided that I would try and have a sleep so lay on the sofa on the veranda, put a blanket over me and the hood up on my hoodie cardigan.  I think I slept for about 40 minutes.

We were due to have a video call with our friends in Florida in the evening.  Maggie has said 7.30pm our time, so we settled down with the iPad set up on a pile of beer and tonic cans and called.  No answer.  It turns out that she hadn’t twigged that as we are in Spain we are 6 hours in front of them and not 5!  We eventually caught up with them at 8.30pm.  We chatted on for 2 hours.  They moved to the US in 1997 and I still miss Maggie.  They are having unseasonably hot weather, around 28°


Monday 27th February

The day started off promisingly with a lovely sunrise, but it went downhill from there.  We are expecting a couple of cold days, but it should then get better.  I obviously need to get up earlier to get the sun coming up from the horizon!

We had a video call with our friends, Ingrid and Bob, who are coming out on Saturday to join us for a couple of weeks.  Ingrid said that, when she went to check in online the other day, she decided to add another suitcase.  I can quite easily fill that with things to being over, Ingrid!!!

We are planning a trip to New Zealand next year and our Travel Agent sent through some flight options, so that was how I spent my cold afternoon, thinking of the New Zealand summer next year.


Tuesday 28th February

A lovely sunny day but the wind was very chilly, in fact bordering on cold!  

I was feeling so much better today, I hardly coughed or had to blow my nose all day.  My ears are completely clogged up so when I go for my Neutropenia blood test tomorrow the doctor is going to syringe my ears too.  That should clear the clogged up feeling in my head – I hope!

More New Zealand planning, well only flights at present with the first three flights booked. Ingrid is going to bring out a couple of guide books, that I have ordered from Amazon so that when they have gone home I can start on the proper planning.  I will dip in and out of it until it is time to sort out Christmas, unless I get it done first.

Phil came round for dinner.  When I cooked my massive casserole in the slow cooker I had frozen a 3 portion for this very occasion.  We had a lovely evening, but we were missing Liz.  We both look forward, very much, to seeing her at the end of March before we head home.

Today was Andalusia Day which is a special holiday in Andalusia that takes place on February 28th  every year. The holiday serves to commemorate the referendum on the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia, which took place on February 28th 1980, which means that Andalusia is an autonomous community of Spain.  Usually there is a giant paella cooked in the Pueblo but I can’t find anything about it on the internet ☹

The Andalusian Flag