Apart from the mild weather we get here, we also get treated to some spectacular sunsets
Chasing the sun and the perfect road for cycling
- Thread starter Cervelo
- Start date
Well that was a semi wasted journey, arrived in Cartagena only to find everything closed except for restaurants not sure if it was a national holiday or a local one. In Spain like home they have national holidays then each region also has their own set of additional holidays and then to further complicate things each area/town in the regions also have their own holidays/festivals and then to even further complicate and confuse us foreigners if the holiday falls say on a Tuesday a lot if not all local business's will completely close on the Monday or only open for a short time in the morning simply because in a Spaniards mind there is no point in going to work on Monday if you're going to be off on Tuesday, What a life!!
Anyhow Covid wise there wasn't a problem until there was, up until the 23rd of December there was hardly a mention of covid when I'd be out and about and then the decree came down from above re mask wearing in public and then it just seemed to explode everywhere around us
All Christmas and New Years gatherings and such like were cancelled as people dramatically reduced their social contacts and rightly so
I woke up on Stevens day to find medical staff and Doctors running around the village to peoples houses and everybody was now wearing face masks and gloves. News came through the grapevine that Omicron had finally arrived in the village and was rampant.
Where the village has had two cases up to now, we now as of New years eve have ten but I haven't heard as yet if this has increased
Nobody will sit inside in a restaurant/pub to eat or drink it's all done on the terraces with strict social distancing and mask wearing and if you need to go inside for whatever reason your Covid cert is required or you don't get in.
Mrs C is settling in just fine, unfortunately when she arrived she brought the bad weather with her and her first ten days were cold and windy but thankfully in the last two weeks normal weather has resumed and she's able to sit out in the morning time with her cup of coffee, a smoke and a book in the glorious sunshine, blue sky's and temps in the high teens heading to low twenties while I'm out cycling
The townhouse it's self is grand but there a few things that I don't like although well equipped it's more suited to short stays rather than long one's like mine and we find ourselves missing some of the creature comforts that we would have at home, all little things like there's no toaster, there's only four of everything plates, glasses, cups and four sets of cutlery and when Mrs C is cooking she finds the kitchen utensils provided fall short for full time living.
Another thing I never thought of when booking was how the sun hits the house because it's in the town the house gets very little direct sun which I presume during summer is a godsend but during winter it results in a cold house and as these house's generally don't have central heating and are not drylined they can when its cold and dull outside become cold and damp inside. There is a log burner upstairs which believe it or not three or four logs a day keeps that area rather toasty other wise it's the two supersers downstairs to keep us warm @ €17.50 a bottle every ten days or so
Weather wise it's been a bit hit and miss as far as I'm concerned, in November we had four solid days of rain in a row and December we had about two weeks of cloudy dull weather where there was absolutely no solar gain for the hot water.
But when the sun does decide to come out it is just perfect for sitting out in except for the wind for some reason I find it's a lot windier then my previous trips here and talking to other cyclists here, their all in agreement that it's been a windier year than normal and to further add to my annoyance of the wind there is no hiding from it while out on the bike, back home I can normally set a route to minimise the headwinds and maximise the tails but here even using a weather app like "Windy" I just can't get it right, roads that should be giving me a tailwind are actually a head. I presume this is probably down to the geography of the area and how the wind bounces of the mountains
January is a great time to be out here for one simple reason it's Almond blossom time, the whole countryside becomes colourful with pink and white blossoms and it literally happens over night
Cycling is going good, a little down on where I'd like to be for one reason or another, the latest been my knees exploded in pain on New years eve due to my seatpost slipping down a couple of millimetres for some unknown reason so I'm taking another few days off to let them calm down a bit.
I did manage to do the one hundred miles (162Km) ride as part of the Rapha Festive 500 with Lewis "The Goat", a bit slower than I am capable of six hours and forty-four @ 24kph with 2637 Mtrs of climbing. We could have probably averaged a higher speed but there was a third person with us who although can climb is more a slow and steady climber but I'm certain of one thing now and that is I'll never do this 100 mile challenge/goal in under 5 hours out here I'll have to wait till I get back home to flatter ground.
Other than that I'm going to try and get my booster vaccination out here in January but it means I have to register for a temporary residency
luckily Mrs C is nearly fluent in Spanish and we have a friend who works in a medical clinic here so we should be okay
Anyhow Covid wise there wasn't a problem until there was, up until the 23rd of December there was hardly a mention of covid when I'd be out and about and then the decree came down from above re mask wearing in public and then it just seemed to explode everywhere around us
All Christmas and New Years gatherings and such like were cancelled as people dramatically reduced their social contacts and rightly so
I woke up on Stevens day to find medical staff and Doctors running around the village to peoples houses and everybody was now wearing face masks and gloves. News came through the grapevine that Omicron had finally arrived in the village and was rampant.
Where the village has had two cases up to now, we now as of New years eve have ten but I haven't heard as yet if this has increased
Nobody will sit inside in a restaurant/pub to eat or drink it's all done on the terraces with strict social distancing and mask wearing and if you need to go inside for whatever reason your Covid cert is required or you don't get in.
Mrs C is settling in just fine, unfortunately when she arrived she brought the bad weather with her and her first ten days were cold and windy but thankfully in the last two weeks normal weather has resumed and she's able to sit out in the morning time with her cup of coffee, a smoke and a book in the glorious sunshine, blue sky's and temps in the high teens heading to low twenties while I'm out cycling
The townhouse it's self is grand but there a few things that I don't like although well equipped it's more suited to short stays rather than long one's like mine and we find ourselves missing some of the creature comforts that we would have at home, all little things like there's no toaster, there's only four of everything plates, glasses, cups and four sets of cutlery and when Mrs C is cooking she finds the kitchen utensils provided fall short for full time living.
Another thing I never thought of when booking was how the sun hits the house because it's in the town the house gets very little direct sun which I presume during summer is a godsend but during winter it results in a cold house and as these house's generally don't have central heating and are not drylined they can when its cold and dull outside become cold and damp inside. There is a log burner upstairs which believe it or not three or four logs a day keeps that area rather toasty other wise it's the two supersers downstairs to keep us warm @ €17.50 a bottle every ten days or so
Weather wise it's been a bit hit and miss as far as I'm concerned, in November we had four solid days of rain in a row and December we had about two weeks of cloudy dull weather where there was absolutely no solar gain for the hot water.
But when the sun does decide to come out it is just perfect for sitting out in except for the wind for some reason I find it's a lot windier then my previous trips here and talking to other cyclists here, their all in agreement that it's been a windier year than normal and to further add to my annoyance of the wind there is no hiding from it while out on the bike, back home I can normally set a route to minimise the headwinds and maximise the tails but here even using a weather app like "Windy" I just can't get it right, roads that should be giving me a tailwind are actually a head. I presume this is probably down to the geography of the area and how the wind bounces of the mountains
January is a great time to be out here for one simple reason it's Almond blossom time, the whole countryside becomes colourful with pink and white blossoms and it literally happens over night
Cycling is going good, a little down on where I'd like to be for one reason or another, the latest been my knees exploded in pain on New years eve due to my seatpost slipping down a couple of millimetres for some unknown reason so I'm taking another few days off to let them calm down a bit.
I did manage to do the one hundred miles (162Km) ride as part of the Rapha Festive 500 with Lewis "The Goat", a bit slower than I am capable of six hours and forty-four @ 24kph with 2637 Mtrs of climbing. We could have probably averaged a higher speed but there was a third person with us who although can climb is more a slow and steady climber but I'm certain of one thing now and that is I'll never do this 100 mile challenge/goal in under 5 hours out here I'll have to wait till I get back home to flatter ground.
Other than that I'm going to try and get my booster vaccination out here in January but it means I have to register for a temporary residency
luckily Mrs C is nearly fluent in Spanish and we have a friend who works in a medical clinic here so we should be okay
Did you get the booster shot in spain yet. I am also in spain tenerife since October and hoping to get the booster shortly. I will be returning to ireland in April. We have been told we need the vaccine batch numbers from both of our previous vaccines that we received in ireland. This info is not on the covid certs so I wrote to the dept of health last Wednesday. No reply yet. Did you encounter similar problems.
Yes, your going to need the batch numbers from your previous two shots, I presume this is so they can see exactly what one you got and what booster they can give you
My friend over here asked for my passport, EHIC, my address where I'm staying and the information of the vaccines I have already been given
She then applied for a temporary residency for me and then registered me in the national health system so as I could get a booster
It took less than a week from supplying the info to getting the booster
Is there anybody at home that could scan and email you the HSE vaccination record or WhatsApp you a picture of it??
Might be quicker then waiting for a reply from the Department of Health
For anybody thinking of traveling without getting their booster and a cert near it's expiry date I would advise against it, I know Ireland has dropped the cert checking for nearly all situations (which I personally think at this time is a bit short sighted) but Spain hasn't as of yet and they are quite diligent in checking them even if you are sitting and eating outside a restaurant and if you haven't a valid cert you ain't eating out or getting into any event or tourist attraction
Hi Cervelo. Just reading your comments in your other post. They make very interesting reading.
I often wonder what makes people return home after they have made the big move overseas. I know that you were only away for the winter months but what do you think changed this year to make you return home early. Did the weather play a part, has Covid made the place quieter, less fun? You were saying that you met others looking to sell and return home.
My own brother just returned from his second home in Spain. He said that it was very very quiet this January. Lots of places closed. The weather was good though.
I like a place with a bit of a buzz. Nothing more depressing than closed and shuttered businesses etc
I often wonder what makes people return home after they have made the big move overseas. I know that you were only away for the winter months but what do you think changed this year to make you return home early. Did the weather play a part, has Covid made the place quieter, less fun? You were saying that you met others looking to sell and return home.
My own brother just returned from his second home in Spain. He said that it was very very quiet this January. Lots of places closed. The weather was good though.
I like a place with a bit of a buzz. Nothing more depressing than closed and shuttered businesses etc
Yeah it's kind of a case of "death by a thousand cuts" and then for me one of those was to the jugular!!
This year was slightly different in where I stayed as in I rented a village house by my self instead of going back to the previous accommodation that I shared with the other family and this hasn't gone as well as I was expecting
First cut is that the original family I stayed with have for some unknown reason decided to completely ignore me and blank me and the problem with this is that most of the people that I know here would be very good friends with this couple and it leaves me feeling slightly uncomfortable
Second is that life up here in the hills has changed since covid arrived (obviously) and a lot of people that I would know don't socialize like they did pre covid, firstly nobody wants to sit inside anymore so that restricts meet ups to lunch and afternoons and as there is limited outside seating it becomes a hassle. Secondly and probably the real reason as one person said "I've been eating out here in the three pubs in Lubrin for nearly ten years now and the menu hasn't changed in any of the pubs and now I'm bored with the food which wasn't any great shakes in the first place"
Third cut is the house I'm staying in although lovely and very typical of a Spanish village house is not suited IMO for a long term winter stays like mine, perfect for a couple of days or weeks in the summer but in the winter it's like an icebox even typing this now it's 10degrees outside with a real feel of 5 I'm sitting in the kitchen with a super ser beside me and I still feel cold. The house is cold and damp for the last eight weeks and at this stage I'm fed up with it
Fourth cut and this is the biggie for me is the cycling, I'm just not enjoying it this time as I have in the past
Without getting into to much detail and boring everybody I'm having problems on and off the bike and it's affected my fitness levels which has resulted in me mentally loosing interest in cycling and maintaining my fitness level and when that happens to me it's time to stop take some timeout and reset
There are other "cuts" that I could mention but once my mind makes the change from cycling addict to couch potato there really is no point in me staying here and hence why I made the decision to catch the boat home next Thursday
Regarding the selling up, the people that I know who are in this position are not looking to sell up and go home but rather relocate to somewhere different in the same area and this usually seems to be for two reasons
One is that after living wherever their living for a couple years have now decided that they don't like where their living for one reason or another and life would be much better if they moved to the next village, closer to the coast or my favourite from the English
"There's to many Brits living here for my liking...."
And two is a change of heart like the couple I'm renting from, who moved over here in 2018 and bought a property suitable for and started an Airbnb business and now four years later have decided they no longer want to do Airbnb as it's to much work for very little reward and now would rather move down to the coast to a newer property that doesn't require constant upkeep and enjoy a much simpler life of kicking back and drinking G&Ts and watching the world go by
This year was slightly different in where I stayed as in I rented a village house by my self instead of going back to the previous accommodation that I shared with the other family and this hasn't gone as well as I was expecting
First cut is that the original family I stayed with have for some unknown reason decided to completely ignore me and blank me and the problem with this is that most of the people that I know here would be very good friends with this couple and it leaves me feeling slightly uncomfortable
Second is that life up here in the hills has changed since covid arrived (obviously) and a lot of people that I would know don't socialize like they did pre covid, firstly nobody wants to sit inside anymore so that restricts meet ups to lunch and afternoons and as there is limited outside seating it becomes a hassle. Secondly and probably the real reason as one person said "I've been eating out here in the three pubs in Lubrin for nearly ten years now and the menu hasn't changed in any of the pubs and now I'm bored with the food which wasn't any great shakes in the first place"
Third cut is the house I'm staying in although lovely and very typical of a Spanish village house is not suited IMO for a long term winter stays like mine, perfect for a couple of days or weeks in the summer but in the winter it's like an icebox even typing this now it's 10degrees outside with a real feel of 5 I'm sitting in the kitchen with a super ser beside me and I still feel cold. The house is cold and damp for the last eight weeks and at this stage I'm fed up with it
Fourth cut and this is the biggie for me is the cycling, I'm just not enjoying it this time as I have in the past
Without getting into to much detail and boring everybody I'm having problems on and off the bike and it's affected my fitness levels which has resulted in me mentally loosing interest in cycling and maintaining my fitness level and when that happens to me it's time to stop take some timeout and reset
There are other "cuts" that I could mention but once my mind makes the change from cycling addict to couch potato there really is no point in me staying here and hence why I made the decision to catch the boat home next Thursday
Regarding the selling up, the people that I know who are in this position are not looking to sell up and go home but rather relocate to somewhere different in the same area and this usually seems to be for two reasons
One is that after living wherever their living for a couple years have now decided that they don't like where their living for one reason or another and life would be much better if they moved to the next village, closer to the coast or my favourite from the English
"There's to many Brits living here for my liking...."
And two is a change of heart like the couple I'm renting from, who moved over here in 2018 and bought a property suitable for and started an Airbnb business and now four years later have decided they no longer want to do Airbnb as it's to much work for very little reward and now would rather move down to the coast to a newer property that doesn't require constant upkeep and enjoy a much simpler life of kicking back and drinking G&Ts and watching the world go by
I can echo some of Cervelo's sentiments.
1. Believe it or not, you can get fed up with eating out in restaurants/bars and often a plateful of home cooked spuds, baked beans and fish-fingers can seem like something you always wished for.
2. Some Brits living under-the-radar have had to return to the UK since Brexit. These are the people that I feel particularly sorry for as some of their own seem to have abandoned them and with some disdain.
3. We confine our visits to eight weeks max (six week period being best option in my opinion and anything less four weeks being too short).
4. We also prefer October/November/December; February/March; June/July for our visits, August being too humid.
5. Our place is on the coast which is warmer than inland and 2 mins walk to the beach and supermarket so everything we need is almost on our door step.
6. Passing the Time (not an issue for me):- I read my brains out, listen to music, improve my Spanish, don't miss any live hurling matches on tv, do short cycles, walk considerably and choose tv programmes in advance which I wish to see. Landscape painting is good too and great for meeting people.
7. Terrace Life:- Breakfast a must there, Lunch Time with a bottle of decent tinto and a chat with neighbours/friends. But, terrace visiting ends at 2.30pm and everybody leaves sober. Nota Bene:- Know when it's time to leave.
8. I participate with a Walking Group (anybody can join free) and eventhough I'm eldest I can hold my own on the walking (walks are pretty difficult). Last November in the countryside we came upon a wild Spanish fox, some wild boar, occasional Montpellier snakes. Good footwear and Nordic poles necessary. But the scenery is magnificent and the effort worth it. The chat is good too.
9. Books in English are expensive in Spain, but many pubs operate a bring one/take one facility which means you buy only one book if there are none in the apartment.
10. Most Spaniards are friendly and if you make an effort to speak Spanish you will be rewarded.
11. Tapas are usually supplied free in bars and once you cultivate the taste for them there's nothing more enjoyable than having a pint by the sea in a rustic beach bar (price of pint €1.50).
12. Rentals in the off season are cheap and there's nothing wrong with inviting somebody to visit from Ireland for a week or two during your stay.
13. Manage your precious time, don't outlive your welcome anywhere, you'll make new friends easily, everybody is in the same boat.
14. Local bus travel is cheap and good and for €2.00 max you can visit the nearby towns and experience the market there (usually a fixed day per market).
15. The lady in your life will enjoy the shops/markets (hope I'm not being sexist here) and occasions like First Communions etc take place in different seasons in Spain and there are bargains to be picked up. The same goes for wedding gear.
16. Don't mention Brexit even though many of them voted for it and most don't admit they made a dreadful mistake especially for themselves.
17. If you run out of Barrys tea, Yorkshire tea is a good choice and is available in Spanish supermarkets.
18. If you don't feel like the lunch time terrace scene, siesta is an option - (siesta 2pm - 5pm where most shops close, supermarket stays open). Don't waste siesta - sleep if you wish.
1. Believe it or not, you can get fed up with eating out in restaurants/bars and often a plateful of home cooked spuds, baked beans and fish-fingers can seem like something you always wished for.
2. Some Brits living under-the-radar have had to return to the UK since Brexit. These are the people that I feel particularly sorry for as some of their own seem to have abandoned them and with some disdain.
3. We confine our visits to eight weeks max (six week period being best option in my opinion and anything less four weeks being too short).
4. We also prefer October/November/December; February/March; June/July for our visits, August being too humid.
5. Our place is on the coast which is warmer than inland and 2 mins walk to the beach and supermarket so everything we need is almost on our door step.
6. Passing the Time (not an issue for me):- I read my brains out, listen to music, improve my Spanish, don't miss any live hurling matches on tv, do short cycles, walk considerably and choose tv programmes in advance which I wish to see. Landscape painting is good too and great for meeting people.
7. Terrace Life:- Breakfast a must there, Lunch Time with a bottle of decent tinto and a chat with neighbours/friends. But, terrace visiting ends at 2.30pm and everybody leaves sober. Nota Bene:- Know when it's time to leave.
8. I participate with a Walking Group (anybody can join free) and eventhough I'm eldest I can hold my own on the walking (walks are pretty difficult). Last November in the countryside we came upon a wild Spanish fox, some wild boar, occasional Montpellier snakes. Good footwear and Nordic poles necessary. But the scenery is magnificent and the effort worth it. The chat is good too.
9. Books in English are expensive in Spain, but many pubs operate a bring one/take one facility which means you buy only one book if there are none in the apartment.
10. Most Spaniards are friendly and if you make an effort to speak Spanish you will be rewarded.
11. Tapas are usually supplied free in bars and once you cultivate the taste for them there's nothing more enjoyable than having a pint by the sea in a rustic beach bar (price of pint €1.50).
12. Rentals in the off season are cheap and there's nothing wrong with inviting somebody to visit from Ireland for a week or two during your stay.
13. Manage your precious time, don't outlive your welcome anywhere, you'll make new friends easily, everybody is in the same boat.
14. Local bus travel is cheap and good and for €2.00 max you can visit the nearby towns and experience the market there (usually a fixed day per market).
15. The lady in your life will enjoy the shops/markets (hope I'm not being sexist here) and occasions like First Communions etc take place in different seasons in Spain and there are bargains to be picked up. The same goes for wedding gear.
16. Don't mention Brexit even though many of them voted for it and most don't admit they made a dreadful mistake especially for themselves.
17. If you run out of Barrys tea, Yorkshire tea is a good choice and is available in Spanish supermarkets.
18. If you don't feel like the lunch time terrace scene, siesta is an option - (siesta 2pm - 5pm where most shops close, supermarket stays open). Don't waste siesta - sleep if you wish.
Cervelo. Pity about the first family blanking you. They seem to be taking it personally. Maybe you provided them with a small income that they were now taking for granted. I understand that Mrs. Cervelo was visiting this time around and you need to be nearer the town for her needs. Your Spanish restaurant menu, kind of reminds me of Roly's Bistro here in Dublin. Their lunch menu has had the same vegetables on it for years now.
The house you are staying in reminds me of a townhouse that we rented in Alvor a few years back. It was absolutely freezing cold in April. At one stage we had to put the gas rings on in the kitchen just to get some heat in to us.
Would you consider maybe cycling in a different part of Spain in the coming years?
I agree with the couch potato thing....I might as well be at home in my own house watching TV as sitting in an apartment in Spain.....if the weather was similar.
It is nice to sit back and watch the world go by but after a while I think we would all get bored of that. For me I like to visit different countries.....because they are different I suppose.
The house you are staying in reminds me of a townhouse that we rented in Alvor a few years back. It was absolutely freezing cold in April. At one stage we had to put the gas rings on in the kitchen just to get some heat in to us.
Would you consider maybe cycling in a different part of Spain in the coming years?
I agree with the couch potato thing....I might as well be at home in my own house watching TV as sitting in an apartment in Spain.....if the weather was similar.
It is nice to sit back and watch the world go by but after a while I think we would all get bored of that. For me I like to visit different countries.....because they are different I suppose.
It's an odd one for me as I don't fully understand why they've done what they did it's definitely not a money thing or that I didn't ask to stay with them. They even forwarded me contact details of properties in the village that might be suitable for me but when I arrived over things had changed. But the way I look at these things is that their the ones with the issue and if their not willing to broach it with me well then theirs nothing I can do about it and am not going to waste any time thinking or worrying about it, life's to short for that sh...
I'm laughing to myself about the Roly's comment because years ago for some reason or another we ended up eating there about six times over the course of two years and I never really rated Roly's as a great restaurant and the menu never got me excited but when the menu didn't change at all over those two years I said never again and haven't been back in eight years ( not that their worried about what I think or my custom
)
I think going forward I'll probably look for a place closer to the coast like Mojacar simply for the ease of convenience for all the other things like shopping and a social life and would also open up more cycling routes that don't have on average 200Mts of climbing for every 10K
It really did become a chore this year living in Lubrin even the weekly shopping turned in to a 3 to 4 hour round trip, then add in trips for drinking water, bottles of gas, meeting cycling buddies down in Mojacar for a ride etc etc, where last time I was here I did very little mileage in the car this time I reckon I averaged about 250 to 300 km a week which of course adds extra expense to the budget and as we all know petrol is not cheap at the moment
Not sure at the moment whether I'll be back next year as there is a few other trips that have been put on the long finger for one reason or another.
Mrs C has for sometime now expressed an desire to travel to Japan for the Cherry blossom and other things on that side of the world
( I was hopping the Almond blossom here would be a good alternative but sadly for the bank balance, No!!) and there still is one more road trip that we want to do in the states, so we'll have to see how this all plays out over the next couple of years as to when I get back
So at the moment I'm packing up the house and tomorrow will head for an overnight stay just outside Madrid and then on Thursday make the final dash to Bilbao to catch the ferry on Thursday and God willing I'll be back home by midnight on Friday.
Two bits of my usual bits of "useless information", the ferry takes six hour longer to travel from Rosslare to Bilbao (32Hrs) then Bilbao to Rosslare (26Hrs) ?? and I don't know if its news in Ireland but over here I'm told that there is going to be a shortage of oranges, apparently the price for oranges has collapsed to such an extent that the bags that oranges come in are now worth more the the oranges they contain and
Farmers here are refusing to harvest their crops because they are saying that they would have to sell about five times as much to make the same return as previous years.
I'm laughing to myself about the Roly's comment because years ago for some reason or another we ended up eating there about six times over the course of two years and I never really rated Roly's as a great restaurant and the menu never got me excited but when the menu didn't change at all over those two years I said never again and haven't been back in eight years ( not that their worried about what I think or my custom
)I'm not sure if another area outside the Almeria region would tick all my requirements like good consistent weather (generally), smooth as glass roads with little or no traffic and enough altitude gain to really test the legs within easy reach
I think going forward I'll probably look for a place closer to the coast like Mojacar simply for the ease of convenience for all the other things like shopping and a social life and would also open up more cycling routes that don't have on average 200Mts of climbing for every 10K
It really did become a chore this year living in Lubrin even the weekly shopping turned in to a 3 to 4 hour round trip, then add in trips for drinking water, bottles of gas, meeting cycling buddies down in Mojacar for a ride etc etc, where last time I was here I did very little mileage in the car this time I reckon I averaged about 250 to 300 km a week which of course adds extra expense to the budget and as we all know petrol is not cheap at the moment
Not sure at the moment whether I'll be back next year as there is a few other trips that have been put on the long finger for one reason or another.
Mrs C has for sometime now expressed an desire to travel to Japan for the Cherry blossom and other things on that side of the world
( I was hopping the Almond blossom here would be a good alternative but sadly for the bank balance, No!!) and there still is one more road trip that we want to do in the states, so we'll have to see how this all plays out over the next couple of years as to when I get back
So at the moment I'm packing up the house and tomorrow will head for an overnight stay just outside Madrid and then on Thursday make the final dash to Bilbao to catch the ferry on Thursday and God willing I'll be back home by midnight on Friday.
Two bits of my usual bits of "useless information", the ferry takes six hour longer to travel from Rosslare to Bilbao (32Hrs) then Bilbao to Rosslare (26Hrs) ?? and I don't know if its news in Ireland but over here I'm told that there is going to be a shortage of oranges, apparently the price for oranges has collapsed to such an extent that the bags that oranges come in are now worth more the the oranges they contain and
Farmers here are refusing to harvest their crops because they are saying that they would have to sell about five times as much to make the same return as previous years.
Just to chip on on the "blanking" and this is only my opinion and I don't have the monopoly on opinion (I can nearly hear Purple saying "That never stopped you before Lep!"). I speak good Spanish eventhough Mrs Lep with near minimum Spanish loves to correct me occasionally. She hasn't conquered school spoken Spanish over Spanish as spoken in everyday use in Spain. Naive as I am, some of the Spaniards tend to correct me quite often (roll of drums, clash of cymbals) because I use the word "Gracias (Thanks)" always after buying something. They tend to use words of gratitude very sparingly. They see you paying €3.25 for a bottle of good wine for which you'd pay €30.00+ in Ireland as a fair exchange; "you give me the money and I give you the wine"). Thanks and smile not necessary.
Supermarket Shopping:- Cervelo wasn't joking when he spoke of 3/4 hour round trip. You are in a queue at the tills in Andalucía and your ice cream is beginning to melt in the trolley; Maria-Carmen at the till is engaging somebody on her mobile phone and her animated conversation is going on and on and you're cringing and wishing you could shout "Gerroff dat phone and start clearing the queue!" but you don't and instantly learn next time you come to this Spanish supermarket arrive and depart 10 minutes before siesta or 5 minutes before close of business and delays then are at a minimum.
The friendliness of us Irish is renowned all over the world. Spaniards are friendly too, but it's a little different kind of friendliness. I hope we never change.
Supermarket Shopping:- Cervelo wasn't joking when he spoke of 3/4 hour round trip. You are in a queue at the tills in Andalucía and your ice cream is beginning to melt in the trolley; Maria-Carmen at the till is engaging somebody on her mobile phone and her animated conversation is going on and on and you're cringing and wishing you could shout "Gerroff dat phone and start clearing the queue!" but you don't and instantly learn next time you come to this Spanish supermarket arrive and depart 10 minutes before siesta or 5 minutes before close of business and delays then are at a minimum.
The friendliness of us Irish is renowned all over the world. Spaniards are friendly too, but it's a little different kind of friendliness. I hope we never change.
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Just to wrap-up this years trip and a few more useless observations
Left Lubrin around midday on Wednesday the 16th only to get as far as Murcia where I had to turn around and head back to Lubrin due to the ferry been cancelled because of the storms, bit annoying but what can you do
The revised sailing was for Sunday at midday so I decided to leave on the Friday spend the night in Madrid as before and then spend Saturday night in Bilbao so as to make the journey as easy as possible
So I'm having my lunch in a Shell petrol station just outside Burgos about 200k from Bilbao and I get another message from Brittany ferries, this time the sailing will be delayed until at least 4AM on Tuesday morning, It was beginning to look like the universe didn't want me to leave Spain.
A quick phone call to Mission control (Mrs C) and we decided to drive home through France and England which would have me home around midnight on Monday four hours before my sailing was due to leave Bilbao and as luck would have it I pulled into the driveway at 10 past midnight on Tuesday morning
There was a thread started here "Who decides which transactions require authentication" and while see the need for these authentications they always seem to happen to me at the most inopportune times and a perfect example happen on the way home
Pulled up to a toll booth in France to pay a €3.90 toll only to have the card refused, luckily had another card so there wasn't too much of a delay
Five to ten minutes later I get a text from my bank to confirm the refused transaction, so I give them a call to explain what happened and have my card unblocked and I doubled checked with the CSA that the card was unblocked, all good or so I thought
About an hour later pulled up to the next toll booth only for the payment €3.90 to be refused again, so rang the CSA again only to be told that my card was unblocked but was block again because the payment system thought that the new transaction was actually the old transaction been processed again rather than a totally new and different transaction(if that makes sense)
That evening I filled up the car at one of those automated pumps using the now unblocked card but ten days later at home while checking my bank account I noticed a pending transaction for €120, another quick call to the CSA that this is what is known as a "ghost transaction" and would disappear that evening, which it did!!
One thing that really surprised about this trip was the supermarket shopping in relation to how expensive it is compared to home and the lack of variety and range of products compared to home.
Normally here our weeks shopping averages about 80 to 90 euro over there we couldn't seem to get it below €120
Fruit, I was expecting to enjoy a wide range of fruit given that they grow lots of it over there but no in December and January the only fruit available to me was apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and mangos. apparently or so I'm told the Spanish only eat fruit that is in season so no peaches, plums, nectarines or strawberries until summer time.
One thing I will say was that the Mango's over there are so much better tasting than the unripe crap we get here!!
Drinking water is 87 cent for eight litters if you can't be bothered to fill up at one of the free water fountains around
Most of the supermarkets operate a closed carpark where you reg is scanned upon entry and you have to give the cashier your reg when paying otherwise the exit barrier won't raise
So that's it folks till next year (hopefully)
I had heard that about supermarkets but wine, fuel and general eating out is far cheaper than here.
Tolls, to be avoided at all cost, had a similar experience to you in Italy.
Surprised you didn’t try another location or even Portugal for the remainder of the winter, because it’s not spring here yet.
Tolls, to be avoided at all cost, had a similar experience to you in Italy.
Surprised you didn’t try another location or even Portugal for the remainder of the winter, because it’s not spring here yet.
We talked about it for a little while and came up with some alternative ideas like a very long extended road trip home but my brain just wasn't engaging and when that happens with me I need to take time out, relax, reset and dream it all up again and there's only one place to do that
Thanks garbanzo, its nice to hear
WaterWater
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I enjoyed Cervelo's posts.
How did your good wife feel about this trip. I am not sure if she travelled with you on previous trips?
Looking forward to next year 2023. There could be all sorts of shortages here....including energy. Our heating is all gas except for a few fan heaters run off electricity. My house is freezing in the winter...... and that's with the heating on. I have started looking around Spain and Portugal (not Canaries) to see if I can spend a month or two away.
Looking at Cervelo and Leper's posts I understand that the weather can be warm during the day but as soon as the evening comes it can get very cold. Would I be happy to have warm days but cold nights away?
Where in both Spain and Portugal is the warmest place in winter in the .....evenings?
How did your good wife feel about this trip. I am not sure if she travelled with you on previous trips?
Looking forward to next year 2023. There could be all sorts of shortages here....including energy. Our heating is all gas except for a few fan heaters run off electricity. My house is freezing in the winter...... and that's with the heating on. I have started looking around Spain and Portugal (not Canaries) to see if I can spend a month or two away.
Looking at Cervelo and Leper's posts I understand that the weather can be warm during the day but as soon as the evening comes it can get very cold. Would I be happy to have warm days but cold nights away?
Where in both Spain and Portugal is the warmest place in winter in the .....evenings?
Thanks WaterWater,
Overall Mrs C enjoyed her time there but did find the weather was a little hit and miss this time
But having said that on previous trips she only flew out for a week at a time and the weather was always great and we'd normally hit the road for a mini road trip around Spain. Like in late February 2020 when we were in Madrid jokily observing all the Chinese tourists as "Covid spreaders"
(little did we know what was about to happen )
She found as I did that village life is non-existent or very quite at the moment probably due to Covid and would expect after the summer and when people start to socialise more that it should return to normal levels by next winter
Going forward she feels that life closer to Mojacar or some other bigger town/city would be much better in terms of things to do, socialising etc etc. One thing she did mention was in relation to grocery shopping was that she made sure she didn't forget anything on the list because it's not like you can nip down to the supermarket when living in a village
Weather wise there can be a huge swings between day time temps and night time temps, sometimes as much as 20 degrees and yes it can happen very quickly when the sun goes down and the opposite can happen in the mornings it can take till early afternoon for the warmth of the sun to really break through which is why if people are thinking of spending winters out here make sure your accommodation has a log burner or fire because using the air con to keep warm can be very expensive
Where is the best place, I don't really know the weather now seems to be so changeable at the moment this time last year both Ireland and Almeria had great weather this year not so much!!
Edit
Sorry but I should add to this that the area I stayed in was 35K inland and 500 meters up whereas down by the coast has/had a slightly different weather to what I got, on any given day there could be a difference of as much as 5 degrees between the two areas with the coast been the warmer
Overall Mrs C enjoyed her time there but did find the weather was a little hit and miss this time
But having said that on previous trips she only flew out for a week at a time and the weather was always great and we'd normally hit the road for a mini road trip around Spain. Like in late February 2020 when we were in Madrid jokily observing all the Chinese tourists as "Covid spreaders"
(little did we know what was about to happen
)She found as I did that village life is non-existent or very quite at the moment probably due to Covid and would expect after the summer and when people start to socialise more that it should return to normal levels by next winter
Going forward she feels that life closer to Mojacar or some other bigger town/city would be much better in terms of things to do, socialising etc etc. One thing she did mention was in relation to grocery shopping was that she made sure she didn't forget anything on the list because it's not like you can nip down to the supermarket when living in a village
Weather wise there can be a huge swings between day time temps and night time temps, sometimes as much as 20 degrees and yes it can happen very quickly when the sun goes down and the opposite can happen in the mornings it can take till early afternoon for the warmth of the sun to really break through which is why if people are thinking of spending winters out here make sure your accommodation has a log burner or fire because using the air con to keep warm can be very expensive
Where is the best place, I don't really know the weather now seems to be so changeable at the moment this time last year both Ireland and Almeria had great weather this year not so much!!
Edit
Sorry but I should add to this that the area I stayed in was 35K inland and 500 meters up whereas down by the coast has/had a slightly different weather to what I got, on any given day there could be a difference of as much as 5 degrees between the two areas with the coast been the warmer
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