La Almendra y El Gitano Agua Amarga

... of cheeses at the breakfast buffet. Had I known how the rest of the day would shape up, I would have had double.

I headed off to town. The morning had been a little cloudy but it seemed like the sun might break through so I opted for my swimsuit as undergarments. The town is teeeeensy. And most of the shops are closed for the season (aka 'personal rest'). So I quickly found myself on the beach, and much to my contentment the sun was shining. The water was cool but not ...

... had an American vegetarian in his Argentinian restaurant in Spain. I had some delicious vegetable soup and pasta. And after one glass of Rioja (typical Spanish wine) he suggested I instead drink the 'good stuff' some Syrah wine from Argentina. I am now on my 3rd glass of wine, my bag has been 'dropped' by my side for 2 hours and my friendly waiter, who also lived in Rhode Island for several years, snuck me the wifi passcode for the restaurant's office.

Life is good.

We had great intentions starting out the day. We planned to drive along the coastline to a town called Almeria. it's a 2+ hour drive. We thought spanish coastline, it's got to be pretty right? Not so much. It started out beautiful. Picturesque cliffs that roll into the crystal blue water of the mediterranean ocean. But once we passed the first few cities it became the plastic jungle. Every city after this, all the way to almeria, is a farming town. the hillsides are ...

... someone had been waiting behind a rock near us. I couldnt have left faster if i tried. Very stressful moment.

So we cycled to the other side of Almeria but our journey was cut short due to a coastal windy road with no lights. We had no choice but to sleep where we were. which happened to be up some steps near a light house in the view of hookers. Seriously no other choice. Also, where we slept the happened to be 1cm by 1 inch orange woodlice crawling everywhere. Lovely.

... for such great hospitality.

The next day we decided to venture to the nearest beach. Which tuned out to be a nuddist beach in a nuddist part of town (full of nude bars , hotels, etc. when in Rome. . . . . . . wear sun tan cream. In fact, as a rule, if its sunny, wear sun tan cream. This is about the 4th time I have sunburnt myself. But, for obvious reasons, the first time ever that I managed to burn my ****. I was struggling to sit on a comfy sofa ...

... friends). On our way there we stopped in a supermarket. Outside there was a german guy selling hot chickens and as a celebration of a good day we got a couple. Olly doesn´t normally splashout but he decided to get a whole one. After finishing his whole chicken he made a shocking/interesting/hilarious/disgusti ng/hilarious discovery. . . Maggots . . . about 6 or 7. Honestly, you should ...

... to a grocery store Consum and they had everything you could ever want to buy and more. Then we headed for the beach in Palomares Quita Pellejos. The sand was dark but the water was blue and it wasnt as crowded as Garrucha or Mojacar. The best beach was Mojacar white sand and blue blue water and very warm. There is a boulevard that runs along all of these beaches and it is lined with restaurants and souvenir ...

... heel snel 5 knopen met een slag naar het westen en als even de wind wegvalt om 16.00 blijkt dit de voorbode te zijn van een zuidwesten wind die ons vleugels geeft tot de monding van Sancti-Petri, hetgeen een extra duinenrij in zee met een fortificatie er op is, die een achterliggend estuaria en zijn schepen prima beschermt tegentde grote golven van de oceaan. Op de extra duinenrij ligt het fort helemaal verlaten, maar tussen duinen en vaste land liggen een honderdtal ...

... of a middle eastern town with tea houses and small alleyways around every corner with merchants selling fabrics and hukkas. It was fun to see that sort of Moorish influence still permeates the community even after hundreds of years. By the end of the day, I´d had my fill of walking around and was so exhausted that I immediately collapsed upon my bed when we got to the train. I woke up just in time to see the sun rise as we pulled into Barcelona for the second time.

... dans un super endroit sous un grand arbre. On manger super bien avec apéro (et la salade de riz de Christine !) Arrivée à Almería à 16h15. Il n'y a pas trop de monde et on prend les billets sans problème. On attend une heure sur le quai avant de partir. A 19h00, le bateau démarre, et papa filme. Je ressens son excitation de loin, de très loin ! Sur le bateau, on commence à se sentir ailleurs. On entend du raï partout avec un m ...