Seems a long time since that 9/11 day way back when Pete and I watched in horror as the planes flew into the twin towers in New York… not sure if the world has changed much for the better since then and sometimes feels more crazy than ever… perhaps this is why I feel a bit more on edge now that we’ve got to the 5th accommodation of our trip, much closer to civilisation than we have been previously… in a town called Catadau which seems bigger than Jaca (which we left yesterday morning) and definitely not as pretty!

It’s probably the strangest accommodation we’ve stayed in so far – not that it’s not nice (the Mum of the couple who own this property actually lives next door – she’s 75 (I understood that bit with my very basic Spanish even if I didn’t catch everything she said!) and welcomed us when we arrived, showing us her fig tree (ooer! 🤣) and insisting we took a big bowl full (lucky we both like figs!)…) it just has a bit of a weird, unkept kind of feel to it and the ceilings are really low… no good for my almost 6 foot hubby when the door frames are about 2 inches lower than the top of his head but OK for a shorty like me! As it’s so hot outside (I am not complaining!) the shutters are down, so it’s quite dingy – I find it all a bit oppressive although, thankfully, there’s a nice area to sit outside and a lovely, cooling breeze… even if the view is not quite as impressive as in Jaca!

Of course, we are only here for two nights, this being the 2nd so it’s been quite nice to have a rest day… although we did manage a good walk around the town and up a couple of hills in the scorching heat this morning / afternoon so feeling a bit knackered now… 🥱

The journey from Jaca yesterday, although just under 500kms was OK – it’s funny how, with the roads not being busy, 500kms feels nothing like driving in the UK where I’d be exhausted after a few hours! With stops for fuel, food and shops along the way, it took just over 6 hours…

Tomorrow, we are off to see our friends Jane & Kev in Seron, Almeria – a mere 370km drive. We haven’t seen them since my “gap year” in 2020 when, just after they lifted the lockdown and you could travel by plane again, Pete & I escaped to a small place near Alicante for a month and visited them… we cannot wait to see what they have done with their place as they had only recently bought it when we saw them last… get the kettle on Jane about 3ish! 😊

We are now a week into our trip and have managed to cover almost 1400 miles (or 2,250 km). After a few nights with Kev & Jane in Seron, we travel another 340kms south to a place south-west of Ronda – a small place up in the hills where we will be based for 4 weeks – but that’s a tale to tell from Saturday onwards! For now, I am going to enjoy what’s left of the sunshine on this beautiful day and be thankful that, in the part of the world I am in at the moment, life is pretty sweet (as are the figs!)… It’s at these times, as a person who can no longer tolerate alcohol (since my gallbladder / pancreas decided I’d had enough – boo! 😡), that I really miss sitting with a very large glass of ice-cold Rose! Ho hum, guess I’ll have to settle for a zero coke instead and enviously watch Pete with his beer! 🤣 Hasta luego all (…hasta mañana Kev & Jane!) xx 😘