Well, we have been pretty relaxed this past week, making the most of our final days staying near Villanueva del Rey.
This break has been nothing but relaxing… we’ve really taken it easy and only had the occasional walk out during the 5 weeks we have now been away. It’s strange for us to do next to nothing, but then the whole point of this holiday was to have a restful time to aid Pete’s recovery from chemo. It seems to have worked too as, despite still having extreme tired-ness some days, Pete says he is feeling much better for a complete rest & bit of sun. I think this is down to him not rushing around trying to do to much as he does when he’s at home & just hope he keeps up the resting when we get back… but I doubt it!
The weather has continued to be in the low to mid 30s with mostly cloudless skies… I will definitely miss the sunshine although I am not sure I could live in this heat all the time – I cannot imagine how much hotter it might get in the height of summer as it’s hot enough now! Not sure if this weather is unusual for this time of year but would definitely come back in May / June again but not any later in the summer.
We have spent most of ours days on the balcony overlooking the hills and the valley. It’s nice and cool in the morning but, from about lunchtime, can get a bit scorchio… we usually manage about 30-60 mins in the sun & then head in doors for a bit of a siesta / late lunch before maybe heading out again about 5 / 6ish when we imagine it will have started to cool down a bit… that said, the temperature actually remains at it’s highest until about 8-ish! At least there is usually a bit of a breeze out there which is very welcomed!
The land around us has certainly dried out a lot in the 4-weeks we have been here… the photos below show this with the top one being when we arrived on 17th May and the bottom taken on 11th June. It’s no wonder they worry about fires so much and, whilst it’s a shame we haven’t been able to have many BBQs, we certainly haven’t starved and Pete has done a magnificent job with feeding me as he always does!
Talking of feeding… our host Raquel turned up yesterday out of the blue, with some cakes from the bakery in the village. She told us the shaped ones are called Hojuelas, and is a traditional sweet pastry, created by putting the batter into a flower shaped metal mould & frying until crispy. They then drizzle it with honey – yum! I quite liked this one although not Pete’s cup of tea. The round ones are a fried donut flavoured with lemon – think they call them Rosquillas – and a tad on the dry side but it was nice of her to bring them!
Left = the Hare;
Top Right = Sceliphron(!) or Yellow-Legged Mud Dauber Wasp; Robber Fly;
Bottom = Hoopoe
So, that’s it for Villanueva del Rey… we head off for a couple of nights near Salamanca tomorrow morning before heading back towards Bilbao on Monday for the ferry to the UK which leaves on Tuesday!
It’s not the most direct route but we thought it would be nice to drive a different way back to the way we came… It will be 10-hours of driving and about 580 miles back to Bilbao in total, hence the stop along the way!
staying for a couple of nights
Deséanos suerte en nuestros viajes! Which means: Wish us luck on our travels! 😉 ❤️ xxx
All the gubbins… 
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