18-23 October Mojacar

We had two weeks stay at Mojacar but the time seemed to fly. Our days were pretty relaxed, normally based around a solid walk in the morning, salad lunch at home, reading, weights or a swim, perhaps a wander into the pueblo, and plenty of admin or research on the laptop. We repeated our 10km walk along the coast of a week ago on Sunday, and enjoyed it just as much, though we felt a bit more energetic than the first time we did it. John still had a bit of an uncomfy chest but we're pretty much right now. He was disappointed not to see the chameleon again!

The coastal walk

Rather a prime spot. No swimming pool though!

Today we did a 6km loop near the original site of Mojacar pueblo. It was on a hilltop not far away, settled around 600AD by the Visigoths. They terraced the hillsides, but obviously at some stage gave the site away and relocated to the current hill where the current township is located. We wandered along the valley floor which has historically been intensively developed for orange orchards and other fruits, but unfortunately now seems to be somewhat abandoned and in disarray. It's sad to see.

The weather was very temperamental, often with hazy skies, threatening rain or with the odd shower. We haven't been tempted to explore the beach at all, let alone swim. Seeking out a tasty Spanish lunch we returned to the port restaurant we'd enjoyed at Garrucha last week. We arrived at 1pm, but clearly that was way too early. The paella wasn't going to emerge from the kitchen at least until 2pm, so John chose a cheese and charcuterie dish for his entree instead, and it was very tasty, as well as generous.

Another day we wandered off to try a tapas bar just 2 minutes walk from our place. We figured it would be very pleasant to share an evening with some local Spanish, as we've kept pretty much to ourselves since we've been here. Unfortunately we were too early again. We arrived at 7pm, thinking a glass of wine and one or two tapas dishes would do the trick, but unfortunately the kitchen didn't even open until 8pm (and this is just for tapas, the forerunner to an evening meal). We settled for a cold plate of cheese and sliced chorizo, which was very nice, but ended up walking home by 8pm because we were getting hungry for our own home-cooked dinner.

John is cooking dinner as I'm writing this. It's a little tricky because the power has just gone out and he can't really see what he's doing on the gas cooktop. The power has gone on and off regularly during the last 3-4 days, as has the internet, often for long periods. It hasn't really been an issue, and we've just managed to Skype with Alastair, which was very nice. He's a box of birds.

We booked accommodation for the four nights between leaving here on Friday and arriving in Ceret on 30th October. We're getting pretty excited about heading homeward, and particularly arriving in Melbourne on 6 November, by which time our grandson may or may not have arrived. With Alastair flying into Melbourne for the last week of November, it's going to be a great family time.

Alastair is going to come laden with a number of books. I'm embarking on a course of self-managed study into the development of the Indo-European languages. My study will basically cover the diversification and dissemination of all European languages. I've sourced a number of books/textbooks online from second hand bookstores in the USA - they are being sent to Alastair (care of free postage within the USA). I'm pretty excited to be launching into this new research. I've no idea where it might lead.