It is still quite dark here at 6:30AM. Soon the time will change here also, but I don’t know when.
Home exchanges among other things are about plain regrouping! I TRY to be flexible! For example, the bed I’m sleeping in has a mattress pad, but unfortunately it has a plastic underlining on it! (Joan has young grandchildren....) So if I’m not yet asleep, I hear the sound of the plastic crinkle as I move about. Luckily I’m sound sleeper! (Interestingly enough I bought a similar mattress pad for a guest bed once, but I cut out the plastic, because I figured it would be too annoying to the guest-actually it annoyed me not even using it!) It does not,however, keep me from sleeping! This house at least has screens, but there are also metal screens to keep out the heat. Last night I pulled it so tight, it wouldn't come down, but "Tony to the RESCUE!" He fixed it and showed me to do the same, if I do that again, which is pretty unlikely.
Somewhere I had read that the British had discovered the wonderful weather here early in the 20th century, so they started coming here then. I don’t know how recently they started buying second homes here, but there is a huge population of British and Germans (and others no doubt) who come for extended periods. Usually they come for two or so months at a time, before they return home for a few months. Most keep their homes “back home”. But this huge population of “foreigners” certainly has an impact on the original citizens living here. I would imagine that the younger, educated generation would appreciate the ex-pats’ impact on their economic and tax base. However, others are just resentful; would they like to be living somewhere else and retired? There’s a small neighborhood market nearby which Kathy said has very good bread. However, Tony commented that he thought the owners “don’t like us very much”.
There is also big agricultural base here, as you can see farm after farm from the highway. They look like greenhouses covered with plastic. They seem to be all types of crops-fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Along the road there was a billboard for iceberg lettuce (not Foxy!). When I arrived last Friday, the traffic going the opposite direction was stopped for miles. Some truck, now long gone, had accidentally unloaded cases and cases of tomatoes all over the highway. All I could see was a policeman trying to pick them up?! But I was going the speed limit, so I could not really see what was happening.
Today is a cloudy day, and I thought it looked like rain was coming. I drove to Mojacar (pronounced something like Mohackar), which is about an hour away. Between here and there was not much to see but a series of small towns. Mojacar is in Andalusia and really looks like a white town up on a hill,
but I don’t know if it is classified as such. It is very touristy, but quaint! There were miles of deserted beaches and a sweet little chapel,
and tons of touristy shops and restaurants which did not snare me! I briefly talked with a couple from Newcastle, who hadn’t been there for twenty years. I took an alternate route home, which was more scenic. The GPS had sent me via the highway-a toll road, no less. And speaking of highways, the roads are very good here, but then there is plenty of room in the wide open flat space of the plains! Roads outside of town are mostly four lanes, so I’ll not be complaining about the roads! This mess of small plastic clips was all over the opposite lane on the way home.
I was back to the beach for a late afternoon swim. Another British Kathy whom I had met when I first arrived stopped by to chat, as she and her husband were leaving. They invited me to join them at the bar for a drink, so I met two more British couples. Some of them have been fully retired for five plus years, so they’ve been coming on the two month here, two months in London or Newcastle, etc. rotation. Kathy and Tony have just retired this year, so this is the first time they’ve been here this long.
September 28, 2010
This is a “home” day, so I have figured out the laundry system here, and shortly I’ll go to the internet spot to post this. (By the way t oday here at Los Geraneos the TV is showing a talk show, not sure if it "The Bacherlotte" Spain style or what. On Sunday they were watching car races.)
I also need to find an ATM here. I'm always a bit curious/stressed before my first ATM attempt in a new place. So far on this trip I've had no problem, but last year it happened once....The Aguilas Plaza will be my first stop, as I'm sure they must have several ATMs there.
Last night it rained, and today is blue sky-cloudy, although my car registered 31* when I got into it at noon. There is a walk nearby to another beach, which I’m going to follow later on. I’m devouring Michael Connolly’s The Last Coyote! I also downloaded the Lonely Planet Spain book, as I didn’t bring a guidebook in the interest of luggage weigh. So I'll see what other places of interest are near by to save some longer trips like Lorca, Cartagena,and Murcia, for when Karen is here.
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