Where In the World are Jo and Jose?

Friday morning we went for a run (well a walk with a little bit of running for me) before settling into the job at hand, being getting out of the apartment ready for our Airbnb guests. We always knew this was going to be a big day so starting with a run was probably not my smartest idea but I was so keen to test out the foot.

Anyway, it was a day of carting bags to Tessi and storage and packing the final bits away in the apartment. We were out of the apartment by about 2pm and we were shattered. We did however muster ourselves to get most of our unpacking into Tessi done and still had time to watch the end of the Tour.

This evening we were definitely in need of a swim and a drink at the beach before heading back to Tessi for a few nibbles. Jose had clocked up over 20km during the day including his morning run and I was a bit over 17km.

While we were sitting outside Tessi with a drink and nibbles we remembered why we don’t miss tv when we’re travelling in Tess, it’s so entertaining checking out everyone else’s set up, etc. I guess it’s reality tv 😂

Saturday morning we had planned to do a ride but we were so shattered when we went to bed that we decided to see how we woke up. Thankfully we made the smart choice and didn’t ride. We still had a few things to do before we leave tomorrow and this way we could be a lot more relaxed about it.

After breakfast we washed our sheets and towels which we will now leave in storage clean for when we get back. We also had the task of choosing some wine. We were having dinner at Katharine and Stephen’s tonight and Katharine is a bit of a wine buff. She’s shared some stunning wines with us and we knew she has a rose cava that she wants us to try tonight, so the pressure was on. We found a rose from Ribeiro del Duero, an area that is famous for its fabulous reds (it also produces quite a nice verdelho too) 🤞

For lunch we had our last Kan Kilis chook for a while. Jose spent the afternoon cleaning our MTBs and repacking the back of Tessi. The weather has been quite weird, thunder rumbling all around and intermittent rain and then steady rain for a while. Thankfully by then Jose had finished his repack and we sat inside to watch the Tour (what a stage!)

The rain did stop and it was a nice evening. We had a lovely night with Katharine and Stephen and were making plans for when we’re all together again in September. Most importantly the wine was a success.

Wednesday morning we were intending to go for a swim but the sea was quite rough. In the meantime Jose had a call with home and then a coffee with our property manager, so any thoughts of a run, walk, whatever soon evaporated.

Instead we grabbed bags from storage and started organising packing up the apartment and packing to move into Tessi. That pretty much took up the rest of the day, except for an interlude to watch the Tour.

We had a few groceries to get so we walked into town for a drink and to grab the groceries before heading home for nibbles in front of tv. I hate to admit it but I’m really going to miss our evening television watching 😗

Thursday morning we had breakfast together and then I went out for a short ride and Jose had to take Tessi in to get new tyres put on.

I left about 1.5 hours later than we have been, but even so the traffic has definitely picked up in town. On the way back from St Pere Pescador, nearly every car was from the Netherlands. Definitely getting to time to leave L’Escala to the tourists. Having said that I had a nice ride.

Back home I did a last load of washing, some errands and continued with the packing.

It was well into the afternoon by the time Jose got back. Tessi is now parked in the local caravan park and we will move into her tomorrow.

We had a nice lunch on the balcony and then watched the Tour. Jose is getting beach fomo, so he went for a swim while I watched and then we had a drink at our nearest anchovy bar.

We had noticed that the sky was quite dark and then we had the rolling thunder and then lightening 😬 Jose had left Tessi’s skylights open so he had to hurry back.

I suspect the rain will be minimal but the wind has certainly picked up, so still not sorry he went back to check on Tess.

As I look out the window I can see Nyla anchored in the bay. Our friends sold her a month or so ago and we couldn’t quite believe our eyes that her new owners have brought her here (Jose even double checked on the ship tracker).

It was a very slow start Monday morning. Thankfully all we had to do was stuff around the apartment, washing and some admin. In fact I didn’t leave the apartment until we went out for some groceries in the evening.

Needless to say it was an alcohol free day drinking water with our nibbles in front of the tv in the evening.

Tuesday morning we headed out for a ride. It was really nice to be out on our bikes, though a little windy on the way home.

We had an errand to do before lunch and then decided we’d have sangria by the beach given we’ll soon be heading to Italy.

Home for lunch and an afternoon watching the time trial in the Tour.

Sunday morning we all went for our usual swim and breakfast, meeting up with Martijn, his brother who is visiting and the Dutch family who are also here on holidays.

The water is really warm, all most too warm. We still saw heaps of fish and I think everyone enjoyed a bit of a swim. We couldn’t find a big enough table in the shade so we had breakfast at a different bar today. It was lovely chatting with Martijn’s brother, I haven’t met him before.

I nipped over to the bakery and for morning tea we had the world famous xuxos from our local bakery, they didn’t disappoint. It was then an early lunch on the balcony and all too soon we were waving the Vincents goodbye 🥲

We spent the afternoon watching the Tour (which we haven’t had a chance to watch for a few days) while I started washing sheets and towels.

Around 7:30pm we heaed out to watch the World Cup final, me resplendent in my Spain shirt. We’d been unable to book a table in town so thought we’d meet early and see where we could nab a table at one of the bars with a tv. Jessica rang Katharine to say they’d just passed the Argentinian Social Club and it was going off. I was not thrilled about this development but off we went. I have to say the pre match DJ was great and the atmosphere was amazing. However I have never seen a place empty so quickly once Spain had won. We decided to kick on at our place. Which given 5 of us had already consumed 6 bottles of wine possibly wasn’t our smartest idea 😬

Saturday we again had a not too early start to the day. After breakfast we hiked over to Montgo along the coastal path. It was a bit warm so we all enjoyed a swim once we got to Montgo.

We walked back through the forest to the port for lunch at the yacht club. Matt had seen a photo of when we had lunch there with John, Sara and the kids and had asked to go there. We shared some black rice and fideuá and were all completely stuffed at the end.

From there we walked to Yari’s for a drink before heading home. It has been pretty hectic so we decided that for their last night we’d have a relaxed evening out on the balcony.

As I reread the heading I thought maybe we were the ruins after the wine tasting 🤣

Anyway a slow start to the day. Matt and Sheryl slept really well after their overnight flight the night before. We finally headed out around 11am and strolled around to the Ruins. We left Jose at home to take collection of our new chairs (only 4 or the 6 turned up 🤦‍♀️) and to put together our new stools (photos below).

They’re doing a heap more work at the the ruins, lots more to see now. They’ve also done a new audiovisual which was really good. Thankfully I never tire of going to the ruins.

We stopped for a lunch break and caught up with Jose. After lunch Matt headed back to the apartment for a work call, Sheryl and I returned to the ruins and Jose and the girls went for a swim. Sheryl and I eventually joined them for a swim and then we all walked back into town and caught up with Matt too at EO.

Home for showers and a bit of r and r before heading out for the evening. After the wine tasting we did with Katharine and Stephen and Jess and her Aussie friends, we decided to book another one for when the Vincents and Katharine’s friend Paula were here, there were 11 of us in total. This one had wines from all over Spain with paired food. We’re already talking about doing another one in September. Of course we went for an obligatory cava or two at the end of the evening.