Where's Bertie? He's still in the Aire at Badajoz.
Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine and warm (20 degrees), but a cool breeze that made it feel much cooler unless in the sun.
It's been a busy day and here we are nearly at bedtime and I'm only just starting to type a blog post. There's not going to be time for any knitting tonight!
The day started a little earlier than usual, so that I could be at the laundrette at 0800. That was achieved and by 0845 everything was washed and dried.
Back to Bertie for a quick turn-around to get out for a run. There's no option for a nice route in the hills around here, but if you're going to be on the flat, then the riverside is a nice place to be on a sunny day.
People were out in force in the park (just going for their morning walks, usually in pairs or groups, as Spaniards like to do), but once I ran out of the gates at the far end, I was almost by myself. From there I was on a dead-end road that was probably installed shortly before the economic crash of 2008, but for what purpose isn't obvious (it's not the usual situation of a road alongside building plots). There are parking spaces all along one side (now full of organic detritus), fancy lamposts (that are much newer than 2008), and unmaintained block-paved pavements on either side. I saw a handful of other people along its 3km(ish) length, and not a single car passed me.
River Guardiana
Back at Bertie again, a snack, coffee and some sitting around, until I realised that we didn't have time to be sitting around. After arriving in Badajoz yesterday I read my blog post from the last time we were here, and learned that on the day we had visited the art museum, we had also intended to visit the city museum, but had spent so long at the former that we ran out of time/cultural-capacity. We didn't expect to come to Badajoz again, but I'd said that maybe we needed to, to put right our omission. With my memory duly refreshed on this point, a visit to the city museum was on the cards for today.
It proved to be good value, in that it's free, but the displays are almost entirely pictures with swathes of text (i.e. you could just read a book), with few physical exhibits. With all the text being in Spanish that was too complex for my understanding, I didn't come away feeling I'd learnt much new stuff about the city's history.
Examples of books about the Napoleonic battles in 1811-1812. I liked the fact that one of the Sharpe books was included (which is why Mick is so knowledgeable about this area, having read that series).
From there it was straight out for lunch. Finally, a menu del dia!
Arriving ten minutes before the kitchen opened for lunch (1330), we were served a couple of tapas to keep us going:
The plate of chips had also contained a quantity of battered vegetables and fritters, but I didn't think to take a snap until we'd eaten them.
First course: fish and potato stew for me, pepper and tuna salad for Mick.
Second course: sardines and salad for me, garlic chicken and chips for Mick (he won on flavoursomeness)
Pudding. Possibly the best Spanish flan I've ever had.
Tipping isn't expected in Spain, but with todays prices these Menus are too cheap (this one was €11 each including the tapas pre-starter, drinks and bread). So, we rounded the bill up to €25. Amusingly, an argument then ensued as the server protested that was far too big a tip. Unfortunately, Mick was the one paying the bill and didn't have the language to tell her to put it down to us being strange foreigners. He did, however, get her to accept the money.
Back to Bertie yet again, and what we thought was going to be a half-hour job on the laptop turned into 4.5 hours. With that eventually put to bed, a more important task was before us: working out some rough staging to get us from here to Calais in ten days' time. We have a plan. If we stick to it, I'll be amazed.
At least we didn't need to spend any time making an evening meal. Neither of us has felt the need to eat a thing since lunch.
Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine and warm (20 degrees), but a cool breeze that made it feel much cooler unless in the sun.
It's been a busy day and here we are nearly at bedtime and I'm only just starting to type a blog post. There's not going to be time for any knitting tonight!
The day started a little earlier than usual, so that I could be at the laundrette at 0800. That was achieved and by 0845 everything was washed and dried.
Back to Bertie for a quick turn-around to get out for a run. There's no option for a nice route in the hills around here, but if you're going to be on the flat, then the riverside is a nice place to be on a sunny day.
People were out in force in the park (just going for their morning walks, usually in pairs or groups, as Spaniards like to do), but once I ran out of the gates at the far end, I was almost by myself. From there I was on a dead-end road that was probably installed shortly before the economic crash of 2008, but for what purpose isn't obvious (it's not the usual situation of a road alongside building plots). There are parking spaces all along one side (now full of organic detritus), fancy lamposts (that are much newer than 2008), and unmaintained block-paved pavements on either side. I saw a handful of other people along its 3km(ish) length, and not a single car passed me.
Back at Bertie again, a snack, coffee and some sitting around, until I realised that we didn't have time to be sitting around. After arriving in Badajoz yesterday I read my blog post from the last time we were here, and learned that on the day we had visited the art museum, we had also intended to visit the city museum, but had spent so long at the former that we ran out of time/cultural-capacity. We didn't expect to come to Badajoz again, but I'd said that maybe we needed to, to put right our omission. With my memory duly refreshed on this point, a visit to the city museum was on the cards for today.
It proved to be good value, in that it's free, but the displays are almost entirely pictures with swathes of text (i.e. you could just read a book), with few physical exhibits. With all the text being in Spanish that was too complex for my understanding, I didn't come away feeling I'd learnt much new stuff about the city's history.
From there it was straight out for lunch. Finally, a menu del dia!
Arriving ten minutes before the kitchen opened for lunch (1330), we were served a couple of tapas to keep us going:
Tipping isn't expected in Spain, but with todays prices these Menus are too cheap (this one was €11 each including the tapas pre-starter, drinks and bread). So, we rounded the bill up to €25. Amusingly, an argument then ensued as the server protested that was far too big a tip. Unfortunately, Mick was the one paying the bill and didn't have the language to tell her to put it down to us being strange foreigners. He did, however, get her to accept the money.
Back to Bertie yet again, and what we thought was going to be a half-hour job on the laptop turned into 4.5 hours. With that eventually put to bed, a more important task was before us: working out some rough staging to get us from here to Calais in ten days' time. We have a plan. If we stick to it, I'll be amazed.
At least we didn't need to spend any time making an evening meal. Neither of us has felt the need to eat a thing since lunch.
Now then, I wonder what could have taken a surprising 4.5 hours? Whilst Sue and I had a celebratory drink on Monday to say goodbye to scouring maps for a while, on Tuesday I realised that was premature to the extent of a further 4.5 hour session...
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