Not Nihilistic!

Wednesday 21st November 2018 - Castillo de Banos, near Motril.

The weather hasn't been too kind over the last couple of days.  We spent last night on a car park overlooking the sea at Almerimar.  It is a nice little resort between tomato growing plastic greenhouses. I now know where all the tomatoes come from, there is mile after mile of plastic (I believe that it is quite a contentious subject), it certainly damages the views.

This is one of the nicer areas of greenhouses, many of the roads between them are full of rubbish.  I have a funny feeling that this may explain the reduced taste in our tomatoes, even the ones that are 'on the vine'.  They will be growing more tomatoes, faster than ever.  Hey ho, that seems to be what the public want....year round tomatoes at a cheap price, nevermind the taste!

The morning had been rainy so we did a spot of 'Supermarket Sweep' by calling in at two supermarkets we had never been in previously, just to see what they were like......a Dia supermarket and a Spanish Aldi.  We didn't want much other than fresh bread but still found something to buy.  We bought a couple of bags of my favourite coffee time treat....

Mmm, Cantuccini, a favourite almondy crunch biscotti.

It dried up in the afternoon but got progressively windier.

This was our view from the van at Almerimar.  Some other people started getting set up for some kite surfing.  We had a walk along the long (new) promenade.  The harbour area looked very pleasant with some nice bars and shops dotted around and we walked along the harbour wall, enjoying being sprayed by the waves as the wind and waves increased.  By the time we got back to the van there were about 10 kite surfers and 3 wind surfers in action.  The waves were amazing and the wind was horizontal but the surfers were really good, doing jumps and riding waves.  It must be exhilarating to do and it  certainly kept us entertained from the front seat of our van for at least a couple of hours.

Last night we did the Sunday Times Concise Crossword...and for perhaps the first time, we finished it. Don't think we are clever, it's only the Concise version but it's a big achievement for us.  I was particularly please to answer a clue...'someone who believes in nothing at all'?  I got the answer....'Nihilist'!  I don't know where it came from but I was very pleased.  It made me wonder if I am a Nihilist but I can't be.....because I believe in Father Christmas and Tooth Fairies!

This morning we walked along the lengthy prom to the next resort.  I know I keep mentioning the same thing...but....the money needed to make these promenades (and roads, and cycle paths, and car parks) must be expensive.  We walked away from the resort for a half hour and still didn't get to the end of the prom.  Much of the area we walked along was deserted with no buildings and there was a high quality cycle track and empty car parks along the route.  We presume they hope to build more apartments and hotels sometime.  It seems to be the same at every resort we go to.  Where is the money coming from?  We presume it's EU money, or at least a large part of it.  We would never be allowed to build such a lot of infrastructure with the hope that one day it might be needed.  There were beach showers every 100 metres and although the proms had recently been built, the showers were already rusting.  I know it might get busy in summer and the car parks might be needed but the section we walked on didn't have a developed beach.  Moving on........

Overnight we ran out of gas in our English Calor gas bottle and I had already bought a gas connector for Spanish gas bottles.  We called at a filling station to buy a new gas bottle and got the normal Spanish response....no smile, this is a problem, no English.  Because I didn't have an existing gas bottle to swap I had to sign a contract and pay extra for the first bottle.  I understand the principle of paying for the first gas bottle but don't necessarily understand why I need a contract or produce my drivers licence?  Anyway we managed to pay the money and get the bottle....without any smiles or pleasantries.

Spanish Gas (Butano) on the left and French gas (Propane) on the right.  The English Calor has moved to the back store.  I daren't go to Portugal in case they have a different gas bottle and connector!  There is a possible solution....to buy a refillable gas system for LPG and fill up at Petrol Stations.  I think I may have to go for it.

We have booked on a site today at Castillo de Banos.  It is a tiny place with few redeeming features.  The beach is narrow and grey and the village seems to have one restaurant.  The site is OK but because it is rainy we aren't seeing it at its best.  We have managed a bike ride along the coast in light rain but didn't see anything to interest us.  Never mind we are just catching up with some of our chores and taking advantage of the facilities to empty and fill our tanks.