Solo Adventure

Good morning from the patio at Villa Casa Loma! A couple of days ago, we woke up to the most amazing sunrise yet; thought I'd share it with you:


We're sure going to miss mornings like those once we're gone! You just don't get sunrises like that in Cambridge.

Last Friday was Jarod and Lisa's last day in Spain. After lots of sightseeing, they were both tired and ready for a day of rest. Being that I don't do well sitting still for long while on vacation, I decided to take a walk into town to explore Salobrena a bit more. By the time my adventure was over I had walked 8 miles and seen lots of Salobrena's interesting sites!

My first stop after passing though town was the beach which was crowded as usual:


Once again, there were lots of vendors grilling seafood over an open flame.


This time I also spotted one guy who, in addition to octopus, appeared to also be grilling...serrano jamon?...does that seem right to you? I can't figure out what else those might be!


While at the beach, I also did a little shopping and picked up a toy for Jason. Paddle ball seems to be the thing to do at the beach here. All up and down the shoreline you can see people hitting a small, ping-pong-like ball back and forth with little paddles. So I picked us up a set and we've quickly become addicted!

Finally, after a short stop for ice cream, I decided to head home. On my way, I had amazing views of the Salobrena castle:


And also encountered a local man who was walking his herd of goats to another nearby field:


It was pretty crazy - one minute I was all alone on this deserted little country lane and the next minute I was surrounded on all sides! Interestingly, he didn't even really need to "shephard" the herd, they seemed to know where they were going on their own. It was like he told them to go on ahead and take a right at the stop sign...and they did!


The local man caught up to me as we walked and we had a friendly, albiet very basic, conversation.

Him: Es muy calor! (It is very hot!)

Me: Si, es. (Yes, it is)

Him: Como era la playa? (How was the beach?)

Me: No playa, ir de compras. (No beach, shopping.)
[yes, my Spanish did get worse and worse as the conversation progressed...]

Him: Ah, ir de compras! Bueno. (Ah, shopping. Good.)

Not exactly something to brag about, but I did manage to converse with him which made me happy!

That's all for now. Our good friends Miriam and Charile are here visiting us for a few more days and we've been going, going, going hence the lack of new posts. I'm taking lots of pictures though so stories of our adventures will be up soon!