Brana

This is Brana, one of two St Bernard dogs that ‘guard’ our hotel.  Guard, in this context, consists of flopping down in the vicinity of the hotel entrance so that guests are more or less forced to stroke, coo, generally fuss over and take photos of, or take photos with, before they’re allowed in or out.

This is our last day here; we begin the two-day journey home tomorrow.  We pass a leisurely morning wandering round the nearby town of Potes and then spend the afternoon around the hotel - Anniemay in the pool and me on a sun lounger, reading under a deep blue cloudless sky.  Bliss.

We love the hotel.  It’s not particularly big, but everything else about it is; the smiles on the faces of the hotel staff, their patience and willingness to help non-native speakers and of course the dogs.  All this ‘bigness’ however, pales into insignificance when it comes to the size of the food portions.

We have lunch in the hotel and although I’ve read a few on-line reviews about how generous the servings are, it’s still a bit of a shock when my meal finally arrives on the table.  The plate is enormous - easily enough for 2 or 3.  I’ve chosen their speciality, a concoction of chickpeas, meats (various and some unrecognisable), spring greens and egg dumplings.   

It’s delicious but I only manage about a third of it.  Anniemay helps me out a bit, but there’s still about half left.  I’m embarrassed when the waitress arrives to collect the plates and try to explain that it’s just too much. 

me;  “I’m not used to such big helpings..…”   

waitress; “You’ve done very well, most people don’t even manage that much”.  

I wonder if the dogs get the leftovers, which might account for their lethargy, if not their size.

Extras around the hotel.