The Lecrin Valley

After a cool and grey couple of days, the sun had come out again this morning,  so we decided to go out on a blossom hunt in the Lecrín valley, famous for its orange and almond trees. The orange trees were laden with fruit but no blossom -- despite what someone told us the other day, it's still a bit early I think. There was still some almond blossom about though. We had a little walk down to the reservoir near Restábal (blip). Then we drove on to Pinos del Valle because I'd been there with the walking group and knew there is a nice cafe that was likely to be open.

It was -- we were a bit early for lunch but the barman said if we waited 15 minutes his wife would have finished cooking the rice, so we ordered a  drink while we waited. The drinks came with bacon, lettuce and tomato rolls that really hit the spot. And the arroz con cosas (rice with things) was freshly cooked, piping hot and delicious -- artichokes, red pepper, peas, tiny squid (puntillitas) a few small shelled mussels, a single prawn, and diced chicken. I can't say I'm a big fan of paella, but this kind of rice dish is always best freshly cooked, and I liked the high ratio of vegetables to other things. We succumbed to home-made dessert as well -- natillas for S, arroz con leche for me. Very satisfying and only 22 euros for the lot.

Then we drove home because S had a Catalan lesson scheduled, and also it was getting grey and decidedly chilly. Here in Almuñecar the sun was still shining, it was a balmy 16C, but far too windy to sit on the terrace. So we sat indoors in our suntrap front room, very pleasant.

Yesterday was a very sociable day, but I didn't take a single photo. International Club in the morning -- we don't go to many of their events but they are the umbrella organisation for the walking group so we wanted to sign up. Drank coffee with a couple of new-to-us people.

Afterwards we shopped in Lidl and bumped into our Irish friends S and T from our neighbouring village in France. This was only a surprise because my S had convinced me, incorrectly, that they were coming next month and not this month. A long aisle-blocking conversation ensued.

In the evening, the Wednesday intercambio, where we were introduced to a French couple who turned out to live about 50 km from us in France.  Five of us sat a a table and conversed in a mixture of French and Spanish. All in all it was a good day despite the weather.