TARIFA BEACH.

Thursday/Friday 16th/17th.July 2009.

Thursday 16th.

The weather this week has been the best so far this year and for a long time, blue skies, warm sunshine and a little breeze with the temperature‘s in the high 30s.We dropped down to Tarifa to do the weekend shopping and pick some tablets and gel up from the chemists for Joan;on the way back across the mountain road the views to Africa and inland to the Atlas mountains are just spectacular.Joan is now back to her normal self and is starting to worry about moving back to England,Chris has not phoned ,as usual,so we have not been able to make any arrangements about the future yet and also give him the quotes from Mano to do the work to improve the villa. Next week we are over in Guadalmina Alta for a few days at Casa Abuelo as Clive and Carolyn are going to Madrid, the renovation work on the villa is ongoing and we are looking forward to seeing how it looks-Mano and Anna are coming across on Monday morning for four or five days to look after Joan and the animals. After our meeting last Saturday in Sotogrande we have not heard from the folks about looking after their villa on a weekly 2/3 days, which is a little disappointing as between us we could have offered them a very good service!?

Friday 17th.

This morning we had planned to take Joan out for lunch as we now have the use of the VW and so after a little problem with our bank, I had forgot to cancel the standing order for our private medical cover and as I checked our accounts on line noticed that the yearly payment had gone out, we don’t need the cover as we are now in the Spanish system and so after a couple of phone calls things were sorted. We then set off down to Torre de la Pena to our favourite restaurant for a light lunch, Brenda has some Langoustines a la Plancha which were so fresh and sweet and Joan had Avocado with Crab as we sat and watched the light Atlantic swell in the idyllic setting;we did not want to leave as we sat having our coffee overlooking the beach! On the way back we called into the Hotel Dos Mares which is nearer to Tarifa and is right by the main spot for the kite and windsurfers,as you can see in the picture below,the hotel is in a very beautiful spot on the beach and is rather special although the picture does not do it justice! It was also the hotel where Chris’s younger daughter,Nina,was married on the beach a few years ago.For supper we had Salmon fillet’s in a light citrus sauce before we settled down to watch a little TV after another perfect day down here in southern Spain!