Middle-aged flash packers

The storm we expected all day yesterday finally arrived just before dawn. I know this not because of the crashing thunder or the lightning, but because I was already awake and up. The Alcatraz bed is truly terrible. It’s too small, sags in the middle and there’s a spring that pokes out on the edge of the mattress on my side, meaning that if I get too close to the edge, I’m immediately woken by a sharp spike. Time to move on.

The sunrise was quite spectacular. I think it was due to the storm, although it might be like that every morning, who knows, but it’s not something I actively try to see.

We fly home on Sunday so the plan is to stop at Caceres tonight, Salamanca Friday night and be in Bilbao for Saturday night.

Caceres is in Extremadura , around 4 hour’s drive from Islantilla. We passed the Riotinto mine which was incredible. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop so my photos don’t show the size of it, but it’s huge. Massive trucks trundle up and down the quarry but they are completely dwarfed by the size of the quarry, looking like little Tonka toys. I confess to being quite interested in the company Riotinto because as a family we had a little competition as to who could pick the best shares and Riotinto was one of my “portfolio”. I’ve just checked their share price and they seem to be on the up, perhaps I should buy some?

The next bit of excitement was a flash flood on the motorway. It could have been a disaster as the water at the side of the road was a complete torrent. Luckily we got there once the police had organised bulldozers to dig channels to allow the water to run away. It caused traffic mayhem though, particularly for the traffic coming the other way.

At last we reached our hotel, the lovely Don Manuel. Our room is modern, the bed is huge and there are no bars on the windows. Heaven.

I could have just had a nap but we decided we ought to do our covid tests for the way home. We can do them 72 hours before our flight and as it was pouring with rain outside, it seemed a good idea to get them done. How nerve wracking though, especially as S has had a cold that he can’t seem to shake. Anyway, negative results thank goodness.

We braved the rain and pottered around the old town. It’s glorious, so picturesque but nothing looks great in driving rain and our feet were soaked, so if the weather is better tomorrow morning, we’ll try to do it justice. If not, it’ll be hello Salamanca a bit on the early side.