Krista's vaccinations

We were pleased last Friday to get Krista her last round of inoculations. It was one of the first things on our agenda once we had decided upon settling in Torre del Mar for a month or so. Having spent some time attempting to get the injections in Portugal then going again to a Centro de Salud near Cadiz, it had turned into a bit of an epic mission. Concerned to get them done as close as possible to Krista’s 4 month ‘birthday’ we began to wonder if I would need to fly home to get them sorted.

Day one - we found the local Centro de Salud to be told by one of the receptionists that we needed to come back the next day to see the person who dealt with foreign nationals.

Day two -We returned at 9am prompt to ensure we would be first in the queue. We had seen from yesterday that this place could get very busy. We were second in line and as we waited spoke to a Scottish woman with a 9 month old baby who regaled us with tales of how hard it might be to get the injections and that our best bet might be to go private…

Prepared for the worst we were relieved at how accommodating the administrator was and how without blinking an eyelid she issued us with the paperwork we needed to get an appointment. We got into a second queue to make this appointment and within an hour we were armed with everything we needed. The only place where our understanding of a process occurring entirely in Spanish seemed to have let us down was when we were sat waiting hopefully for the nurse only to find that our 11.49am (!) appointment was for the next day. This was marked clearly in numbers on our card. So we went for another coffee.

Day three – we returned to the Centro de Salud with butterflies in our stomachs. Was today finally going to be the day when the injection saga would end? There was a lot of buzz around the nurse’s room today which was more reassuring. It was not long before our turn came and we went in with everything we needed to say written down and rehearsed. The male nurse couldn’t speak English but was very no nonsense.
Krista charmed him with several of her smiles and was quite happy to go off to be weighed before receiving all her injections bar one that they don’t give in Spain. She felt a little hurt when the friendly nurse first pricked her in one leg then the other but after a little milk fell asleep for the rest of the morning. Jubilant but wearied by the whole process we went off for another cup of coffee wondering when our next challenge would present itself and what indeed that would be.

Message from Krista

Hi all. Sorry we haven't updated for a while. We are well and in a place called Torre del Mar along the coast from Malaga. We are going to stay here until about the 16th February. Will update soon with news of my Spanish vaccination experiences and Mummy's Spanish lessons. Lots of love to all, Adios Krista xxxx

16-18th January, Ronda and the Bull-Ring

From Cadiz we moved in land to Ronda, a spectacular old town that has built up a rocky outcrop in the mountains. The Spanish Inquisition had its head-quarters here and the views to be had from the town into the valley are vertiginous. We camped for two nights in possibly our most pleasant campsite to date. Although quiet and secluded we were close enough to the town to walk in.

We have found the spirit of the bull-fight pervasive in Andalusia and whatever one thinks of it on a moral level it is difficult not to be hypnotised by the ritual and pageant that surrounds it. Ronda is well known in Spain for it small but reputable bull-ring, a venue to which all matadors aspire. Whereas the Seville school of fighters are elaborate and showy in their art, those of the Ronda are said to deal with the bull in a more procedural and austere fashion. With tickets to the bull-fights that take place during just one week in September hard to get hold of and costing from €150 upwards, we thought we’d get as close as we probably ever will to one by taking a tour.

Even empty the fear and excitement that must be felt by all involved is palpable within the small arena. I felt suddenly very vulnerable in my bright red coat. You can enter the bull-pens and both of us got spooked by the lingering smell and huge gore marks left by the unfortunate creatures as they waited for their final fifteen minutes of fame. Graham nearly ran out when he heard the snort of a large animal. But they’d not forgotten to remove a bull last September, it was one of the horses from the equestrian-guard training base located next door.

Inspired by all we had read about Spain’s greatest matadors and the sight of their colourful and elaborate costumes, we couldn’t resist returning to the ring to have a quick go. Krista in her pushchair made for the perfect bull against whom to practise some rudimentary moves.

14th – 16th January Cadiz

From Seville we moved down towards the coast to the port of Cadiz. We found a site close to the beach but were disappointed to discover that this proximity does seem to come at cost both in Euros and quality. Nevertheless we were both able to go for a long run along the beachfront and we were in an ideal location for getting into Cadiz without the car.

We caught a catamaran service into the port and spent a lovely day in the sunshine walking around the town. We both liked the mixture of narrow medieval streets, grand buildings dating back to the days of the town’s burgeoning sea-trade and the university town atmosphere. As we walked around the outside of the town by the sea, we imagined Sir Francis Drake sailing to launch one of the many British assaults on this crucially located town.

12th January More on Seville

We got up early to travel into Seville by car. Unfortunately the rain had come back with a vengeance, so we spent the first hour or so in Starbucks checking our emails. Looking sadly out of the window we wondered if this weather would ever improve before our return to England. When there did seem to be a break we moved onto our next café for lunch! We took away a sandwich and slice of spanish omelette to the Real Alcázar. We waited outside for a while but once it became clear that the rain wasn’t going to ease we decided to go in anyway and resigned ourselves to getting really wet.

A lavish palace with much of its glory in the gardens, even under sheets of rain the Real Alcázar was possibly the most magnificent palace I have ever visited. I can only begin to imagine how nice it must be to visit in the sunshine and the perfect place normally to spend an entire day.

In the palace as well as in the streets we were amazed by the number of oranges, lemons and clementines growing on the trees and falling around our feet. Neither Graham nor I could resist scrumping one or two. However after not being able to eat even a section for the bitterness, we developed the theory that the city council deliberately grows inedible oranges to fend off thieving tourists such as ourselves therefore keeping the city looking pretty.

11th January - Farewell to old friends, on to Pastures New

We said farewell to all our international band of new friends in Portugal today – Jan, Peter the camping rebel, Manfred, Karin, Wolfgang the cat slayer, François Gadget and Hubert l’écrivain - and set off back to Spain.

Not knowing how much longer the dodgy weather would last we decided we would rather be rained on in Spain than in Portugal. Both of us want to improve our Spanish so at least we can be practising the 'Michel Thomas' we do in the car in real situations. We settled on a campsite from our new book of discounted off-peak campsites in El Rocio which is close to Seville on the Doñana nature reserve.

We were pleased with the friendly, clean and well-ordered site that we found outside this most unusual town. El Rocio has no roads only sand-tracks. It looks like the kind of town you would see in an old western. Very quiet and rather mysterious we finally worked out from various sources that it was a town made famous for an ornate to the extreme statue of the Madonna it houses in its church. For about a week every year in summer over a million visitors descend on this small town to benefit from the healing qualities it is believed to possess. For the rest of the year nothing much happens though people travel here to buy elaborate handmade flamenco outfits and fine equestrian goods.

Much to our delight the campsite had films to lend out and we watched only our second since leaving home – The Good Shepherd. With popcorn too it was an exciting treat!

My favourite people - Nemo, Papa and Mama (in order)

Graham and his awning

!Hola! !Viva Espana!

Hello from Sevilla. We have left Portugal but not the rain behind... Spending today in the city and are about to tour the Bullring.

We are pleased to be back in Spain and have found a very nice campsite near an unusual village called El Rocio. There are no roads as we know them just sand tracks. We have still to find out the full history of a place that looks like a film set for a western. Evidently it is a pilgrimage hotspot as there is a statue of the Virgin Mary said to be able to heal there.

We are thinking of you all at home suffering from the snow and hope that it will ease up for you soon. All my school colleagues I imagine however are quite enjoying the extended break?!

Well if you want to escape the snow at least you know that you are welcome to come and find us. We can't wait for our first visitors, who will it be we wonder?!!!

We’re sitting in a café on the beachfront of Armaçao de Pera with a hot coffee. We’ve been soaked getting down here but the sun is attempting to break through the clouds. The weather yesterday was perfect and we played tennis in the morning and went back to explore another small resort called Praia da Rochas (see photos). We also called into the E.Leclerc supermarket on the way home to get Graham and Krista a carrier bag with their name on it! We will have to think of a name beginning with E for our next child.
This morning has had a purpose in that we have been seeking out a doctor to give Krista her final lot of inoculations. Having day to day jobs such as this is a great way to get to know a country and how it functions on the level of life’s necessities. It also brings you into contact with ordinary people and although we are relying a lot on people speaking English, it teaches you a tiny little more of the language every day. We will need to go back to the nurse at 5pm today to find out how we go about getting the injections we need and know that it is going to cost €7 Euros per injection. A bargain, we thought we were looking at least ₤50!
We have experienced Portugal as an expensive country which has surprised us. You don’t get much for your Euro here. We do have to take into account however that the pound is weak at the moment.
All things considered we are now impatient to move on to Spain. We had been thinking that we would wait for a dry stretch so that we didn’t have to pack up a wet awning etc – we might need to wait a long. It has been a shame about the weather as we haven’t perhaps been able to appreciate Portugal fully. Our neighbours at the campsite continue to rave about how lovely it is here under normal circumstances. There is no doubt but, we recognize that it may continue to rain for a while here and everywhere. We would rather be in the rain in Spain than Portugal as we are interested in learning the language and could be doing that whatever the weather.
Later – we went back to the nurse who recommended we didn’t get Krista immunized here at all. The Portuguese schedule is completely different than the UK’s. We need to get back in touch with our doctor in England and then plan our next move. We will see how long we have got to get them, then see what the schedule is in Spain to get or maybe even Gibraltar … If you are interested we will keep you informed!
Krista is kicking me and her kick is getting stronger, she wants to play better do as I am told.

Morning Gorgeous, Happy First Christmas!!!

We just needed to share these two with you!

Dan the Giraffe

Krista is not going to follow in her Mum's footsteps and become a vegetarian. She is already very partial to Dan the Giraffe. (Number 3 in the toy top 10)