Is this the real Spain?

In the end we stayed at Chipiona for 5 days and on Sunday we cycled the whole length of the Via Verde (and back!) again, having found a window in the weather which had rather turned against us! The forecast was for rain and we certainly got that during the night but after about 10am the rain held off and we could enjoy our cycle ride without getting a soaking!

We did have an incident along the way though, the overnight rain had turned one short section of our trail a bit muddy, a very sticky mud which got caught up between the back tyre and the mudguard and we both ground to a halt with our back wheels refusing to turn! In the end Keith removed the back mudguard on each bike to clear the clod of mud out, we then wheeled the bikes to the next section of the path which was not at all muddy. Strangely, on our way back we were able to traverse the same section without any problem because the sun had quickly dried all the sticky mud. It was as if we had had a trick played on us - very odd!!!

Our campsite owner, Alfonso, had made a point of being friendly and helpful right from our arrival and he always made a point of calling out to us " Hello Kate" and "Hello Anhela"  we didn't have the heart to correct him...

All sorts of people stayed on this campsite, only one other English couple ( ask Keith to tell you about the Two Poodle Puppet Show when you see him (!) ) mostly Spanish families, a Belgian couple, three French motorhomes and a Swiss van occupied by a short man with a very long grey pointy beard and long grey hair wearing a wooly hat, we called him the 'Motor-gnome'.  Oh dear! We have become such terrible people watchers, you'd think we had nothing better to do!

The promenade at Rota
Here are a few observations about the real Spain that we have found on our journey:

Spain is the land of the barking dogs especially early evening, nothing you can do - just get used to it because the Spanish obviously do! It's a noisy country.

Some places expect you to put your used toilet paper in a basket or bin by the loo and not to flush it down. Not easy for us and not nice when the bins are full (a bit stinky!)

The Spanish are very family orientated, you will often see all three generations out together and they love children (I'm not sure how they feel about their dogs?)

Sunday is family day, all the shops close after lunch and the families will gather in a local restaurant, enjoying a long lunch, they always wear their best clothes on Sundays.

The Spanish are great conversationalists, they can be seen walking or sitting together having intense conversations, what about I don't know - I wish I could understand them! 

The older men all sit about under the trees in the town square, gabbling away and maybe putting the world to rights

Generally speaking, food in the supermarkets and eating out is much cheaper then the UK.

Green grocers will often throw in something for nothing with your purchase- a few oranges, a pepper or a lemon. It's a nice gesture to get something for nothing!

The Spanish people will always greet you with 'Hola' or 'Buenos Dias '

Blue skies over the lighthouse at Rota 

Their weather is much hotter and better than that in the UK - no wonder so many people chose to move out to Spain! We love the endless (mostly) days of sunshine and blue skies!

And finally (for now) it's a great country with a lot to discover - and some wonderful trails to cycle along! And maybe some of the best places are away from the well worn tourist track