You live and you learn !

After our totally chilled out Sunday we decided to make a much earlier start and cylce to San Javier for an appointment with our spanish solicitors. We needed to sort out payment of our municipal charges.
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San Javier is about 7km away, reached in the blink of an eye in a car ! A bit harder work on a bike in 35 degrees of hot sun but we got there using the cycle tracks where they were available and weaving in and out of the traffic where not. Don't like the roundabouts at all but otherwise it's ok.

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We were soon sorted at the solicitors who occupy a brand new building, the exact opposite of our solicitors in Budleigh who are in a converted property which seems to be all stairs and corridors. This new build is all glass and metal. The glass walls are quite confusing; you have to concentrate not to walk into them. And the metal seats are so cold ................ very welcome after a long bike ride ! The clients' files are housed in another ultra modern metal construction which whizz open using handles ressembling steering wheels.
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As we were fairly close to Dos Mares, a large shopping mall, we cycled on another km to look round. Waste of effort really as they didn't have what I was looking for. So we set off on our return trip stopping off at the Hispania Centre for coffee at our favourite pasteleria (cake shop). Oh no !!!!!!!!!!!!! It has closed. The beautiful cakes in its display cabinet are no more. Thank goodness Sylvia and I ate as many as we did while we could !! So we settled for a coffee at another cafe.
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At this point we decided to buy some prawns for lunch. There were only 2 people in the queue at the fish stall when I joined it. Well, what I don't know now about preparing fish isn't worth knowing ................. I had to wait a good 10-15 minutes to be served as the 2 women in front of me bought so much fish, all of which they both wanted cleaning, descaling, heads and tails off, filleting and cutting into smaller pieces. Fascinating to watch. The girls who serve are so brilliant at doing all this. They use the most lethal looking double sided knife with a long point which they use for flipping out the bones. My little order of a half kilo of prawns seemed very meagre !
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It wasn't until I had prepared the salad that I realised that although they were deep pink in colour, the prawns were in fact still raw. You live and you learn!! I always thought if they were pink then they were cooked. So having arrived back at the apartment at just gone 2pm, it took until nearly 3.45pm for my knees to recover, for me to devour a bottle of water, have a shower, cook the prawns and to serve the lunch.

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Siesta for Ian was followed by us walking to the beach for a swim in the Mar Menor. Wow; wow; wow. I have never known the water to be sooooooooo warm. Absolutely gorgeous. Just like a bath about 10 minutes before you think you should get out. Thoroughly enjoyed by both of us and sitting on the beach afterwards watching the world go by was very relaxing.

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We ended the evening with a sweet and sour prawns meal on the balcony. What a lovely day; 18km cycling; 4km walking; and half and hour in the sea.

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And just for the record, eventhough we have been sleeping with windows open to drive a breeze through the apartment, this is the first day that I have seen the dreaded mozzie bites on me (all three are now about the size of a 10p piece ............. Ian, of course, doesn't have any!!).