8th May A Long Lunch

When we returned last night from Girona the Tremontana was in full swing. Unfortunately as the pavements are narrow on the opposite side of the road to our apartment when Ian parked Rolo we didn't realise how breezy it was. Opening the driver's door the wind whipped the door and it ended up catching the edge on the door 😬.

The wind was whistling around the apartment but at least we had all the outside furniture secured (we've learnt that not being vigilant in these matters leads to disturbed sleep when it goes walkies).

I checked the BBC news before heading to bed to read a news flash that the e-passport facilities were having technical difficulties nationwide. So I pinged Pauline and Tim a message at the airport to let them know. Unfortunately they were going to suffer because of it with a delay on take off, as planes were not being emptied at Stansted because this exacerbated the ever growing queues.

Their 23.30 flight eventually left about an hour late only for them to then sit on the plane again at Stansted, getting home by about 5am. Probably about 3 hours later than they'd originally expected.

Meanwhile this morning we surfaced for a small breakfast, knowing that we were having a large lunch later today with Friends of the Bay. With the wind still at full strength we abandoned a walk into Roses. Instead we took Rolo to get cash from an ATM that gives a good rate (Bank Sabadell seems to be the best one for us locally).

Rolo got a bit of a touch up and tyres pumped up before we headed out over to Vilamala, about 25 minutes drive away for a 1pm meal. We had a lovely sociable traditional Catalonian meal with lots of wine flowing. Tapas starters, fish for me (Dorada al horno) and a beef dish (Xurrasco) for Ian. Followed by a sweet bread that you pour sherry over for dessert (a bit like a sherry trifle without the cream and custard). Definitely a different sort of meal but when in Catalonia ....

We eventually returned by 5.30pm by which time Ian needed a nap! Could be that the wine had something to do with it 😂. I enjoyed the water and coffee as the driver today.

Despite it being breezy it's been remarkably warm. Not one to sit inside when it's pleasant to read outside, I've been making good progress on a book I started this morning.

The challenge is to uncover the murderer before the end. At the moment I think it's one of the daughters so we'll wait and see.

7.40pm and it's still sunny. Fingers crossed for the wind to calm by tomorrow.