Not so scorcio

Get your dogs washed here. 

 Whilst England was in the midst of a mini spring heatwave, the whole of Spain, not just the plain, was under a cloud.  It had been raining for over a week before I got there and sadly rained most of the time I was there.  Luckily I had gone out to see a friend and luckily despite the rain it was a pleasure to walk Spanish streets,  pop into Spanish museums,  eat some very yummy food and even dip my toes in the sea.  Murcia cannot claim to be as beautiful or as imposing as Valencia or Barcelona, but it grew on me.  When I first arrived it seemed dead, or was that me, having walked for an hour getting lost from the bus station,  or the Sunday afternoon vibe, where only one local restaurant seemed to be open, but replenished and having discovered the centre of town, I grew to like the trips across the river, to see the grey turn brown under the deluge, to see the splash of umbrellas,  but also a determination to sit out and enjoy the time whatever.  Murcia luckily also has some interesting museums and they are free, especially if you are a senior.  Most challenging definitely the bullfighting museum,  most fun, the little science museum.  

Port at twilight. 

Torrevieja is a pleasing if odd mixture, a bit like a British seaside town of down at heel and yet somehow benefitting from the pleasure principle.  Even when the sun is weak, it seems like a luxury to sit and have a £2.50 desayuno of tomatoes on toast Spanish style.  And whilst my hotel was cheap and somewhat noisy, the restaurant was wonderful.  Also every day people walk and walk by the coast and just soak up being by the sea.      I also popped back into Alicante which was bustling on the only sunny day.  I actually made it up to the castle there, and back in Torrevieja, on the last day,  got out to the Blue Lake to spot the few distant flamingos flying by.    But the highlight must be the visit to the launderette - somewhere nice and warm on a very cold and wet day,  that serves chocolate and even has a doggy washing machine, is a definite winner to me.  

Alicante from the castle 

Shattered to be back, but lots of demands on one's time to distract one e.g. volunteer teaching for refugees and of course, coming up soon, the local elections. 

Bullfighting museum, Murcia

Segura river

Scary times.

 Things seems scarier than ever.  People are talking about world war three and China coming in on the side of Putin.  It feels very dark and dangerous.    The worse moment for me so far was when the nuclear reactor was hit.  And it does not help that Starmer and Johnson, so Labour and Conservatives, are now saying we should build more nuclear power stations in the UK so not to need Russian fuel anymore!

However, huge numbers of people have volunteered to take in a refugee, quite something in a country, which has been so hostile to refugees.   The inconsistency is annoying but hopefully something will shift permanently because of this.  My company has offered free lessons.   I just keep wishing I could wake up and all would be fine.   If it feels horrid here how must it feel to be Ukrainian and have ones life blasted away.     I thank goodness for music and books and the garden and art in these difficult times. 

In art we are making a picture to celebrate the Queen's Platinum, more for the pleasure of doing something together than because anyone is a great royalist, but when our finished results are shown that is the impression they will give.