Rain and Sun

Hi again. The rain followed me all the way from Norn Ireland yesterday, although it has to be said that it was probably much warmer than what you've been getting. I walked all the way along the ocean front in the morning - beautiful sculptures at the end of every street which apparently you can see from a viewpoint on one of the hills which I haven't found yet ,will post photos in due course - and eventually came upon a Supermarket which seems to be a rare commodity in the Old Town, plenty of small convenience stores but they don't stock fruit and veg and, seeing as I'm on a cook it myself detox this week........ Got all of these for the equivalent of £10, including handy cans of Margaritas and Palomas which actually seem to have alcohol in them!

On my way down the Malecon I saw a guy feeding the sea birds and went down on to the beach to have a look. He must have been giving them yesterday's fish from somewhere and there were literally dozens of different types of Pelicans, Frigate Birds, Egrets and even what looked like Blck Headed gulls which made me think nostalgically, for a second at least, of home :)

I sat on a rock on the beach under my million mile umbrella and just watched them for ages - they were so close, it was wonderful. Well, you know me and birds! The rain got more persistent in the afternoon so I had a wander around the shops. The Town consists of little cobbled street and avenues, in a grid, with a Plaza with the beautiful Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe to the rear of it. Loads and loads of shops catering for the almost entirely North American tourists, although I did see a French family yesterday. Some very different dress shops, but, by anywhere's standards, the ones I went into were a bit pricey, but beautiful clothes. Tequila tastings everywhere: the touts don't bother me much because I'm on my own but I did have words, nearly used my worst Castellano phrase, involving travel, sex and his mother, with one guy who was trying to flog me a tour and got aggressively persistent.

Today is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Blue skies, a little breeze, big breakers on the ocean and some body boarders and paddle boarders out there. I walked right to the end of Playa Punta Negra along the edge of the sea and lay on the beach for a couple of hours watching the world go by. The photo below I took last night from a very modern pier there.

Have just had some lunch and, as it's very hot outside at the minute; although there's a lovely breeze coming in through the patio door; I'll read a little more of Kurt Vonnegut's 'Welcome to the Monkey House' - I'm loving his style of writing and wondering why I haven't read him before a friend recently recommended him - before I go back down to the beach. More later x