Well, it’s exactly a year since I had my pulmonary embolism.
What a year!
The last few weeks certainly have been so surreal as a result of the Covid-19 virus crisis. As I write this, we’ve almost completed three weeks in a state of alarm & lockdown in Spain. But the infection cases & deaths continue to rise.
Yes, we’re still in Spain. Still in Oliva too!
It was the right decision to stay, not for the reasons that prompted our decision, but because it would have been impossible to maintain our nomadic lifestyle during the current Coronavirus crisis.
We moved into our Oliva old town house during an incredibly wet Easter weekend 2019 when all the celebrations had to be postponed. A couple of weeks after moving-in, we packed-up some essentials &, following one of my regular blood tests, headed to Corbera de Llobregat near Barcelona.
We’d be staying, for just two weeks from the six that I’d booked, in an old windmill on the top of the hill with extensive views.
It was great to visit Barcelona & explore the local area.
You don’t have to venture far from the city to find true unspoiled wilderness. Although it rained the day we chose to venture into the low foothills of the Pyrenees, we agreed, that once we resumed our travels, we’d be back to stay in this area! We did manage to pick a bright, clear day for our visit to Mount Montserrat. A day’s not enough to do all the walks up there.
Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Grand Prix, with Spaniard Carlos Sainz coming in 8th to the delight of his orange-clad fans! It was a great weekend & well worth the extra cost to access the grandstand area on turn one.
The weather was mixed during our stay in Catalunya &, to be honest, we wanted to go ‘home’. We had a long-term rental & were both eager to return to Oliva, especially as despite the beautiful scenery, we’d just not warmed to Corbera. So after 10 days away, we headed back to Valencia.
Living in town was great!
Oliva has a very good weekly market & we bought a shopping trolley to cart home massive amounts of fresh fruit n veg. We went out more, heading to one of the many bars for an evening drink, felt we were ‘accepted’ by the locals on our street & started to make friends amongst the ex-pat community.
The local area is so very scenic with long sandy beaches, cliffs & coves, mountains & forests, rivers & lakes all within easy reach, so we headed out exploring every weekend. Until it became too hot, then we hunkered down during the heat of the day, eating late & enjoying cool beers into the night.
After-all, we had a full year to see the sights 🙂
If there’s one thing I’d change about Oliva, it would be the humidity. We’d survived the heat & dry winds of Malaga campo, but here we swealtered & sweated throughout the summer.