Walking to Islantilla

"Hey, fancy a short walk down to the beach and back?"
8.5 miles later, we arrived back home, 15 minutes before sundown. Twas getting a wee bit cold in just shorts and tops with arms exposed. Top temperature was 20° today. 😃
We had a look around Islantilla, which was built as a holiday town, purposefully for tourists. I read that in 2010 the population was 460, swelling to 100,000 in the summer apparently. It now has a population of 640, I don't know how many in the summer. Needless to say, it was deserted. But quite nicely built.
We managed to find a cafe with doors open and just two tables laid out facing the sun. I used my best Spanish to ask if we could have drinks (bebes), the answer was unintelligible to us, so we persevered and got coffee and orange juice, she said no to beer. As European coffees are very different to UK coffees, I have a little ritual and I order "descafinado cafe, con un poco de leche y grande taza" (which I THINK means decaffeinated coffee with a little milk and large cup). I have varying results, usually involving disappointment at the size of the cup. Often a mere thimble. As per pic from 2022 in Pamplona showing how unimpressed I was that they considered it a large cup!
Today was different, she came with two glasses and asked me which I wanted. Of course I chose the largest. When it came it was the largest coffee I've ever had in Europe, they seemed quite amused, as were we when I realised it had no handle and was so hot that I couldn't hold it without a tissue. It must have been at least half a pint! Took me forever to drink, and there's nowhere to have a pee on the 4 mile walk back!
As we sat there, we realised that the two tables were set up for the owners and they were having a lunch break, so probably what she was trying to tell us was that they were closed. We had started something because another person came along and there was discussion before they let him have a drink. Then another persistent English couple and the owners kept saying 'closed now' but eventually reluctantly got them a table and drinks too. They brought us a tiny dish of what seemed like stuffing with pork pieces, two teaspoons to eat it. Really tasty. They were friendly but wanted a quiet day I think.
Carnival video from yesterday.Read more