Spain in the new restrictions!

So...as November races by, the situation here remains unchanged in terms of the restrictions and the numbers of Covid-19 cases in the Pollensa area (53 as of yesterday) but we feel quite lucky compared to the current restrictions in most of the UK so no-one here has any complaints.  Officially we have another 10 days under the current restrictions but much of Spain is extending theirs to around the 9th so it may be that we get some sort of indication as to how the Balearic government is thinking in the next week.  Personally I don't expect much to change here other than an extension of the date from the current 2nd, but we're watching what is happening in the UK with a great deal of interest.....  We don't yet have any indication about what may change here for Christmas but although we feel fine about the festivities under the current restrictions, I suspect many larger Mallorcan/Spanish families may beg to differ though.  However, we shall see.....

Yesterday we went for a walk along Pine Walk down past the Illa d'Or hotel and back.  

They're currently doing work on the Illa d'Or terrace so I'm sure it will look gorgeous for the 2021 season and this is the current state of play:

The weather was lovely although it was a little breezy and there was a modest swell which splashed up against the Pine Walk with such enthusiasm that there were quite a few very wet parts of the path!  I managed to catch one of the splashy moments:

On Friday evening we had a lovely meal at Liberty Kitchen - I had the famous fish 'n chips and Ian had the liver and bacon and chose to have chips with it.  Completely yummy and we could hardly move afterwards 😛 We're so lucky having so many wonderful places to choose from if we're going out to eat, even in the winter.

Today we cycled to Pollensa via the entrance to Hotel Llenaire (seen from the road in the first pic below) and stopped in our favourite little cafe in Pollensa for a coffee and toast with tomato and olive oil with a nice view of the Puig.  We didn't go to the market as there was nothing we needed and we didn't want to leave the bikes anywhere just in case!  So we set off through the back streets to come out at the old carpet factory and home down the main road.  We did about 15km altogether although the journey home is rather quicker as it's actually very slightly downhill from Pollensa to the Port; in a car you just never realise but on a bike you really do!  It was great to get out in the fresh air with such gorgeous scenery although there was quite a chilly breeze; mind you, any warmer and we really would have worked up a sweat.  As it was, it was perfect weather and a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning.

Our little canine prince Alfie (whose birthday is today 🎂) is on the mend although has developed an unhealthy expectation that we will carry him up every flight of stairs even if he has just come in from outside where he has been straining at the leash like a Husky in order to give a Pitbull or a German Shepherd a piece of his mind - all 9kg and 10" tall of him 😳  So he goes from a diminutive (and deluded!) canine prize-fighter to an eyelash fluttering helpless invalid within a couple of minutes.  We're beginning to think we're being taken advantage of........  As for Tally she surpassed her previous levels of diva-ness this week.  Ian keeps a couple of small rucksacks with a few tools in on top of her crate where she sleeps in her rather gorgeous velveteen princess-y bed.  And it came to pass that some WD40 dripped onto said princess-y bed and made the mattress part absolutely stink when you got close although we didn't at first notice.  It was only when she went to enter our bedroom as usual for her bedtime biscuit and suddenly turned and went back downstairs that we wondered what was going on.  And what was going on was that she'd remembered that, as retribution for what had happened to her bed, she had previously sneaked upstairs and wee'd on our bottom sheet - re-tally-ation if you will 😂  So despite the fact that she ended up sleeping on a spare cushion in her bed that night, we ended up having to change our bottom sheet and mattress protector (mercifully the duvet was folded back) late at night so it's game, set and match to the four-leggeds I think! 

The Port is still quite quiet although on Saturday evening the square was pretty busy with people coming and going so that is at least a reminder of 'normal' times.  Mask wearing is obligatory and has been for ages but yesterday, for the first time, I took the dogs for their evening toilet walk with Ian and got right down to the grass by the 1919 roundabout before realising, to my horror, that I had forgotten my mask.  Ian had his on so how we both missed the fact that I hadn't got mine is beyond us - let's call it a 'senior moment' shall we 😳?  Given that the fines out here for not wearing a mask are pretty hefty, I was appalled and had to walk home like a tortoise with my coat done right up to my chin and me trying to shrink down so that it covered at least my mouth, it certainly got my heart rate up!!  Luckily I managed to slink home in disgrace without being spotted to my great relief 😓

I'm still teaching and all is going very well in terms of the safety precautions we have in place at the school.  And a bonus - this year (and I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying this!) for the first year in living memory I haven't had a cold AT ALL.  Normally by now I'm on at least my second (and out here they seem to go on for EVER, not sure why) courtesy of the younger students.  But because we're all wearing masks and cleaning everything and using industrial quantities of hand sanitiser it just goes to show how in normal circumstances bugs and viruses are spread which aren't even as contagious as Covid-19.  Do you think anyone would notice if I did it again next winter whilst teaching....😂

Stay safe and hasta el próximo domingo!