It's been a strange and rather unsociable week as we are unable to meet any friends either in our home or outside. Mind you, there's nowhere to meet anyway as all the cafes, bars and restaurants are shut (apart from take away) and have been since Wednesday - it was eventually delayed for 24 hours from the Tuesday. Even more frustrating is that finally the sun has got his hat on (albeit often accompanied by a fairly chilly breeze) and it would now be lovely to sit on a terrace with a coffee, a wine or a lovely menu del dia - but I guess that's you know who's law 😫 However that's nothing to the frustration I think the bar and restaurant owners must feel! Apart from the fact that we can walk wherever and also go into local shops unlike the first lockdown, the streets are definitely looking pretty empty and not dissimilar to back last spring. Here is Cafe 1919:
And the road round the corner that goes to the square with Bar Tecun, Arux, Nostalgia and Centric:
In terms of what establishments remain open for take away beverages and food the ones I'm currently aware of are: Luna de Miel, Himalaya, Pascalino, La Vall, Liberty Kitchen, Can Josep, Bodeguita, Nawab Istanbull, Toni's, Dolc Sa Pobla and Bella Roma. Celler La Parra was open but they've had some work done on their front terrace (plumbing? heating? - not sure but long trenches were dug in the concrete) this past week. I suspect they'll open again for take away shortly but will soon find out as the work appears to have been finished now. On Friday evening - and purely in the interests of take away research you understand 😜 - we had a wonderful take away curry from Himalaya complete with onion bhajis, popadums and naan bread - delicious! Anyway, overall we can hardly complain with such a great selection of places to choose from now can we?!
Gyms and sports facilities are also closed here now unless for federated sports, so Simply Pilates Studio where I do my gym classes has returned to online classes which are not quite the same but I'm still more than grateful that I can keep the fitness levels up. The first one online last week really reminded me of last year's full scale lockdown which wasn't necessarily the best of recollections but it is what it is and we must make the best of it 💪
Yesterday and Friday we should have been celebrating San Antoni with the wonderful fires and barbecues on the Friday evening and the climbing of the pine yesterday. But of course this year none of this could take place which has been sad and frustrating in equal measure. But the focus is on making it a really good one next year so hang on to your hats for that! 🥳
In local Covid news, we apparently have 75 active cases according to the PAC in Pollensa. Slightly further afield, Son Espases Hospital has announced 16 cases in Mallorca of the Covid-19 variant currently affecting the UK so badly 😢 Speaking of which, up until very recently we personally knew of next to no friends or family with coronavirus in the UK; now sadly they seem to be going down like skittles although mercifully the vast majority have not needed hospitalisation. It really emphasises how contagious the new variant is and the importance of vaccinations in order to allow us to return to a normal life. It seems to us that the scheme for vaccinations is moving along at a reasonable pace in the UK; unfortunately it's a lot slower here, partly due to a shortage of planes with the necessary freezer facilities to transport the Pfizer vaccine and partly to delays in delivery caused by Storm Filomena which brought record low temperatures and all that snow to a huge part of Spain including Madrid. This meant that planes were grounded so it seems the vaccination rollout here has been set back by some days. Hoteliers and others in the hospitality sector are obviously very anxious, not only by the recent closures but also by the need to get the vaccinations quickly if there is to be any kind of a 2021 season here. On the bright side, the Spanish NHS is really wonderful and I'm pinning my hopes on the fact that once they get into their stride, it'll be all systems go 🤞
Today we had such lovely weather despite a stiff breeze, that we took the dogs for our favourite walk in the woods at Cala san Vicente. It was, as ever, glorious although the normally bone dry torrent had a decent amount of crystal clear water from the mountains in it today which given the amount of rain we've had recently is hardly surprising!
But as you can see, the views were spectacular and we felt very lucky indeed 😍
So.....the days roll around and we're a third of the way into the new restrictions. We've started watching The Crown for our sins - yes I know, late to the party and all that 😂 - but we decided we needed something to entertain us and my goodness it really is! We've nearly finished Series 2 so with another 21 hours to go, but hey....that'll keep us out of mischief......
Stay safe and hasta el próximo domingo!
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