Spain in lockdown - Day 24

I woke up today full of feverishly excited anticipation because.......*drum roll*.......I was going to be doing a trip to Lidl 😂 I was quite literally nervous about leaving the Port.  It only occurred to me last night that I haven't been further than about 150m from my home for over three weeks.  To mark the occasion I wore clean jeans, I mean you never know who might see me!  First task was to walk to the car (we don't have specific parking) and then actually drive, again something I haven't done for over three weeks.  The novelty of driving just those 5 km or so to Lidl was a treat all of its own.

Once at Lidl there was one person in front of me in the queue to get in and within a few minutes and after using hand gel and putting on the ubiquitous plastic gloves, off I went.  And pushing an actual trolley!  In actual Lidl!  In actual Pollensa!  It doesn't get more exciting out here right now I can tell you......  And of course Lidl was so civilised as only a certain number of people are allowed in at any one time.  Most things were readily available and I even bought a couple of cheeky cheese straws (Lidl cheese straws are next level yummy).  Now, I'd arrived at Lidl at about 10.15 and I'm not sure how long I was in there as there was the usual wait at the till and everyone had shopped for a week, but by the time I emerged blinking into the sunshine the queue snaked around the car park from the entrance and back towards the road between Lidl and Pollensa (big) Eroski 😱  Obviously everyone was at a 2m distance from each other but wow, some people must have waited for about an hour to get in I would've thought.  Thank goodness I was so excited I'd left early!

On the way home from Lidl the police had set a up a roadblock just by the petrol station and were checking cars going out and coming in to the Port.  They often check vehicles just there so no major surprise; I just said where I'd been and waved my receipt and there were no problems.  Anyway, we now have a full fridge and pantry plus a cheeky box of my favourite wine - cheers! 🍷

Today I did lots more of my jigsaw puzzle and am actually quite enjoying it - nothing beats that feeling of accomplishment when you've gone cross-eyed scanning hundreds of little pieces and found the one you want and click that bad boy little bit of cardboard into place.

In other news, today we had another birthday!  It was the couple on the third floor opposite again - this time it was Gregorio's 77th birthday so Antonia (who turned 80 a week ago as mentioned in this blog) obviously has herself a toyboy 😜  During the 8pm applause this part of the street sang Feliz Cumpleaños and there were lots of shouts and whistles, aided and abetted by the neighbours on the first floor opposite aka the party animals.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that Antonia is still rocking it in her pink outfit but that Gregorio isn't brandishing his giant G&T glass.  But they have some rather sweet festive balloons up.  Bless them, two birthdays and both during lockdown.  There really is now no excuse not to have a street party to celebrate once all this is over although as it's the main road down into the port we may get in the way of traffic a little bit 😂

Other activities today include reading and setting my English students more work to do at home via my online classrooms.  And Ian kept himself busy by starting to put together our roof terrace furniture which had been taken apart and stored away over the winter.  Mind you, he sat on one of our Lafuma recliner chairs and fell right through as the mesh seat has come off somewhat the worse for wear after several years in the sunshine and had rotted at the sides.  He says.  The other Lafuma however is still taking my weight with no such issue.  Just saying.....

Stay safe everyone, hasta pronto!

Spain in lockdown - Day 23

We awoke to glorious sunshine today so really think the nice weather is starting to settle in which definitely lifts the spirits.  I believe the weather is also lovely in the UK although that of course brings it's own issues in that a minority are then tempted to go out in groups and have picnics in parks and on beaches! 😡  The stupidity of this just beggars belief and I find myself wondering why some people are completely unable to do as they're told.  Such people bleat on about the UK not being a police state and that their mental health will suffer if they can't do pretty much what they want.  Well sunshine, you may end up with no health at all, mental or otherwise, if you carry on.  And since when was it ever likely that the UK would be a police state??!  We probably have the most civilised police in the world!   Sadly, such behaviour is probably going to lead to increasing restrictions to the current ones and additionally to restrictions lasting for longer than they might have.  It's always the few.....😡 **!*****!

Today started with an online gym class (weights, toning and core work since you ask!) and then a brisk jog of 3km on the running machine.  Ian used it after me and we are so glad we bought it as a joint present for ourselves at Christmas as it has been fantastically useful during lockdown so far.  I then did the mind-numbing task of putting all the bits of jigsaw puzzle out, grouping them in colours where possible to make finding them easier.  It took absolutely flipping ages but I finally got there.  I heard from a friend today that they've been tackling a 1,500 piece jigsaw which is super hardcore.  Later this afternoon I started actually doing the puzzle and have made reasonable progress but at the present rate I will finish it sometime in the autumn.....

Other activities today were reading up on the roof terrace in the gorgeous sunshine, colouring and doing some Spanish - majoring on the grammar which the teacher in me is irresistibly drawn to 😳  I'm a glutton for punishment.  Ian meanwhile completed the last of a three day clearcut and tidy-up of our walk in pantry.  Who knew we had 13 bottles of champagne and cava?!  We will certainly be opening 1 or 5 once this lockdown finishes....hic!  And as well as about 15 bottles of wine and lots of bottles of spirits which we never seem to use we also found lots of random small bottles of beer and fruity fizz which have gone down a treat with dinner this evening.  We felt a bit like this:

Ominously I've also had my attention taken by these videos of families doing the tik tok dance challenge.  I described it to Ian and even gave him a little demonstration but somehow I'm sensing he's not really 'feeling' it.  But give him a week or so and maybe he'll come around like he did about the idea of me cutting his hair.  Maybe......

Speaking of which and with my hairdressing confidence high, I decided today to tackle the dogs' ears.  Ian suggested quite strongly that this might not be the best idea as he likes their ears on the long side and was worried I'd get over-enthusiastic.  But I was very careful and they look fine so my hairdressing credentials are not only intact but increasing.  Just wish I could tackle my own hair but hey...it's something to look forward to once this is over.

And finally....during dog toilet walks or shopping trips during the last three weeks, on the whole people have kept their eyes down and moved from A to B with little if any eye contact.  But this week people are starting to smile and say hola more.  Maybe it's the sun. Maybe it's spring.  Or maybe it's because people are beginning to see the flicker of a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.  Keep smiling 😁 hasta mañana!

Spain in lockdown - Day 22

Our fourth Sunday in lockdown - who'd have thunk it! 😜  The days are rolling around like like waves on a beach.  But we are inexorably creeping closer to the possible end of our lockdown.  Looking at it another way - and assuming that the lockdown extension here in Spain is indeed ratified this week by the government to midnight on Saturday 25 April - there are only two more Sundays to go in lockdown 🎉🍻 Mind you, I'm not naive enough to think that suddenly everything will be back to normal on 26 April.  But even a lessening of the restrictions will be a big step in the right direction and cause for great celebration. In the meantime I'm still focused on taking each day as it comes.  It's better to think in the here and now, live in the moment as it were, to avoid stressing about something that we can do nothing about - what will be, will be.

So what did we get up to today?  Well one thing we did do but more carefully than yesterday was to spend time in the sunshine on our roof terrace.  I say more carefully because we both caught the sun yesterday and are a little.....pink 😳  Today was sunny but there was a cooler breeze; however it definitely feels like the good weather is starting to make it's appearance and it certainly gladdens the spirits.  I noticed two people walking round and round their roof terraces, and over the way three young adults conducted a gym class complete with skipping, stretching and all manner of exercises.  Meanwhile two families had barbecues, one family played a card game and another neighbour painted his child's wooden playhouse a rather fetching shade of lilac.  It's so nice to see these simple and rather poignant cameos of people's lives 😍 despite the difficult times we find ourselves in.  And a happy reminder of the humanity around us. 

Today was also the grand opening of Sarah's beauty salon!  I normally do my own manicures anyway but today was pedicure time followed by.....drum roll.......cutting Ian's hair.  About a week ago he refused to contemplate such a thing but he has very curly hair and was beginning to bear a more than reasonable resemblance to Mungo Jerry so finally capitulated.

Our dog grooming clippers are really good ones and we have loads of different cut levels; so there he sat with a towel round his shoulders in the kitchen giving me a torrent of instructions despite me reassuring him that I really didn't want him to end up looking ridiculous either.  And d'you know what?  It really looks rather good and here's the proof!  

Yesterday you may recall I started a jigsaw puzzle.  But I don't remember the edge pieces being so impossibly difficult to identify when I last did one (many years ago) 😂  After the original sift, I am now halfway through the second of two further sifts trying to locate the final two edge pieces and beginning to think that Spanish grammar is more fun than going through all these little bits of cardboard.  However I'm nothing if not stubborn and I'll find them eventually, even if it's just during the process of doing the rest of the puzzle.  [Update: annoyingly, Ian found the very last one....oh well, let's call it my reward for the haircut]

We've both been doing lots of reading and I'm currently on a re-read of a Bill Bryson; the third of four books about an Englishman's life in Spain; and Agatha Christie's autobiography.  The last two are on my e-reader, the Bill Bryson is one of my much loved collection of his actual books, I find him laugh out loud funny and thought this is a good time to revisit some of them.  I'm also spoiling myself and buying a UK Sunday paper at present, normally I have no time to read one but as I seem to have more time on my hands currently(!) I've added that into the mix and eke out the articles such as book and film reviews, interviews etc over the following week.

Up bright and early tomorrow for my gym class at 10am with an action packed day of Spanish, reading and jigsaws planned.  Watch this space!  Stay safe and hasta pronto 😘

Spain in lockdown - Day 21

Today the sun finally put in an appearance which has definitely lifted our spirits, and I suspect the spirits of many people.  It was wonderful and we spent most of the day on our roof terrace eating, relaxing and reading whilst listening to music.  All around us people were out on their roof terraces, exercising, lying in the sun, barbecuing, playing games.  No fire twirling sadly (see yesterday) but it was good to see so many people all at once as it's a sight we've become unaccustomed to over the past 21 days.  

Whilst lying in the sun I thought about how much we take time with friends and relatives for granted until the freedom to spend time with loved ones is taken away from us.  We should treasure more than we do the ability to laugh and share with those close to us, to hug and kiss, to have fun with friends and family.  The Spanish are a much more tactile nation that the British and I wonder when they will feel it safe to greet each other again with the usual two kisses once all this is over.  I mean a British handshake is one thing (although nowadays even this seems unthinkable) but a Spanish greeting is next level.  I really hope we don't all view each other with suspicion after all this is over.  I'm already wondering how we will revert to being close to other people and in large crowds.  Also I wonder how to greet friends when I finally see them again; will there be a new social etiquette for a while?  Once the lockdown finishes we will all obviously be non-contagious but psychologically it may take some time to get used to normal social interaction without the wariness we are all currently displaying.

Yesterday was a hugely exciting moment - the Amazon delivery guy had a parcel for us.  And not just any parcel but a parcel of jigsaw puzzles.  Two 1000 piece puzzles to be precise.  They were ordered just as we were about to start the lockdown and I assumed they'd not arrive until the lockdown was more or less over.  But suddenly there was an email that they were on their way.  As you can imagine, it was difficult to make sure that someone was in to accept the delivery 😂  The delivery was made by us buzzing to release the downstairs door once he'd rung our bell.  I then went down the stairs.  The delivery man placed the box a few steps up and then backed away to the door and I picked it up and thanked him.  Such strange times as probably both of us are perfectly healthy.......Anyway, despite the excitement and once back in our apartment we then had the problem of how to open the box safely.  The delivery man wore a mask and gloves but I heard somewhere that Covid-19 can last for 24 hours on cardboard and who handled the box before he did?  You see what I mean about wariness?  Wipes and hand washing dealt with it and the box was swiftly taken to the recycling bin. Once open I was thrilled with the puzzles.  Thrilled that is until I actually started to do one of them.  I made sure I bought puzzles with plenty of detail so I didn't have to sort out loads of pieces of sky or grass or something but grossly underestimated the sheer logistics of a 1000 piece puzzle when you last did one at least 10 years ago!  I'm making reasonable progress on the outside pieces but suspect I've missed a few and will have to sift through all the ****** pieces again to find them to complete the outside. 

Suffice it to say that we'd need to be in lockdown until about Christmas for me to finish both puzzles - wish me luck!

And as I've mentioned the length of the lockdown, today the Spanish Prime Minister announced that the lockdown would be extended until 26 April.  This will be confirmed by the Spanish parliament next Tuesday or Wednesday but it's a done deal.  This is, in a way, quite frustrating as the Balearics are one of the Spanish areas where the number of cases of coronavirus has started to head in the right direction and you can't help but wonder if, because we're an island(s) the lockdown could be lifted here before the end of April in some form or another.  But it's best not to think about it and just assume we're here until 26 April until informed otherwise, to avoid disappointment.

Today also was a day of face-to-face conversations with people other than Ian.  Having not properly spoken to anyone other than Ian (apart from video calls) for the last 21 days, today I spoke to not one, but two other people 😄 The first was one of my adult students during the lunchtime dog toilet walk.  We had a quick chat at a suitable social distance and that was great!  Then this afternoon I discovered that someone who used to go to my Spanish lessons and who goes to Pilates at my gym has recently moved into the block next to us and was up on the roof so we had a lovely long chat.  It was only afterwards that I realised how long it had been since I had done that so, as I mentioned at the beginning of today's blog, it was all the more valued and enjoyable.

Stay safe, keep smiling - hasta mañana 😎

Spain in lockdown - Day 20

Well here we are - Day 20 and still smiling 😁 Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?!!  In any event, I hope everyone is managing to find lots of things to fill the time.  Looking at social media and the TV it seems that this lockdown has brought out the creative side of people to an impressive extent.  There are all sorts of challenges going on and most of us will have seen the online orchestra and online choir, all joining in individually - it really is quite moving.  There are videos of dancing families, singing families, online quizzes, online gym classes....the list is endless.  There's even family in Stockport who put a couple of life sized teddies in their front garden doing a different task each day to entertain both themselves and other people.  I'm sure you're all enjoying many of these fun ideas as much as I am.  I hope we don't lose that creativity once this is all over as it's been one of the silver linings in this rather black cloud.

My domestic goddess credentials are at an all time high right now and I've established the fact that I can actually cook rather tasty meals.  And yesterday I dusted and hoovered the entire apartment.  My Spanish (especially grammar) is getting a good amount of study and I'm nearly onto the next book level 😇  By the end of this lockdown I will have morphed into a Spanish speaking professional housekeeper, and a fit one at that!  I did another online gym class today followed by another run on our running machine.  My self-improvement efforts are off the scale right now but for how many more days can I keep it up I wonder?  We shall see......

This morning the weather was rubbish again but suddenly, late lunchtime, the skies cleared and the sun came out which was fabulous.  We scuttled straight up to the roof terrace and read and siesta'd in the sun - heavenly!  The forecast looks much more promising from this weekend onwards so we're hoping that's the case and that we can spend a lot more time out in the fresh air 'up top'.  

Taking the dogs out this evening was enhanced by the blue skies and evening sunshine; the port is still so very beautiful.  I took some photos from near Stay Restaurant to lift all our spirits:

That reminds me, every day I walk the dogs down a side street to the grass and pass a garage from which there is nearly always good music playing.  Clearly they have some sort of club/disco going rather than just playing music in their apartment and I'd love to know more.  Are they dancers?  I'm so nosey!  The other evening during the 8pm applause we watched fascinated as on a roof terrace we've never noticed before, bizarrely a man was playing the flute whilst a young woman did some pretty efficient fire twirling/spinning 🔥  I looked this up to see if it has an official name and indeed it does.  Poi describes both a performing art and the equipment used for it and involves swinging tethered weights (which can be lit ones) through a variety of patterns.  Anyway, happening on a roof terrace in the Port - how random is that?!  And we thought we were pushing the boundaries with our jump rope efforts 😂

Tonight, our resident street DJ was at it again tonight and has my kind of humour.  This evening's choice of song was "The Lazy Song" Bruno Mars with lyrics so very apt for our current situation.  Take a listen for a reminder (the link is for the version showing the lyrics) - all together now "Today I don't feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed....." 🎶

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2o9Yd0uydM 

Meanwhile, it looks as if the Spanish government might extend the lockdown but we won't find out more until next week.  I'd be very surprised if they didn't but que sera, sera.  Whatever it takes, we can do it 💪  Hasta pronto! 

Spain in lockdown - Day 19

Today I thought I'd make some general observations at life here under lockdown as we trot our way merrily towards Day 20: 

• At Eroski you have to put on plastic gloves to do your shopping.  No worries (apart from the effects on the environment but I guess right now we all have more immediate concerns) and everyone whips those bad boys on and heads off, heady with excitement, on a shopping outing.  First stop, fruit and veg.  I mentioned the other day that buying fruit and veg at Eroski often involves bagging your choice, weighing it and then sticking the label that comes out of the scales onto the bag of whatever.  Two things are now difficult.  Trying to separate and get open a plastic bag whilst wearing plastic gloves is like tackling a task from The Crystal Maze.  And once you've finally got the bag open, items weighed etc, it really is the devil's own work to take the sticky (very sticky!) label from the scales and put it onto the plastic bag with baggy plastic gloves on.  Anyone else, or is it just me? 😂

• When walking the dogs, if I see a police car cruising the streets, why is it I immediately feel guilty; you know, that guilt we all feel when walking through the green 'nothing to declare' zone at the airport even though we know we have absolutely nothing illicit in our bags.  I start looking furtive, increased heart rate, you name it.  Why is this, when I am close to home and walking my dogs quite within the rules? 😳

• Nowadays an exciting outing is going supermarket shopping.  Yep, a browse round the food aisles is as good as it gets right now.  Who knew that we would all look forward to food shopping so much.   The conversation goes something like "I'll go to Eroski for X, X and X shall I?" "No, it's ok, don't bother, I'll do it" "No really, I'm fine, I've already got my shoes on" "Honestly, I'm fine to go and it'll be heavy to carry back".......and so on.  You get the idea. 😜

• More on shopping.  Well actually, waiting on your 2m line at the checkout.  And whilst waiting you suddenly have an overwhelming urge to do a little cough, nothing dramatic, just a general throat clearance really but you know you absolutely CAN'T for fear of what everyone's reaction will be.  Yep, me too.... 😨

• A neighbour off to our left whom we can't actually see, is the self-appointed street DJ and often plays a selection of good crowd tunes at 8pm.  It's very frustrating not knowing who he/she is.  However our neighbours opposite on the first floor are very definitely the party animals, often leading the dancing.  They seem to have an endless supply of costumes, party hats, balloons and crowd pleasing shout outs.  When this is all over, my vote goes to them to organise a street party, they'd ace it! 🎉🎈

• Why do some people stop right in the middle of the pavement to speak to someone on a balcony or answer a phone?  This leaves a difficult dilemma right now.  Do you walk past them as normal but within 1m distance 😱 or do you walk into the road or maybe even cross the road?  Then you have to get the timing right so you don't scare someone half to death if your avoiding action takes you too close to them.  It's a nightmare.  Granted there's not much traffic at the moment but nevertheless it is a bit of a poser....... 😒

• The enforced stay at home is Christmas/birthday/Easter all rolled into one for our dogs and probably many others too.  They are mega happy bunnies having us here 24/7 and I suspect they will be very disappointed when one day the lockdown ends.  This afternoon we've had a lot of rain and thunder, but this morning for a short while it was warm and quite sunny so we sat on the roof terrace and our two shadows were naturally with us.  Yesterday I mentioned the need for patience during these times and I think this photo I took of our dogs sums up how we should all perhaps try and approach this strange time - just chillax 🐶

Stay safe everyone, hasta mañana 😘

Spain in lockdown - Day 18

Happy April Fools Day!  I wondered today if any April Fools pranks would be played in the press or whether they would give it a miss in this rather difficult year.  It seems that the vast majority have decided it would not be appropriate and I think that's a good decision.  But I thought it would be fun to look at a few classic April Fools pranks from yesteryear:

• in 1998 Burger King took out a full page ad in USA Today announcing a solution for the 1.4 million left-handed customers who visited their restaurants every day: the left-handed Whopper.  The announced that the condiments would be rotated 180 degrees to suit the left-handers.  Apparently there were long queues of not only excited left-handers, but right-handed people who were anxious to make sure they got the correct burger.  The fact that a burger is....well....round didn't seem to occur to them 😂
• in 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore made an early morning announcement on Radio 2 that at 9:47am precisely, Pluto would pass behind Jupiter and that this would briefly lessen the Earth's gravity.  So viewers were told that if, at 9.47am they jumped into the air, they would be able to float for a very short period of time.  Many listeners fell for this and rang in to say they had indeed felt this floating sensation.  The power of suggestion is indeed mighty!
• in 1957 was probably the most famous of the classic April Fools pranks.  On BBC's Panorama, presenter Richard Dimbleby announced that due to a mild winter and elimination of the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper crop of spaghetti.  Viewers watched footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and huge numbers of people believed this, ringing in to find out how they could grow their own tree.  The BBC's response was that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best". Brilliant! 😂

Aside from this, today is also Day 18 of lockdown in Spain.  I know of one or two people who are starting to struggle with positivity right now and that's understandable as 18 days is a long time to go without any face to face social interaction whatsoever.  It's hard to know what to say but something I saw on UK TV today resonated.  Simon Weston, veteran of the Falklands War, spoke about patience being an invaluable quality right now.  The patience to accept that this is the situation, the patience to see this thing through, the patience to accept that things will take some considerable time to return to normal.  Perhaps nowadays we've become too used to instant gratification and need to seek out patience again.  Just a thought.

This morning was my online gym class and afterwards I put the running machine to good use again and went for a 3km brisk walk/jog.  I think I'm doing more exercise than I even was before the lockdown!  People around us seem to have turned a lot of roof terraces into gyms and also playgrounds for children.  A couple of days ago I watched fascinated as a woman walked round and round and round a very modest sized roof terrace, chatting on her phone all the while.  But all these roof terraces are not being used due to the current weather we've been having in Mallorca lately, it really has been rubbish.  Chilly, grey, breezy, wet and miserable about sums it up and really isn't helping people's frame of mind.  Not only does it coop people up indoors, there's nothing to gladden the eye when you look or venture out so it's little wonder that people are less buoyant.  But if you live in Mallorca, be patient because at the weekend and into next week things start to perk up and we could soon all be making great use of our outside spaces - yay! 🌞🎉

Having nothing better to do this afternoon, I decided to renew my domestic goddess credentials by dusting our apartment, and then hoovering it for good measure.  So I'm back in the game and continuing to confuse my husband who is still wondering where his wife is and what has happened to her.......

This evening during the last dog walk a watery (lol) but warm spot of sunshine came out and everything around me was sparkling and clean.  It reminded me of what a lovely place we're lucky enough to live in.  And that this will be over.  If we're patient.

Hasta luego!