Temperatures rise!

Today dawned beautiful and sunny - the heatwave had begun! We (as well as most of England) had an amber warning for heat today, with temperatures expected to get up to about 31c, and it has been hot and dry with plenty of sunshine.

We spent the day happily pottering about and trying to keep cool. I moved the computer into the kitchen as our conservatory can be ferociously hot even on a typical sunny, summer's day! I positioned it on the worktop by the window, where it should be shaded and it took up less space than I'd imagined. If these heatwaves continue, as the experts say they will, then we will have to think of a permanent solution!

One of the things we wanted to do today was to try and see if we could book a holiday for September. Sophie and I looked at Airbnb houses in Pollenca and found one that was beautiful, tucked away down a side street in the old town with its own small pool. Next up were flights, and this is where I had a problem as I was worried that, by booking our accommodation separately, we wouldn't be covered if things went wrong.

I needn't have worried as the flights were mostly unsuitable and expensive, and in some cases, we would have had to stay over in Palma when we arrived as they were landing at about midnight! I certainly didn't want to drive up to Pollenca so late! We trawled through different websites and a fair few came out with Ryanair as the carrier (ugh!) on the way out, and EasyJet on the way back. We also looked at Jet2 from East Midlands airport but the price of taking two cases with us was ridiculous!

With car hire expensive as well - about £600-£700 for a decent car we could all fit into with our luggage - we were getting nowhere fast! This started off a spate of bickering, not helped much by the heat! I resorted back to my original plan of driving down to Spain, so we looked at Airbnbs on the Costa Brava, and I found a lovely five-bedroom villa in L'Escala, near Girona. It had fantastic reviews, had its own pool and was close to shops, bars and restaurants. I showed Sophie who looked less than impressed, but both Keith and I liked the look of the house.

We still had a £98 voucher with P&O after our aborted trip to France back in 2020, so we looked at ferry crossings. However, we couldn't use the voucher if we booked a return trip coming back on the 8th of October, as it expired on the 30th of September, so we had to do two single journeys. Hmmm! It was very fiddly, but in the end, we booked the ferries and the Airbnb... we're all set to go on holiday! I also provisionally booked a hotel in Auxerre for the night, to break the journey through France as I didn't want to drive the whole 950 miles in one go!

Unfortunately, Sophie wasn't very happy that we'd booked so quickly without doing any research on the town of L'Escala, so she made her feelings clear! We went upstairs and applied a face pack while watching a film and trying to stay cool, and carried on arguing... not really what I had in mind for a hot Sunday afternoon!

However, when she came back downstairs later, and when we were playing Scrabble and enjoying a glass of wine, she changed her mind as there were some lovely restaurants and cocktail bars in the town! I had also found two videos on YouTube earlier, and the place looked lovely! Plus, it will be great to try somewhere new for a change!

Our evening was rounded off with an easy supper of cold meats and salad, and then it was time to try and relax in the heat. I wasn't looking forward to bedtime!