Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

A disturbed night!

We all had a disturbed night's sleep and I was awake and talking to Sophie at 1am because she'd been worried about noises coming from the boiler. She hadn't yet been asleep! At 3am, we then had one of the most dramatic thunderstorms I've ever witnessed, with constant thunder and lightning and torrential rain. I watched from the living room patio doors (I didn't dare venture outside!) and the whole sky was constantly lit up by the sheet lightning. It was brilliant!

So, we all felt a bit bleary this morning, and it was good we hadn't anything planned. I tried to clear up after the storm because all of the outside cushions were soaking wet. Sophie cleaned the pool and a bit later, she saw that several lizards were inside the pool net feasting on the insects inside! We noticed a whole colony of them on the garage roof that's next to the pool, and we think they live under black rubber bands that stretch over the top of the building. Keith thinks it's some kind of water heating system. There were certainly lots of them sunning themselves!

The top of the garage, and the house. We think the thick black bands are a water-heating system

Pingu, who floats about in the pool keeping an eye on us

The rest of the morning was spent relaxing, and we went into the pool for a swim several times to cool off. The sun was doing a brilliant job of drying the cushions so hopefully, tomorrow, we'll be able to relax on the sofas again.

We had lunch of hot dogs and fried onions with salad on the terrace, and more sunbathing and reading followed in the afternoon. We'd had enough of the hot sun by 3pm, so I did some ironing, pegged some washing out, and put the cushions back as they'd dried.

Ceramic shopping and dinner

Sophie had reserved a table at 7.30pm this evening at Restaurant El Pedro in Pals, but first, we wanted to have a drink, and she was looking forward to shopping for pottery to take home. Keith wandered up to the square while we looked at the ceramics in the shop we'd visited last year.

Sophie picked out some gorgeous pottery - a pot for Basil, a small dish for olives or a dip and some mugs for her friend at work. We then joined Keith in the square and enjoyed a drink while doing some intensive people watching! There was a constant procession of people walking past and venturing further into the village so there was always something to see! Sophie went to another pottery shop and bought some more ceramics to take home so she was very happy with her purchases! She then tried to buy a pink hat, similar to the one she bought last year but they didn't have any in the colour she wanted.

It was bliss sitting in the square and relaxing with a drink. We heard so many different accents all around us, and it was fun to try and guess which nationalities were walking past. I noticed a family who must have just arrived as they were whiter than milk bottles, and they had two surly teenagers in tow who were surgically attached to their phones! We saw them again and again wandering about, the children looking ever more bored!

After finally getting the bill for the drinks, we walked the short distance to El Pedro. We arrived at 7.25pm and were basically told to go away by a thick-set, gormless waiter who said they weren't open yet... Not a great start to the evening! We milled about with other diners until we were allowed to take our seats outside the pretty restaurant.

Sophie suggested two starters for us to share - meat croquettes and a complicated dish of aubergine and Mallorcan Sobrasada on toasted bread, which I think had honey within it, and was finished off with parmesan shavings

For our main courses, I opted for the entrecote steak, Keith the lamb and Sophie the cod. The restaurant was starting to fill up with diners and the waiters were rushing around tending to everyone's needs. As Sophie and I were eating two different meals, she had a glass of white while I ordered a glass of red.

Our starters arrived and they were certainly different!

The meat croquettes were delicious and I could have eaten more of them, but the jury is out for me on the other dish... Sophie loved it but she is much more of a foodie than I am!

Keith and Sophie loved their main courses but I struggled with the steak. Sophie said I shouldn't have Entrecote steak anywhere apart from L'Entrecote in London, and I definitely agree with her! Although it was tasty, there was a fair amount of fat and gristle attached, but the mushroom sauce I ordered to accompany it did help.

Sophie's cod

Sophie and I ordered desserts and we both chose the "Pineapple ravioli" while Keith had an Irish coffee. I was expecting a hot dish of ravioli pasta stuffed with pineapple pureé but I don't really know what we were served, to be honest! Sophie said the ravioli was the pineapple itself but I don't agree. It was more like a flat piece of cold pasta with pineapple and coconut ice cream. Bizarre!

Hmmm!

Although I enjoyed the meal and the surroundings, which were beautiful, I was slightly disappointed with the main course, as I have with almost every meal I've eaten on this holiday! We walked back to the car through the silent streets and Pals looked even prettier at night.

Back at the villa we were too tired to watch our new favourite, so it was straight off to bed!