Let's explore

I am pleased to say that Ben and Dave arrived safely late last night. They had a few hiccups on the way from the airport, but we used our mobiles and managed to direct them for the last bit. Then, of course, we sat and talked until very late at night, or early this morning to be more accurate, After breakfast this morning, they decided to set off along the coast to do a bit of exploring. Although Chris is much better today, he didn't want to go out yet, so I drove to a place called Puerta Rey, where I had been told there was a recycling centre, and I wanted to get rid of all the bottles and cans that had accumulated under the sink. Well, I found it easily enough, but once there I became completely lost in a maze of narrow, one-way streets, flanked by newish, and very posh villas. One road came to an end on the beach which was a huge empty expanse of flat sand. I stood on it and had a chat with a couple who were visiting the area and had also come upon it 'by mistake' while navigating the streets. Then I did a three point turn and headed back to the main road. A bit further along I turned towards the coast again and this time I found some very attractive, but too huge, blocks of apartments, with big areas of grass and trees in front of them, and then an even wider, flatter expanse of sand, which I realised must be Vera Playa. On our previous visit we must have just touched on the edge of it, because we were not at all impressed and wondered what everyone made such fuss about it for. It was actually a vast stretch of beach, with plenty of space for all the summer visitors. I shouldn't think it ever gets crowded. But like most of the beaches around here, there were little or no facilities. There were a few chiringuitas, beach bar/cafés, along the sand, which open for a few weeks in July and August, but they are all closed now even though there were quite a few holiday makers on the beach. I then turned for home, but being in an exploratory mood, I made one final turn towards the coast just before Villaricos. I knew this would be Palomares beach, and it turned out to be the nicest of the three. It was the end of the long stretch of sand at Vera, and it curved round to make a nice cove, with a barrier of shrubs, separating it from the road. There was a cross wind bringing in diagonal waves that broke along the beach in a froth of white foam. I stood there enjoying watching it for ages, before I at last made my way home. Soon after I got home, the boys returned too, and we discovered that they had been to all the same places as me, but in the reverse order!