This sky's on fire!

After a beautiful day yesterday, it was disappointing to wake up this morning to cloud. However it soon cleared, so Ben and Dave set off to investigate Mojacar, and I went in the opposite direction to San Juan. As I drove back home I noticed that the sky was geting rather black, and I just made it indoors before we had a violent thunder storm. We watched out of the side window as the rain bounced off the road amid a cloud of steam from the hot tarmac. It didn't rain for long but the rest of the day was overcast and colder, but it ended with a lovely surprise when we were treated to this spectacular sunset behind the mountains, which was reflected as a ribbon of pink silk in the sea and sky in front of us. Of course I had to get the camera out. These pictures have been touched up slightly to remove the blemish from my camera lens, but I thought they still deserved to be shown.

Last night I took the boys into San Juan to have a look around and find themselves a meal, which they did. But when they asked the bar-tender to call them a taxi, they were told that there aren't any. The nearest company apparently work from Mojacar, over half an hour away in the opposite direction, and of course, they wanted a small fortune to come over for them. So we drove to collect them, and learned an important lesson on the way! It didn't matter. It is only a ten minute drive each way, but at least we know about the taxi for future reference. San Juan is an odd place. I guess it was a very small village at one time, but like most places along this coast, it has quadrupled in size at least, with row upon row of houses and apartments. There is a lovely long beach with golden sand and a very tidy and pleasant promenade, and a big fountain in the centre. But there doesn't seem to be anything else in the centre, and I have always assumed that the town is somewhere just off the main road. So today I went back to explore some more, and I discovered that that is in fact all there is. Apart from the supermarket where I go to refill our water carriers, and a row of bars and restaurants, I didn't find any shops, or anything else for that matter. I can't believe that one fairly average supermarket can meet the needs of so many people, but maybe they go somewhere else for their shopping. In the summer it is a very busy place and the beach is well used, but everything has closed for the winter now so it is very quiet. We like it there, but I think it is very short sighted of the developers to build so much housing without providing any amenities for the residents. But that's sort of how it is in many places out here. The boys drove themselves out this evening so they'll have to have an alcohol free dinner! Last night we all sat up on the roof terrace until midnight and it was lovely and warm, but I don't think we'll be doing that tonight.