We are nearing the end of our time here in Lubrin. It is been fabulous staying just out of the village along Rambla Honda. Our house is near the end of road after most of the other rural cottages and where the road gets even narrower and spirals further up hill.

The owner built the two houses about 10 years ago, the higher level house is about 30 steps up the hill but it seems like a million steps in the hot sun. The area is zoned as rustic because you can only build if there is already an existing ruin on the land and that ruin must have a degree of roofing left. That explains the ruin adjust to this house, without it they would not be permitted to build in the future.

The rocky views down the valley are covered in a range of trees and cactus plants. The hillsides appear to be terraces, I guess for goats to walk along, and old ruins pop up out of the landscape everywhere.

 

Being winter (!) the sun rises around 7:30am and begins to pour into the windows unless you have the wooden shutters closed then its pitch black, easy to sleep in. Evidently the shutters are for the summer so during the day you can hide inside with all the shutters blocking out some of the sun’s heat. This seems to be the perfect time to be here. First thing in the morning and in the evening it’s a little cool but during the day the cloudless days are like the peak of summer in New Zealand. It’s certainly a relaxing atmosphere even when I am checking emails and doing a few work-related jobs. It can be a little more difficult reading my text books (kindle on my phone) in the sun. The entire village shuts up around 1pm or 2pm until about 5pm and then reopens until late.

Yesterday, 14 March, we got up early (before 8am) and drove into the village to the market which is held every Wednesday. We parked just outside the village as we were warned you can’t really drive around on market day as most of the main roads are congested with vendors selling their wares. Our first goal was to get to the baker early enough to buy a range of pastries and breads which I missed the day before as I was too late (around 9:30am). You have to be in early if you want the croissants and chocolate buns. After a successful baker shop experience I returned our treasures to the car and we went on the hunt for the typical Spanish breakfast which consisted of churros with a thick chocolate drink. One of the stalls at the market was cooking the churros. They pour this doughnut-like mixture in large rings into the biggest wok-like-pan filled with bubbling hot oil. Once cooked it is dropped on a table and then cut up into lengths according to how much the customer wants and wrapped in paper with the optional sugar coating – which of course we had.

Next off to a bar to get the hot chocolate drink, simply called Chocolate, which is not like New Zealand hot chocolate but more like the thick stuff you find in the bottom of the cup after you have had your drink. Think of melted chocolate mixed with a little milk and water. Phew that was sweet and took all my effort to finish everything. Unfortunately the oily churros were a bit much for my stomach so I had heart-burn the entire day making it difficult to enjoy the other baker shop items as much as I usually would.

I think by the end of the day we all felt like we needed to resist buying baker shop items and just eat fruit for a few days.

Next we walked around the market and enjoyed buying a few things here and there, particularly Amy buying lollies and Karen stocking up on vegetables and fruit.

Of course all Daniel really wanted to find were the Transformer toys, strangely missing from the small Lubrin village toy shops. I have to admit, we were pleased to see the vegetables and fruit at the market as the village doesn’t seem to have vegie shops. I guess that is because everyone buys fresh produce from the market each week.

Also see the blog on our trip to Mojacar which we went on after the market. See http://www.travellingeuropewithkids.com/spain-our-mojacar-outing-from-lubrin/