Yesterday when the rain broke we got out for a walk and checked out some architecture in Malaga. Pictured above is a small courtyard that you get let out to as you exit the ~Picasso museum. It's a very calm place and if you ever come and visit me in Malaga I'll take you for a look!
I can honestly say that I have never been happier to see the back of a year. 2020 was generally good for me but even still it was a terror of a year that has caused so much misery the world over. For me, there were challenges but they were mainly able to be over come (i.e. my move to Spain for a year was set back by a few months) but I still felt like I was floundering many times due to everything that living in a pandemic brings. It took me awhile to realize that once you get to the fact that something is going to be bad, you then have to come to the conclusion that in reality it will be way worse than you thought. It will also go on lot longer than you thought. I don't think I was alone in thinking that things would be getting back to normal in Summer of 2020. And boy was I wrong!!
But there is a lot to look forward to. Things will get better and mass vaccination is on the horizon for the world. We will overcome Covid 19.
It was lovely and quiet and consisted of very little bar relaxing, eating, watching movies and a little swim on Christmas Day.
Unfortunately my phone died so I only have photos that I had uploaded to social media - but they give a small sampling of how Christmas was.
A few days before Christmas we decided we would go for a Christmas Day swim. In fairness if there are swimmers getting in to the cold waters of the Irish sea at the Forty Foot there should be no excuse for us not to do it in the somewhat warmer waters of Malaga. It's also been something that I always said I would like to do on just about Christmas that I was in Key West for. But for one reason or other I never did it.
So this Christmas day, I packed a flask of coffee and put some Baileys Irish Cream Liquor in a hip flask and went to the sea for a swim along with a large bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk for afterwards,
I won't lie the water was fairly cold but as we were getting out I said "let's get back in for a minute" and we did go back in, and it was fun, and it made me shout out loud and feel ALIVE!!!
After our swim we enjoyed a walk on Calle Larios with Bones to enjoy the Christmas lights and then went home to enjoy some cheese, charcuterie (Hello Iberian Ham!) and some Christmas Canapes. I made bacon wrapped dates on the bbq which were divine......and then I melted a little blue cheese over them which made them even better!!! I enjoyed these so very much with a mimosa and Christmas music, just a lovely combo!
On the day after Christmas on St Stephens Day I was volunteering in the Charity Shop again so I headed off for there first thing while Ciaran went off for a coffee in town and a little walk with the dog. We then got up to very little really bar sitting in the sun and doing a little Spanish lesson on our phone. However later that evening after dinner we had a great time partaking in the DLR Library online quiz. We finished mid table after making a few too many silly mistakes on some questions, I had put the details up on Facebook so one Facebook friend in Washington DC signed up and joined in the fun along with another Facebook friend playing along with her family in Dublin. We all finished up near each other but here in Spain we had fun keeping an eye on where they were in relation to us during the quiz. I also kept an eye on my good friend and work colleague who went on to top the leaderboard out of 93 participants and win the quiz! Good for him!!!
And now it is a case of looking forward to 2021 and a better new year......which I am unbelievable thankful for as it can't be any worse than 2020!!!
It's been an unusual year and it is turning in to an unusual Christmas. All over the world people are not having the Christmas that they probably expected at the beginning of 2020. But as we all know as Covid took hold all our plans for big events and holidays fell to the wayside.
Literally in the last 24 hours, many people in the UK have had the rug pulled from underneath them as a new fast spreading strain of covid has caused lots of countries to close their borders to travellers from the UK. This probably has most impact on Irish people as many live and work in the UK but had intended to get home for Christmas...but now unfortunately this is not to be.
For my family there has been some changes to Christmas celebrations this year with my younger sister in The Netherlands cancelling her plans to travel home while my twin sister in USA and me in Spain, never even seriously considered travelling back to Ireland given the unfolding situation over the past year. And so it will be a quiet day in my parents house with just my younger sister travelling from Galway to stay with them. My sister works in IT so has been working remotely even before Covid, so it is very safe for her to visit with my parents. And they will then go to my older sisters house for Christmas dinner with her family.
