Our home for the next two months...

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day, with the temperature around 17C (63F) and no wind to speak of. We relaxed for much of the morning and made ourselves a nice ham and egg breakfast before heading out on foot to explore.

The apartment we're staying in is located about a five minute walk from the beach.

When we got down to the beach,  the first thing we noticed was several RV's parked in the distance...

Zoomed in on some RV'ers free camping near the beach.

Not very many people on the beach. After all, it's not really tropical although the sun is definitely warm. But if even a hint of a breeze picks up, you can tell that it's only 17C (63F). However, there were several people trying to get a tan, and some children playing in the sand, and even one fellow braving the water for a swim.

So Ruth decided to stick her toes in the Mediterranean Sea.

She said it was a little chilly!

We walked over to the area where the motorhomes and RVs were parked. Lots of different licence plates. In the European Union, the plates all look similar, but on the left side there is an abbreviated symbol that says where the vehicle is registered. "GB" is the United Kingdom, "S" is Sweden, "D" is Germany, "E" is Spain...etc.

We spoke to a couple of young fellows in an old van. They were from Sweden. We asked if they were free camping here, and yes all of the vans here are doing that. There are a lot of places all up and down the coast. You can even simply park at the side of the road by the beach if you like. So, it seems really easy to free camp in Spain. These guys say that it's even easier in Portugal. 

Parked for free with a view of the sea.

RV'ers enjoying the sun.

We continued up the coast, just enjoying the day.

Guess who?

The coastline is nice here, but the area itself is too built up for our liking. It may very well be like this all the way up and down the coast, so we have visions of spending quite a lot of time inland. As it is, there are a lot of parks that we'd like to visit, and although it will be a little cooler, we'll probably be the only ones there! Besides we're not really beach people and, as we've learned in Mexico, there is a more "authentic" experience (and usually better prices) once you get away from the beach tourists. I guess we'll find out for ourselves if this is the case or not.

We turned around and went back the other way. There are two main beaches in Torrevieja, and then the southern one stops just before the marina.

Torrevieja Beach.

Ruth, enjoying the day.

On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at several China shops (like a dollar store) looking for a power supply for Ruth's laptop. We think she left hers in Toronto airport, so we've been sharing my laptop since then. We found several "universal" style power supplies but we were trying to get one a little more lightweight like her original one. 

Can't find one though.

So when we got back to the flat, we went into the China shop right downstairs, and bought the universal one that he had, for €15.50 ($22 CAD, $16 USD). 

Took it upstairs, and immediately set about to get it hooked up. It was packaged in one of these impossible to get into plastic casings. You know, the kind that you have to cut with a pair of scissors and then still fight with to get in to.

Anyhow, it came with 8 or 10 adapters...because it' supposed to be universal, right? 

Wrong. Not one of them fit into the outlet on Ruth's laptop. 

So I go back down to the Chinese guy knowing that he may not take it back because the packaging is pretty much destroyed. It was actually kind of funny trying to communicate with the guy, in Spanish. Me, with my not very good Spanish, and him, speaking Spanish with an obvious Chinese accent.

Anyhow, he rattled on about how I shouldn't have cut it open, and I said well how else was I supposed to know if it would fit?

He opened the cash register and slammed my €15.50 back on the counter. Obviously not impressed. Oh well, it's a cost of doing business. I'm thinking maybe we were his only sale of the day. There are so many of these China shops we can't figure how they all stay in business.

So, we're still looking for a power supply.

Okay...so this is what you've been waiting for...our introduction to Louis, our motorhome for the next two months. He's a 2005 (or 2007, I can't remember) 21 or  22 foot McLouis Lagan 252 on a Fiat 4 cyl diesel chassis.

We went inside for the first time, and we videotaped the experience for you all...

Should be fun!

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