I can hardly believe my ears: it is two in the morning and the party downstairs, outside my window has just finished performing an enthusiastic “Cumpleaños feliz” – “Happy birthday…”. With daily temperatures bouncing between 35 and 40 during summer season I can’t blame them for moving the party to night time. My children are happily embracing the Spanish traditions: both desayuno dulce – “sweet breakfast” and late bedtime are a popular change in their lives. Good luck mom and dad when we are “back to normal”. Well, “normal” is far, far away, I realized earlier saying something like “OK, it’s quarter to midnight, you can go out an play, but only for a little while, 20 minutes, no more”.
Alcañiz – town justfully proud of its peaches, ham and olives – has given us its present: new friends with whom it will be heartbreaking to part tomorrow. Ana, Javier, Juan and Gabi are generous souls who in true spirit of Servas have dedicated their whole day to showing us good time here. We have everything one can wish for and more: first and foremost lovely company and devoted guides.
We spend a fantastic day together, exactly what was needed at this stage: a picnic (under a walnut tree, no less, in a place with poetic name Virgin of the Spring, which is the source of one of the most exquisite sorts of jamon – Spanish cured ham), a quiet countryside tour and a dip in a river in surroundings so majestic, one can only wonder if such places can really exist.
