Spain

Over 107 years ago when the disease was not yet understood and under control when someone fell sick with leprosy they would be sent out of society to live alone in caves to avoid the spread of their affliction. It’s only later that the disease was understood and became treatable.

The documentary did not address much about the construction of the sanatorium except to say that convicts that were sentenced to death for a crime were made to build the ramparts around the city. These were two and a half meters tall and broken glass was put on the top. The aim was to keep the sick in. The local community was afraid of the disease that they did not understand.

In Spain I keep seeing the BKL Prolimp bikes and I like them. They’re tricycles rather than bikes but I think they could be useful. Instead of transporting a broadcast camera and tripod in a car or smart you could transport them on the back of this bike. Instead of a bin bag though I would have the tripod bag and find a way to fix the camera as well.

Feeding the Seagulls by the Mediterranean Sea

A woman feeding seagulls by the sea.

Warmed by the sun

The Garmin Instinct warmed up in the Spanish sun while charging.

This walk takes you from the Port of Javea up to the lighthouse near San Antonio before continuing along the top towards Los Molinos. These are old grain mills. They used wind power to grind grain for several centuries before being taken out of action as modernisation arrived.

The walk takes you along the port before you start to climb. As you walk along the port you will see a number of cats, either being lazy, or playing. You will then start to climb. The first few metres require some bigger steps but after that you will find that it gets easier. There is a good view over the port at several moments. You also get a good view of the sea.

When you walk by the sea you see Mediterranean cats. They like to stay on the rocks sometimes. These were by the sea in Denia, Spain.

Two cats by the mediterranean

A cat by the Mediterranean Sea

A cat by the sea

The same cat by the sea

With global warming the idea that we would get white Christmas, with snow, freezing weather and more is outdated. In the 21st century the opposite is true. We will probably get grey and rainy weather instead. If we stay in Switzerland. I used to love the idea of snowy Christmas, snowboarding and skiing but I don’t like the modern global warming version, of a boring cold, with no snow.

That’s why it makes sense to migrate south, for a week or two and see the sun. It’s not that I miss the sun, after all I see it all the time in Switzerland due to the drought that has now lasted several years. I like rain. I would prefer to be in rainy Switzerland than in the sun. Pandemic solitude has made me long for bad weather and rain, because good weather, when you’re walking around in circles doesn’t matter.

The watch got to 92 days of battery life. I went for a swim in 15c water. it was just a pool swim.

One nuissance of most modern smart watches is that you must charge then once a day, once a week, or once a month. When you’re in Spain though, with a solar watch things change. At first you go from “26 days of battery remaining” to “36 days of battery remaining”, to “39 days remaining”. Before long the watch displays “infinity time remaining”. When you’re in watch the sun charges the batteries faster than normal use depletes the batteries.