Farewell to the sea

45th day: The mood of farewell spreads. Stock up on supplies, water, laundry, tidy up, put away, clean. Take another real, long shower. And take a look at the wide sea. Tomorrow morning it will greet us one last time with its waves, its rustling and glittering and at the same time say goodbye. As strange as it may sound, I felt safe and calm knowing that all I had to do was look out the window and see my sea in front of me. I already have a connection with him, feel a magical attraction that I can't explain. I don't like swimming in the sea, I don't surf or sail, but I like having it around me, with me. I like to just sit there with a cup of coffee, let the wind play in my hair, feel the warming rays of sunshine on my face and look out at this endlessly wide and deep blue. And I feel completely, completely, somehow at home.

So today we went again to our favorite café, which is actually a beach bar - with a very special peculiarity: all the seats around the outside are always occupied, but everything in the middle is free. That's because of the sun, everyone wants to be warm because it can still be very cool in the shade when it's windy. We were lucky today. Just as we arrived, a couple at the sun spots got up and cleared their table. We sat there and were able to enjoy the warmth and the view.

An older couple took a seat behind us – in the shade. They weren't happy about it because the woman was wearing a strapless t-shirt, which was clearly too cold. In Spain it is not customary to invite other people to your table or to ask other people for a place at their table. We made an exception and asked the two of them if they wanted to come to us in the sun. They couldn't believe their luck! They came to us, played with the dogs and talked about their lives. The couple came from Holland, they were both over 80 years old and had been spending every winter in Spain for 25 years. “We have seen everything in this country,” the man said. They arrived by plane, but they are no strangers to camping. On the contrary: you live at home near Rotterdam on a campsite in a small chalet with your own garden together with 600 other married couples and families. “That’s ideal for us,” the woman said with a laugh. “We are on vacation there for eight months and the remaining four months we are on vacation in Spain.”

Yes, I could get used to that too...