30 May 2020 – Lockdown Day 82

We have now adjusted to Level 1 of Lockdown, which allows us to walk together from the house, shop at any supermarket, visit bars and meet up to 10 people.

                                                        

On Monday we move to Level 2.    This will allow us to drive to the start of a walk, sit inside bars and meet up to 15 people.   This will effectively end Lockdown, at least as far as Jan and I are concerned.  

From Monday we could start the walking groups again, providing we kept the numbers down to 15 per walk.  We could even end the walk at a local bar.

However we have yet to visit a bar, let alone meet with 10 people there.   Apart from one shopping trip to Benissa I have not used the car.   As “elderly at risk” we are advised to maintain isolation and avoid any contact. 

Despite the above we have had quite a pleasant week.   We walk each day, but because of the higher temperatures tend to do so early morning.   Unfortunately it is too hot to do our planned recce walks.   However it is nice to be able to have our meals outside and to be able to get out when we want. 

We are very aware of the risks and the still very high daily deaths and new infections.   The official daily stats have come under attack and are no longer published in the two Facebook sites we rely on for information.   Having relied on these stats since the start of the crisis it is unsettling not being able to do so anymore.

As we gradually emerge from Lockdown the situation is very confusing and we find it easier to remain in our local area and wait to see how things develop.  

We posted our tenth, and last, lockdown video this week.  They were never intended to be a permanent thing, rather an attempt to keep some sort of contact with our walking groups.  We would have finished our walks this week anyway for the summer break.  So this seemed an appropriate time to stop the videos.   If you would like to see the latest one you will find it here

 https://youtu.be/nKz7sPpX3Bg

                                                 

This will also be the last Lockdown blog.  

Hopefully we will be able to resume our normal walk programme in October, and if so details of each walk will appear here as usual.

We wish all of our friends a safe and enjoyable summer and hope to see you all again soon.

23 May 2020 – Lockdown Day 75

After ten weeks of lockdown anything else seems very strange.

Every day is pretty much the same, and it has become very difficult to remember which day of the week it is.   Gone are our weekly U3A group walks on Monday and Thursday.   Plus our weekly visit to Calpe for our “people fix” of walking along the promenade, coffee and bacon boccie and ending with the weeks shopping.   The only things that remains is our regular house clean each Sunday.  

At least the weather has improved, as we approach the end of May the temperature rises and working or walking outside the house becomes quite difficult.   This is why group walking on the Costa Blanca stops at the end of May for the summer break until start of October.

Jan hurt her back on Thursday, which put a stop to our daily walks.   We did manage a very pleasant three hour walk on Monday (see photo above) and our shorter daily hour walks.   But we had to cancel our second recce for this week.   She is getting better and we managed our daily walk today.

On Thursday it became a legal requirement to wear a face mask in all public places, whenever it was not possible to maintain the two metre distance form another person.  This was also the first day that we drove to Benissa for our weekly shop, both of us can travel together in the car now.   But we were surprised to see so many people walking in Jalon and Benissa without any sign of a facemask, let alone wearing one.   We didn’t have to wear them in the car, but Jan did to go into the shop.  

It would be easy to think that everything is returning to normal again, particularly in our sleepy little village.   It has never been very busy, and is no different now.   Except when you go in the shop of course.  And it is now possible to visit bars and get takeaways from most restaurants.   It is also possible to meet in groups of up to 10.  

But the virus is still out there, and it is still doing an immense amount of damage.   The daily stats are improving, but yesterday here were 344 new infections and 48 deaths in Spain.   These figures are low compared with even a week ago, but they are still frightening.   Particularly if you are in one of the “at risk” groups, which we both are.

So we have not visited a bar, and have no intention of doing so at present.   It would be lovely to feel confident and comfortable enough to be able to return to our old routine.   But I suspect I am not alone in feeling that it will be some considerable time yet before that actually happens.

This week’s Lockdown Video features two walks from January.   I have mixed feelings about the project.  It is a lovely reminder of happy times, but it also makes us realise how much we miss our many friends and our weekly walks.   Hopefully it will not be too long before we can meet again to make more happy memories.   You can find the video here

 https://youtu.be/as6XTDVqCPs

15 May 2020 – Lockdown Day 64

      

                                           

Wednesday 13 May

Our first “trek” was along the pipeline and back through the valley.   This is our first real walk in eight weeks, and it made us realise just how unfit we have become.   We have exercised every day, but for most of the time that was power walking around the swimming pool.

We had to start from the house, and it took us three hours to complete the whole walk.   We did take our time, and took quite a few photographs.   But we were still pretty shattered when we returned home.   This would be the same time it would take to do one of our summer walks, which we did last June and September.   Much warmer than today, and didn’t feel half as tired when we finished at the bar.

In future we will use Monday and Thursday to do some recce for new summer walks.

Thursday 14 May

There is some doubt on Facebook about whether you can drive to start “trekking”, or whether you have to do it from your house.   Everything I have read online confirms that you must do it from your home, but as always opinions differ.

There have been a couple of groups on the CBMW Facebook page who have driven to one of the popular walks, trekked as a group and then had a drink together afterwards.   I know that it was an unofficial walk, because CBMW have cancelled all walks until after the summer.   So I was surprised that not only did they post on the Facebook page, but that the administrator did not comment.   So perhaps I am wrong, and it is ok to drive to the start of a walk.

I have sent an email to the town hall to confirm the official policy.

Friday 15 May

At the end of our eighth week of lockdown the prospects are pretty depressing.   True we have a limited amount of freedom to walk together, for which we are very grateful.   But there is no end in sight at all.   The Spanish daily stats today report 549 new infections and 143 deaths in the last 24 hours.   How can there be so many new cases after eight weeks of the strictest lockdown in Europe?

We have not used the local shop in Parcent since lockdown.   But today Jan wanted to give it a try during our daily walk.   She had to take a face mask and gloves, both of which are required to enter the shop.   It was empty when we got there, and she did not have to queue.  But by the time she finished there was a group of about eight waiting outside, as only a limited number are allowed to enter at one time.   All were wearing masks and gloves.  All were clustered together in a tight group talking. 

I don’t think the Spanish people were made for social distancing.   And this may explain why those daily figures remain so depressing.