Curly's Capers

With cigarettes taxed at 86% in the UK, many smokers opt for rolling tobacco , which with papers works out cheaper than propriety brands. That is not the case in Spain and hence cigarettes with pukka tips are smoked and then discarded onto the pavements etc. This, though in the main,  seems the main form of littering. Abundant litter bins and recycled receptacles  keep the debris off the streets . The Spanish, who are generally small and stocky seemed to regard me as somewhat of a freak  being 1.95 M. in height and wearing a sun-hat; instead of the obligatory base-ball version - A dead tourist give-away. At least I didn't succumb to sun-glasses, which I think the men especially frowned upon. Basically, we Brits, with  our traffic laws are a law -abiding lot. Not so the Spanish, who routinely , seem to park wherever there is a space including street corners; double yellow lines and pedestrian crossings. Furthermore,  some seem not enamoured with seat-bel...

The Easy Jet flight from Gatwick ( London )  to Valencia took one hour, forty nine minutes. In this time it had flown the channel, crossed France and entered Spain via the Pyrenees and gained one hour. Stepping onto the runway, the heat hit me like a mildly enraged teddy bear, waiting to give you a hug but actually too tired  to bother. It was over 30 degrees centigrade. Not normally anxious to enter customs, I embraced the cool air conditioning of the building with appreciation. Waved through passport control, we walked to a cool non crowded Metro tube. It slunk out of the station, exactly on time. According to the carriage display the outside temperature was 33. By the time we reached our stop it was only 27. It's getting colder ! But outside on the  plaza ( see top pic. ) the heat seeped up from the floor and the impressive stone of the building. Adjacent to the railway station the celebrated bull ring. Generally , although voluble,  the Spani...