Somebody told me it is now 19th June? How on earth did that happen, please?
Well since the last post I have been spending every spare minute on the Frog trying to fill in the gap in my schedule that was left when I was gazzumped on the 2 week stint in Provence! Gutted, however never let that hold the intrepid traveller back. I still have not filled it but I could be in Vernazza helping build rock walls to repair some of the damage done by the mudslide a while ago. All I need is a place to put my head and that is the stumbling block. Will keep you all posted as to my movements.
To date I am flying out of Bristol to Malaga in Spain on Saturday 29th June, spending a night there (as EasyJet gets in at night of course!), next day getting to Seville where I am meeting with Fernando Martinez Roman who has kindly offered to show me around the Olive facility where he works and has aranged over 4 days for me to meet with producers of Oil olives and table olives (for the uninitiated there can be a difference in the varieties grown for both although some can be used for either), as well as with the oil tasting panel. I am very excited about this part of the adventure and have booked cheap (but quite adequate and safe) accommodation in a University Hostel as it is holiday time over here. NB worth looking into if you want clean and reasonable accommodation that is affordable!
So, on 5th July I find my way to the region of Granada which is East and North of Seville to stay with a couple (ex Brits I believe) in their homestay business and help out in the garden or wherever else they require help. I have joined an organisation called Helpx which is a little like Woofing but covers the entire planet (including NZ) and offers a roof and sometimes food in exchange for help. Have a look at the site, hundreds of hosts! From there, on 10th July (interesting way to spend a birthday) I find my way across the border to a spot in France near Perpignan to stay with a French lady who needs help in her house which is needing renovations by the sound of it. Not sure what I will be doing but anything to earn my keep. Hopefully with my schoolbook French and her not bad English, we will get along OK. After Perpignan I have my gap from 14th to end of July which I was going to spend in a very posh looking Chateau Hotel but that was where I got gazzumped. soooo I am looking for the fill-in right now. From 1st August I go to Italy (if not already there somewhere) to help a lovely chatty photographer ex UK, who has a new home in Tuscany and needs help building garden structures and is excited that I can build a compost for her!! How hard will that be? She has a blog which I am following and if you are interested she is called Karen Hargadon-Feeney and should be relatively easy to search for? Great photos of the area.
Phew, I fly back to Gatwick, England on 15th from Milan and catch a train down to Lewes to stay with friends Wenda and Allan Bradley and also catch up with Dale Dudman who will be there visiting Susan! How weird is that? Dale is walking a half marathon on Isle of Wight on the Sunday following so I hope she will still be up for a glass of something special the Thursday before? I certainly will be!
I can hear Dad saying "vaccinated with a gramaphone needle" so will stop before I lose you all! Next post will be about what I have done since 29th May - there is quite a lot to tell!
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