A Wednesday walk leading to a park, tapas & the first sunburn

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This was our first long walk in Spain

I remember this one like it was yesterday because it was the first day that my health app on the phone told me that I walked 9,3km that day after I noticed the big number of steps (for us at least lol). Remember that the week before we left for Spain my back injury flared up even worse than it had been in many years and that I was quite hesitant to travel, afraid that it all would end up being a recipe for disaster for my back pains.

The opposite has been true, all the walking has done wonders for my back and I've only had some discomfort on the days when I "overdid" it and had to take some rest days to give my back and hips some time to rest and recover. To be honest, this has been the case since I had my first daughter as I developed something quite common for pregnant women in my pelvis and I've always had discomfort when that area was overpressured for some reason. That's also one of the reasons I preferred riding my bike over walking as riding a bike was less painful.

We needed a card for the bus

We planned on traveling to the suburb that week, this was before we rented a van, so we needed to get a card for the bus as this means traveling is a lot cheaper and with 3 people that adds up so we decided to get one and load it up with some money. Although we thought this sales point was near the supermarket, it turned out we misread the app and it was another 20 minutes walk after we already walked 20 minutes through the burning sun. As this was totally unexpected, I did not even bother to use sunscreen which turned out to be a stupid move, next time I should just skip the long walk and go home with groceries in case of no sunscreen.

Although hot, we enjoyed walking in another area

So far we had not been further than 15 minutes distance tops in a few directions and this unexpected walk for a bus card was actually a refreshing one. We saw other parts of the town and at some point, we landed on a city park we didn't even see coming as it was in the middle of a busy street. We were very thirsty at this point and could use a rest and a drink.

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No free tables

In the middle of the park was a restaurant where they were just putting reserved signs on all tables and when we asked if there was a free table, the waiter said he needed to check. Meanwhile, our daughter played in the playground as we had a quick visit to the toilet that was thankfully there as well.

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When the waiter told us there was no free spot, we decided to walk again and find another place to sit as it was nearly tapa time anyway, and I really needed to rest. It was a smart move because when I was taking a few pictures of the park, a mosquito landed on my arm and I noticed it because it bit me and when I tried to get it off, he didn't move a bit. Stupid animals always pick me, while I've become super allergic to them a few years.

The first days after arrival I already had a huge spot on my shinbone which is today still feeling like a horribly bruised mark while the hard spot is also still noticeable when I touch it. It's actually very annoying because it means I barely dare to sit on a terrace at night unless it's very windy because I'm mostly a target by these mosquitos. They bring such discomfort most of the time that I'm considering going to a doctor soon to find out if the antihistamine tablets I've been taking for a few years are good enough to avoid this stuff or if I need some change in tablets or doses.

Tapa time!

While walking the same way back, a very long walk next to the main road, we sat down where they didn't have all tables reserved. I was surprised it took us three attempts before they had a free table outside, I sure wasn't going to sit inside as it was hot enough as is while there was no air conditioner lol.

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A beer and peach juice it was, actually two but I didn't capture them both. The waiter brought us some ham and olives. This time the tapa was free, which was surprising as we barely had a free tapa here in this area, so we learned from @whywhy that this is normal in our region. I had no clue, I always thought tapas were free, lol.

Sunburn!

When we arrived home, I was truly at my limit. I could feel it in every bone of my body that I could not walk one more step after this, to be completely honest, the last part from the supermarket near us to our door was so painful to me that I had to stop every 5 meters at some point, slowing down my boyfriend who was carrying the groceries. I just could not walk anymore. I knew I would have to take it very slow the next few days to not make it worse, which I planned on doing so anyway.

And when we arrived home, my boyfriend noticed how burned I was and then I knew for sure to stay inside as well, at least when the sun was up. This sunburn was so bad that it hurt me for a week or so. I was very careful after that though, so lesson learned. And while I bought a small tube of sunscreen in my bag for these unexpected moments in the sun, as well as a roller for your face, I didn't put these in my bag yet. Of course, afterward, I did.

Thanks for going on this walk with me, hopefully, you enjoyed it!

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22 comments
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Walking in the sun can be really hard. I am happy that you are taking it in your stride. Smearing anti-mosquito repellent on your arms can do the trick. I hope you get one of those tubes soon.
Voted on behalf of the Neoxian city paper.

Posted using Neoxian City

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Yeah, it's always the same thing with me, I have to get one good sunburn (bad enough to take note) until I use the sunscreen properly. This was the one :)..

There's a mosquito repellent in my bag now and in the evening I put it on my arms, on top of that I make sure my legs are covered too. Although these nasty things often just get me through the clothes anyway, lol. But it's very windy here, that means less mosquitos currently, thankfully for me!

Thanks for stopping by and have a good week ahead!

!CTP

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Hahaha, no, tapas are not free :)

You know @whywhy? Cool :))

Sunburn.. that is not so cool. I usually don't use a lot of sun protection but there are exceptions when I do use it and especially face sun protection when I go to the beach or have to walk when the sun is strong, as some darker spots appeared last year after sunbathing...

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They were in Granada where we used to live for a short year.
But it's all good, all adapted already haha.
Honestly, it's even better like this as I will refrain from eating one if I'm not hungry :)

Yes, he was our host back in the days when we arrived in Spain the first time. One of the good ones!

I know what you mean, it seems I Have these spots in my face as well since this year. I'm carrying the sunscreen roller for my face constantly now and if needed I could just roll it over my shoulders if we are walking longer unexpectedly. It is what it is, I have to say that the sunscreen I bought this year is better than the other years and not as annoying on the skin when walking in the sun. So that's a plus :)

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I was in Granada just once, when we visited it a few years ago,. It was super nice, the Alhambra too.
But we didn't check the bars and if the tapas are free or not hahah

I just know that here, at my place they are not free.

The world is so small, so whywhy was you host. Cool

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well, it's nice that they were back then but honestly, I got used to paying for them quickly haha.

Yes we met him through a website workaway at the time to help him move houses and walk the dogs.. we ended up staying with him longer and he helped me with a job etc.. Good guy, forever grateful for his help as when we came to his house, we were complete strangers, yet he did a lot for us. He didn't have to, but he did!

In what area do you live if I may ask?

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Someone just reminded me today ... normally my area is not as sunny as it is this year, but I will need some sunscreen too!

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Haha, well my advice: use it! I don't use it when I go for a 10 to 15 min walk like we did this morning as there was mostly clouds anyway, but whenever we leave for a walk during the afternoon, I will use it ;)

Is it hot over there? Here it's actually a bit cooler for a few more days which I love, the only thing I don't like is that I still haven't managed to capture a sunset because the sky is constantly filled with clouds :( I hope I can get one before we leave here as now the sea is 25 meters from our place only, in a few days it will be a 30 min walk as well as back uphill when we return.. still worth it though!

!CTP

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It is UNUSUALLY sunny and warm for San Francisco ... the fog is late coming in, because usually SMACK at mid-June, the fog rolls in and stays pretty much in until September. We couldn't buy three rainstorms in the winter, then had fog and a few storms in April and May, and then it began looking like San Francisco is more like Spain for the summer! I have NEVER needed sunscreen in the summer here ... but, here we are!

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Hahahahha ... I had a sunburn the last weekend in Belgium. Also I learned my lesson. Maybe you can put a fan when sitting outside? I bought one yesterday to sit on the balcony. Mosquitos hate it. The only thing that helps me is Deet, but I prefer not to use it too much. So I hope the fan will do the trick here on my balcony.
I'm also having health issues (muscular disease) and that's the reason why I moved to Spain. The climate is much better here, and I don't have the problems like I have in Belgium. I'm sure you will notice the difference between Budapest and here. Just try to listen to your body and take it one step at a time. I know you have busy days coming, but once you settled, take a rest!

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a beautiful walk,
be careful with the sunburn, trust me I wish I had when I was younger

sorry for short reply, swamped with a lot going on tonight

Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)

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Sorry about your sunburn. I hate mosquitoes too and am always targetted!!

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the burn is long over, the stupid thing is that the mosquito bite on my leg is still showing as a bruised spot after 3 weeks! I really hate them, as they bring so much discomfort since a few years. The weird thing is that this is not the case with every bite, so I don't know if that's a special kind of mosquito lol.

!CTP

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Sunburn and mosquitos - not nice. However the walk looks nice. From my experience in Spain tapas are never free. Now you are prepared with sunscreen in your bag. Do not forget a repellant. Nothing spoils an evening like mosquito bites.

Posted using Neoxian City

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Haha since that happened I have it with me when we go out in the evening. I'm so allergic to them that 1 bite bothers me for 3-4 weeks. The first one I had in Spain is now almost 4 weeks ago and you can still see a huge bruised spot on my leg :s

!CTP

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(Edited)

Oh my goodness - that is a real pain. You are really allergic. My oldest daughter is like that too. It becomes bruised and somehow they always find her first.
Thanks for the tip!
Take care.

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I never had that until I think it was 4 years ago now, I went out to dinner and the mosquitos attacked me as if I was a hot meal lol, Later at night it started to itch so badly and I went crazy from it. The normally little bites were now sometimes 3-5 cm big and driving me INSANE for weeks! I still have dark spots on my legs from that first time as I had scars from the bad itching. This time I've been "lucky" to only have 1 huge allergic reaction from the bites I had so far, so I don't know why one is that bad, and the other is not, I just don't like going out when they are around anymore because of it. It's shit. The tablets I can buy in the pharmacy don't seem to help either lol.

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(Edited)

I am wondering whether something changed in your system. The reactions sound terrible. Great that you only have one spot this time. Sometimes my daughter has a swollen face and looks terrible. However the repelents work. We tried to take a more natural approach now. We tried one with lemon balm last time. I think the mosquitos do not like the smell.

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Ah a swollen face? poor thing! That's even worse and probably a bit scary if it swells up near certain parts.. That's actually a good thing to mention, I will have a look into that more natural stuff as well. It truly helps that we don't seem to have many around our home, even though I'm keeping the windows closed during the evening mostly to make sure they won't find their way in haha.

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Yes it was scary the first time she got a swollen face. Her eyes were literally closed. We went to the doctor - however there was not much that could be done. Only better protection. Then we knew.
Yes better to close the windows just in case and protect oneself when out - the mosquitos want to eat too.

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