Next stop - Valencia

Hi, reader

I had a lovely evening in Benicàssim. I'm glad I moved on yesterday, as this is a great beach resort. The temperature was a comfortable 11 degrees last night and I didn't need to use my hot water bottle. In fact I didn't even have to get into the sleeping bag. I slept on top of it and my lamb's wool quilt was enough for a pleasant sleep.

I was tempted to sleep the night in Lidl's car park. It felt safe as it was well-lit with lots of passersby. After all, I slept in an Aldi car park for three nights in Milngavie, Scotland without any problems. In the end though, I relocated to be near the ocean, and I'm glad I did. This was my view this morning.

It was already dark when I arrived in Benicàssim yesterday evening, but I took a stroll around the place. I came across this impressive nativity scene.

This is what it looked like in daylight.

Each time I visited it, there were a lot of young kids with their parents talking about it excitedly. It reminded me of how I loved seeing a nativity scene as a young boy in Belfast. For me, it was all part of getting excited for Christmas. It was nice to see these young kids enthusing about it with their mums and dads.

Walking around Benicàssim, I saw quite a few nativity scenes.

'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.' - Dr Seuss (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

Today the weather is mild and the sky is overcast. Here are a few random pics taken around the town.

Today, after I leave this library, I'm going to find a leisure centre or gym to get a shower, have some lunch and then head for Valencia to meet my friend Kelly. The drive is a little over an hour. All being well, I might be sleeping within four walls tonight. 

Quick bank update

In a previous blog post, I talked about my hassles with HSBC bank and the unpleasant shock of finding two unexpected deductions of just over 100 pounds each from my account. I can now confirm that those were just (rather over the top) deposits taken by automated petrol pumps. Both of those 100+ pounds deposits have now been returned to my account. Crisis over.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for my report from Valencia.

Thanks for reading,

Brian