Delta scene #8: Water

When we were driving to Tortosa yesterday (that is, Thursday), we noticed that the concrete channel next to the road was full of water, for the first time since we've been here -- a sign that the process of filling the rice paddies with water has begun. So this morning we went for an exploratory drive. There isn't much water yet, and some areas are still being levelled with tractors -- you can see how dry it is from the cloud of dust behind the tractor. Levels are critical here; a centimetre or two can make all the difference, so they have been spending an awful lot of time with tractors over the last couple of months.

At lunchtime, we decided to go to our chiringuito. It was heaving with people thanks to the holiday weekend -- for the first time ever we were lucky to get a table. We ordered a bottle of white wine and were happy to find they had tellines (tiny clams) again, so we ordered those plus some patatas bravas and a plate of oysters for S. When we'd finished we were still a bit peckish, so we had a plate of massive gambas and some deep-fried squid. This place is so good -- they deserve to do a roaring trade. They produce their own shellfish, so you can't get more local and fresh. I'll miss it, but I have vowed to eat more shellfish when we get home.

We weren't fit to do much after that, so we went home for a lounge in the sun. In the late evening we were back there though, as they'd advertised flamenco and tapas. The "flamenco" was perhaps not quite authentic -- the first sign of this was that we could understand every word the singer sang, whereas true flamenco is totally incomprehensible. It was more like Spanish pop, but it was great fun, with staff and customers clapping, dancing, and singing along. So another late night.

PS yesterday's little-viewed backblip hit the spotlight just now! It gets more baffling :)