I Am Cold; my birthday approaches and its getting chilly

4th December 

What time is it? Oh, not again! It's only 05:15, why am I awake so early?

Oh yes, I'm cold, hungry and desperate for a drink. Never a good combination. 

I stayed in bed and refused to open my eyes too far, but the earplugs came out, no point in keeping them in.

The world was quiet and I just laid there thinking of jobs to do in the garden. I went to the loo and grabbed the bath towel to put over me. It held in some warmth at least around my middle.

I must have drifted off for a while because the next thing I realised, it said 06:24 on the clock and I could hear someone quietly getting up, dressing and leaving their room. 

Aah, the morning jogger was up.

*********

So, the tree surgeons arrived this morning and sorted the palms; very interesting to watch.

It's an overcast day so ideal for a walk and I decided to explore a path (in the distance) I'd seen people using. That fateful question came to mind, where does it go?

I found that out pretty quickly and feeling in the mood for a longer wander, aimed upward.

If you know Puerto Cruz at all you will be aware there is little that is flat in this valley, mostly its upwards or downwards depending upon your direction and the upwards is steep ( whilst the downwards is scary 😬)!

You may also be aware many of the 'roads', although nicely tarmaced, fail to have pavements or necessarily be two way. 

Often, they are little more than cart tracks done up for the average car to travel along instead. Most are one way and most have blind bends which pose dangers for pedestrians and car drivers alike.

I found one of these roads and walked upward. I reached the end of that one stood momentarily on the small area of flatness, then crossed the road and headed up the next, then the next, then......you get my drift.

I suddenly arrived at a petrol station, a wide road and the main service road onto the Autopista del Nte, a fast motorway connecting the north with the south, basically.

In other words I had walked approximately five miles pretty much straight up, no wonder my legs ached.

I wasn't far from the Centro Commercial so I aimed right in hunt of the roundabout. I was interested in that coffee which already had my name on it. ❤

After a bit of hunting, doubling back, ducking round and generally flying by the seat of my pants, I reached it. 

Slowing now, I walked across the busy interchange fingers crossed the traffic would slow enough to let me cross and then hunted for the entrance to the shopping centre. 

Coffee!

McDonald's!

At last!

Sit down.......and breathe.

I would say knock yourself out if you're a shopaholic but the biggest draw seems to be an enormous supermarket which appears to sell everything. It even had a wrapping service for toys bought as Christmas gifts! This is a superstore on steroids.

Needless to say, I'm no shopaholic and I am bored all too quickly by shops-to-part-with-money-cos-its-fashion shops. 

I found the exit (eventually) and seeing a church spire in the distance,  aimed for it. A spire usually means a town square and I was interested to see where this was.

Iglesia Plaza La Vera.......ok......but where am I? The best I got was it's a suburb of Puerto  Cruz and is called La Vera. 

Hey, don't shoot the tourist.

I walked down and ran out of road, instead I was confronted by a wall and banana trees laiden with their precious fruits. Some had been wrapped in blue plastic, others were still ripening.

Mm, a way down......?

Now, if you saw the goat track I ended taking you would have watched with hands over your eyes. 

Cars were coming up but there were few places for me to squeeze against so as to be out the way. The edges of the road were nothing but points at which the tarmac ended and steep slopes began; there was nothing between you and a twenty foot drop into the water bullet beside you.

Yes, that narrow, and it continued for some distance before I reached a 'road' which was a car and a half wide.

I wove my way back to the hotel via the supermarket. I needed a drink and some chocolate, then food!

It was gone 2pm.

I arrived back just in time, the weather turned and the rains came. Just gentle drizzle but the forecast suggested it would turn far worse and last most of tomorrow. 

I ate and retired to my room. I'm tired but the 10.4 miles is quite a trek.