As I was dozing in my tent in the morning not quite ready to get up I heard a slight noise – kind of like the wind blowing a tent flap or something. I ignored it, then it happened again, then again. I rationalized that no spider would make such a sound so continued to ignore it until I decided to actually get up and go to the loo.

When I turned on my little night light and went to grab my pants something moved right by my hand – I stifled my scream as I saw that it was a little frog that was trying to get back out of the tent! I had – very unusually – left the zipper open several inches and the poor little guy had been able to jump in but was stymied on getting back out. I was able to hold the opening enough for him to eventually make it over and out, and he happily hopped away.

After our usual tea and breakfast we got on the bikes and rode into Foz again, heading for an electronics store I’d seen. I had followed the instructions that I’d gotten by email on how to get my keyboard working again, but rather than fixing the problem I seemed to have lost the keyboard itself.

Asking at one large store the older fellow told me to go across the street to a small store that should be able to help me, and he was right. The young lady inside tried several things, and was eventually able to establish bluetooth contact so that at least my ipad acknowledges the keyboard again, even though the five keys are still ‘dead’.

After that we went to one of the cafes we’d been to a couple of days ago – sitting outside across from the ocean, drinking excellent coffee and watching the people go by.

Back at the campground Colin started a bolognese sauce, and we retreated to the bar to watch another stage of the Vuelta. After yesterday’s rest day today’s stage was the individual time trial, and the order of the top contenders has changed.

Pasta dinner with the sauce was delicious and afterwards we went for a nice walk to the ocean, even going down to the beach. Colin took his sandals off and actually waded in but I chose to stay on a rock and just enjoy the view

When we returned to the campground and I was just turning in inside my tent I asked Colin what time it was and he was very surprised when he went to look at his watch – it wasn’t there. Realizing it must have come off during our walk he retraced our steps and actually had no problem finding it just sitting there on the grass. In any case it wasn’t his Rolex but only an Omega – ha ha.

After another good sleep in the tent I woke to a beautiful blue sky with a nice breeze. We took another nice bike ride into Foz, where we dismounted and walked our bikes along the seaside.

It’s a working port, with lots of little fishing boats, etc.

There are also many interesting sculptures in small parks, as well as some wall murals. After exploring a bit we decided to stop for lunch at one of the many restaurants.

The first one we stopped at only served tapas and they had no menu so we went next door – it was a good choice. Colin ordered the sardines and I got the scallops – they brought the sardines first, possibly as a first course for both of us. I did try a bit and it was very tasty.

Then my scallops arrived, and I have to say they might be the best scallops I’ve ever had. They were served in their shells and had been seared perfectly. Washed down with a lovely glass of Rioja it was an extremely enjoyable lunch.

On our way back to the campground we stopped for a beverage at our favourite cafe, then continued back to the campground facing a bit of a headwind.

Having had such a lovely, slightly late lunch we didn’t do much for dinner, and afterwards took another nice walk to the ocean.

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