Antonio, we did indeed complete our run on Monday as promised.
Andy SP, Nigel and myself went back to the Club del Mar and ran East along the seafront for 2.5 kilometres. We started around 10:30 am. The weather was lovely, sun shining, a light cool breeze blowing from the West. One or two local people shared the morning, jogging along with us.
Andy SP took some photos - I expect he will post these when he has caught up on his work. We spoke of your kind hospitality and dedicated our modest run in your name. At the end of the boulevard (just before the roadworks) we stopped to look back at Almeria and to the mountains beyond. We met a local couple, also out for a recovery run after the race on Sunday. The lady had finished in 1:42, a very good time. The man did not fare so well, having damaged his leg in the final kilometre and taken 5 minutes to complete the last 600 metres around the stadium.
We set off back towards the City at a very easy pace, watching people exercise their dogs on the sand. Just before the Club del Mar we noticed a nice looking cafe. We stopped and ordered coffee, enjoying the sunshine and (for us) a beautiful, warm January morning. SP ran to the sea and dipped his toes in the water . . . and came back very quickly, complaining that the Mediterranean was as cold as the English Channel. Ha!
Afterwards we strolled up the Rambla (of course I wanted to run but my colleagues threatened to throw me into the sea, so we walked) to join Suzie Q for a beautiful lunch at the street cafe near our hotel (just up the street from Gladys Bar). The waiter, an Egyptian gentleman, suggested a seafood platter - and what a fine suggestion this turned out to be! Baby squid, calamari rings, baby snapper, whelks, whitebait (the small fried fish that you told me about on Saturday night), Hake, Melutha and more. Quite the perfect end to our wonderful weekend in Almeria.
We did go to Molly Malones on Sunday evening. I insisted that we go to drink Guinness there, but when we entered we found very loud disco music playing, and we could not speak to each other. So, following my Guinness nose, I searched for another place. We walked across the Rambla and found the Automotiv Club, a small Bistro, that by happy chance also sold Guinness
The atmosphere was much calmer, and we settled down for a few glasses followed by a bottle of fine Rioja and some Tapas, talking about running, movies, music and books, until one by one we succumbed to the rigours of the long, exciting day.
Later, after saying goodnight to Nigel, Suzie, Andy and M, Andy SP and I returned to Molly Malones. It was much quieter, so we spent several hours conducting vital research into the quality of the Guinness there.
I must say the Guinness in Molly's was superior by some margin
Almería half marathon. 30th January 2006
