Boardwalk

There is so much blip inspiration here -- I was really torn about which photo to blip today. I took this in the late afternoon, during a short but very bracing walk on the beach. The wind was strong enough to make you totter, and clouds of sand were blowing off the dunes, yet there was a kite surfer in the bay, swooping over the waves like a gull -- he or she must have been very skilled. I think this photo is maybe a wee bit overdone, but I felt it did the best job of conveying the wind, the clouds, and the wonderful light. Have a look large, it's worth it!

My nearly blip is much more minimalist -- I really liked it a lot, and S preferred it to this one. So here are Dune, and Dune mono.

We went to Deltebre this morning and visited the ecological museum, which is much larger and more comprehensive than we had expected when we were briefly there the other day (it also houses the tourist information office). We spent well over an hour there -- as well as a text-heavy exhibition about the geography, agriculture, flora and fauna of the delta, there were a couple of traditional huts housing agricultural and fishing implements, a pond with ducks on it, a very neat fruit and vegetable garden, and an aquarium. This last was not spectacular, but I always enjoy looking at aquariums.

Pausing only to get some restaurant recommendations from Carmen at the desk, we came out to find that the weather had changed completely -- the cold wind hurled rain into our faces, so we drove to her nearest recommendation. It was an odd kind of place: downstairs was a typically tatty Spanish bar. Upstairs was a very traditionally decorated restaurant where locals were eating menus del dia. But the waitress sized us up as tourists and led us out to a smartly minimalist glassed-in terrace wrapped around the building with a great view over the Ebro and its new bridge.

It was undoubtedly more expensive than the indoor restaurant, but we had the blackest arroz negro we've ever had, cooked to order. It was excellent. I couldn't help remembering the last time I ate arroz negro, with chaiselongue and LoJardinier in Sant Feliu de Guixols.