I had never started a Christmas Day with a swim in the Pacific Ocean, until today. Warm water, big waves, hot sun, pelicans gliding by just inches from the surface. What an experience! We had a coffee in a little bar to get us prepared, but in the end the sea was just so pleasant I didn't need any stimulants to go in.
We walked back up the hill and had our Christmas FaceTime sessions with M&D and P&N at Mart's, and with J&G in Lanzarote. The Leigh-on-Sea crowd were sitting round the fire, snacking and recovering from their enormous turkey dinner; J&G were in their apartment because it was too hot outside! It's a weird world sometimes.
Christmas dinner for us was at 2pm at the River Cafe, on the little island in the middle of the river Cuale. We had a table on a kind of platform over the river, with white drapes hanging from a wooden gazebo affair. Palm trees within touching distance and the river flowing by the side of us. After some guacamole and two whopping Margheritas we were slightly dazed by the 'other worldliness' of it all, and after a wonderful meal my delightful companion and I decided that it would be wise to take an espresso and a walk along the promenade, just to bring us back down to earth. The wind was stronger now, but the cooling breeze wasn't enough to ease the long walk back up the hill.
Alexis has gone for a siesta, while I'm lying on the sofa looking out onto the ocean, with some James Taylor playing in the background.
I suspect that when she wakes up we'll head off for another stroll, to watch the sunset down on the beach.
Merry Christmas, one and all.
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