So in the last blog on the topic of dealing with the heat in Spain (and many people love the Spanish heat as I said before Spain is a heat lovers paradise ) I discussed some tips for dealing with the heat during the day but what about at night when we ant to sleep?

Well here are some tips on just that 

• ​Just before you go to bed have a cool shower to cool down and don't get fully dry leave your self a slight bit damp
• Put a bottle of frozen ice under your pillow in a position where it will cool you and the pillow but not be a hard lump don't worry about any wetness thou as after all you will wake up in the morning with a damp pillow from sweat if you didn't do it (may or may not last all night but as long as it cools you enough to sleep that is what counts )(I have used this one myself quite a few times and a two litre soft drinks bottle is a good size i found  )

Would love to hear what you find helps some people have a glass of water beside their beds for example so add your tips in the comment section 
​

So as we all know I am sure Spain gets hot in the Summer in fact some regions can hit at times mid 40's in the height of summer , but the coast is cooler at often mid 30's (Speaking of med coast )
Either way Spain is a heat lovers paradise

And something people sometimes say is oh it would be to hot for me Spain in the summer I don't do heat, well I use to be the same as in struggle in the heat 

But rest assure there are ways to survive and love the Spanish heat (beyond putting up with it and getting use to it and finding you know think 20 c in summer is cold ) (a few hopefully helpful and easy hints and tips for you )

• Drink lots of liquid 
• Keep cold water in your fridge 
• Keep ice so you can put ice in your drinks (if you want to)
• Love coffee or Tea or other hot drinks ? don't worry enjoy them as you feel like they can as strange as it sounds help cool you down something to do with they raise the core temperature or something along those lines ) (but remember Coffee and the likes are not the best source of hydration ) (in fact in mass they can as can any high caffeine drink dehydrate you ) 
• Avoid the heat of the day which is 2pm - 5pm in Spain which is often also siesta time 
• Keep your shutters closed when your out it keeps the place cooler 
• Have windows open (don't worry about the insects most Spanish homes have bug screens ) and the reason that Spanish homes have those metal bars is so windows can be left open when your out or at night 
• Might just be me this one have showers not baths as they cool you down (cool showers that is
• Got a pool why not have a dip 
• Don't forget the Sun is Spain is strong your skin will take time to get use to it so use sun screen 
• Wear sunglasses when out 
• And a hat (Even if you have been in Spain years still wear a hat even plenty of the Spanish will wear hats )
• keep a cloth or something you can wear and soak in water to act as a cooling device if outside for long periods of times (some say scarf ) I personal wet my hat so that it also drips cool water onto the face slowly (And as a scarf can be worn on the neck it has the benefit of when wet been in contact with a point on the neck that I am advised help cool the whole body and the neck is a part of us that can burn very easy in the sun as well so there is that advantage to )
• Wear light weight cloths 
• Know the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion so you can avoid them happening as it can be easy to over do it in the Spanish sun if your not use to it (and even then there is a reason the Spanish don't do much physical work between 2-5pm)

Is it a cloudy but warm day (yes they do happen in Spain ) well remember that the sun is still strong and those Uv rays are still getting though so you will still burn if you don't take precautions 
Same can be said if there is a cooling breeze 
Know other tips add them in the comments as these are just a few i have found that help/work for me 
I will cover sleeping at night tips at a later point 

some tips added/expanded via a chat on twitter and comparing my tips for ones I do but had over looked on https://www.piccavey.com/tips-heat-spanish-sun/

A  bonus tip 
Keeping your pets cool in Spain 
*do not put an ice cube in their water dish as this in fact has the opposite effect as a dogs body will naturally heat up to deal with the cold ice water 
So use water at its room temperature 

Important moving tip always be sure to check the movers Feedback 

It is also a good idea to check the movers Terms and conditions 

What are the joys of Spain ? while everyone's list will be slight or in some case vastly different I am sure that many of the things i am going to mention will be on most peoples lists 

Joys of Spain 

• The great weather, and with many regions of Spain averaging upwards of 320 days of Sunshine an year and hot summers and mild winters this is often high up the list (yes Spain get Snow and yes there are areas of Spain with cooler and even cold winters and hot summers so the weather seems to cater for most tastes in that regard here in Spain ) 
• Culture, there is just to much to say on this to know where to start to do it justice, nut one thing which I think can be said in this section is often the Spanish people are very laid back and relaxed as , i am sure you will have noticed or heard said many times the pace of life in Spain is different to the UK 
• History , Well Spain has a very long history going back many many many years , with Roman history, for example in places like Cartagena OR Tossa de Mar to name just 2 places with Roman remains and lets not forget the Moors they had a big impact on Spanish history with many a modern day Spanish town and city tracing their roots back to been founded by the mores including Almeria , Albox ,Turre 
• Food , Tapas , Piella need I say ,more (I intend to expand this one into a blog of its own so watch this space)
• The people 
• The festivals ,One festival of many worth mentioning is the Moors v Christian festivals which regions and towns with a history in that conflict (which was a very long winded and long conflict ) have festivals to mark that aspect of their history each year,. there are many many more festivals worth a mention but this blog/article would never end but will will mention a few more in general. Spain Does Easter big time with many festivals and parades to mark each point of Easter. And lets not forget one of my favourite festivals the 3 kings parade which happens on 3 kings eve and is the last part of the Spanish Christmas. And in general the festivals are bright colourful and lively 
• Cost of living which are often lower than in many other European countries 
• Property cost  and as with the cost of living your money often go so much further when it comes to buying or renting property in Spain plus many homes and Villas have a pool in Spain 

So no the existence of the Siesta itself is not a myth how ever that doesn't mean there are not myths and misconceptions regarding it  
Well since publishing the last part of this series, on Spanish Myths people have on twitter have passed comments that have lead me to expand on the seista blog
So here it is 

*Well As said in the previous one, Seista is not all over Spain as it use to be , well some one ask why is that well , I can not of course be 100% certain but there seems to be two reason 
Tradition some places and people like the tradition of the Seista (after all as often said Spain has a different pace of life ) 
And well the weather is the over factor, what do I,mean well simply put the further south you go in Spain the hotter it gets , And as you can work out I am sure, it is very hard to work in the extreme temperatures at the height of the day so many roles and jobs in these regions will therefore for practical reasons seista 

And will Seista means nap in Spanish, that doesn't mean everyone who has the seista off is asleep many people will and do treat it as a long afternoon break/lunch break 

It is worth noting that in towns and places where the seista is common that during the seista period these towns are very quite with not many people about and little traffic, compared to to the times outside of seista 

Yes there will I am sure be other reason why places/poeple do and do not seista that I haven't covered 

​Latest update on this trip
The #Van has crossed the border and is back in #Spain and on route back towards base