Moraira is the nearest coastal town from where I’m staying, about a 10-15 minute drive away. It’s an upmarket town on the north-eastern tip of the Costa Blanca and is free of some of the massively tall buildings seen elsewhere here. It was formerly a fishing village and is pretty. I like it. There are nice restaurants and bijou shops. I go there often when staying with Linda and George, sometimes for just a morning coffee and other times for a meal. Last night we went down early evening and visited Cava bar for an aperitif before eating.

Linda and I thought the name the perfect excuse for a glass of fizz – cava, of course!

Some people were sitting at tables eating but we settled on small sofas to have just a drink. Afterwards we moved on to Enzo’s where Linda had reserved a table.

It was very busy but Enzo himself (actually a Dutchman named Sven) showed us to our table, recognising Linda and George as two of his regular locals. We ordered main courses and a bottle of Tempranillo red wine. Linda had a tuna dish while George and I ordered steak, which came with some garlic mash and salad.

The steak was more well done than the ‘medium-rare’ I’d ordered but very tender and delicious. The waiter offered to change it but I didn’t want to wait and it turned out OK as the quality of the meat was so good. Linda and I decided to share a dessert – a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream.

It was very good; a wonderfully runny chocolate middle to the fondant. Afterwards we walked down to the beach where some kind of festival – for St Juan – was going on. Some friends of Linda and George were picnicking there but the chances of finding them were slim so we just headed home as it was by this time nearly midnight.

We woke to the – for me – shocking and upsetting news that the UK had voted to leave the EU. I am personally appalled by this and by the rise of more rightwing politicians but I can only hope that it will work out OK. But there’s little doubt it will take a long time for things to settle.

Meanwhile in Spain, the weather remains glorious and Linda and I headed back to Moraira this morning. There was the weekly market but this is mainly hardware and clothes rather than food so we didn’t hang around there. Linda suggested going to a new favourite cafe of hers, Arte Sano, for coffee.

It was actually late for coffee, almost lunchtime, which made it all the harder to resist their wonderful homemade cakes. We didn’t resist. We indulged. Linda had a delicious apple and spice cake while I chose a carrot cupcake to go with my cortado.

It was beautifully presented and one of the best carrot cakes I’ve had. Most people were sitting in the covered terrace but we went down into the basement area to pay and for Linda to show me their gallery, full of paintings by local artists.

Linda said the name – Arte Sano – was a play on the word ‘artisan’ and ‘arte’ for health and ‘sano’ for health.

We went on to look in some of the shops and I bought some long cotton trousers to hopefully protect me from the midges and mosquitoes at night – I’ve been bitten more than ever before, despite spraying some anti-mosquito stuff on each evening. Then we went to say hello to the lovely Rita again in Hendrika & Co, having more time than on Monday.

I love Rita’s shop and it’s probably as well that it’s too far for me to drive to Linda and George’s because if I had a car here, I’d want to buy up more of her antique and vintage things for my home. The style typical of Rita’s Dutch home city, Amsterdam, shines through. Lots of things are quirky and unusual, which I love.

We headed home for what turned out to be a very late lunch. It was as well we’d had that cake! But meals are typically late in Spain – and on holiday, that can work out well because who wants to rush on holiday and in the heat?