Not even pálinka (schnaps) helps

I had a terrible night, waking up countless times. Not because of yesterday's defeat, but because of the "D'Arcy cold." I couldn't breathe. Looking at it from this perspective, it's a good thing I woke up! What's difficult to get used to here is that houses generally don't have heating. Every room has an inverter air conditioner, which is used for heating in winter. It's doesn't have that cozy feeling that central heating or a heat pump provides. I try not to be a wimp, but this cold isn't helping. I feel a little sorry for myself.

At 7 AM, I let the dogs out, made myself some chamomile tea, fed the furry ones, then crawled back into bed and only got up until 1:30 PM when I absolutely had to.

The dogs sympathized with me and rested around me without whining. Around noon, D'Arcy was kind enough to take them out for a nice walk. Since I got the germs from him, that's the least he could do, right? He is a sweetie, that's the truth.

In the afternoon, I got myself together and took the dogs for a thirty-minute walk in the woods. I don't have much to write about today. Sneezing, blowing my nose, hot tea, NeoCitran, a sip or two of David's Irsai Olivér's pálinka. At home, pálinka is a universal "cure" for everything: toothache, nausea or a full stomach, colds (or to prevent them), backache, sore feet, broken bones - for internal use only. But here, I feel like it's not working on my cold. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." I'll ask a Portuguese person  what works for them.

The others left at half past four to go for a walk in Tavira and have dinner. They invited me too, but they also understood when I told them that I didn't think it was a good idea at the moment. They had booked a table for half past seven, so I didn't expect to see them before ten o'clock. However, I was so tired at half past eight that I let the dogs out and thought I would go to bed. Then Ingrid and the others showed up, saying that there had been room at the restaurant at half past six and they had dinner then. Well, in that case, we couldn't go to bed without playing a few games. We played Rummy Cub and I FINALLY WON a round! I even danced around the table. After that, we talked for a long time, so the planned 8:30 PM curfew turned into 11:15 PM. I struggled for air in bed for about forty minutes, then managed to fall asleep — and luckily, I also woke up in the morning.