I wake to the sound of Erica, Pablo and Chica purring at the foot of our bed, the smell of bread baking in the kitchen. A warm breeze floats in from the balcony and I rise to prepare a cafetiere of coffee and bash some eggs around in a pan. Rosana checks on our limonero (lemon tree) and yelps with joy as she discovers the beginnings of our first lemons. “It’s like a miracle!”

Ben preparing to cruise the boardwalk

The “Let’s go to the beach!” moment

Once the caffeine has revived us, we kiss our cats goodbye for the day, smear on a layer of suncream that smells like coconut and childhood memories and head out into the street. Rosana’s on her bike, I’m on my longboard.

We roll past the bakery and the Ethiopian restaurant next door, past the bodega where we only go to drink but not to eat because the camerero has the hands of a coal miner. Read the rest of this article…