Keeping our cool - by Theo

Ever since we arrived back in Madrid on Thursday we've been trying to keep our cool.

Well, it's 35 degrees out there, from about 11 until 11, not a cloud in the sky and we've only got a tiny air conditioning unit in the sitting room. We've also got ceiling fans in the sitting room and bedroom, and small portable fan, but they don't bring the temperature down (in fact the small fan gives off heat!) So we've had to come up with other methods to make the interior of the flat liveable.

The most obvious is judicious use of windows, shutters, blinds and awnings. At least one advantage of Rosie waking us up at 7pm is that we can at least enjoy a few hours with the windows wide open to catch the cool early morning breezes. This is when I've been doing all the cooking for the day, before the kitchen becomes a sauna. Then the shutters and awning come down to stop the sun hitting the glass, then finally the windows close at 10.30ish as the air outside increases in temperature. Time to bring out the home made air conditioning.

We've been freezing large tupperware containers of water and placing them, open, in front of the small fan so the air chills as it blows over the melting ice. Then, following a tip from my parents' Sudan days, we stand frozen bottles of water in buckets of cold water and cover the bottles with socks. Not sure of the physics here (an inverse convection current?) but it does seem to work. Finally, generous servings of iced smoothies throughout the day have been keeping us sane. Anyone else got any tips?

I'm a bit chilly... open the window!

After a rather playful debate between our three flatmates - Jorge, Pete and Alex - the air-conditioning has gone on in our flat. Alex, who pays the bills, wanted it set at 27C, while English Pete was lobbying for 22. I think they settled at 24 in the end.

To be honest Kate and I hadn't been that bothered by the heat. True we had been sleeping on top of the covers, but I think after spending last summer sleeping in 38 degree heat in Sheena, our campervan/solar oven, we've become somewhat inured to warm, windless nights. In fact for us, it's a bit too cold tonight and we've actually opened the window to let a bit of heat back in. Pete, meanwhile, after 4 years in Spain clearly hasn't acclimatised and sleeps with what sounds like a jet engine fanning his room.