Mostly Spain 2023 - Misc In El Campello

 The rains were upon us for a second straight day. This is good for the region as they have been in a terrible drought but not so good for Wife and I as we have been mostly stuck inside. But, we are supposed to be slowing down. 

The rain has come on and off in its intensity. It wasn't too bad mid-morning so we went back to the real estate office to get into a much deeper conversation with the agents. We had a lot of detailed questions concerning what we needed to do, what things would cost, what procedures/processes we needed to follow. They were very helpful. We also gave them better and broader criteria on what we would be looking for and the tradeoffs we are willing to consider. We will be crunching numbers over the next few days and will be giving them a go/no go decision next week before we leave.

After we were done at the real estate office, we stopped by a fish market to get some fish for dinner - but they were closed! So we doubled back to a supermarket that has a fish department. We had some other things we wanted to pick-up as well. In the interim, the rain started pouring again. We were in a quandary as to what to do. We waited in the supermarket entrance for about 10 minutes with no end to the rain in sight. Our decision-making was complicated by having bought some ice cream. So we decided to brave the rain and head for the apartment. 

Sadly, we did not account for El Campello not having any storm sewers (not unlike Albuquerque). As most of the town is uphill from the water, that means each street you cross (if you are going parallel to the water as we were walking) is a torrent. We did our best to pick our way across but it was impossible. Our feet and shoes got totally soaked. 

Unfortunately, I only have one pair of shoes when I travel. I was trying to figure out how I could get them dried. I thought I might put them in the oven. BAD DECISION. I totally forgot that shoes are mostly made by being molded and glued together. It doesn't take a whole lot of heat for them to basically 'unglue'. 

It was actually pretty funny. 

And it pointed out another great thing about El Campello and Spain. I went on line and found a shoe store only a couple of blocks away that was open. I used some indoor/outdoor footwear I use as slippers to walk to the store. They had some perfectly acceptable, name brand Puma shoes that fit fine. THEY WERE $43! And when I wore them all day today in city touring, they were more comfortable than the old ones (which truthfully were on their last legs)!

Here is another data point on the cost of living here. The shopping bill when we bought the fish? We bought 1.6 pounds of whole fish, a half a pound of coffee, a small box of ice cream on a stick, and two regular bags of snack foods. The total was $13.00. I don't know of anywhere in Albuquerque where I could even by the fish alone for that amount (considering the type and quality of the fish)!

 What do melted shoes actually look like?

In fact, these look much better than when they first came out of the oven as I tried to push them back together.

Walking the waterfront post-rainstorm (in new shoes)

From the on-going, World of the Fishing Port Series.

Drying out a Big Ass fishing net.

Lastly

SIGNS OF THE WORLD

Plains Native Americans Not Allowed

Barbecuing of People Prohibited 

(Thank God!)