Mostly Spain 2023 - Market Day

 One of the frustrations when moving around a lot while traveling is the impracticality of actually shopping and and using all the lovely food you see at markets around the world. One of the nice things about a long stay, is the opposite. You can actually buy stuff and have enough time to cook it! And we all know that de-I loves to cook!

So today is market day in El Camello and off we went to see what was there. I wanted to be careful to not purchase too much. But once I got there and saw how lovely everything was, that went right out the window. And it was all so beautiful that it inspired photos as well!

We begin...with something that has nothing at all to do with Markets

NOW. On into the Market

So what does our Market have to offer?

Melons

Tomatoes

Potatoes and Onions

Candid Shots

Leeks

Carrots

Espouses Fotograficus 

Celery

And Nuts

Mostly Spain 2023 - Another Day Of Classic Spanish Dining

 I know this is yet another example of how Wife and I are continuing victims of incremental decision-making. I swear we don't set out to see our days spiral out-of-control. Yet, we do so with such regularity that I feel we are the co-dependents in an abusive relationship. 

Today we were going to take a 'short walk' to see a part of the waterfront we'd not gotten to. Then we were going to come back and go to what was allegedly the public fish auction (remember the sign in yesterday's post?) to buy fish to make for lunch. 

The walk was fine. We didn't even bring our cameras because we were planning to go out for evening light. It was a bit longer than we thought. On the way back, we stopped numerous times because we were shopping for particular clothing items. If you know shopping, that adds time on your feet. We stopped at a cafe and had a drink. That led to a delightful conversation with a British couple who have been expats in the Alicante area for many years. They gave us some excellent insights for our own thought process. 

Then, we finally moved on to the fish market...that was completely empty. Well that's a fine kettle of fish. Or rather that's not any fish for the kettle, pan, or any cooking vessel. Well what next? It is getting late and we are tired and hungry. We'd passed a place with roast chicken a number of times. So we went there. Which required back tracking quite a way. 

We asked if they had a whole chicken. They said, "Sure. If you had been here in the first hour we were open. We pretty much sell out by then. Do you want anything else?" There were many other things but nothing that was appealing in our hunger crab muddled minds.

So what next? There is a Chinese restaurant right by the entrance to our apartment complex. And it is always filled...a very good sign. We just want something safe and fast. So Chinese it is. We had Spring Rolls, Peking Duck (not really authentic but good enough) and fried noodles. 

You can't get any more Spanish than this.

Mostly Spain 2023 - Evening Walk Photography

Our whole life pattern changes when Wife and I are on the Mediterranean. We stay up much later and get up much later. One thing is for photography the evening light is best and the sun doesn't set until 7:30/8:00pm. This was our first evening shoot of this trip.

 Patterns

Reflections

 Views of an Old Tower

 

 

 

Woman contemplating the Tower

 The Cat

The view North toward Benimdorn

Statue Honoring Quality Screen Time

BEHOLD!

SIGNS OF THE WORLD

 Fish Auction open to public specializing in very happy fish (clearly sold a bill of goods since they are going to be eaten and who would be happy about being eaten?)

 From the upper left corner going clockwise

No committing ritual suicide and throwing your guts into the water!

No fishing for the guts of the ritual suiciders!

No swimming through wavy lines!

No crashing your freaking big ass boat into our land!

 

 Do not run like a maniac when dashing yourself on the rocks below. Please do it with respect and decorum.

Feet Forbidden. Walk on your Hands.



 

Mostly Spain 2023 - Getting Settled In El Campello

 Hola from El Campello, Spain (pronounced Camp Ai Yo). 

 

This is a former fishing port turned beach town just to the north of Alicante in the Valencia province of Spain. We are still on our mission to find a place where we would be comfortable staying for long periods of time. 

 

From our experiment in Cefalú, Sicily, we know we want to be on the coast, where we can see and hear the water. We want to be in a place where we can walk to stores, shops, and restaurants. We want to have public transportation available to us and have access to trains and planes. 

No matter where we go when we travel, we spend the first few days trying to make the place 'ours'. By that I mean we try to figure out it's individuality, determine how we are going to fit into that reality, and then come up with our own particular pattern where we enjoy our life in that new culture. So far here in El Campello, it is all going very smoothly. 

In the two days we've been here, we've found the two supermarkets in walking distance and cataloged what they have in each. We've found a hardware store where we bought a rubber mat for the shower as it was slippery and dangerous. We found a sporting goods store to get a yoga mat. The city is pretty cosmopolitan. We've found Donner Kebob, Chinese, Italian, Indian, not to mention all the Spanish places. We have two Rotisserie Chicken places in walking distance. Gelato places, tapas bars, burger joints, all very close. We found the tram to take us into the city or further up the coast. 

We are just starting figuring out the photography pattern. That will be revealed in future posts. The apartment itself has the primary benefit of the view and the ability to be open air and let in the sound of the ocean and the breeze. We are at a perfect time of the year when things are just warming up but there really are not many people. 

Here are some pictures I took early this morning from our apartment. 

Wife working diligently at something at her digital nomad location in El Campello

For our first dining out experience in El Campello we HAD TO DO SOMETHING TOTALLY AND TRADITIONALLY SPANISH

Or maybe not. Maybe it was something totally and traditionally de-I and Wife...as in we will get Donner Kebob wherever we can find it!

Mostly Spain 2023 - Arrival

 I write to you from our home for the next month El Campello, Spain. El Campello is a town just north of the city of Alicante on the Mediterranean Coast halfway between Barcelona and Malaga. This is an area we are exploring specifically as a potential longer-term stay locale. We will get more into that in further posts. 

Getting to our destination was its usual set of challenges.

The actual flight from Albuquerque to Madrid was uneventful. Madrid's International Airport was packed, plus is is quite large. But that is not atypical of any large international destination. Let's just say it was the typical Airport World experience (long-term readers will remember my observation that ALL international airports are pretty much the same and make up their own unique ecosystem.)

We were staying in a Marriott Hotel overnight before picking up a rental car and driving to El Campello. The room was nice with nice soft American style beds. We had a disaster of a meal at the hotel restaurant when the waiter totally failed to put in Wife's order. Then there was a shift change. I get all my food. She goes foodless. She is tired and hungry. Finally they get the food to her. In between there were a few other acts of disrespect. She lost it. Good for her. One should not just be a victim. But we were both in a pretty poor mood so sleeping wasn't that great. Not to mention, we don't do well sleeping together because of my snoring and other sleep habit differences. Let's just say we were both tired and crabby in the morning.

I will say that the breakfast buffet at the Marriott was over the top. I joked with Wife that we should have come at 6am and stayed until it closed at 10:30am so we could gradually try everything. They had all you can eat jamon iberico (super expensive cured ham). They were charging the same price at the restaurant for a small plate of this stuff as we paid for the whole buffet per person.

Then off to the airport to get our rental car. We wait in line for the agent to get off the phone for about 15 minutes. Then she tells us our contract is already and to go out to the parking. Of course the car we are assigned has an electrical issue and won't start. (This determined with the attendant at the lot who only speaks Spanish). We are assigned a new car, a larger version of a Mini-Cooper. This had a really bizarre (to me) control panel. Of course, the language was in Spanish which took us a while to figure out how to change. Plus, I couldn't figure out how to get my phone holding attachment on the windshield so I could see the phone for GPS purposes. And, of course, the audio instructions are still not working with Google Maps off my phone, a problem I've had for some time and have not been able to resolve. So Wife is trying to read off the instructions which is hard because she can't actually see and read the phone screen map too well. 

Nonetheless, we do make it out of Madrid. At our first rest stop, I change the location of the holder so I can see it which helps a lot. We make it to our destination without further problem. The apartment (as you will see below) is really beautiful. Exactly what we were looking for. There are some issues but i will save that for a next post. 

We took a quick drive to a supermarket and experienced the quintessential European underground parking experience. Wife and I are always so upset with ourselves that we don't video these experiences where you are making a 32 point turn to try to get out of the parking space and work your way round and round the narrow road up (or down) to get in and out of the garage. 

On the other hand, we bought a ton of groceries including a lot of alcohol and only paid $130! We had French picnic for dinner and collapsed. 

But this morning, I was up as the light was rising and saw why we have made all this effort.

And the good part of our hotel meal, mine. A nice soup/stew of beans plus vegetables and some off the chart croquettas that were incredibly delicately fried and smooth on the inside.

Welcome to "Mostly Spain 2023"

Eldership series fans rejoice. The latest adventures of Wife and de-I, commander and crew (alternating daily) of the Eldership and its mission to keep traveling despite the aches and pains of increasing age is about to launch its latest chapter. 

We leave this afternoon for Spain. As in our recent trips to Sicily and Malaysia, we are still seeking out a locale to set up as an Eldership colony. This trip we are checking out Alicante, Spain. But in true Eldership fashion, we needed to fit in a jog up to Copenhagen, a return to Spain a bit north of Alicante, and finish with a week in the St. Pete Beach area of Florida (more on all that later).

So prepare for the posts explosion and add memory on your devices for the photo onslaught!