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Published: September 19th 2018
The Energy Observer
As you can see this is a very nice boat. Kathy asked how much it would cost for us to buy the boat, but neither one of us can count that high in Spanish...yet.Aug 19
th to Sept 19
th: We have vacated the AirB&B and now we are full time in the apartment. Every day we walk to the grocery store which is about 2 km away and the dollar store. The dollar store is the local cheapo place to buy housewares. We now have a good portion of cheap plastics, tools, and cleaners. We don’t expect this stuff to last long but then again, we don’t need them long. I cleaned the patio area and now we have a set of chairs and a table where we have been breakfasting (Is that a word?) for the past week. We have eaten out lunch and dinner only a couple of times since we moved. We are getting into a routine….finally.
Kathy is still working on getting internet and every other day we are at Vodafone visiting our friends there to grovel and beg. I think that we might have internet soon because, although they were originally fascinated by us, they now run for cover when they see us coming. I don’t know about Kathy but I find it more and more difficult to get things done when you don’t speak the language. For example,
Kathy by The Energy Observer
Kathy wanted to get on the boat but I told her the captain had to invite her on. She walked all over the boat looking for the captain. Just kidding. They wouldn't let anyone on this boat.
we were in the checkout line after a hard day of grocery shopping and the checkout clerk says, “Quieres comprar una bolsa para tus compras?” Now regardless of how fast you might say this sentence, you are only speaking about ¼ of the speed she spoke. So when we hear the word ‘bolsa’ our stock answer is “No.” Then she said something else. We looked at each other and Kathy finally says “Si.” The next thing we know, we are walking home with a melon. We had no idea what we paid for this thing and no idea what it was. Later that day, Kathy cut it up and we had a taste. Whatever we paid for that thing, it was worth every euro. It was delicious. Turns out it was a Piel de Sapo or Santa Claus melon. So anytime someone says, “blah, blah, blah, quieres una Piel de Sapo?” the correct response is “Si.”
Monday, Aug 4
th, we visited the Energy Observer at the Valencia harbor. It was docked in Valencia for a few days taking on wine…just kidding. This is a modern ship powered only by what it produces. If I was built like that, I
The Energy Observer
The technology on this boat was impressive. would still be on the couch. It produces its own energy through solar, wind, and hydrogen fuel cells. It is a big ship of about 30.5 meters in length and 12.8 meters abreast. A very impressive (forgive me Roger) boat. I would suggest a search on the internet for more information.
From Sept 9
th to the 12
th we had guests. This was somewhat of a trial run for our future quests. For those visiting in the future, you can thank Kathi and Steve for being our guinea pigs. Except for the shower curtain in the guest bath, everything seemed to go well. Kathi and Steve I am sure will chime in on a comment if it didn’t. We all toured Valencia for 3 days and then traveled to Barcelona for another 3 days. As most of you remember, I get one beer for every 5 miles I walk. I do remember that I negotiated that down to 5 kms at one point, but who’s counting. I couldn’t possibly drink that much beer. We walked, and walked, and walked for six days. I don’t mind walking at all. After all, I do have to maintain my girlish figure, but I
L'Agora
This building is part of the City of Arts and Sciences. It is a covered plaza where concerts and sporting events are held. It is either being refurbished or completed; I don't know which. If you can look closely at the building, you can see workers hanging from ropes. think that I am looking a little anorexic. The four of us toured all of our haunts in Valencia including Canalla Bistro, old town (El Carman), City of Sciences, the Turia River walk, the financial district, the shopping district, city hall, the post office, and at least 5 El Corte Ingles locations. We love El Corte Ingles….almost as much as the cheapo store. I think the only place that we didn’t tour was IKEA. Well, there is always next time.
After arriving In Barcelona by train on Wednesday evening, we walked a short distance to the harbor for a wonderful dinner at the Restaurant La Tagliatella just before being drenched by a vicious rain storm. We tried to out run the rain but we gave up after about 10 minutes and just walked back to our apartment. We dried out and cleaned up before settling down for some Spanish TV. I do wish I knew what these people were saying.
Thursday morning, we visited the Parc Guell, which was designed and partially built by Antoni Guadi. Located on one of the high points of Barcelona, the park had some wonderful Guadi architecture and great views of the city
Neptune by Marta S. Gufstasson
This sculpture is located in Valencia City of Arts and Sciences itself. The walk up is so steep, that there are a number of outdoor escalators to take visitors to the top. Unfortunately, not all of them are in working order. After Parc Guell, we walked to Plaza de Catalunya and found our way along The Rambla, one of Barcelona’s most famous shopping areas. I do have to admit, it looked a lot like a couple of our moving sales. I was impressed but I do think Kathy and I could give them some pointers.
Friday, Steve and Kathi had tickets to tour La Segrada Familia. Kathy and I had already been there so we had coffee and walked around in a local park. Afterwards, we headed toward the harbor to have fish tacos at a restaurant that Kathy and I found on our last Barcelona trip. Now I am a “Fish Taco” aficionada having savored this delicacy all over the U.S. including Old Town in San Diego CA with my buddy Kevin, Roberto’s and Rubio’s in Las Vegas, and many places in between the West and East Coast of the U.S. The fish tacos at this little restaurant were the best I have ever had bar none. So I
El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia
The "Opera House and Center of Performing Arts" is located in the City of Arts and Sciences. It is dedicated to music and scenic arts and contains four sections; the main hall, the master hall, the auditorium, and the Martin y Soler theatre. We have yet to go into this building but its just a matter of time. bragged and bragged and bragged some more about how good they were. We must have walked 3 miles to savor these wonderful tacos. When we arrived, I was told they no longer served the fish tacos….WHAT???? It reminded me of a trip I took to a steakhouse in CA…Roger!!!! That is another story I will have to tell later. How embarrassing. Well, the food was still good. We finished the day with a trip to the harbor and a bus trip to Plaza de Espana, where we went to the top of Arenas de Barcelona for a view of the city again. After dinner at a side walk café, we packed for the trip home.
The next day, we headed home. Kathy and I had a pleasant and uneventful train ride home. It feels nice to get to our apartment and feel like it is home.
On Monday, we got our internet and cable TV installed. We don’t watch much TV so we were not really interested but they gave us the cable free for a year….what the ###. We’ll take it.
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Beth
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Excellent blog!
What a nice read. Thank you for putting so much wonderful information in your updates! Really enjoyed the pictures... reminded me if the trip I took thete with Kathy. Have you been to Montserrat yet? Thank you for sharing Russ!!