Flamingos!

We are going to try to do something different, to get to know a little more of Spain, every Sunday.  We picked Sunday because there will be less traffic.  Fortunately, this Sunday was a beautiful sunny day.
So we got in the car and drove to the Salt Lakes of Santa Pola.  They were very interesting  and have many places to stop along these lakes.   We picked two different places to stop at hoping to see some interesting birds and we saw flamingos, a Marsh Harrier, lots of gulls which were just too difficult to identify and several cranes and egrets.  We also saw huge mounds of salt that had been harvested.  We hope to go back one of these days, but there are other places to discover, too, so we'll see.

What weather today!

This morning, when we woke up around 8, it still looked like it was dark.  And then shortly after that, it started raining.  It pretty much rained all morning - sometimes quite hard.  In the afternoon, when it quit and was looking like it was going to clear a little, we went out to check for mail and to walk around a little bit.  We were surprised that it wasn't really cold outside, although it felt cold inside the house.  Some pictures we took as we walked around.  We like that mountain to the left in the first picture.  It reminds us of a volcano.

Those tall buildings in the distance are the city of Benidorm.

Beautiful plant growing at someone's house that looks like a trumpet flower.

Well, going for walks around here is not like the walks we took at the lake house.  We're not going to see any wildlife here, although we do see lots of sea birds flying high above.  But what we will see are nice views to the Mediterranean.
I'm writing this in the evening, and again, it is raining.  And quite hard!

Today we drove to a nearby town to check with the post office there about receiving packages in our mailbox that may be too big.  It was good to find out that we don't have to go far at all if and when something doesn't fit in our mailbox.  Then we drove around that little town a bit - the name of the town is Coveta Fuma and we came out at a Rice Restaurant that we had been wanting to try.  So, we had lunch there - roast potatoes with aeoli sauce and shrimp.  It was delicious!
The forecast was for a lot of rain today, but I washed this morning anyway, and it turned out ok.  The rains never came and the clothes dried just fine.  But again, this evening, it has been cool and rainy.

Big lesson #2

Beautiful cloudless cool but windy day today.  The storms from yesterday came with total clearing behind them.  
We had decided that we'd go eat breakfast at the closest restaurant to us, so we walked there this morning.  Ehh, the breakfast was ok.  One egg, one slice of bacon, one sausage, one little round of blood sausage (which I didn't eat - Guillermo to the rescue!), one tomato, some pork-and-bean type beans and toast.  The egg, tomato, toast and bacon were fine - the rest, well, not so much.  But we had wanted to try the place and we did.  So now we know.
After breakfast we walked over to the little grocery store to buy some bread and wine.  We placed one loaf of bread in a sleeve and were about to pay when I decided to go ahead and get another sleeve and get one more loaf of bread.  I placed this loaf in the sleeve and then lifted the sleeve up to make the bread go down into it and as I did, the bread went down and slid out the bottom of the sleeve onto the floor!!!  Guillermo was with the checkout guy waiting for me, and I picked up the loaf of bread and looked at them both with a look of, "What do I do now???"  I was floored when the check out guy said I could just put that loaf in with the other loaf we were buying.  What???  The thing was just on the floor!!!  But no matter - like it was no big deal, we placed that floor loaf in with the other loaf, paid and went on our way.
I'm pretty sure in the states they would have said, "Oh here,  give me that, I'll throw it away and you go get you another one".
At home, we took both loaves and scraped them off as best we could.  Still, the idea is not appealing at all.
Lesson learned?  When putting a loaf of bread in a sleeve, do it OVER the bread bin, not over the floor.  

Storms!

It seems like there have been several nights now where we see lightning at night.  Probably storms off the coast.  Last night we saw lightning again, and this time, instead of it going away, it got brighter and brighter and we actually started to hear thunder.  So, we got a good storm last night.  It was good to hear the thunder and the rain falling.  Today, the weather was cloudy all day and it rained on and off.  And the weather was a lot cooler. So, we didn't do our walk today, although we did go out earlier in the day when the weather was decent to check out another grocery store in El Campello.  We got a few things, but decided that we probably wouldn't be going back to that store.  We have found our favorite stores now and those are the ones we'll be shopping at.

Friday was a weird day around here as far as washing clothes go.  I started a load of towels and sheets in the morning, and by the time the washer was done (it takes two hours to wash a load!), the weather had started to change.  I hung the clothes up outside, but had to bring them in a little while later because it started to rain.  And that's how it went the rest of the day.  I'd hang them back up outside because it looked like the weather was getting better, but then I'd have to bring them in almost immediately because I could see drops falling.  That happened on and off four times.  It was crazy.  The clothes never did dry and they were hung up around the house overnight.  But we also found out today that it had rained a lot harder to the north of here, where there was an open-air market that was being held in a dry river bed.  Well, with the rain, the river started to run, and two people ended up being killed in that market.  So the troubles here at the house were nothing at all.

On Saturday, we decided to take the car out and check out two more grocery stores in El Campello.  By the time we finished doing that, it was lunch time, so we found a nice little cafe along the beach and had some good pizza there.  It was a lovely day to be sitting outside having lunch by the beach.

Today, Sunday, Guillermo and I headed out for our walk, but a neighbor that we had met saw us and invited us over for wine and beer so instead of doing something healthy, we sat and drank wine and beer!  We enjoyed the company, though, and it was good to spend some time getting to know the neighbors.

Pictures of the outside of this house

This is how it looks as the car pulls into the driveway.

Guillermo has already put in his garden.  It's a small one, but a garden nonetheless.

Taking care of his garden.

A picture of the car that we get to use.

There's plenty of places to eat outside.

This one is by the front door

A shot of the house.  To the left of the palm is our bedroom window, the small window is the bathroom window and the rounded thing is the front door.  The building behind the palm is someone else's house.

All of those pictures were taken yesterday.  It was sunny and hot and we spent a lot of time outside watering all the plants.  Today, when we got up, we saw that it had rained during the night and it rained pretty good during the day.   I washed clothes in the morning and hung them up, not knowing that the rest of the day was going to be cool, cloudy and rainy.  So they had to be brought in and hung up around the house.  That's how it goes!

Wednesday is market day here

Miguel and Eva had told us about the market that is held in downtown El Campello called "Mercadillo".  It sounded really interesting so we drove there in the morning.  We found our way there, got a decent parking place and walked over to the market.  Wow, it was amazing.  Stall after stall of fresh fruits and vegetables, a nice big stall of any and all kinds of olives and many stalls selling clothing and stuff like that.  We bought ourselves some slippers and I got a blouse (sleeveless because I didn't pack much hot weather stuff and it's been quite warm) and then we went back to the food market and loaded up on fruits, vegetables and olives.  We saw that everyone totes along a little suitcase type thing to carry all their purchases and we noticed when we got back home that there was one of those things in the garage so next week we're taking it!  It will make it a whole lot easier to carry everything.  I'll try to take some pictures of the market next week.

And I also learned today NOT to wash clothes on market day and not to start washing clothes after 1:30 because the washing machine takes at least an hour to do the clothes, if not longer.  Since there is no dryer here the clothes have to be hung outside and if they're hung up after 3:00, chances are towels, jeans, socks and stuff like that will not have time to dry.

Happy Birthday to Rebeca!

Sooo glad we got internet yesterday so that we could talk with Rebeca today.  We called her around 4:30pm our time, which for her would be the time that she is going to work.  We talked with her quite a while and we were happy about that, since we hadn't talked with her for over a week!

Today, Miguel and Eva (who own the house we are staying at in Spain) left for the States.  We went in their car with them to the airport and then Guillermo drove back to their house.  We tried to use the GPS to get us back, but I guess it was programmed wrong since it didn't come on until we were practically back home anyway.  Guillermo did a good job, though, finding his way back so it seems we really didn't need it.  So, now this house is all ours for the next two months or so.  And it's a very nice place and we think we'll be comfortable here.

Busy day in downtown Alicante

Today we all got up kind of early, had breakfast and then drove to Alicante to take care of some business.  First thing we did was go by Miguel's insurance place to get Guillermo put on his car insurance.  Then we went by the police station to see what could be done about our visas but they had no good news for us.  After that we went to a phone store and got a new Sim card for the phone Andrew lent us and we got a little USB modem for our computers so that we could have internet!  My goodness is was so good to have internet again!  Anyway, we did a lot of walking around downtown Alicante today!

After doing all that, we went to a tapas restaurant for lunch and then we drove to the big grocery chain around here called Carrefour.  We stocked up on lots of things and even though we were all pretty tired by now, we stopped at ANOTHER store for a few more things.

Storms around!

We got up, had breakfast and headed back to the walled old town section so that we could get some pictures - since we forgot the camera yesterday.  There was a mist in the air and as we walked around it got a little heavier.
Walking around in the old section right below the castle was interesting - narrow streets and lots of interesting balconies.

Hey, we could buy this one!  This place is for sale!

We made our way up to the castle and walked around in it.  It was very interesting.  Here Guillermo is going up some very tight steps.

Standing by the lighthouse

Peñiscola in the background

A nice view from up on top

The view from the castle looking in the other direction.

And from a slightly different angle.

It was very interesting in this town.  We left around 11am so that we could get to Miguel's house hopefully around 2, but after stopping for lunch, we ended up arriving at his house at around 3pm.  The GPS was fantastic, taking us practically to his front door.  It would have been somewhat difficult to find his place on our own.  So, Miguel's house is very nice and we think we are going to enjoy living here for a while.  The day we arrived and the next day, Sunday, we spent mainly doing things with Miguel and his wife Eva.  They showed us around El Campello, and on Sunday we drove to the seaside town of Benidorm.  That was nice - we went in the evening and walked along the sea wall with what seemed like thousands of other people.  Every meal at Miguel's house was great and always included a great bottle of wine!

We are in Spain

On Friday we drove on from Montelimar, France.  The country side started changing, looking a little more dry and with not so many trees.  It was still pretty, though, and once we got to Spain, we started seeing castles and look-outs on some of the hills in the distance.  It was so interesting and it made us think of what went on around there so many hundreds of years ago.  No highways, no easy way to communicate - that kind of stuff.  Here are a few pictures of some hills with lookouts.
This was the best picture I could get of a castle on a hill in the distance.

And here's one with a castle AND lookouts

There were lots of hills with these kinds of lookouts most of the way along the road.  Around 5pm, we decided we'd better start thinking about where we were going to spend the night.  Guillermo picked out a town along the beach that was coming up named Peñiscola that seemed a good stopping place so we pulled off the road when we got there and stopped at the first hotel that came up.  Although the place looked like it was going to be very expensive, it turned out to be very reasonable, so we gladly took a room there.  Then we decided to drive to the waterfront to walk around a bit and to find a place to have dinner.  Here is a picture of the castle of Peñiscola.

And this is where we had dinner in the evening, at one of the tables right on the edge so we could see the water.

Time to leave for Spain

WE got up really early this morning because we needed to be at the airport by 8 to pick up our rental car.  But it's a good thing we had to get up so early since it gave us a chance to see Martina before she left for work.  We said goodbye to her and a short while later, we hurried to the bus stop.  We took a bus all the way to the airport.  Andrew continued on the bus to where he works (he needed to drop something off there) and we went to the Europe Car rental car desk and took care of the paperwork for our car.

Andrew was soon back with us, the paperwork for the car went fast and we were on our way, using our new GPS, back to Andrew's apartment to pick up our luggage.  We said our goodbyes to Andrew and we were on our way.  It was sad leaving there as we had such a nice time with both of them.

Thank goodness for the GPS, it got us easily through the streets of Basel and out of the city.  Whew!  That was such a relief!  My goodness the country side was beautiful as we drove through Switzerland.  The mountains and the lakes and all the little villages nestled up on the mountain sides were just so picturesque.  Switzerland really is a beautiful country.  We stopped in the town of Orbe for lunch (way too expensive) and shortly after that we crossed into France.   By about 5pm we decided we should look for a hotel, so we got off the toll road at the town of Valance and TRIED to find a hotel there but we just couldn't.  We were glad we had the GPS because we ended up far from the highway down a little old country road and the GPS brought us easily back to the highway.  That was so nice!!!

So, we kept on driving some more once we were back on the highway and decided that the next time we stopped, it wouldn't be such a big city.  And sure enough, when we got to the outskirts of the town of Montelimar, there were hotels right there at the exit, so that turned out way easier.  After getting our room, we drove into Montelimar to get something to eat and we were dismayed to see a big old nuclear power plant on the lake nearby.  The town of Montelimar itself was kind of interesting - it seemed like an ancient city with lots and lots of Sycamore trees lining the downtown streets.  It was a very unique look.

New GPS!!

Today we finally bought a GPS!  We had gone to several electronics stores with Andrew looking at them, and today we finally bought one.  It should serve us well on our drive down to Spain.

So, that's the big thing we did today.  We also went downtown and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant called La Fonda - we went there to compare their food with what Andrew fixed for us the other night.  La Fonda's food certainly wasn't better than Andrew's, but we had to admit that what we ordered (Beef Taquitos, Enchiladas Verdes and Posole) was quite tasty.

Back at the apartment, we did a little packing up and learning how to program the GPS.  For dinner this evening, Andrew fixed a good fish (Pangasius) with spaghetti and broccoli.  I don't remember what the dessert was called, but it looked like spaghetti in a little crust.  It was absolutely delicious.

Monday then Today

We were SUPPOSED to go eat breakfast at a little bakery near Andrew's house but we got up too late.  That is, Guillermo and I got up too late - Andrew was already up waiting for us.  Oh well, as it turns out, when we headed to the airport to change our car rental reservation, we passed by the bakery and it was closed.  Anyway, after changing our reservation at the car rental place, we drove to the downtown area so that Andrew could go to the DMV to get a parking permit so he can park legally close to his house.  We found a parking space close to the DMV but it looked very iffy about being a place to park without getting a ticket.  We told him to go ahead and run inside and we'd move the car if a cop came.  We sat there nervously while he was gone but he came back not too long after saying that it's pure chaos inside the office because the machine that dispenses numbers for your turn was broken.  And with no one really knowing who was next, it was just a mess.  So, we sat there a while and debated the whole thing and after a while Andrew decided to park in a grocery store parking garage where we would have to pay, (but at least we knew we wouldn't get a ticket) and go back and give the DMV place another chance.  We walked with him over to the DMV and we were so pleasantly surprised to see the machine that dispenses numbers was now working.  His number came very quickly and before we knew it, we were out of there with a legal parking sticker (for his neighborhood) in his hand!  Success!

After checking out a nearby bookstore for maps we walked to this nice fountain area that had Tingley sculptures.

Then we drove over to Germany where we had lunch at a Turkish restaurant and then went to a store to buy a few items.  Afterwards we stopped in a cafe to have coffee.  We were enjoying our coffee when I happened to look at my watch and couldn't believe that it was already 5pm!  So we rushed out of there and headed home so that we could be there when Martina got there.   Once at home, we waited and waited for Martina to arrive and Andrew was just about to call her when either he or Guillermo noticed that it wasn't near 5pm at all, it was more like 3:30.  We all felt like we had just received 2 hours free!

When it was REALLY about 5pm, we drove over to pick Martina up from work.  Then we all went to pick up a few items from the grocery store and when we got back to the apartment, we were delighted to see there was a parking spot right by the apartment!!  Andrew took this picture to document the beauty of such a great parking spot!  His car is the black one behind the motorcycle.

For dinner, Andrew fixed lamb biriyani and it was absolutely delicious with Martina's Bowle drink!  Mmmmm!!

On Tuesday the 11th, we had a relaxing lazy morning.  We went by bus to several electronics stores looking for a GPS system to possibly buy.  Then we walked over to a kebab place for lunch - this little restaurant was on a pedestrian street and since the weather was so nice we were able to enjoy our lunch outside.  After eating, we slowly walked to the Rhein River where we waited for Martina to show up after getting off work. 

This is the statue we were standing next to.

When she arrived we went to a cafe along the river that had outside seating so of course we took a table outside.  It was a little cool but with our hot chocolates and coffee, it felt really nice.  

From there we walked to Münster Church and walked up the many many little tiny narrow steps of one of the spires.  Along the way, we were able to go outside the spire to see the view of the city and walk completely around it to get full views of the city.

Starting to get a good view...

Getting higher...

Later we took the bus back to the apartment to rest up a little bit.  At around 6:30, we took another bus back into town because we decided to have dinner out this evening.  Here we are walking to the restaurant.

Dinner at Schaeble's

After dinner, we walked back to the MarktPlatz to catch a tram back to the apartment, which let us off several blocks away so we had a nice walk before settling in for the evening.

Visiting Andrew's work place!

This morning some friends of Andrew and Martina came over for breakfast!  Guillermo fixed Huevos Rancheros and Andrew fixed pancakes.  It was nice meeting Sylvie and Peter and we had an enjoyable breakfast all together.  Here we all are after breakfast.

After breakfast, we all drove together to one of the hangars at Jet Aviation where Andrew works.  Once we were all checked in at the front gate and had our badges, we walked to Andrew's work area - got to see the desk where he sits at everyday and stuff like that.  Then it was on to the tarmac where Andrew explained several interesting things about airplanes.  He pointed out to us which planes were ready to be picked up by customers and showed us interesting things on other planes.
Then we walked around to the front of the hangar and Andrew took us inside to show us the planes that are currently being worked on.  All of it was simply fascinating.  We walked inside one plane that was still basically a shell inside but had a few of the features of this particular plane already in process.  Like a wooden model of the bed that was going in the bedroom, the closets and shelving for that room and also a rough model of how the master bath was going to look.  It was amazing to see a plane being built like that inside.  Then we walked inside another plane and Andrew pointed out several features of planes that we had no idea about - like where a plane needs to be reinforced because of the wings and he also pointed out the rods on the plane that he has a hand in through his job.
It was also interesting to us to see that they keep a Falcon inside the hangar periodically specifically to kill the pigeons that invariably make it inside when the huge hangar doors are open.  These pigeons don't leave and make a mess all over the planes and the employee's desks.  When we were there, the Falcon squawked several times and we never did see one pigeon - so he's doing his job!
We all left there with a new appreciation of planes and a whole lot more insight into where Andrew is on a daily basis and what he does.  There are no pictures of this tour because picture taking is not allowed.
When we left Jet Aviation, Sylvie and Peter went one way and we drove to downtown Basel for cake and coffee.  This was taken close to the little cafe.

For dinner this evening, we had what is called Raclette.  This is how the table looked before we started dinner.

Andrew getting ready to fix his little dish

All our little dishes are cooking now

The Raclette when it comes out of the little oven.  That is melted cheese on top of vegetables.  Also, Andrew cooked chicken fajitas on top.  

Rainy, stormy morning - nice!

Wow, what a nice morning we had.  We all took it nice and easy, having breakfast and then just hanging around a little bit.  And while we hung around, we saw lightning and then heard some good thunder.  The plan this morning had been to "walk a dog", which Martina and Andrew do on some Saturdays for the animal shelter.  But since it started raining, they decided to abandon that plan and we all just did things around the apartment.  The weather was lovely - cold, rainy and then of course the lightning and thunder.  Just made us so glad we were inside nice and warm.

But by about lunch time, we figured we may as well go out and look into either train tickets to Spain or a rental car.  How nice it was to be able to get into their nice new car to go to the airport to do this.  It wasn't raining when we got to the airport, but when we got out, it was pouring.  We drove to downtown Basel, felt lucky because we found a good parking spot along the street and headed to a soup restaurant.  The hot soup was perfect for the day, which we enjoyed with bread and fruit.

After our lunch, we walked around in a nice store downtown called Globus.

Martina left to put our purchases in the car and she didn't come back and she didn't come back and we were wondering what was going on.  When Andrew took out his phone to call her, he saw that SHE had called and it turns out that there was a ticket on the car so she had quickly moved it from that spot and was trying to get into a parking garage.  So, we walked to the parking garage to meet her there.  What a pain.  Didn't have the car even 24 hours and already a parking ticket!!

After dealing with that unpleasant news, we walked to a Natural History museum where we spent several hours enjoying the displays.  From there Martina and Andrew showed us the store where they get their small supply of Mexican food items and then we walked back to the parking garage to get the car.

We stopped to admire the ivy at this building.

And an apartment building covered in ivy.

Walking back to the car

And on our way back, we came across a band playing good music in the street.

The tram in Basel

For dinner this evening, Andrew made chicken fajitas, picadillo, guacamole, and homemade tortillas.  It was absolutely delicious and really amazing to get such good Mexican food here in Switzerland.

Andrew rolling the tortillas

Martina cooking the tortillas

Another good ending to a really nice day.