Saturday 17 December 2011
We were noticing that going to bed late -- 6 AM for Charles who stayed till the DJ set was over then walked home and 3 AM for Dian and Nicole who took a taxi from Club Sala Matisse where the show by Arizona Dylan and her dad, Juan took place -- and getting up late, were becoming the norm.
Dian wanted to hit the grand central market before it closed at 1 PM so she went there alone and had some indelible memories burned into her brain. One was of a rally of picketers for better healthcare in the same church plaza as a ring of kids playing a duck duck goose game while two Lucille Ball-colored elderly redheads strolled by. There was a guitar playing girl scout leader (or some kind of group selling poinsettias to raise money for their group), and a man with a white dog who did tricks on its hind legs while a woman played a lively synthesizer to the scowls of local merchants. Another group had a yard sale/baked goods sale for their society and Dian found a really great Daisy Duck item for a euro. She walked out to where the van was parked and started it but unfortunately the electronic connector she and Nicole had bought didn't work with their CD player and the radio.
Finally, the grand market was reached and the produce procured for Claire and Bill's "sandwich party." Since it was to be a contest with various categories the competitor in Dian was let loose as she searched for the perfect ingredients.
Meanwhile, Charles had had a croissant and cortado (coffee with steamed milk), outside at a cafe near our flat while Nicole sorted photos in her room. The wind had died down and their was an air of Christmas festiveness all over the city. We even opened another of the edible gifts Monica had sent from "the heart of Texas." Yum!
At 5:45 we began our walk over to the Ruzafa district to meet Bill and Claire for a movie. By now, we'd all gotten a pretty good lay of the land but that didn't stop us from getting frustrated with one another for wrong turns and three block detours. (As the saying goes we've been hanging around with each other so long we're speaking again!) The movie we selected was "The Artist" and after a bus ride and some quick hellos to friends of Claire and Bill's, we settled into our seats to watch a movie without dubbing or subtitles. Everyone enjoyed this French film and afterwards the ten of us walked (did we mention walking is a favorite pastime in Valencia?) to a little restaurant where we had tapas, stuffed mushrooms with goat cheese, chicken/walnut salad, pate, blood sausages, ham, cheese, and tuna jerky with wine for our after-cinema meal. While chatting with Bill we learned that when he had long hair and a bushy beard his motto was "let your freak flag fly free" which we found hilariously funny coming from the good ol' Texas boy.
With the chill night air spurring us homeward, we bade adios to our friends and went to bed at the reasonable hour of two.
We were noticing that going to bed late -- 6 AM for Charles who stayed till the DJ set was over then walked home and 3 AM for Dian and Nicole who took a taxi from Club Sala Matisse where the show by Arizona Dylan and her dad, Juan took place -- and getting up late, were becoming the norm.
Dian wanted to hit the grand central market before it closed at 1 PM so she went there alone and had some indelible memories burned into her brain. One was of a rally of picketers for better healthcare in the same church plaza as a ring of kids playing a duck duck goose game while two Lucille Ball-colored elderly redheads strolled by. There was a guitar playing girl scout leader (or some kind of group selling poinsettias to raise money for their group), and a man with a white dog who did tricks on its hind legs while a woman played a lively synthesizer to the scowls of local merchants. Another group had a yard sale/baked goods sale for their society and Dian found a really great Daisy Duck item for a euro. She walked out to where the van was parked and started it but unfortunately the electronic connector she and Nicole had bought didn't work with their CD player and the radio.
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Meanwhile, Charles had had a croissant and cortado (coffee with steamed milk), outside at a cafe near our flat while Nicole sorted photos in her room. The wind had died down and their was an air of Christmas festiveness all over the city. We even opened another of the edible gifts Monica had sent from "the heart of Texas." Yum!
With the chill night air spurring us homeward, we bade adios to our friends and went to bed at the reasonable hour of two.
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