DAY 141

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Artwork from Valencia

Bang! Bang! Bang! Frantic shouts from where and from whom? It turned out the next door neighbor had been locked in his apartment and couldn't get "trabajar" (to work). Thankfully, after freaking out a groggy Andrews family and handing the key from his balcony to Nicole's (what could he be after?) we figured out the situation and let the wild beast out. He assured Dian this was the first time THAT had ever happened. Uh huh.


Since we were up we decided to stay up (it was already about 9 AM but we were on Valencia time). Dian went for groceries at the market and when the minimum wasn't quite met for her credit card, a kid in line put his pastry on her bill and gave her the 1 euro it cost enabling the transaction to go through. When Dian  thanked him he smiled knowingly and tapped his "cabeza" as if to say, that's using your head.

When we stopped at our Goya Horno bakery to get a breakfast pizza, Elyssa the proprietress informed us that the paella would be ready at doe-say-ee-may-dee-a but Dian heard doce-ee-may-dee-a so when the family arrived for picnic paella at 2:30 PM she was closed. Our friend, Heino had already gone to get his car so in order to save the day, Dian knocked on the window until Elyssa stopped sweeping and let the hungry family in. We were lucky to get three containers of chicken paella and four pizza slices to take in our tupperware containers to the gorgeous wetlands near the Mediterranean that Heino knew about.

The aquarium

On the way out we saw the new architectural structures that line the waterfront, an opera house, aquarium, a huge 3D theatre among other buildings. They were impressive but Heino said the architect got paid about 15 million euros and was living in Switzerland while the project was going way over budget.


When we arrived at the protected waterway area we saw many blue heron, egret and seagulls, even a hawk. Our late afternoon lunch was accompanied by a bottle of wine and guitar music, then we went for a walk. Over the dune were fishermen catching big fish but Heino wasn't so sure how clean the water was.

Paella on the beach with Heino

He returned us to our neighborhood as the sun was setting and as the trio trooped home a store selling ridiculously low-priced canvases and acrylic paints was spotted and a large sackful was bought. Feeling happy and carefree we got in our elevator and when the door shut we pressed our usual fourth floor. Nothing. We didn't panic but Nicole did come up with the word "socorro" -- HELP! We pressed the alarm button and a woman's voice came on asking where we were and other identification questions which we answered as best we could in limited Spanish. The neighbors managed to open the door and we huffed and puffed up the stairs to safety. A while later a repairman knocked to say the lift was fixed.

Sittin' at the dock of the bay

Two herons we saw, including a Blue Heron, for Monica!

DAY 140

Monday 28 November 2011

Charles slept till 10. (Of course, he was up till 2.) Every so often we remind ourselves that some mornings, when all necessities of life on the road had been arranged.... there was no need to get up early. There was nothing that had to be done by a certain time, no schedule, no alarm clock required. Dian went downstairs to the bakery next door (turns out the shopkeeper lived directly below us!) and brought back some slices of thick layers of veggies on a hard crust for breakfast. Different, and quite good.

Then we all took off for the local market, very large and wonderful but not impressive compared to the Mercado Central we'd already experienced. However, this one had a treasure just a few steps inside - Lucia, the Egg Lady. That's all she sold in her stand, but we noticed her shells on display, all sorts of characters made out of egg shells and decorated and painted. An entire school! Dian found out from her that she made and painted them herself, then immediately noticed that one of the figures had Lucia's face, which she confirmed with a delighted grin.

Lucia

The ever-daring Dian could not resist the opportunity to throw out our "egg carton" riddle, but of course had to do it in Spanish. Amazingly, it worked! She let Nicole take the lead, since it was her riddle, and with Dian's input they not only puzzled Lucia for a while (to the point where she was ignoring customers and telling them to come back later!) but totally got the solution across. That must have been even harder than trying to tell a yolk, uh, JOKE in another language. Then Lucia came back with her own riddle, which the Latin-speaking American ladies sort of got, better when Lucia whipped out a pen and paper for illustrations. All were delighted by the very special cultural exchange.

Sending mail!

Then it was off with homing pigeon Nicole to find the main post office, where we took a number and sat and sat until our turn came. We prevailed upon the patient clerk to put three kinds of colorful stamps from Espana on our package home, rather than a machine-generated strip, and it looked festive indeed, and hopefully would bring smiles to Dian's parents when it arrived. We took photos of each of us mailing a postcard by sticking our hands in the lion's mouth mail slot, and were led on to the grand market. We bought an antherium plant there as a thank you gift for Pilar's mother for letting us enjoy her beautiful home in her absence, and Nicole picked up a perfectly-fitting pair of jeans. Dian found a cool cap, then we headed off to find La Senora Henderson again, our "New Mexican" vintage store.

On the way we paused, as always, for Nicole to shoot street art she found worthy, and when Charles moved some dumpsters for her to get a better shot of a wall on a narrow little street, Dian made her move because she spied something behind sitting on a ledge, which turned out to be a thin wooden candle holder carving of Saint Peter. 

Carmen on the left, St. Peter on the right

We found the store after some indecisive wandering, and picked up an item we left there the last time, and a couple more scores: some more of the fascinating old photos (1963) of some unknown Spanish family, and a very colorful long scarf for Charles, exactly what he had been looking for to wear in Valencia and upon our return to show our Spanish neighbor Mariano in Santa Monica that he's not the only stylishly  dressedEuropean man in the neighborhood. We met Sonia's mother Ernestina, and she and others in the shop declared immediately that our street find, San Pedro was a piece of quality work, and that it was a fairly common occurrence to find things like that in Valencia, if you had your eyes peeled.

Lucia's mother helping Charles pick out a scarf, and tie it correctly

Hunger beckoned us home for pasta, then Dian napped, Charles strolled and Nicole had some uninterrupted computer time. Then Charles proposed they finally watch the doc on his old journalism professor and world-famous mystery novelist Tony Hillerman, posted by his daughter Anne on Youtube, and that he had a surprise for the family: microwave popcorn to go along with the "movie." First time for that in four months, a treat that Nicole enhanced with slivers of Parmesan cheese carved off our big block. We called Dian's dad, then later her mom too when she returned home, had some fresh-off-the-stove lentil soup with onions and beef chunks, got busy posting lots of pics to the blog but with many to go finally called it a day. Another really good day.

DAY 139

Sunday 27 November 2011

It is true we have had strange sleeping patterns on this trip, especially in countries that have a "siesta" schedule. This explains Charles taking a 2:30-4:00 AM walk. Nicole was still awake to say goodbye to him, and Dian was up early enough to welcome him back!

In other news, Dian dyed her hair again. She had had her fun as a blonde, but it was time to go back to her "roots" as a redhead. It was perhaps a little brighter than expected, but Dian wore it well and it seemed to suit her complexion that looks nice with fall colors and earth tones.

Another day of catching up, doing art and reading, we readied the big box of holiday gifts we were sending to Dian's parents to distribute when the time came, and hold a few presents back for themselves! After leaving a message for Chris and Christina back home, we met up with Don who walked us over to Bill and Claire's for dinner.

Although they apologized for breaking the dinner party rule of "never making something you've never made before," the oven-baked salmon, vegetables a la Don, wine and more were DELICIOUS. The couple had a great dynamic and were very funny, not to mention good at telling stories. We enjoyed the evening very much, and loved admiring the plethora of postcards, giraffes and other art scattered around the house.

View from Claire and Bill's at night

DAY 138

Saturday 26 November 2011

We walked to the Farmers Market in what was reputed to be the largest covered market in Europe. The scene was amazing and slightly overwhelming. With seafood, meat, sweets, fruits and vegetable stands covering a space the size of a small stadium, enclosed by arched ceilings and tile decorations, we wended our way along the stalls with Nicole busily snapping away on her Canon.

A jazz trio was just finishing their sound check when we exited so we decided to stay and hear a couple of tunes. After "Summertime" and half of "All of Me" (what does that leave?), the police came and broke it up. To the jeers of the crowd and scurrying of the other illegal vendors, we departed for more street art images that Nicole had seen by night but wanted to capture by day.

We stumbled on a nice piece of synchronicity while wandering the old section, when we happened on a European rarity, a second-hand shop (Dian's great hobby, and expertise) strangely named La Senora Henderson. When one Spanish owner detected American English through the pretty good Spanish, she called to her American-Spanish partner: "Sonia! English!" She marched over, we told her we were Americans, and she said "Oh me too, I'm from New Mexico."

Looks a bit like something out of Radio city!

Then it started. She not only hailed from Charles's New Mexico (Espanola) but went to UNM as well. Though they attended in different decades, while there she was on the student entertainment committee that booked all the concerts, like the one Charles covered while working at the daily student newspaper, the Lobo. They shot off names of professors and student and civic leaders, local hangs and New Mexican landmarks, and especially the food, oh the New Mexican food, they both started almost crying and even Dian and Nicole were getting hungry and homesick just hearing about it. Hatch chile, blue corn tortillas, sopaipillas....

The jazz trio before they got kicked out

Policeman kicking the trio out

Trio kicking it out

We ended up shopping at the vintage store she and partner Maria had opened only a few weeks earlier and over beer, shrimp and olives acquired some nifty items - including old photos of a Spanish family, and a basketball with the name of a Valencia team on it (a gift from Sonia). We invited her to dinner later in the week.

Sonia in the middle

We had our farmers market cheese, bread and Dian's pesto pasta for dinner and after looking through Nicole's photos, called it a day.

Did we mention the intersection of a busy street where a man was openly groping his wife (or girlfriend)?  It reminded Dian of the book Don Snowden had loaned her on the famous Fallas Festival of Valencia held each spring where huge constructions are burned in the streets signifying death and rebirth and mostly bawdy partying. We're pretty sure the man was getting a head start on the randy part and she didn't seem to mind one bit.

DAY 137

Friday 25 November 2011

Downtown Valencia

After a rather unconventional yet unforgettable Thanksgiving, we all decided to soak up the wonderful place we were staying in by laying low, blogging, painting and writing.

The main train station

Outside the bullfighting ring

In the late afternoon we were picked up by Don who had offered to give us an overview of Valencia with a walking tour. How lucky we are to have such knowledgeable friends in such fantastic locations! The tour helped us get our bearings, but also showed us the true flavor of Valencia. We stopped by the main post office, a beautiful building with a pair of lion's heads outside for dropping letters, the main train station, also a beautiful old building that had thankfully been well preserved and the bullfighting ring, plus many more sights.

Nicole observed that the people seemed altogether regal. They were self-confident, with an air of antiquity that could only come from living in an old city such as Valencia. The city was alive, too. It wasn't just old people sitting around or young kids, it was a mix of all ages and styles.

Charles drooling over the numismatist shop

After a quick stop at Don's place in the Carmen district, we walked back to our neighborhood to meet Heino and his 17-year-old daughter Aitana (named after a mountain Heino climbed) for dinner. We talked about many things and the food was delicious, making it a great evening shared by all. Since Aitana had to get home and get to bed because she had school the next day (it was 1 AM at this point),  Dian and Nicole opted to go sleep, too, but the three guys stayed to share a drink and talk some more.

Nicole and Aitana