Not so sunny Spain
It was cold and raining in Jerez and snowed in Cadiz....
Somehow my expectations of exploring solo for one last day were re-adjusted by a complete physical crash. For the first time in my life, I did not rise from my bed until 1:00 in the afternoon... then I went out and unabashedly drank wine at a cafe, went straight back to the hotel, deliciously crawled back in to bed, and slept till seven that night.
I ventured out again into the streets disoriented... and wandered amongst the throngs of people shopping and filling the tapas bars for the evening light meal. (The big meal is of course eaten here after the retail stores close for the middle of the day - which leads me again to my burning question: In this year of 2006, how does anybody actually afford to buy lunch when their store is all shuttered up... and not making any money?)
It started to rain.. Umbrellas came out. People hurried along with their bags and the cobblestones below my soaked feet reflected the amber street lights. Thin little rivers appeared that curled into rivulets around the patterns the stones make in the street. And in the air was a mixture of exhaust, cooking seafood, cigarette smoke and construction dust all mixed together in a kind of musty cold soup making the air feel thick and wet.
This is sunny Spain? It is cold right to my bones! I am looking forward to getting back, and running a hot bath. I turn toward what I THINK is my street... but somehow it looks different in the rain... wasn't that the store that sold phone cards and tobacco? Damn - who can tell when the shutters are down...
I panic for awhile, mostly because I'm cold, and this isn't fun anymore. Then lo and behold, I'm RIGHT on the corner where my hotel is- Whew! I get upstairs..and they've turned down the hot water for the night. I take the blankets off the second bed, don my socks the fleece pants that I swore I'd never wear, and my fleece vest... crawl in... curl up...and try to remember what the hell it is I am trying to prove being here!
Somehow my expectations of exploring solo for one last day were re-adjusted by a complete physical crash. For the first time in my life, I did not rise from my bed until 1:00 in the afternoon... then I went out and unabashedly drank wine at a cafe, went straight back to the hotel, deliciously crawled back in to bed, and slept till seven that night.
I ventured out again into the streets disoriented... and wandered amongst the throngs of people shopping and filling the tapas bars for the evening light meal. (The big meal is of course eaten here after the retail stores close for the middle of the day - which leads me again to my burning question: In this year of 2006, how does anybody actually afford to buy lunch when their store is all shuttered up... and not making any money?)
It started to rain.. Umbrellas came out. People hurried along with their bags and the cobblestones below my soaked feet reflected the amber street lights. Thin little rivers appeared that curled into rivulets around the patterns the stones make in the street. And in the air was a mixture of exhaust, cooking seafood, cigarette smoke and construction dust all mixed together in a kind of musty cold soup making the air feel thick and wet.
This is sunny Spain? It is cold right to my bones! I am looking forward to getting back, and running a hot bath. I turn toward what I THINK is my street... but somehow it looks different in the rain... wasn't that the store that sold phone cards and tobacco? Damn - who can tell when the shutters are down...
I panic for awhile, mostly because I'm cold, and this isn't fun anymore. Then lo and behold, I'm RIGHT on the corner where my hotel is- Whew! I get upstairs..and they've turned down the hot water for the night. I take the blankets off the second bed, don my socks the fleece pants that I swore I'd never wear, and my fleece vest... crawl in... curl up...and try to remember what the hell it is I am trying to prove being here!
posted by Edie at 11:53 PM
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