A Sunday Stroll

Monday, December 5, 2011

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day weather-wise. The sky was absolutely cloudless and temperatures reached the low 70’s. After breakfast wedecided to walk to Carrefour to return a lightbulb that was dead on arrival and also to allow Susan to take a look around this enormous hipermercado.

It took us about twenty-five minutes to walk there and our jackets were absolutely unnecessary and they were removed fifteen minutes into our trek. The store was not overly crowded because it was a little after noon on a Sunday and it was too early for most valencianos to have their act together. The comparison to a Super Target is, for the most part, quite accurate, but the section that is the supermarket is much more extensive with large counters devoted to cheeses, bread, pastry, fish, fresh meat, hams and other assorted goodies. The center of the supermarket was occupied by two of the largest paella pans that I have ever seen. Each pan probably contained hundreds of servings and people were lined up to purchase individual or multiple servings. Our shopping list was mercifully short given how long the walk home would be. We purchased a lamp for the study, a spray can of a temporary adhesive, a jar of English mustard and a can of silicone spray to waterproof Susan’s new boots.

We decided to walk home through the Turia and the park was filled with families taking advantage of the playgrounds, guys playing soccer and loads of people either biking or taking an early afternoon stroll. The walk home seemed shorter and as soon as we entered we put things in their place and tried out the new lamp. With the addition of an extension cord it will be perfect.

I headed out again to pick up a roast chicken that I had ordered at the new deli down at the end of the street. The proprietor took it off the spit and proceeded to cut it into its component parts, added some of the basting juices to the container and sealed the container. As soon as I returned home, Susan began preparations for our Sunday lunch. She made a salad to go along with the chicken, as well as some green beans. We opened a bag of chips, sliced some bread and opened a bottle of Albariño. It was the perfect Sunday lunch. Around 5:00 we headed out again in search of the ever-elusive gelato.

Linares has three display cases and in the summer two of them are devoted to a variety of flavors and the third showcase displays a variety of candies and baked goods. These days there is only one display case filled with gelato and the flavors tend to be the most popular choices. I always choice a combination of chocolate and pistachio, which are two of the forever flavors. We found an empty bench in the plaza and watched the world go by. We then headed home.

We spent the evening on the sofa. We read for a while and watched some TV. Thanks to our Apple TV we were able to see the Mashup episode of Glee and have left the I Kissed a Girl episode for later this week. Supper consisted of some eggs scrambled with ham, onion and cheese. I had a beer and Susan a cup of tea. I gave up the ghost at 10:30 and went to bed.

Here are a few shots that Susan took on Saturday night. Things are beginning to look a bit more festive.