Sunday, April 21, 2012

Yesterday while Susan was having her nails done, I paid a visit to the pharmacy on Calle de Quart and picked up some of my blood pressure medicine.  I almost have enough to carry me through until the end of July so I thought that I would make sure that I could actually get what I need here.  With my insurance in the States I have a $60 co-pay for a ninety-day supply.  I discovered that a ninety-day supply here in Spain – paying full price- is 45 Euros or $60.  If I walked into a pharmacy in the States without insurance the ninety-day supply would cost me $380.  I guess that shows how effective the drug lobby is and explains why medical insurance is so expensive.

The Metro system in Valencia is not as vast as Madrid’s.  It is however very efficient.  It is how I get from the house to the hospital for my physical therapy. I take Line 3. Line 2 has been under construction for a while.  Line 2 will go from the Central Market to the City of Arts and Sciences.  The project is on pause at the moment because of lack of funds.  It is 90% complete.  Hopefully the money will be found to complete the project.  What sets the Valencia Metro apart from the one in Madrid is the cleanliness of the stations and the cars.  Each car has two trashcans neatly tucked away.  What is most surprising is the absolute lack of graffiti.  The same cannot be said of many of the buildings in the city.

Susan did a bit of shopping on the way home so she did not get back until 2:30.  Our lunch choice was Café Canela.  Since it was a sunny day all the outdoor tables were taken.  We had our choice of indoor tables and since the wind was kicking up a bit we opted for indoors.  We chose two dished that were not on the menu – artichokes with foie and tellinas.  We ordered a sartén de emperador, which is a dish consisting of swordfish, potatoes, green beans and broccoli.  All the ingredients are cooked on a flattop and then combined and served in a frying pan.  We also ordered a bottle of Verdejo.  We passed on dessert yesterday, but we did have coffee.  When we got home it was close to 5:30.

In the evening we read for a while.  We also watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow thanks to my iPad and we saw an episode of Glee.  We are two episodes behind and the good news is that I have already downloaded them so we can watch them whenever we feel like it.  My brother called last night via Skype and the four of us – my brother and sister-in-law and Susan and I chatted for almost a half an hour.  They are heading for Europe on May 10 and will be visiting a number of central European cities.  By the time we straightened up and shut off the lights it was close to midnight.