Shave And A Haircut Two Bits!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Yesterday I decided to take the bull by the horns and go get a haircut. My new barber is quite a distance from the house so I invited Susan to join me and offered to buy her lunch afterwards. As luck would have it, when we walked in my barber’s chair was empty and so I sat down and let him cover me with the black cloth and he then set about his work. Manuel is an experienced barber and he knows how to deal with beards. Some forty-five minutes later he had cut my hair, trimmed my beard and given me a shave. All this for the princely sum of twenty-one Euros.

Peluquería Beltrán is around the corner from the Westin Valencia where we have stayed several times. For that reason we are familiar with the neighborhood and some of the eateries that populate it. As we passed by Cervecería Erajoma I remembered a Sunday meal we had eaten at the bar a couple of years ago so we backtracked and entered. We were offered a choice of tables and we took one towards the back. I ordered a beer and Susan ordered a bottle of agua mineral and we studied the menu.

We ended up ordering the ensalada Joma that included lettuce, tomatoes, hearts of palm, tuna, smoked salmon, and fish roe. Thankfully we only ordered a half portion. We also ordered a half portion of grilled vegetables that included artichokes, two kinds of mushrooms, asparagus and potatoes. To accompany all of the foregoing we ordered some swordfish and were served two rather health swordfish steaks. Our dessert was a plate of sliced fruit that was as delicious as it was varied. We finished the meal with coffee. The bill for our meal, which also included bread and two glasses of wine, was 39 Euros. The service was attentive and the quality of the food was outstanding.

We took a cab back home and were dismayed to discover that our cleaning lady had not shown up. She usually calls when that happens, but sometimes she does that after the fact. Her absence gave me a chance to proofread the article that Susan is writing about La Comisaría. It promises to be a good one.

Thursday evening saw us heading out in different directions. Susan went to join Ofelia and several friends for dinner and a visit to a photography exhibition. I was on my way to a meeting of the veteranos at Jerito’s house. I was not sure how many people were going to show up, but I knew that Pepe would be there along with his son, Jaime.

I was the first to arrive at Jerito’s and that gave s the opportunity to chat for a while. I learned that Jerito used to be an economics professor and that he was also part of an acting company that presented classic Spanish plays. He showed me his scrapbook where he combined his reminiscences with reviews clipped from a variety of newspapers. He later showed the assembled group paper money that was used during the war years including money that was printed by the various towns and cities to allow their inhabitants to purchase the basics, which were in very short supply.

Everyone had arrived by 8:15 and that included Paquito, Gioco, Gurrea, Pepe and Jaime. I did a couple of effects and Paquito performed a very cute packet trick by Martin Lewis called Rabbit Test. At 9:45 we headed out in search of some dinner. We ended up going to El Asador de Leandro where I had not been for quite a while. The place was three quarters full when we walked in and that was a good sign because Eva and Leandro were giving some thought to closing the restaurant down.

We ordered the tomato salad to start and everybody shared that appetizer. Then we each ordered whatever struck our fancy for our main dish. I had a steak and, as usual, it was perfectly cooked and delicious. Some of us had dessert and we all had either coffee or tea. We ended our time at the restaurant with a bit of magic. I performed a couple of card effects and Gurrea performed his multiplying rabbits effect. It was close to 1:00 when we left the restaurant. Gurrea drove Paquito and me home and it was 1:15 when I walked through the door. I went to be a little after 2:00.