Another perfect blue sky sunny day, and 4C at dawn. I walked down to church after breakfast to celebrate the Eucharist with a dozen people. Several of them I remember from nine years ago, and they remember me too. Altogether I spent five months in Fuengirola back then. At it's Candlemass we were celebrating a day early, it was an opportunity to start by speaking about life in old age and the ministries of elderly people, as nearly all of us were over seventy. I'd just turned to another theme when a young Finnish couple, regular worshippers half our age, arrived late and joined in the service. Just as well they missed the bit that's beyond their experience.
After coffee and a chat, I went and looked around the nearby Municipal Mercado de Virgen del Carmen, with all its fresh meat, fish and huge variety of fruit ' veg colourfully displayed. There's also a herbs and spices stall with almost everything displayed in bulk containers, so you can buy as much as you need. It was an opportunity to buy some Pimenton Picante which I needed, and then used when cooking a chicken breast with veggies for lunch.
My afternoon walk took me to Fuengirola Cercania metro station, having been tipped off by one of the morning's worshippers about free metro travel to Malaga, available from station ticket machines. It's part of an initiative to get people out of cars and on to public transport, started last year to ease congestion and urban pollution. Come to think of it, I've noticed somewhat less traffic on the roads around town, except maybe for an hour between five and six. The ticket is in effect a free Abona Recorrido (aka season ticket) which you pay €10 euros for up front, and lasts for three months. You can do as many journeys as you like on the C1 line to the Alameda in Malaga, and when you've done sixteen trips, your money is refunded! It started last year and been renewed until April this year. The length of my stay. An imaginative way to tackle both pollution to benefit health and traffic congestion to benefit the economy, as everything begins to rum more efficiently.
The explanation I received didn't quite cover all bases, and when I asked for help to navigate my way through the ticketing process, I asked for the wrong thing and directed to a station with a ticket office. On the walk back to Los Boliches, I stopped at the tourism office and asked if they sold what I thought I was looking for. The advisor quickly divined my error and told me what to look for, showing me on her computer screed the relevant advert for the service. Then the penny dropped, so I walked back to the station and was able to acquire the free ticket. Then I rode the train back to Los Boliches.
Near the station I spotted a charity shop that seemed quite busy. It turned out to be a 'special offer' day, with all clothes on sale at €3. I spotted a fleecy outdoor top coat, and it was just my size. I may only need it for a month until the weather warms up, then I can take it back and donate it to the same shop.
After supper, I uploaded photos from yesterday. It took quite a long time, as the internet is a lot slower than I've got used to back home. During the upload, I prepared the texts for next week's Thursday Morning Prayer on my phone, and later recorded this and a biblical reflection already written. Then I sat and read for a while before turning in, as I'd picked up a crime novel from the church second hand book stall this morning. Needless to say I'm getting to bed later than anticipated.
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