The sun was shining when I woke up, dispersing the haze and leaving a clear view of the sea horizon at the bottom of the valley. I had a lengthy shopping list and decided to go to the nearest supermarket on the road to Frigiliana on western edge of Nerja. I had a choice between Lidl and Aldi, both of which are in situated conveniently in the same retail zone.
I was taken aback to find the layout of the shelves wasn't as consistent as ones I've visited at home and other places in Spain, where it's usually easy to navigate and find whatever you want. There was a noticeable absence of overhead labelling for various product sections and I spent a lot of time wandering around looking for rice and chickpeas. It wasn't so easy to find a staff member who wasn't working flat out unpacking new stock and putting it on shelves. In the end I bought nearly all that was on my list, and paid with my Post Office Money Card without needing the PIN.
For some indefinable reason I felt anxious about making this shopping trip, though it's something I've done often before in Spain. It's usually the first thing I do when I arrive. Arriving so late in a new place ruled this out. There was more than enough food in the house to last for several more days, and the much more important priority of a Sunday service to focus on. Getting caught out yesterday in the bar without any cash to pay for my drink did make me realise that I wasn't quite as prepared as I thought I was, then I started wondering if there was anything else I'd forgotten to do. A successful visit to Lidl put an end to my little anxiety, thankfully.
For lunch, I cooked a savoury vegetable dish with potatoes, having bought all the spices I needed to replace, as the kitchen spice rack was almost empty. John came by afterwards, having arranged to meet here with Jorje the pool maintenance man, and he introduced him to me. I learned from John that I'll be paid cash for the weekly honorarium in euros. I'm happy with that, but still wanted to have some cash on me during the rest of the week, just in case, so I walked to Nerja on the senda litoral to the Plaza de Espana, where I know there's a Santander ATM.
Quite a bracing wind accompanied me on a walk that was more than an hour each way. It was good to familiarise myself with the town centre again. It's not changed a great deal and my memory of the place awakened as I walked. The ATM would only give me €140. I was expecting a higher limit. Not that it matters. I can cover every eventuality now. That gives peace of mind.
By the time I dragged my aching feet up the last steep kilometer to the house I'd covered nearly 14km. I did the same distance last Wednesday too. It's a surprise. I didn't think I'd have the stamina for this, and tomorrow will be payback time!
Rachel saw a 64% solar eclipse in Phoenix, which was too far west to be in the totality zone, just as exciting in any case. It's nine years since the last one I saw. Today, I was just glad to have bright sunshine and blue sky again after so many grey days all this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment