Unusual discourtesy

Eleven hours sleep and the most intense allergic reaction has passed, but not over yet. After a slow morning we took the train to Málaga, visited the Mercado Atarazanas and saw the new Metro entrance nearby. The rush is on now to complete the processional viewing stands ready for Sunday evening. 

Then we walked to the port where a large cruise ship was docked along the quayside, and another at one of the several quays out beyond the lighthouse. After having a drink, I paid in euro notes and waited for my bill and change to be returned, and I waited... In the end I asked the water who served us, and waited even longer. Finally the bill and expected €2.20 change arrived delivered in 10c and 20c coins. 

I had to laugh at the impudence of the waiter! He presuming that I would go away and not bother, and then finding I was still there asking when. The weight of the change which could have been delivered in three rather than eleven coins was an unusal form of rudeness which meant he deprived himself of a tip. Had the change come back with the bill promptly he might have got the lot. Now there'll be a suitable warning on Trip Advisor about discourteous behavior from waiters with foreign tourists.

We had a picnic lunch in parque de Málaga across the road from the port, the walked into the old town and made out way back to the Alameda station for the ride back to Fuengirola.

After supper a quiet evening chatting and looking at photos and then before bed, after doing my daily Duo Lingo Spanish drill, I decided it was time to uninstall the app on both my phones. I'm bored with its role play characters, bored with its repetition and lack of any sense (not good AI, despite their claims) that it can distinguish between a keyboard error caused by tiredness or carelessness, and an ignorance based error. After using it for seven years and nearly two months it credits me with less time in use than is actually the case. Nothing's perfect, but its plethora of daily notifications, usually patronising, remind me of a sect badgering people into compliance. Not any more. Well, apart from documentary podcasts produced under the Duo Lingo brand, as these are very good and worth the listen.

Singing in Llantwit again

A rather quick everyday breakfast this morning, as we had to collect Mother Frances at nine fifteen and drive to Llantwit Major for a choir rehearsal. It was meant to be a recording session for the music we sang in Advent, but the sound technician was unwell. Instead much time was spent organising rehearsals for the next concert on Palm Sunday. Neither Clare nor I will be able to sing in it as we're in Spain, but we went along for the pleasure of a singing with others and learning some new Early Music, from the Holy Week repertoire. 

The skies were overcast and it threatened to rain, but didn't fortunately. Frances needed to get back for an afternoon of work, so we didn't stay for a pub lunch of fish and chips, as we did previously. We resolved to but some when we reached Canton, but found both our local chippies were closed. Instead, we bought cod and oven chips to cook at home, with peas from the freezer. The fish was actually much nicer pan fried without the heaviness of batter.

Afterwards, I went out for a walk in the park and down the the River, which was up again by half a metre and was probably higher and just overflowing earlier in the day, judging by the presence of riverside pools of water. It rained in the night, and I suspect may have rained much more, nearer the Taff source in the Brecon Beacons. Even more rain is promised tonight, although it held off during the day, giving way to a strong cold wind. I was in the last quarter of a mile on the way home when there was a sudden short burst of heavy rain, though not enough the soak me through fortunately.

By chance, when I was going my daily DuoLingo Spanish exercises I came across a link to the DuoLingo podcast series, which I first discovered a couple of years ago but lost track of or didn't have time to pursue after listening to a dozen or so episodes. This prompted me to download the Google podcast app so that I could subscribe to the series of over 120 episodes and have them listed conveniently to take up on while I am travelling or waiting for something to happen. They are very interesting, varied in content and also in tSpanish stories from different countries, told in the accent of the place. I should have done this ages ago.  

Tomorrow is the Sunday in the month with an 8.00am Communion at St Catherine's, and it's a busy day for Mother Frances, with a Ministry Area conference in the afternoon, so I offered to take the service instead of her. Just as well there's nothing compelling to watch on telly tonight, so I can get to bed early.