el 24 de octubre 2016

Mercado Central de Atarazanas, Málaga, España

We took a trip to Málaga with our friends Ed and Judi Culwell, Houstonians.  They too are getting their residencia here like Cindy so once again we travelled to the Oficina de Estranjerías.  This office seems to be very popular as a destination and fortunately easy for us to get to.  They completed all their necessary requirements by delivering their final piece to the puzzle and now we could turn Cindy and Judi loose 

Ed, Judi y Cindy a El Mercado Central de Atarazanas

in the Mercado Central de Atarazanas, the huge indoor market for fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, candy, nuts, and more but I can’t remember, oh, olives.

Olives  (aceitunas) and Ed just on the extreme right of the photo

As foodees, Cindy and Judi are very compatible in the mercado flitting from stall to stall searching for food to bring back to Ronda.  Cindy was on a quest for cranberries, Thanksgiving. Just another excuse to cook and have friends over for a fiesta. 

Aceitunas (olives) and in the container nearest on the right the are berenjenas (eggplant)

I’ll just call them all setas (mushrooms) lots of types and Cindy saw the ones her family picked in Vermont in late summer in the most secret of places that were never divulged, not even to friends.

Spaniards live longer than Americans, 81.57 yrs. vs 79.68 yrs.  This is manteca (lard) with chorizos I think.  Never had it, but…see it on tables in our restaurants when serving breakfast.

 

 

I Love chicken here.  Pollo campo is your free range variety and hasn’t been processed, 4,95 € /kg (kg=2.2 lbs today exchange rate is $1.09 US for a Euro) so the pollo campo is about $2,38/lb. the 3,95 € chicken would be about $ 1,91/ lb.. Not really a huge difference.  In Spain money is separated with a (,) not a (.).  However, one thousand is written 1.000. 

Should have gotten closer, fresh fish

Carne de conejo (rabbit), pavo (turkey), cerdo (pork), y vaca (beef)

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There are 100 plus booths selling a variety of foods and you can spend hours wandering around and comparing the food from one vendor to the next.  Outside the market are restaurants as you saw in the photo with Cindy in the beginning of this post.  We had baby squid and a vegetable platter,  mineral water, and Cindy had tinto verano, 15€.

More Friends Coming

We were just contacted by a friend who is planning on coming to visit us at the end of April.  If you’re planning a visit, no problem, just let us know well in advance since we’ll make a pilgrimage to VT, MA, and NC to see family in the spring.

Visiting Portugal

This week Cindy and I are heading to Faro and Sagres, Portugal. For all you history geeks, Sagres is where Prince Henry the Navigator had his sailing school which led to the Age of Exploration.  We live close to the Portuguese border so it’s not far. The next posting will be about this trip.  When we return I’m going to write about our friends, John and Carol Small’s  Boutique Guest House, Monasterio del Carmen, http://www.hotelmonasteriodelcarmen.com/about-hotels-in-ronda/ a beautiful place to stay when visiting Ronda if you don’t have reservations with Casa de Acebo that is.

I’ll end with this.  November 9th we’ll be watching the election returns at 3 a.m.. Others are coming to watch and we’ll be having breakfast here with cava. Vermont will be one of the first states to be declared.  I have always loved election nights and always stayed up all night to watch the returns.  

Regardless of whom you support VOTE.  “The duties of the office of private citizen cannot under a republican form of government be neglected without serious injury to the public”. Louis Brandeis, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

11 octubre, 2016 La Vuelta a España

Jeff Zorn, Jan Zorn and us. Mirador Del Puerto De Las Palomas

 

1357 m or for you Americans 4452 ft, take a back seat Mt. Mansfield

Cindy and I returned to Spain September 26th after visiting family and friends in the US and attending the wedding of our friend Jameson Pelkey and his  lovely new wife Kelly in Amherst, NH.  

When being away from the US you recognize differences; red lights, too many, even in small cities like Barre.  Probably just my pet peeve, but traffic does move slower.  We went to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Charlotte, NC, a big city and lots of stop lights.  OK enough on the lights.  Last time we were there I mentioned Big Pharma drug advertisements on TV.  It hasn’t change; we have none here in Spain, and the big news was the Epi Pen controversy, bigger coffee cups and much more expensive.  As a whole Spain is probably 30 to 40 percent cheaper, but Spain have a lower median income so that probably makes sense.

So now we’re back eating differently and better.  When we arrived two years ago I thought it was just the novelty of a different culture, but it’s not.  It seems that we just have a larger availability of fresh fruits, vegetable, fish, and smaller portions. When in Vermont we found ourselves going back to our old diet, not that we ate badly, just differently.  Happy to be back in España.

Residency for Cindy

Many of you have been through our process of trying to obtain residency for Cindy here.  The advantage of having it is travel.  When you get your identification for foreigners (NIE) it officially terminates after three months.  So back to the police to get another one.  Now she can travel in Spain and outside in the EU with her card.  Don’t worry, she’ll carry her passport when we travel, but it just makes life a little simpler.

Our meeting with the Guardia Civil (State Police)

Once we arrived we needed to obtain a few staples that are unavailable in Ronda, so the solution is a trip up the mountain, then down the mountain to San Pedro on the Mediterranean.  Iceland, the British supermarket and not the country is located there and cooking ingredients coveted by Cindy are readily available.  We were on AP-7 (I-89) got off at the Exit 174 and there was a Guardia Civil officer in the roundabout who directed us to pullover.  We’ve seen them at other roundabouts but had never had issues.  He detected that our car was lacking an inspection, sticker on the window just like Vermont.  When cars are new in Spain they have a four year window before getting their first inspection.  Our car is a 2014 so 2018, no problem, well almost,  the exception was for cars that were previously rental cars, OURS.  When we purchased the car the salesperson said, as I remember, “You have two more years”.  He was wrong or I can’t remember, either one could be correct.  The fine was 200€, mierda! (Shit in any language), however, if you pay within 15  days they reduce the fine by 50%. Still 100€, about $110 US.  I paid the fine at the bank, that was one place you could, they have about five options, and you don’t have to prove you have had the car inspected which could result in a second violation if you’re pulled over again. Needless to say it was inspected within three days but not at a local garage.  Here in Ronda we have an ITV, Inspección Técnica de Vehículos.  You can call or make an appointment on-line. You pick a date and time, show up and check in via a computerized system.  Your license plate will show up on the computer screen, click it, and it will print out your license plate number and approximate time.  On the wall is a large screen and when your  plate number appears it tells you which bay to enter.  Very efficient.  I found the inspection to be more rigorous than a Vermont one and cost about the same 42€.  So now the inspection is completed, fine paid, and I have a new red sticker in the upper right corner of the windshield which is good for two years.

Story about the photograph at the beginning of this post

In spring 2015 we were saying goodbye to some friends  at a restaurant in Ronda. At an outdoor table were some Americans and they went inside when I did. I think I helped them order, maybe not.  Anyway Jeff Zorn, Michigan/Florida, and I chatted and he mentioned he went to the British Invasion yearly in Stowe.  Jeff has a company that sells British car parts and memorabilia, need a Union Jack or coffee cup he has one, http://lbcarco.com/  He and Jan were headed back to Vermont this year and he sent me an email asking if we were still in Ronda, ah yes and no.  At the moment I was in Vermont so we made plans to meet in Stowe and did.  This past week they arrived in Ronda and for the past few days Cindy and I were tour guides to Grazalema, Zahara, and Setenil.  Last night we celebrated their stay here with tapas at De Loco Tapas http://de-locos-tapas.com/ owned by Willam pictured below with Jan.  Willam thinks he looks like Robert Downey Jr.,  but not the police mugshot version or maybe it’s the police version, again I’m not sure.

William and Jan

Jeff and Jan left this morning for Málaga and then hopping a cruise to the states. Great folks who will be returning, Ronda has bitten them.

Feria in Grazalema

This past Sunday the 9th we ventured over to Grazalema for the Feria with Ed and Judi Culwell.  Back when the French army tried in vain to control this area locals took to the hills which is not hard to do here.  Many stage reenactments of locals fighting off the hated French.  Period costumes, horses, guns, bandleros/as, and French soldiers are the norm, plus villagers getting together to celebrate, eat, and drink.

La Comida

Bandalero y Bandalera

Ayuntamiento en Grazalema

Bandaleros

Guapas

La Gente

 Dixville Notch, NH you’re to late

Lots of elections going on.  Spain may have a third but probably not.  The Socialist Party Leader (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez was forced out by his own party because he was seen as a roadblock to attemps to form a coalition government by the other parties.  If Spain does not come up with a compromise government by the end of October we vote again on, ready for this, December 25th, yup, Feliz Navidad.  

Then we have the American election.  Actually I’ve been pretty quiet, but there’s only one candidate that I would invite to my home and she’s welcome anytime. That being said Dixville Notch is to late.  Ronda has voted 8-0 for her and it can only get better since we have more ballots coming in until November 8th.  We’ll be up November 9th at 3 pm with friends here to watch the returns come in and historically  Vermont could be the first state predicted, should be an exciting evening.

Friends and Family are coming to visit

enero

Ralph and Pam Hudson, confirmed their flight so this is real

febrero

no one yet

marzo

no one yet

avril

possible Baleigh and two friends

mayo

we may be in the USA

junio

we may be in the USA

julio

no one yet

agosto

Landen and Lauren plus maybe four cyclist couples

septiembre

no one yet

octubre

no one yet

noviembre

no one yet

diciembre

no one yet