I eventually got her sorted and made myself a nice breakfast of whole grain toast with hummus, sliced cherry tomatoes, and black olives, plus, of course, coffee. It was grey and drizzly, but I really wanted to go to town as this would be my first day since I got here that I’d have time to just amble aimlessly with no need to go back to work after. I did scratch my plans to get to about 3KM from downtown and walk along the malec\u00f3n as the wind coming off the water was unpleasant, but figured I’d be okay a bit more inland.<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0almost 10:30 when I finally headed out. The buses run at the half hour on the weekends and the last Saturday bus had come around the hour and 45 minutes. Today, it came at just shy of 10:40.<\/p>\n
With a sky this colour, a clearing was not likely!<\/p>\n
I got off at my usual stop and didn’t get very far before ducking into a caf\u00e9 for a second breakfast. I wanted a pastry since I’d had a healthy first breakfast. \ud83d\ude42 This pastry with dried<\/em> apples wasn’t huge and was very tasty!<\/p>\n The wind and rain let up by the time I got through the newspaper (not the one in the picture, as that just has sports coverage), so I headed towards the water.<\/p>\n I’m still trying to figure out what this sign is trying to say…<\/p>\n The courthouse.<\/p>\n This pedestrian street was commissioned and built in 1894 under the reign of Alfonso XIII. They had to reroute traffic to accommodate it.<\/p>\n This is the “cable ingl\u00e9<\/a>s” (English cable), which was used to load ships with iron transported on trains. It is considered a work of art in steel construction and was built in Gustav Eiffel’s style.<\/p>\n These ferries go to the African continent. Melilla is a Spanish community on the African continent. I am investigating whether a visit to\u00a0the environs of Nador might be a compromise to going to Marrakech as it’s only about 50 euros to get to Nador\u00a0from Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n Shame these fountains aren’t working. I like the one with the sun.<\/p>\n Ambling westward towards the old city.<\/p>\n I loved how the flower boxes are themselves a work of art.<\/p>\n I ended up going through that arch to find myself in the heart of the old city.<\/p>\n Orange trees still awe\u00a0me.<\/p>\n I love the tile work I see all over Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n Looking north to the fortress.<\/p>\n “We want free women.”<\/p>\n There are tons of play areas like these all over Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n They have age limits. The ones I’ve seen in my neighbourhood are for ages 11\u00a0and under. The one above is for ages 7\u00a0and younger.<\/p>\n A few play structures later, I found one for kids aged 9\u00a0and younger.<\/p>\n I love these big trees.<\/p>\n Coming back to Paseo de Almer\u00eda, I found the Do\u00f1a Pakyta art museum. It was free, but there was a 3 euro special exhibit. It was almost closing time, so I will come back to the special exhibit, but I had time to go upstairs check out the artwork.<\/p>\n There were were a bunch of paintings belonging to the “Indalo” movement, based on a local cave painting. This group of artists was\u00a0the first of the avant-garde movement after the Spanish Civil War.<\/p>\n I really liked the rich texture of the oil paintings. I want to take up this pastime again when I get settled in\u00a0Mexico. I think the colours there would really be inspiring!<\/p>\n “Terraces of Almer\u00eda.”<\/p>\n I loved this floor that reminded me of a cross-stitch pattern.<\/p>\n This painting was really interesting. Look at the contrast of the super realistic grapes with the crude nature of the rest of the painting.<\/p>\n This is Place de la Concorde in Paris. So I’m guessing this, and not the Washington Monument, is what Almer\u00eda is emulating.<\/p>\n Cramped buildings, old men on a bench (literally the title of this piece!), and laundry: this is “my” Europe.<\/p>\n “Almer\u00eda, Joy of the Sea”<\/p>\n I wandered around some more and found this church, where there was a wedding.<\/p>\n I went around the back and found this graffiti-strewn alley.<\/p>\n Just as I came out of the alley, an older couple ran to me and asked me a question, sounding very panicky. I had a moment of Sherlock Holmesian brilliance and\u00a0made a deduction based on their attire. “Are you looking for the wedding?” I asked. “YES!” the lady replied.\u00a0I told them the church was on the other side of the building where we were standing and if they went to “that” street and turned right, they’d see the fancy black car parked in front of the church. I got about a thousand thank yous before they rushed off. Amazing timing, no?!<\/p>\n It was almost one by this point and I was famished, so I figured it was time to go home and have lunch. I passed this amusingly named store on the way to the bus stop, a play on the Spanish word for “home” and the word “emporium.”<\/p>\n And then I found… lunch. An American diner\/UK caf\u00e9 style restaurant with the kitchen open all day! I could not believe it!<\/p>\n The translation effort on the menu was worth a laugh. I mean, “Ask for our English (carta?)”?! LOL<\/p>\n I went for a burger and beer and… learned that burgers in Spain come with a fried egg! Good thing I’m not allergic and only have an intolerance to eggs! Thankfully, the egg came off easily and the flavour did not contaminate the meat, which was a real beef patty. There was also bacon and cheese. I haven’t had a real burger since Belgrade and dang did this one hit the spot! The fries were much better than they look.<\/p>\n There was no sauce on the burger, though, so I asked for mustard and was brought this:<\/p>\n![\"imgp8413\"](\"http:\/\/www.raecrothers.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMGP8413.jpg\")
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