Monday July 4

Since I am spending six of the twelve months in Europe, I need to get a local bank account. European banking works VERY differently than in the US. Our banking is set up by state, not federally. Now with services like Paypal and Zello, we are beginning to enter modern banking but the rest of the world is far beyond us.

I was planning on getting a local euro non-resident bank account. I went to the bank and got a number out of the ticket machine. But my number never came up after an hour. I abandoned this and then went to the gym to get a month-long membership. There I found out that I could pay with a credit card but I still needed a bank account! So both my morning errands were a FAIL.

Instead of working out at the gym, I decided I just needed a long walk. So I walked down many steps to the beach and then walked along the boardwalk for about 4 km to the next town of Benalmádena. Along the way there were many chiringuito beach clubs and almost all have restaurants. They were preparing for the lunch service. Most had a wood BBQ pit where they were beginning to cook a local dish of roasted sardines. I love the smell of the smoking wood and the roasting fish. I kept my eye out for a restaurant that looked like it was full of Spanish and not just all northern Europeans. I would need lunch on the way back.



Wood fired sardines along the beach

By the time I got to the marina in Benalmádena, I was very warm and needed something to drink. I had a choice of cafés and enjoyed people watching all the tourists there. The marina offered lots of boat tours and the apartments around the marina looked very nice.

It was just before 2pm when I was on my way back and had selected the Chiringuito Antonio y Ana for lunch. It looked like a popular place and most of the guests were speaking Spanish. For lunch I decided that I was going to have espeto de bocarones (roast sardines) y croquetas de marisco (seafood croquettes). I am not a big french fry person. I usually eat about ten before just getting bored of them. But I love croquettes!! So if I see them on a menu, it’s hard for me not to order them. They can come with chicken, jamón Serrano o Ibérico, mushrooms, seafood… I’ll take them any which way.





Croquetas de mariscos

So a beer and the sardines arrived. So delicious. They offered a variety of fish cooked the same way with lots of smoky, woody goodness. Next the croquetas arrived they were also wonderful. The Spanish would definitely question whether I was having lunch. But I ordered things I like. The croquetas were very filling so there just wasn’t room for anything green!

Midday drinking is hard on me. The Spanish all seem to do it better than I. After lunch all I could do was continue my walk home and take the obligatory siesta.

A good two hours later, I was finally awake and decided to check out some of the grocery stores nearby. In Europe there are two chains of cheap supermarkets, Lidl and Aldi. One of my students in Munich was from the family that owned Aldi. Henri was the nicest person and had some amazing travel stories. The funniest was when he was 8, was sitting in first class on a plane and was crying because he was super scared. Not because of the flying, but he didn’t understand why the plane had so many people on it?? Was that even safe? As a child from a rich family, it was his first time flying commercial. Perspective is everything.

So being a cook, I love all grocery stores. High end ones and also the cheap Trader-Joe’esque ones. So I spent my afternoon shopping. My first stop was the Chinese shop. Instead of having dollar stores, most towns will have a shop full of cheap imported Chinese products run by immigrant Chinese. In Torremolinos, I went to MEGA ASIA to buy some adaptors, a beach chair, and some large drinking glasses. The place was huge. I had never seen a Chinese store of that size. The prices weren’t as low as other Chinese stores but the selection was amazing.

I didn’t have lots of grocery needs but picked up specialty items at both Lidl and Aldi. My bag was full by the time I was walking home. The quality is average there but the prices were much lower than the Mercandona supermarket I had been going to.

I had a quiet evening at home. I used up the rest of the shrimp in a pasta dish for dinner. Then I wrote a bit and then watched some TV. It is hard for me to adjust to the Spanish timing of the day. By the very early hour of 11 pm, I was exhausted. At least I have been sleeping in until at least 8 am each day.


Tuesday July 5

On Tuesday, I decided that I would tackle the bank and gym hurdles with renewed enthusiasm. The bank was much less crowded but lots of people were being helped that had arrived after me. I was offering some leeway since I was a new client and maybe existing clients had priority. But finally I went up to a woman seated at one of the desks. She confirmed that the ticket system doesn’t work for new clients. She has called the tech folks many times but still it doesn’t work. Ugh. I had been waiting 40 minutes!

Luckily Carmen was lovely and apologized for the confusion. The account was going to cost like €15 a month but with a minimum transfer of €800 a month, the fee is waved. The other weird thing is that you have to show local healthcare OR local insurance on your belongings! So I now have coverage for my electronics and other valuables that I didn’t even know I wanted. It’s a hoop to jump through that costs €13 a month. My ATM will arrive next week and I’ll be all set. I also got my online credentials and the banking app working so I have the important IBAN number which means I can pay for services and send money to others. And I can sign up for the gym membership.

So the gym was my next stop. That wasn’t very easy either. It took about 75 minutes to sort it all out. They charged my credit card in the first five minutes but their computers couldn’t find me after they made me sign up through their website. The front desk person had to call the head office and get help. Luckily she was very nice and we laughed a lot along the way. Also various friends passed through so I got to socialize a bit too. I am retired. What was I late for?

In Spain they had a horrible dictator for many years. The Franco years were an extremely hard time for most as they endured a World War and the Spanish Civil War. BUT there was one good thing that Spain got from Franco that still exists today, el menú del dia. Franco required in his “oh so subtle way” that all restaurants offer a proper meal that the average working person could afford. This included a starter, main, dessert, bread, and a choice of wine, beer, or water. All for a reasonable price. Today this translates to lunch for about €10 with all that included!



Menú del día

The food tends to be very local, very fresh and a great sampling of the local cuisine. It’s embarrassing that I don’t think I have ever paid less than $10 for a glass of wine in the Bay Area, let alone a proper multicourse meal with wine!

The dictatorship of Franco is long gone and now having a menú is optional. But I am always on the lookout for the opportunity to eat what the people eat. So I walked out of my apartment and the closest place with a menú is about a block away, Cafeteria Avila. I had noticed it was popular which is one of my criteria in selecting a restaurant. Also I didn’t see any tourists. Another great sign.

Today’s menu offered a starter of paella, spaghetti Bolonese, a variety of snacks, or a mixed salad. For the main I had a choice of ribs in a sauce, grilled chicken breast, or grilled tuna. Also it came with the usual bread, vino and dessert for €9.50! I chose the paella and the tuna steak. The flavor of the paella was wonderful and even had pieces of seafood in it. The tuna steak was perfectly cooked and served with a side salad. For dessert I chose the flan but also could choose fruit, rice pudding, or ice cream. It was all wonderful. I will be definitely seeking out more Menú del Dia restaurants.


STARTER: a seafood paella



MAIN: Tuna steak with salad



Flan con nata

After a health nap, my friend José Manual came over to hang. We were hanging out for a long while and he finally left. I was thinking about heading out for a walk and then I realized I was supposed to be at a friend’s house in 15 minutes at 7:30 pm. The problem was that I am not used to the sun here and it looked like it was 5 pm! I quickly changed my clothes and actually made it to his house on time!

Los Angeles has the Hollywood Bowl. We loved going to this outdoor concert venue during our 15 years in LA. I even had the opportunity once to sing Beethoven’s 9th there on stage. It’s amazing to perform with an audience of 18,000 people.

Well Marbella has the StarLite. It's a stunning outdoor theater in a beautiful, natural rock cove. Throughout the summer, they bring in a nice variety of performers. The night after we were there, the 78 year old Diana Ross was performing. But that night a Cuban pianist Chucho Valdéz was playing with his friends Pablo Milanés, Javier Ojeda, and Pancho Céspedes joined to sing. Chucho is 80 years old and is an incredible jazz/latin pianist. He blew me away. I was brought to tears at several points that night. Pancho sang one song that made me think of my husband. It talked about a love that endured in spite of distance. We are back this Saturday for another concert. I love a summer full of music.



Red Carpet moment at Marbella's Starlite outdoor concert venue



Chucho Valdéz under the stars


Wednesday July 6

Last summer when I was here, we would wake every morning and go to one of many cafés for some coffee and a “pitufo” which is a toasted bread with something on top like jamón Serrano. The word pitufo is only used for this here in Malaga. Oddly, the word Pitufo is also what they call a Smurf, the 80s cartoon.

In my apartment I have a Nespresso machine which gives mediocre coffee at best. And with a variety of things I bought for breakfast, I have been nesting at home for the mornings. I still feel like I am settling in and I always have a list of things to do.

TRAGEDY STRUCK THIS MORNING! My trip has been going along very smoothly until I read an email when I woke. It was from my dear friends at Singapore Airlines. They regretted to inform me that they canceled my A380 New Suites flight from Singapore to Hong Kong. Instead they booked me on a later flight on a 777. DO THEY NOT REALIZE THIS IS A HUGE DOWNGRADE!?!?!!? Fighting back the tears, I clicked on the ACCEPT button as there was no alternative. This was supposed to be my first time in the New Suites! And now they had gone and taken it away from me. I am sure this must have something to do with COVID and that Hong Kong is still requiring a seven day quarantine thus fewer passengers are going. But this is so sad!! WHAT ABOUT MY NEEDS?!?!

The travel dork in me held a small pity party and then I moved on. I still get to experience the newly renovated Private Room lounge at Changi. I still will fly in First Class. I will just have to wait until next spring when I fly from JFK to Frankfurt to sample their best offering.

Meanwhile I have been researching sending dollars from my US bank to my new Spanish bank. My silly US bank would only initiate the transfer after I filled out a form and brought it into a branch in California. That’s not going to happen. So I researched a variety of money transfer services and ended up with Wise. Their transfer fee was the lowest with the highest exchange rate. I started the transfer at 10 am and it arrived in my local bank here at 4 pm. I would definity use them again.

I did my 45 mins of cardio at my new gym and then returned home. Along the way I checked out another restaurant’s menú. The selection for today would be the Gran Cafe Quintopino located across the street from yesterday’s restaurant. After going home and showering, I headed back to snag the last table.


Today's Menú del día

The menu offered first pinto beans, pesto pasta, Malaga salad, or salmorejo (a thicker version of gazpacho.) For mains the choices were grilled Ibérico pork, beef kebabs, hake in a sauce, or a small fried fish. The salmorejo came with the traditional hard boiled eggs and ham chunks. I really loved this dish. Then the pork came and was also delicious. I am so impressed with these menu meals. Today’s meal with a beer came to a total of €9. The midday meal (at 2 pm) is quickly becoming my favorite part of the day. I ended things with a lovely melon that was perfectly ripe.



Salmorejo


Ibérico pork


Wonderful melon

After my siesta, i walked down to the gay chiringuito beach club and used the time to have a drink and do some writing. I met a lovely couple from Hong Kong that had been living in Torremolinos for 7 months. They were in their mid thirties and decided they were done with Hong Kong. Things had become too difficult there. Many of the locals there aren’t so happy with the increased mainland China government restrictions. Things are going the wrong way.

It was great to hear their stories of being expats here and working from “home” far from their Hong Kong offices. We exchanged numbers and I look forward to chatting more with them.



Writing from Edén Chiringuito

My friend Jorge is arriving from Madrid on Friday so I have been enjoying quiet days and staying in each night. I know this is about to all change for the next few weeks because he is very social and knows everyone here! So I enjoyed another quiet evening. I even managed to watch my first movie, Downton Abbey: The New Era. As we say in Hollywood, they seemed to have “jumped the shark” a bit with the story. But it was fun seeing all my old friends from The Abbey.

Thursday July 7

So my days are all beginning to be alike. I awoke on Thursday with breakfast at home, then some computer time, and finally the gym. While I was there, my friend José Manual texted me as he was by his pool and wondered if I would stop by.

He lives just a few doors down from me but I stopped by still sweaty from the gym. We were by the pool. But after a while my stomach was calling so we decided to go to the Cafeteria Avila for lunch. Because he’s a local, everyone knew him including all the employees. Today’s menu offered starters of rice with ribs, gazpacho, a mayonnaise tuna salad, or a mixed salad. For the mains we had a choice of chicken with a cream sauce, beef stew, or a grilled rosada fish. The interesting thing was they had renamed the “ensaladilla rusa” to “ensaladilla nacional”. They changed “Russian little salad” to “National little salad”! It’s kind of like when American’s renamed “French Fries” to “Freedom fries”. It made me laugh.






Esaladilla nacional (not Russian!!!)



Rosada fish

José and I laughed a ton as we ate. One of my favorite things about Spain is how friendly everyone is. There was an amazing sense of community at this little restaurant. José insisted that we have a second beer which I knew was going to put me much closer to my siesta. I passed on dessert but he had an ice cream. We said goodbye and I rolled home to sleep.

I was awakened by a text from my friend David, the one who works at night at a hotel. He wanted to come by and have tapas with me before work. I felt like I had just had lunch! He chose La Pepa where I was the other day and ordered a nice variety. The papas bravas (french fries with spicy sauce were amazing.) Because this was just tapas and not dinner, I didn’t leave fully stuffed but realized that I wouldn’t really need dinner!



David treated me to some lovely tapas at La Pepa



Patatas bravas and tuna tacos

So another quiet evening of lighting candles and writing is how I spent my evening. It is such a lovely time of day as the evening breezes pass through my apartment. I hear the roar of the ocean in the distance as I sit here.

I am beginning to get my sabbatical legs. As expected, food has been a large part of my daily routine. Seeing old friends and making new ones has been giving me nice community. I have also been filling in some vocabulary gaps in my Spanish which makes me feel more like a local. I am so thankful that I learned Spanish so long ago and then decided to get a double major in it. It makes a huge difference in connecting with people here.

So Sabbatical Week 1 is complete. My first week has been so lovely. I definitely feel like I am on some sort of pathway. I look forward to my time with Jorge and the next weeks together.