One week down of living in Torre del Mar!
I found out on Friday, that it's not just Wednesdays that we lunch with the grandparents...we had a lovely three-course meal overlooking the mediterranean sea.
It was a mistake opening my bank account while I was in Madrid. Although there are Santander branches all across Spain, they are actually all rivals with each other (this seems to be a common thing for companies here in Spain). Anyway, the branch in Madrid where I opened my account said they'd post my card to the branch in Torre when it's ready. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, however, as I was walking down the main street, I noticed that the building that Santander is supposed to be in is completely empty...so I emailed Madrid and still haven't heard back from them. Very glad I have Apple Pay, but who knows where my card is...
Yesterday, one of the other Auxes and I caught up in Vélez to go on a hike to a neighbouring town. We stopped off at the MVVEL (Museum of Vélez-Málaga) where I was thoroughly surprised to find the free museum inside the old white marble hospital of San Juan de Dios! We were the only visitors and there were six exhibits starting from neanderthal life and ending with modern-day Spain, all focussed on the region of Axarquía. I knew little of Spanish history before visiting the museum and found it incredible how many different cultures and religions beliefs have been prevalent in the Iberian Peninsula. Here's a quick overview:
We walked 8km along a dirt road to Algarrobo pueblo. Algarrobo is a small, white town with 6,300 residents (that's another thing, in Spain the commas and dots in numbers are reversed (so one thousand would be 1.000)). We tried to find a café for lunch, but all the restaurants were closed on Saturdays except for one with about 15 old men smoking out the front. We ordered tinto de verano (red wine with Casera (a fizzy drink here made from sugar cane)) and a tortilla with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Normally, I've found food and drink to be very cheap here in Spain (drinks for 2€, tapas for 1.50€, and meals for about 8€), but as this was a small, rural town, alcohol was about double the regular price.
We took the coastal route home and caught up with three other Auxes for drinks and churros in Torre, then dinner in Vélez. Overall, a great day, and I hit 30,000 steps!
Notes:
- Hombre in Spanish means 'man'. You'll find it on bathroom doors, and government forms, however, if you listen carefully, you'll actually hear it everywhere. Hombre! can mean: "hey!", "please?", and "seriously?".
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