July 6 - Many Walks

Today I went for four walks for a total of 10 miles - but first an early morning Mariner's game and then breakfast. 

Then we took a walk into center city - we started out walking through the big, traditional market near our flat.  It is only open until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and we had always walked by when it was closed before.  There are lots of fruit and vegetable vendors with great looking produce and pretty low prices, lots of intimidating meat and fish vendors (lots of big knives and fast Spanish), a few bakeries, cheese shops, and spice shops, and a couple of bars for morning drinkers. 

I am impressed with the number of nonalcoholic beers available - since beer (with and without alcohol) is cheaper than soda - I might need to switch... but probably not.

After our walk, we had lunch and then I went out for an afternoon walk while Albert stayed home and did some work.  My goal was to walk to the language school that I will be starting on Monday to make sure I could get there without getting lost on one of the many small streets between home and school.  Whew, I made it.

Statue Across the Street from Language School

Unfortunately, it was over 90 degrees and just the couple of miles left me dripping with sweat.  So, I went home and took a break, cooled off in the apartment and studied a little Spanish.  Then back out for a walk in a completely different direction to a part of town that we had not yet explored.

In addition to some interesting parks and buildings, I came upon a man standing in a busy intersection trying to sell things to drivers as they came up to the corner.  Was he selling pretzels (like in Philadelphia)? No... bouquets of roses (like in Washington DC)? No... He was selling windshield shades... yes, the shades that you put in your windshield when you park your car to protect the inside from the sun. 

After my afternoon walk, we had dinner.  We may actually have a meal outside the apartment tomorrow - we are meeting out landlord again - he has collected some information and forms for our "registration".  I think we owe him more that a meal!  

But for now, we have been enjoying some simple meals at home.  We have dishwasher in the apartment, I think it works, but I am not sure, we have been using the dishwasher we brought with us.

After dinner, we made a trash run and then extended it to a walk away from town to a Chinese market where we bought a few things including - an ice cube tray!  Our first experience with a one time use ice bag (while successful) will also be our last.

Sevilla is sometimes called "The Frying Pan of Europe".  Not surprising, it is 11 pm, and every cafe is packed with the people who stayed inside during the hot day and are now out and about.    I enjoyed the beautiful weather during the day (it may not be for everyone, but I love it) - and now I am heading in to read.  Buenas Noches.