Nairobi, Kenya - Monday & Tuesday, May 30 & 31

I will be catching up on our two week trip to Kenya, as most often we did not have WiFi and those times that we did it was very ineffective.

Our journey, as I previously noted on Sunday May 29th, started early and our connection flight was via Paris.  Our flight was delayed 45 minutes which meant we did not have much time for our connection.   Little did we know that I would end up running through the Paris airport in order to catch our Kenyan Air flight. Lesson learned try to avoid the Paris airport (CDG) if at all possible for any needed connections. Our total trip took about 15 1/2 hours to get to Nairobi. 

Our "driver, travel agent, safari guide and overall great guy" "Big" Ben picked us up and dropped us off at the Fairview Hotel.  It is a beautiful respite in the middle of a very busy and crowded city. While we arrived at night it was very clear that our hotel had a lot of security.  It happens to be across the street from the Israel Embassy.  I never met any Jews in Kenya but maybe there are some their?

Monday (5/30) we had lunch and dinner meetings for GNU Foundation. Beth is a volunteer on the Board of Directors for this small Foundation.  I volunteered to help and attend all the meetings and be "production" for the two day seminar later in the week.

On Tuesday (5/31), we drove to the Haruma slum to visit the Furaha Community Foundation.   Below is a You Tube video to give you an idea of the slum.

BTW Furaha is a Swahili word which means JOY. When we visited the school, which has been in operation for 11 years the kids were amazing.  They were respectful, considerate, kind, thoughtful you can tell how much they appreciate the opportunity to get an education.  They have "baby" classes for kids 3 years old up to 6th grade.  Their school has a 100% pass rate and was rated one of the TOP schools for education in Nairobi.

As you can see they fit about 40 to 45 kids in a space we would have maybe 20 kids.  They have 12 class rooms each about 15 X 15, three on the bottom level and 3 on the top on both sides of the dirt center space.

Below is a video of the older kids in the school doing a dance of appreciation for the funding GNU Foundation has made to help fund the school.

BTW I've traveled to some cities known for their terrible traffic, Mexico City, Cairo, Bangkok and even LA....but never in my life have I experienced traffic like in Nairobi.  What should be a 25 minute drive can take 2 hours. 

Monday, May 23rd to Sunday, May 29th

This was our first Monday of not looking for an apartment, not running around taking care of the necessary requirements to become residents and of not going to Spanish school. We both looked forward to a week free of the stresses this move to Spain has had on us.  Believe me this is NOT easy or stress free to make a move like this.  And we've been very fortunate with the help we have received along the way.  

As I think about the time effort and stress we went through to make this journey a reality, I think some of our family and friends wonder WHY are you moving to Spain for a year.  Life is not just good for you but really it is GREAT.  You are close with your family that you love and you have close and very dear friends who you love that are like family to you, so WHY leave?  

For me, it's about stimulating my brain by learning a new language. For Beth, it's about that and fulfilling a dream of living overseas again.   Learning Spanish will make us feel more comfortable in California and feel like so many throughout the world who know at least 2 languages. 

However, I should point out that this week was not Spanish school free, we did have two private teaching lessons (also with Kersten) scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday this week but at a much more reasonable time, 12:00 to 1:30pm.

On Wednesday (5/25) we met our Spanish school friend from Germany Kersten and her friend Veronica for a beer at the IVAM and lunch at a small restaurant before going into the Museum of Prehistory and Valencia's Cultures.  

The aim of the Valencian Ethnology Museum is to house permanent exhibitions that provide a comprehensive insight into traditional Valencian society.  I might have mentioned this when we visited the IVAM (Modern Art Museum), which just happens to be right next to this museum is that it costs so little 2 euros to get in, you can go for a short time and enjoy one exhibit and focus on that and not feel you need to take in everything.....as we know we will return to many of these museums during our stay.

I should digress for a moment, when we ordered lunch Kersten and I had beers and Veronica ordered white wine.  Beth ordered water....the look on our waiters face was either one of confusion, disbelief and or wonder....he could not comprehend not have a alcoholic beverage at lunch.  And as life would have it he "accidentally" brought Veronica red wine.....so he just moved it over to Beth.  The other funny thing happened when he told us his name Paco and Beth called him Poco, which means little...it was such a funny moment for us all we had a great laugh. 

Thursday, (5/26) before Spanish class we went over to the Central Market to shop for the food we would need because tonight is our first night of having people over for dinner.  We are having our Guardian Angel, Jorge, his wife Ferni and their nephew Luis over. 
They arrived at our agreed upon time, 9:00pm after two bags of potato chips with mayo, some cheese and bread and of course olives we sat down to eat around 10:00pm.  We made one of Beth's favorite meals from home breaded baked thinly sliced chicken on a bed of arugula with Gorgonzola cheese with a "salsa" of tomatoes, Basil, and garlic.  It was delicious....after a few local cookies and coffee they left at 12:30 pm and we rejoiced in how wonderful it was and how lucky we are.

Friday, 5/27 tonight in the Jewish calendar is the 20th of Iyar, the anniversary of my fathers death, called yahrzeit. The yahrzeit is a time of remembering the dead, especially a parent, by reciting the Kaddish, lighting a 24 hour candle and honoring them in memory.   So I wanted to go to Temple tonight to say the Kaddish and honor my Dad.   I found 4 Jewish Synagogues listed in Valencia ...but no address only phone numbers.  So I called one and the man Israel. could speak English so I met him for coffee before he would tell me where the "temple" was and invite me to services (protection I imagine).  I was "approved" to join the services tonight.  

After this we met Dani, the daughter of Kathy Schugg - a former work colleague of mime at Hyatt Resorts Hawaii. Dani is teaching Spanish to 3rd and 4th graders in Madrid and she came to Valencia to met a former roommate of hers  It was neat to meet her.

Later,  I was met Israel and 3 other men at 7:45pm for a beer before the temple service at 8:30.  The synagogue was actually in an apartment (flat).  One side was designated for the bimah, etc. the other side was for breaking the bread and saying the blessing for the wine.  BEFORE the service started we all had just a little Annis alcohol.  As you could imagine I was loving this and also a bit intrigued.  So it turns out this is a Orthodox temple, but not a Chabad.  So there were 7 men (including me) and 6 women, who of course sat on the other side of the temple.  And they all just start reading and chanting Hebrew right from their prayer books....no "real" leader just everyone together.  I think that since they only have Friday night and not Saturday services their service is like a combination of both days. When they called me up to the bimah I knew they would ask for my Hebrew name (Chaim) and Heschel but they also asked for my Dad's mom's name, which I did not remember her name in Hebrew so they used her English name which is Elsie.....which just so happens to be the name of my 3 month old Grand Niece....it was cool

Saturday, 5/28  we sent the morning and early afternoon packing for our trip to Kenya.  At 3:30 we took the Metro to the beach as it was the hottest day yet 30 or about 86 degrees.  We love how cool the sea water is and how many people enjoy the beach.  I have to admit no where in the world I've every been to the beach has there been so many topless women. 

Sunday, 5/29. Off to Kenya - So soon after arriving in Valencia?  Beth is on the board of the Gnu Foundation. - an organization that makes micro-loans to support families in the poorest corners of the world.  The founder, Jim Sempere, who planned a trip to visit the Kenya partners followed by a safari, invited us to join him.  We jumped on the opportunity - after all, we were half way there already.  ....5:00am wake up alarm....Warriors are down by 8 points in the 4th quarter of game 6, down 3 games to 2 on the road in Oklahoma......by the time we got into the cab at 5:40 they were up by 5 points 106 to 101 with 14 seconds to play.  Our departure flight was at 7:00am and I knew they had won before our 2 hour flight to Paris and then on to our 7+ hour flight to Nairobi....we made it safely.

Valencia experiences and becoming a resident - Monday, May 9th to Sunday, May 22nd, 2016

We have a apartment and we FINALLY got WiFi, or as they call it here (we fee).  It's been almost two weeks since my last post.  I am going to catch up, so bear with me! 

On Monday, May 9th we started Spanish school at PickUp Valencia.  We got lucky that at least 2 other people in our classes, this week, were over 50.  Many, if not most, are young students from all over the world (The Kingdom of the Netherlands, France, Germany, Russia, England).  This first week of school, no matter what level of classes I did not see one other man, besides the owner Jacobo.  

Our classes are from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Monday through Friday. After our first day we both had headaches and we both wondered what we got ourselves into. One other note about the classes/school, our teacher Laura, speaks almost NO English.

After class and after school we were walking around and stumbled upon Centro Cultural Bancaja, Museo Lladro.  The entrance was free, as is the case for many if not most museums in Spain.  "The Lladro Collection, Six Centuries of Painting, which is one of the most important private art collections in Spain.  It is a balanced selection of the main trends in Spanish Art History, primarily emphasizing Valencian Art.  From Gothic to XX century regionalist paintings; from Juan de Juanes to Sorolla, as well as El Greco, Jose de Ribera or Francisco de Zurbaran It has a repertoire of periods, styles, formats and techniques."

Our favorite was called Descargando la Pesca (unload the fish) by Jose Mongrell Torrent, we also like Paisaje Surburbial (Suburban landscape) by Juan Bautista Porcar Ripolles.

It was raining a little but when we left it stopped and Beth took this double rainbow picture with her phone.

Wednesday, May 11th - our move in day!  After being in Valencia for two weeks living out of our luggage tonight we moved into our apartment.  At 16:30 (4:30pm) we met Andres, our agent at their Real Estate's office, Elite Habitat Inmobiliaria.  The owner of our apartment Dona Eva Mengot Sabater also met us there.  Fortunately we asked David Leventhal to review the contract as it was all in Spanish.  With Andres and Eva speaking almost no English we used Google translate for specific sentences we didn't understand. We "trusted the universe" as their simply was no way to know everything that was written in the lease.  

The process of getting our Visa extended required not only that we have  signed lease, but we needed to be living in our new apartment.  So this was a important first step forward.  However, we only had one more week to accomplish everything else we needed to do.

Thursday, May 12th, after Spanish class we meet Jorge to go over the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) as we needed to "register our home location".  We we arrived there was a line, to get in in order to get a number to wait for your turn.  Jorge told us it was the last day to vote so that's why there were so many people.  We decided that we would come back tomorrow, as we expected the line would be shorter.   So instead we went to open a back account.  You would think it would be easy.....ah but this is Spain.  The first bank we went to we could open an account, however they required that we purchase health insurance thru them, sorry but NO.  We walked across the street to Banco Sabadell what a difference!  I could tell just by the elegance of the space that this was a more "upscale" bank.  The women who helped us open the account spoke excellent English.  This is what was funny to us....it was just about 2:00pm (closing time) and we had Euro's to open the account but she said, no problem you can open the account without making a deposit. Can you imagine that happening in the states? 

Now we needed to have the bank account, even though it currently had no money in it, to get our WiFi, TV and local phone accounts via Vodafone.  Of course we didn't question these rules and regulations it just how things happen in Spain.  So we got out phones and arranged to have the WiFi to be installed the following week, which was the first date available.

Friday, May 13th after this first week of Spanish classes and all the running around for our residence requirements we were waisted.  Fortunately for us we had developed a friendship with one of our classmate Kersten, from Germany.  We decided to meet later in Barrio del Carmen to try and find the street of baskets and just to hang out with each other.  We did find the street of baskets and wouldn't you know it Beth bought a basket.   From here we wandered a bit and then Kersten suggested we go to the Marina Beach Club, at the sea, to have a drink.  WOW, this is the place of the young and good looking, right on sea and brand new.  We hung out enjoyed cocktails and some cheese, quince and olives.  All of us needed this!  We loved getting to know Kirsten.  She is a Director for a few different TV series shows in Germany.  We also found out that we have "personal growth" work in common.  She is very smart, friendly and super cool, we like her a lot.  By now it was after 9:00 pm and we decided to take a walk on the boardwalk.  It was a beautiful night.  I think we all felt so fortunate for so many things in our lives....it's moments like a simple walk on along the boardwalk that truly remind us of the moments in time that are special, and this was one of those moments.  So at about 10:30 we all said let's chose a restaurant and eat.  Kersten recommend La Pepcia restaurant...another WOW, this place has been in business over 120 years!  Kirsten and I shared calamari, small clams and a seafood paella.  Valencia developed paella and we very much loved our meal.  What a amazing afternoon and evening and we got home early, about 1:00am

Saturday & Sunday, May 14 & 15  we slept, we walked around town, we rode bikes.  

Wednesday, May 18th, Jorge got in line at City Hall and we met him there after school.  The line was longer today than last week, but no worries.  We got inside before they close, at 2:00 pm, got our number and took care of registering us living in our apartment. We receive a paper that we needed to provide to the local police to establish residency.  On Thursday, Jorge went over to the local police, first to make sure it was the "right" local police station and second to make an appointment for us to bring in our paper work on Friday.  Have I mentioned that Jorge is our Guardian Angel....I know I have but I can not say it enough how fortunate we were to have met him.

Friday, May 19th, the BIG DAY we go to the police to turn in all of our paperwork to get their approval to extend our Visa's and become residents.  Jorge picks us up at school, actually his nephew Luis (age 19) is driving as he needs the practise having his license for only 2 weeks.  Our class ended at 12:00pm and our appointments were at 12:30 and 12:45....and since Jorge had made these appointments we did not have to wait in line to get in.  Of course another surprise to us....this was the fastest and easiest meetings of all.  They took our paperwork, and photo's (which we purchased in one of those small photo booth's that we make funny photo's in at home) and then they fingerprinted us....DONE!  YES we are residents.  After we took Jorge and Luis to lunch to celebrate.  

Jorge told us his wife Ferni had heard so much about us that she wanted to meet us.  Ferni is in her residency to become a Cardiologist.  So they invited us to see a movie with them this evening.  They picked us up at 10:00pm to see the 10:30 movie X-Men Apocalypse

Sunday, May 22nd today is my buddy Larry Katz's 59th birthday.  I called and left a message, sent a WhatsApp message and an email.  He was at the Padres game vs. the hated Dodgers, which went into 17 innings, with his 3 kids. 

Today also is Mike Levy and Crystal's wedding in New York.  I've become quite friendly with Mike over the past few years when I would travel to NY for business.  I felt so bad missing their wedding and seeing all of our East coast family.  I was able to experience their wedding through my sisters, as they both posted pictures on WhatsApp.  It was a gorgeous wedding!

Day time fire works for Festividad Virgen de los Desamparados - Sunday, May 8th

Have you ever seen day time fireworks?  I never even knew there was such events.  They were SO loud that we felt the reverberations pulsing through our bodies.  They were shot off from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Square), with buildings surrounded us on all four sides, thus the fireworks were extremely loud. 

Colored smoke created fireworks with trails of color, while others glittered like diamonds in the sky.  We were only 30 meters (about 33 yards) away.  The aftermath looked like bombs had gone off!  We found it very entertaining, however a young girls near us was visibly shaken.  A Bombero (Fireman) came over to talk with her, it was wonderful to see him so caring and thoughtful.  

While looking for information on the web I found this joke.  I got a laugh I hope you do to.

What do you call 2 Spanish Firemen?   -  Jose and Hose B!

Later in the day at 18:30 (6:30pm) we went to experience the Procession General.  It was quite tame compared to the morning event in which crowds of people, push, shove and pass kids, adults over their heads, like a mosh pit so they can touch the Statue of the Virgen de los Desamparados.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRbri4w42tg

The Procession started at 6:30 with what seemed like thousands of people walking in it.  Their dresses and the men's outfits were amazing and again it was raining. The Statue came out a 20:00 (8:00pm) so everyone waited 1 1/2 hours to see it!

 

Festividad Virgen de los Desamparados - Saturday, May 7

The festival is known as either Feast of the Virgen of the Helpless or Our Lady of the Homeless or Our Lady of the Forsaken.  As you can see from the translations, the event seems to take on many different meanings.  There is a long convoluted story about an old woman who was healed by 3 young male angels after being ignored by hooligans partying in Valencia.  This seemed to be proof of miracles and she became the patron Saint of Valencia.  Anyway, each year there is a festival the second weekend in May that in terms of pageantry, color, ceremony and local engagement rivals any Hindu, Buddhist or Pagan festival we've been to around the world.   

Saturday night, in the Plaza of the Virgen, at 23:00 (11:00pm) we were indoctrinated into Valenciano culture with the Festival.   We chose to pass on attending the masses earlier in the day but joined thousands of locals in the Plaza for a concert by the Banda Municipal de Valencia.  It was sprinkling but not a single band member budged ... such expensive instruments.. but the show must go on.  The Valencianos merely popped up their umbrellas.  

The band played typical Valencian music - somewhat waltz like. We met an older Valencian couple who exuded pride in the music and "explained what was happening" in Valenciano so it's possible that we've misinterpreted.  As the band struck the first note of the Hymm of Valencia, the crowd roared and then to our delight began to sing.  Their proud voices filled the Plaza echoing off the Basiclica, Cathedral and apartment buildings that surround the Plaza.  Both Howard and I were incredibly moved. Our full hearts affirmed the choice to spend a year in Valencia.  

That would have been enough (Dayenu).  But the night got only better - the music was followed by Fireworks at the River Park - about a  quarter of a mile away. (Beth loves fireworks).  Then back to the Plaza for folk dancing that started at 00:30 (12:30 am!) - hundreds of local Valencianos in their Fiesta finery (full brocade skirts, lace veils, baroque jewelry for the women, knicker pants, lace socks, silver buckle shoes, brocade vests and 4 pointed black hats for the men).  The Plaza was so crowded that we couldn't see much.  It's inspiring to see so many people out so late - including toddlers and many people we suspect were well over 80 years old.  What a night.

Moving day, Silk Market, meeting David Leventhal in the Central Market & general thoughts on our first week in Valencia - Wednesday thru Friday, May 4th - 6th

Wednesday was moving day!

We checked out of our hotel, moved 3 of our humongous bags into our new apartment, even though we can not move in until next Wednesday (5/11), and moved the rest of our bags into the VRBO condo.  

It is quite nice that the owner of our apartment, Eva, allowed us to leave our bags in the 3rd bedroom (the size of a babies room). It will certainly make our move a lot easier. Moving our bags around made me think that we brought way to many clothes and stuff.  But we have what we have....I just like the feeling and the ease of having less stuff!

After these logistic's we deceided that we would check out the La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia (old Silk Exchange - a group of buildings).   

"The Silk Market is the main monument of the city and a masterpiece of civic Gothic architecture.  The building has been declared by UNESCO as part of the Humanity's Heritage. Construction on the Lonja began in 1483, a project of renowned master builder Pere Compte.  Its resemblance to old Medieval castles is based on the rigid appearance of a fortress accentuated by its stone walls.  The building contains four main parts, each one for a different use: the main Tower, the Consulado de Mar, the Patio de los Naranjos (Orange tree courtyard), and the Contracts Room (with many spiral columns)"

"In the Middle Ages, the city of Valencia was interested in fashion and textiles and thus developed an important silk industry.  Meanwhile, the old Lonja became insufficient to meet the prosperity of the city and the construction of the Silk Exchange was required in the 15th century.  This building was quickly considered as the symbol of power and wealth of the city to attract traders. Since its construction, it had been used as both a Commodity Exchange, a bank and a meeting place for merchants."

Contract room Hall of columns

The are either carved or engraved into the ceiling beams

Lonja de la Seda - facade and decorations

We meet David Leventhal a Impact Assests acquaintance of Beth's in the Central Market for a traditional "second breakfast" or early lunch.  

People in Spain eat 5 meals spread throughout the day.   Desayuno (breakfast) usually a pastry and coffer first thing in the morning. 

Then almuerzo, the 2nd breakfast or early lunch around 11:00 followed by comida (lunch) the main meal of the day taken between 14:00 and 16:00 (2pm to 4pm).  

Comida is not just about eating the two hours it takes also includes the so-called sobremesa, the time spent during and after food with family or friends having a lively chat at the table.

From 16:00 to 17:00 (4pm to 5pm) is sesita time

Merienda (tea time) around 17:00 (5pm) a little snack, usually sweets and coffee.

Cena (dinner) begins around 21:00 (9pm) although most restaurants get busy around 22:00.  Dinner is often smaller than lunch, like Tapas.

With David we ate a fried fish that he described was like Gefilte fish.  Followed by another whole small flat fried fish, a small cooked eggplant and a "tortilla" which is not a tortilla as we know it, it's quiche.  Many if not all people have either wine or beer with their 2nd lunch.

Other thoughts and experiences.  We have found that the local's are very friendly and helpful.  We are incredibly grateful for their attitude towards us and willingness to help us.  They seem to respect and or appreciate our commitment to live in bha-LEN-cia for one year and learn Spanish.  They laugh at our limited Spanish but work with us to order food, get my hair cut, find out about ordering cable and internet, etc.

I have experience, about the Spanish women the following statement, which I found on the internet:

"Spain is known for their smoking hot senoritas! They have a stunning, olive complexion that is a gift of the Mediterranean people.  The tan that the Spanish acquire is immensely attractive and more so on its women.  To add to their charming physical traits, Spanish ladies are endowed with beautiful raven hiar, well complemented by their dark, lustrous eyelashes. You only have to look at stars like Penelope Cruz to know the Spanish women are know the world across for their gorgeous beauty."

"Proud of their feminity"

One of the most attractive features of Spanish women is their full-sized figure which gives them a sensual appeal"  

This link is "general overview of Spaniards"

This is what I read about Spanish men:

"Spanish men are world champion hedonists and are mainly interested in five things: sex, football, food, alcohol and gambling (not necessarily in that order).  Sounds a lot like American men!

How can you not like a country that the takes 2 hours lunches to hang with family and friends, in which almost everyone has either wine or beer.  Most everything is closed on Sunday's, like it used to be on New Years or Christmas day.  Their social life is focused on family and friends not work!

Apartment appointments and a decision made!

Here we go....we have appointments at 11:00am, 14:00 (2:00pm) and 16:00 (4:00pm) with 3 different agents, one of which is Maria Marin's our waitress at restaurant La Fabbrica Della Pasta friend.  

We first met Andres Roca of Elite Habitat Inmobiliaria.  His English was limited.  He took us to see the apartment we saw on their web site and had asked to see.  It was new with two levels, had a small deck and worked well with the kitchen and dining room next to each other.  But it didn't move us.  He then wanted to take us to another one, which we agreed to as we had the time.  When we saw it we liked it very much.  It had a nicer deck area, it was larger with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  The dining and living room felt more live able and the deck was good.  It was on the 6th floor, just off the main street Calle Colon.  It even has a doorman Javier. We liked it a lot.  We happened to meet the owner Eva as she was cleaning it.  

After seeing this we went back to our hotel and looked at the other apartments we were to see and our 14:00 was not as nice, so we cancelled that meeting.  To our surprise the 16:00 appointment was the exact same apartment as the 2nd on Andres took us to see.  So we cancelled the 16:00 went over to Andres office and snatched up the 3/2.  YES we have an apartment and a lease until March of 2017!

We felt SO happy and excited and so much more at ease that the pressure was off of us.

For enjoyment we decided to visit IVAM as they had a American Documental Photography in the Thirties.  "In the field of photography, the pictures that best illustrate the social sequels of the Great Depression after the stock market crash of 1929 are the ones taken by the American photographers Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Carl Mydans, Arthur Rothstein, Jack Delano, Marion Post,  Gordon Parks and Russell Lee, who took part in the programme of the Farm Security Administration (FSA, 1935-1944).  Set up by the government to provide graphic documentation of the agricultural reform programme promoted by the New Deal, the project gave rise to the greatest choral account of the desolation and poverty of the rural population and their emancipation in those years.

Here are a few of their photographs

 We also saw the Julio Gonzalez (sculptor) exhibit.  We enjoyed the IVAM very much.  I am sure we will return many times during our year here in Valencia.

Signing up for Spanish school

We continue to struggle, a bit, to find a place to live.  We decided that, since our hotel checkout date is Wednesday (5/4), we would book a VRBO place for another week while we continue our search. This will give us an opportunity to check out other locations give us a larger space and a kitchen.  It's nice to eat out on occasion but for every meal, a bit much for us.  The VRBO place we booked is located in the Old City of Valencia.

OK (valle) we walked over to a Spanish school we liked called Pickup Valencia. During our conversation with them we knew it would be the school for us. The location was central, the classes small, 5 people or less, and they have a lot of flexibility to work.  It turns out that they are also a Tourism Agency which was a stroke of luck.  They gave us a few web sites, which we had not found, that had apartments for rent.  They place many students into local families homes or find places that 3, 4 or 5 students can rent together.  Clearly we are not their target market.  BUT on one of the web sites we found a couple of apartments that we liked.

I digress for a moment.  Last night, after returning from our drive to Javea we wanted to eat something close and not Spanish food.  We found La Fabbrica Della Pasta, 2 blocks from our hotel.  It was around 10:00 pm and their were a few families together with about 6 to 8 kids....I still have not gotten over the surprise of seeing kids eating dinner so late.  In any case we have a lovely dinner but I back tracked to this experience because we our waitress Maria Marin, is Spanish but spent 6 years (middle and HS) in Tampa Bay, Florida.  She was amazing helpful, supportive, gave us her cell number, told us her friend was a real estate agent and could help us find a place.  She even volunteered to translate what a Mensch she is.

Valle (OK) so we had her agents name then we got the web sites from the school Pickup Valencia so we committed, after today's siesta, to making appointments to see apartments.  We spent the mid-day studying our Spanish flash cards in Turia Gardens, which is right in the middle of town.

After an hour, and our heads hurting a bit we went to lunch at Lambrusqueria.  When we walked to the park we saw how full this restaurant was with locals so we ate there after we studied.  It was fantastic.

So in the afternoon we made 3 different appointments for Tuesday to looks at apartments.  We will see what tomorrow brings!

Sunday - Mothers Day and May Day (Labor Day) the same day!

As we continue to the process of considering where we might potentially want to live...in the city of Valencia, in Old town Valencia, near Valencia beach....we decided that we would rent a car and drive south to see some of the smaller beach towns, about an hours drive South of the city.

First off, Sunday's here, at least this time of year, are like Christmas Day or New Years Day or Thanksgiving Day "used" to be in the old days.......NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING is open in the city.  When we choose to rent the car it was just dumb luck that we choose Sunday.  Things that are focused on tourism, like rental cars were open.  We rented a brand new cute little Fiat 500 and hit the road.  I should add that Beth got a local SIM card for her phone through Vodafone, thus we had the ability to use her data for driving directions, etc.

It was an easy drive on the "toll road" JUST 10.50 Euro (our car rental for the day was 28 Euro) to drive from Valencia to Javea.  While we driving we would occasionally see signs for Xabia and we started to get a bit confused....then I figured it out....many, if not all the signs are in both the Spanish and Valencian languages.  It was about an hour drive to Javea (video of Javea).  It was beautiful and we loved it right away.  We walked along the small boardwalk and ate a wonderful lunch at Noray Puerto, which is on the boardwalk.  Javea is only about 30,000 inhabitants of which 53% are foreign nationals...I can see why the British, Dutch and others live here, at least for part of the year.

As we enjoyed the gorgeous day we realized that while Javea is beautiful we could not live there full time.  To small, not enough culture or activities other then the Sea and hiking and biking.  So after lunch we drove North (back up towards Valencia) and visited Denia. It only has a population of 43,000 but it felt so much larger than Javea.

"There is evidence of human habitation in the area since prehistoric times and there are significant Iberian ruins on the hillsides nearby. In the 4th century BC it was a Greek colony of Marseille or Empuries, being mentioned by Strabo as Hemeroscopion.  It was an ally of Rome during the Punic Wars, and later was absorbed into the Roman Empire inder the name Dianum.  In the 1st century BC Quintus Sertorius established a Roman naval base here."

To me Denia was too large and too busy with many tourists. So we continued our drive back towards Valencia.  Out last coastal town was Oliva, small but not much to it...although their beach was the best of the 3 costal towns we saw.

We had an awesome day and it helped us to know that we would spend some weekends in Javea, we just will not choose to live there.