Today started as a normal Tuesday morning. Mo went for a hair cut at Cristina's on Calle Atrás and I called in Antonio and Joachim's pescadería to buy seafood for a paella. Then I sat outside cafe Madrugon with a cafe con leche waiting for a call from the Fagor técnico to sort out our water heater. There's no signal on the mobile at home so I was content to wait, sipping my coffee and reading El Jueves (very funny and very rude indeed) . Then Pablo from the estanco (tobacconist) on the square stopped at my table.`'Have you got the mando for the garage yet? There's one at the ferretería for
you.'
I bought a parking space in a new apartment block in March 2005. Today for the first time I opened the door with my shiny new mando and walked up to my parking space ; number 53. Tomorrow I may even park my car there, though I'm a bit nervous that something will go wrong and my car my be locked in there for ever. From the way things have gone for the last seven years that would be no surprise. There were already two cars parked in there and the lights worked. It's hard to believe. It must be the most expensive parking space in Spain and now worth less than half I paid for it, I'm sure. Just another casualty of the collapse of construction here. In 2005 it looked a good investment until the builder and developer fell out, all the apartments and parking spaces were mortgaged, the developer went bankrupt and the whole place was going to be auctioned off. This may be a green shoot of recovery. My sister has bought a flat in the top square. Boom time is back. Perhaps.
Let's hope it is for Antonio who has opened Bar Ankar Feo in the Plaza Baja. We went in for the first time after viewing our parking space. Cruzcampo on draught and a lovely tapa of pincho de gambas. The bar looks much bigger than when it was called 'Oscar's' and much lighter. Good luck Antonio, who is not at all 'feo' (ugly) but a handsome friendly chap. Apparently all the men in his family are called 'Feo' and have been for some generations. This is quite a common thing here. (so is being called Antonio). Paco Mañonyo's surname is not Mañonyo either, and his brothers are are called Mañonyo too.
Terry Durham gave us an invitation to the opening of exhibition of work by the 'Artistas Independientes de Álora' on 26th. October at the Casa de Cultura. It's a sort of 'Salon de les Refusés'.
Álora has a good number of resident artists. The exhibition runs from Oct. 20th. until Nov. 16th.
The Fagor téchnician didn't call but the heater has started working. Should I ring and cancel the visit?
If I do it's bound to break down again.
09/10/2012
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