Ay yai yai.  The rain in Spain is falling quite far from the plains.  Sporadic downpours all over my clothes hanging out to dry.  If this continues, I may need to come up with an indoor solution. 

I wonder if the America's Cup teams train in the rain?  I can see why they picked Valencia to host the race.  There is always a breeze here, especially near the water, and there are times that it is downright blustery.   That reliable wind is great for drying the clothes except on days like today. 

My husband was distraught the other day when I casually mentioned that I was bored.  "Bored?  We take off to go live in Spain and you're bored?"  Well, perhaps bored wasn't exactly the word, but I needed a change from the routine.  I definitely needed a change from eating all of our meals at home.   So, I was able to convince the guy to explore the menu del dia options in our neighborhood.  We stopped at the first one we found open (I think many are closed on Mondays.)  It had a menu del dia for 7 euros.  This neighborhood "bar" (think cafe for those not familiar with Spain) is where I have had my breakfast on two occasions.  The price was right for a first and second course as well as wine and dessert or coffee. 

I had us take pictures to mark the occasion of our first meal out in Spain.  Nothing had been served yet as we took the pictures.  You can see how our anticipation differed. ;)

Mitch's first choice was potatoes with greens.  Fine but nothing impressive.  Mine was rice with rabbit.  The rice was so yummy.  Paella style rice with Valencian alubias (large white fava like bean) and rabbit.  Never had rabbit?  Well, tastes a lot like chicken, although many more bones.  I loved the rice.  The rabbit - so so.

Our second course was cod croquettes with french fries.  For dessert, a choice of coffee or sweets.  I had a cortado (espresso with milk) and Mitch chose the lemonish flan that was out of this world.  I wish we had taken a picture of that.

We ordered wine with our meal - expected a house wine of course - but sent it back after tasting it.  Our waiter explained it was a house wine and I said it tasted as it had been open for a week.  At the end of our meal, our waiter asked where we were from.  He was an Argentine (who actually made that yummy dessert) who had emigrated to Spain two year's ago.  He was a bit embarrassed that we had sent back the wine, and offered to deduct 2 euros from our bill.  I declined as he had given us a beer in exchange, but in the end, problems bring folks closer together and we ended up meeting the whole family.  They own the bar, having come from Argentina to Spain 3 years ago for a better life after so many economic ups and downs in Argentina.  The waiter's Mom, the cook, came out to tell us about her life, the restaurant, and the specialties.  On Fridays, they make Argentine beef empanadas and rack of beef.  Yum.  We will be back. 

So, I'm not a domestic goddess.  Those of you who know me well already know this.  I don't really like to clean and I am not good at it.  As a working professional, I have had the luxury, and the excuse, to have a cleaning service come to my house every two weeks.  And come to think of it, my babysitter Raimunda would also help out with sweeping, the laundry and the dishes when she had time. 

Fast forward to our present life in Spain.  No job at the moment.  A family decision to lead a simpler life.  No clothes dryer and no dish washer.  Time to clean.  I sort of like hanging out the clothes to dry.  They smell better for sure - and well - it's just the thing to do here.  I must have Mitch take a picture of me hanging out or gathering the clothes.  It will be our little Picassoish foto.  Know which picture I am referring to? 

Anyway....our apt. was spotless when we moved it.  Shiny and squeaky clean.  We are cleaning it, but the windows are streaky and the floors don't shine.  I know I'm in trouble when I am googling "how to clean a window" or "how to mop the floor."

So today, as I met with our landlord outside of Benjamin's school, I mentioned how clean the apt. was when we moved in and how much his cleaning lady would charge.  (6 Euros ($9) an hour)  Hmm.  Seemed like a good deal.  I wanted her number.  I quickly mentioned that Mitch would not be a supporter in this scheme, but assumed he wasn't able to follow the conversation.   My bad.  Ouch.  He understood it all.  His head shaking back and forth with that disapproving frown he has. 

So, the conversation on the way back from school centered on a redivision of family chores, a search for new cleaning products and a renewed commitment from Mitch to expand his cleaning obligations. 

Many people have mentioned that they couldn't imagine me at home.  I always disagreed as I have a lot of interests to keep me busy.  But this much is true.  I do not like to clean.  And I kind of miss talking to people.  And making money.  Maybe I do need to go back to work.....

Well, the rain that we heard about has arrived.  Yuk.  It's been raining since Thursday and those clothes on the line are looking sad.  3 days is a long time to be out there. 

Today we went to the aquarium or the Oceanographic.  Very nice - but we were surprised that we needed to spend a lot of time outside.  That's what happens when they city has 300+ days of sunshine a year.  Although today, we got wet!

No school on November 1st was a nice treat for us.We walked through the neighborhood Cabanyal to the beach.  We were told to be a bit careful where we walked in the neighborhood but the streets we take seem just fine to us.  It's definitely an older, working class area that has a lot of charming little buildings with old tiles.  I loved this one.   The front is covered entirely in tiles.

We also stumbled upon this lovely square (Plaza de los Angeles) with a church.  It seems like a great place to come and have tapas before comida.

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Ah...the Mercadona, our neighborhood supermarket.  I'll admit, it's not the typical market where the fruit, veggies and fish are the freshest.  However, it's just a block from our house and we are constantly amazed by the choices.  Some of our favorites:

Yogur de Coco - Coconut yogurt.  Why hasn't this caught on in the states?

Yogur de Coco con muesli - Coconut yogurt with muesli.  Hmm.

Ready made Spanish tortilla for $2.50 (1.68 Euro) Wow.  Why make it when it's this easy to buy?  True, mine taste a bit better, but they take me at least an hour start to finish.

Sliced goat cheese.  Why use swiss on your sandwich when sliced goat cheese is available?

Wine for anywhere from 1Euro (or less) and up.  We typically stick with something in the 2-4 Euro range and they are just fine.

Turkey sausage.  It's nice to find a pork alternative sausage.  Plus it's very yummy.

Petite Suisse - this is for kids but we like it too.  A mix of yogurt and cheese.

Of course, fresh, fresh bread.  Barra o Chapa de pan. 

Whole fish, especially trout, dorado and cod are excellent.

Cereal with dehydrated fruits.

Fireworks are a daily/nightly occurrence in Valencia.  I wonder if Valencia spends more per person on fireworks than anywhere else in the world. 

I have no idea why there was such a grand show a few blocks away from us tonight.   My guess is that it was in Ayora Park.  It was pretty awesome and lasted about 20 minutes at least.

I know that Las Fallas has a lot of fireworks.  Perhaps they practice a lot leading up to it.  Soccer games, marriages and I think bull fights call for fireworks.  I'm on a mission to find out what else.  Will let you know :)

We awoke to the sound of the wind hitting the awnings.  Quite the blustery day and being October, well, we assumed it would be chilly outside.  Not at all.  Just a warm, balmy day - probably in the high 70s.  I hung the wash out to dry and it was dry in 30 minutes. 

We took the bus to Malvarrosa around 4:30.  The neighborhoods look completely closed until 5pm or so.  Then slowly, the streets and the parks begin to fill with people.   Ben played on the beach with his papa while I went down to feel the water.  It was still warm.  Next time, we'll bring our suits and take a dip.  It looked very inviting.