Flea Market Free-For-All

Flea Market Free-For-All

With the change in weather I have realized that I don't have much in the way of warm clothes. The biggest gap in my wardrobe is in the line of dress shorts and sweaters. I hate shopping for clothes and I am more comfortable swimming underwater than breathing the fetid air of a department store. If wish I could buy clothes online but Spain isn't really equipped for that. Every Monday there is a flea market in the streets in my neighborhood. You can buy just about anything in one of the stalls, everything from underwear to pet supplies to shoelaces. I had great luck this summer buying athletic clothing so I thought I would give the flea market a shot at revamping my fall/winter wardrobe.

Walking past the market stalls you hear the barking of the individual merchants hawking their wares. “Un euro, un euro, todo por un-eurito (one euro, everything for one little euro),” being the most common thing heard. Some vendors are a little more creative in their sales pitches. I heard one guy this morning shouting at an old woman walking past his stall selling curtain fabric, “ Hola guapa. Ven a abusarme (Hello, beautiful! Come over and abuse me).” I always make a point of walking through the market even if I don't want to buy anything. It's pretty entertaining.

Today I found a stall selling men's clothing. They had a big table piled high with shirts, sweaters and jackets. Everything was going for 2€, or 3 for 5€. I found a shirt I liked so I decided to try it on over the shirt I was wearing. It was a little cool this morning so I was wearing my leather sport coat. I took off my jacket to try on the shirt. I laid the jacket on the table and pulled the shirt over my head. It fit perfectly and as I was admiring my new shirt I noticed that a guy next to me was trying on my jacket. I was laughing so hard I had a hard time telling him that he had on my coat. I did tell him that it looked great on him. He didn't seem to be particularly impressed with the leather spor coat he was about to buy for 2€.

Bike Ride Videos

Virtual Bike Rides: El Saler beach to Valencia and Downtown Valencia



This ride is through Valencia's historic center.
*Music by J.S. Bach



This is one of my favorite workout rides to the beaches south of Valencia. As you can see, most of it is on the bike path but on this day I had to take a slight detour becuase of a mud slide on the trail.

*Music by Chambao

Paella Valenciana Video

I think my video-making has greatly improved compared to the last attempt.

Doldrums

Doldrums

The sun is being such a little wimp these days, barely having the guts to show his face. Instead, it just hides on the other side of a curtain of clouds all day like a little sissy kid standing behind his big brother. And speaking of little sissies, the lack of quality light turns my psyche into the nerdy sun's severely anemic best friend. I'm not exactly afraid to go outside, but the weather is certainly more hostile out there than it was just a few short weeks ago. It seems like summer was just yesterday. First I had to wear long pants, then shoes with socks. I wore a coat this morning. What's next? Shoveling the walk? Ice fishing?

While living in light-deprived Seattle I would go to the gym to revamp my batteries. I don't have a gym here, and I know that the sun will be back soon enough, so in the meantime I just languish in these gloomy doldrums. It may even be dry enough for a bike ride today. Talking myself into it is the hard part. I just stuck my hand out the window and it's starting to sprinkle so the bike ride is off for today. I don't know if I'm disappointed or relieved. Can I be both?

The end of summer was really abrupt this year. I remember riding my bike to the beach with no shirt just a couple of weeks ago. The next thing you know my clothes are practically getting moldy on the clothesline after sitting for days in the darkness and chilly humidity. Aren't you required to go through some sort of decompression phase when seasons change from one to the other? Can I get the bends from this year's lack of gradual transition? If one of the symptoms of the bends is laziness, then I already have a severe case.

I still garner a bit of irrational hope that the hot weather will return, like some kid who thinks that his divorced parents will get back together. At this point, I think I have to accept the fact that summer is out of my life, for this year at least. Winter will soon be moving in, like a very unwelcomed stepparent. “You're not my real season. I hate you!” I scream as I slam the door to my room. People say that winter isn't too bad and that I should at least give it a chance. I don't have to do anything and you can't make me.

I hate to whine and live in the past, but summer here in Valencia is such a fantastic season. I have quickly become very warm-blooded, heliotropic, and not really a fan of the rain and darkness. The cold makes my blood thicker than the stuff running through the veins of my turtle. He seems to be weathering the cold a lot better than I have these past couple of weeks. I thought that he'd be slowing down to a crawl but he is swimming his little turtle butt off, cold water and all. November is a lot better—a lot less rain if not much warmer. By the time winter actually rolls around I will have completely acclimatized. Until then I will try to buck up and get through this.

Belgium1, Spain 2

The very familar sight of Villa celebrating after a score.

Belgium 1, Spain 2

The other night during the World Cup qualifying match between Spain and Belgium, the Spanish television announcer said that it has been a great pleasure for him to be able to watch the Spanish squad over the past year or so. I couldn't agree more. It's impossible not to enjoy watching a team that hasn't lost or tied a match in all this time. Wednesday night's game in Belgium was one of the biggest pleasure I have witnessed thus far in their amazing campaign—but perhaps I am forgetting all of those other great matches. Once again, it was Valencia CF forward, David Villa, who came through for Spain, although it's hard to pick out one player for praise in this squad that plays so incredibly well together. Villa's goal came in the last minute to snatch another victory for Spain from the clutches of a draw in a hard fought match.

It's not just the winning that makes this team such a joy to watch. They are incredibly creative at making plays. Cesc Fàbregas, the Arsenal midfielder, is almost too clever for his own very clever teammates with some of the passes he makes. The other players have to be thinking five steps ahead to keep up with where he is likely to place the ball—and he doesn't even start most games.

Belgium scored first and played a very physical game against the smaller Spanish team. Villa got roughed up pretty thoroughly during the match and he even got into a bit of a shoving match with a defender. I couldn't believe that Spain might actually have to settle for a draw. In the end—the very end—he had his revenge taking a perfect pass from Güiza and heading into the goal.