Breaded Shrimp at Jhimy's and Hot Tub on the Terrace

This pretty much sums up the day. Walked the malecon - slowly as it was quite warm. Did a lot of sitting and watching too. 

Them I made it over to Jhimy's by 1pm for almuerzo. Typical soup. Meaning it seamed to be quite good as everyone was eating it. At least 16 bowls in house and several more by take-out while I was there. Then there were choice of main courses. I had the breaded shrimp with rice, fries and salad. And the juice which I left for the flies. Add to this a large club beer and I had a decent lunch. The juice may have been great but I generally don't drink it unless I know the water came from bottled water in the first place. Many make the juice right from a tap and that is scary on the intestines.

Then I went back to the Ibiza apartment for dips in the hot tub and segments of time spent on the deck chairs.

This is the last full day in this place and tomorrow we move down the street. From this vantage point I can also watch the construction on a new building right next door. Lots of concrete form work and pouring of concrete along with even more work incorporating rebar for strength.

I think my video camera has hit end of life. Many cameras have small button switches that are used for settings and they eventually go funky. My Panasonic tm700 has one I use often to change recording settings. But it is also used to access SD formatting. I brought some cards that had not been formatted and have data from my Sony camera. I cannot even delete the clips. Oh well I have to make the discs last.

3.7 km walking

Another Hot and Sunny Day in Salinas

Up to the roof terrace again today to relax and use the hot tub. It's the weekend so there are many more people around than during the week.

I walked the Salinas malecon again today. This time with sun screen and long pants to avoid burns. Quite a warm day with lots of activity in town.

We cooked in again this evening. It's a good method of avoiding disappointment from unrealistic expectations of the food here in Salinas.

This is a chicken in homemade teriyaki sauce with zucchini vegetables and rice.

2.4 km walking

Doin' Nothin' on the 7th Floor of the Ediface Ibiza

Monday is quiet. We woke up in a classy rental overlooking the ocean. Most of the day is spent listening to music on Stingray, making and eating snacks and watching people on the beach.

Around 2:30 the sky darkened and the rains blew in over the bay although it didn't seem to hit the shore. Divers with scuba gear spent a few hours each morning diving for octopus.

When we arrived we were told that the washer dryer was slow- maybe 4 hours or more. We got one load washed and it would not dry. Then finally there was a loudish pop and nothing worked. There was no power at the machine.

After a bit of prying with a screwdriver we got the plug to come out of a small power sensing device that plugs into the wall. Now it works fine. It says 10 amps on it. We are thinking that the machine dryer mode must be too much for it and has burned it out. I'm guessing the device is to shut off your appliance if the power source is too high or too low. Also I think the interior of the dryer needs a clean. Likely there is a lot of lint buildup in the mechanism and the dryer sequence is no longer working correctly. The self contained units are very picky compared to the ones that exhaust the hot air outside.

Here's the view of the deck rail when you have no dryer.

Younger brother and self-made chef brewed up supper tonight. This is far superior to most of the food offered in the local restaurants.

The starch was white rice. Vegetable was lightly cooked long green beans. The main dish was chicken cooked in a mixture of green and red sweet peppers, onions, carrots, garlic and herbs, then all slow cooked in a mixture of spices and yogurt to create a yellow curry sauce. The result was better than most of the local cuisine available. And that is why we rented an apartment. We can eat in by choice.

Oh yes. I did get the staff to fill the hot tub up on the 14th floor terrace so I could sufficiently change my digits into clean looking but prune shaped objects. It's a nice way to relax after doing nothing all day.

.3 km walking

Sunday is Move Day from Ralph's Hostal to the Ibiza building

Time to move. We had only booked Big Ralph's Hostal for three nights. And we were to meet our new landlord at 10 am. So by 9:30 we were packed up and began the trek of dragging the suitcases the three blocks distance to the Ibiza building on the Salinas malecon. Not too bad except we took a shortcut up a side street. And that made us bypass the Ibiza. And that turned the trek into 29 minutes and likely 17 blocks. We still arrived on time so no harm done except for more perspiration.

You can see Ralph's from the roof terrace on the Ibiza

We got the tour and the how-to instructions. Paper in the bin not in the pot. Washer dryer is slow and you might want to get the doorman to take your laundry to a local laundry service. And the pool is down for maintenance so we won't have that either. Hmmmm. Thankfully the internet works. But the pool and laundry were things we looked for on AirBnB when we booked. My fault. I forgot to ask if they worked.

But the place is very nice. Great view. Excellent kitchen. The glass slides fully open if you want fresh air. Lots of air conditioning. Three bedrooms three bathrooms. Lots of space.

Up on the 14th floor is the terraza. It has a nice 360 degree view of the whole peninsula.

The Ibiza is high enough to be taller than most buildings nearby so the view is fantastic. It's also only three years old so it isn't crumbling yet.

 
We walked down the street behind the Salinas malecon until we got to Cafe Jazz. It's basically a light food cafe so we were able to get coffees, sugar cakes and meat crepes. A nice touch was the hot towels arriving in bowls before the food. Nice to be able to wash our dirty sweaty hands. This place is a bit of a hostal too, so there are people staying in the building.

 
Then we took a taxi into Libertad meaning to go to el Paseo mall. Gave him the wrong name so he drove way past and dropped us off in a seedy area with lots of street stalls and smelly fish. We walked through with a quick look. I was too afraid to take out a camera so there are no pictures.

We walked back to el Paseo mall and had ice drinks in the food fair to cool us off. Also a Chinese meal that was too cold to be worth eating. More ice cream. Then into the store for shaving cream and some orange drinks. Then into another taxi and off to the super-maxi on the way to Salinas.

 
Over an hour in super-maxi to fill a shopping cart. Food, cooking bits, drinks, and junk food. Now we don't have to go out for every meal. Lots of options for the two chefs in the group.

One more taxi back to the Ibiza and we are ready to live on our own.

5.9 km walking

Rentals are All Completed

I have finally finished booking all the rental properties we need for the trip to Ecuador. Last week I booked a week at a high end apartment along the Salinas malecon. That was through Airbnb.

Today I secured a rental about a block away and on the front street as well. This one does not have a pool, hot tub or laundry facilities so it comes at a much lower price. I will update the information after I return so you can all get in on this location. The owner had allowed it to be booked for a single day in the middle of the month, so that threw off booking it starting on the 12th. This time the booking was through VBRO.

However all worked out as I was able to extend our first location for a few more days until we could move to this one. The original intent was to book the last half the month up the coast a ways. But because I delayed booking the one I wanted was not available by the time I went to book. The owner says it was rented for the whole month, although as of yet the dates still show as being available.

.65 km walking