The Torremar has a Different View of the Beach

We woke up in our new location right in the center of the Salinas malecon. The Torremar is a long block or so away from the boat wharf.  However the rental we got is actually on the side street with a partial view of the ocean and just barely a view to the left of the chocklatera. A torrential rainfall blasted us at about seven last night. Even with the patio windows closed the water rushed in and left a large pond on the floor. By morning it had leaked out and as the caretaker said when I told him water was coming in "No problemo".

 

This is a much older building and this owner has had the condo since 2013. It has a large open area and ample eating area for the large groups that book it. We will be here for nine days so a bit of cleaning is necessary. Much of the kitchen was filthy and the inside of the cupboards were sticky dirty along with plates that still had food stuck to them. It should all be clean now as we washed everything ourselves. It's still a good rental. Look on AirBnB or VBRO and you will find this one.

Interior view or our rental in the Torremar.

We made another trip by taxi to el Paseo mall.

A few groceries, some lunch in the food court and store browsing used up several hours. Do not ever waste space in your suitcase by bringing water gear. You can buy much cheaper here and chose from a far larger selection. Also water boards and other toys. 

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I priced out induction stoves in an appliance store. The most expensive were six burner with oven for about $1500. Less than half that for the 24 inch wide units. It costs more to buy a 40 HP outboard motor in this store than a motorcycle. 

The apartment has a magicJack dongle connected to the phone and Internet. It gives free calls to the US and Canada. I made a few calls back to Canada and it worked quite well. One had many cutouts you could hear while talking, but the internet was poor then too until we restarted the router. 

2.5 km walking

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

Wednesday- Fantastic Weather Day

This was the best weather day so far on this trip. It was probably in the high 20s but may have tipped into the 30s as well. As I type this my phone says it is -19 back home Ahhhh!

The clouds disappeared and let the sun through right from the early morning. We went down to the beach and explored the tide pools. The water was warm and of course there were hundreds of small fish in the pools. 

By ten o'clock we had the staff fill the hot tub and were enjoying the upper deck on the 14th floor. This is good for a couple of hours and then I headed back to the beach. 

Early in the afternoon I left and walked the Salinas malecon- taking photos of each of the large buildings. It makes future rentals easier if I am a bit familiar with the locations of places that are listed. This time I went from left to right. Four years ago I went right to left and it was awkward each time I wanted to scout locations. We shall see.

At the west end I stopped for a liquid refreshment in a bar on the corner called Manaba'r.  The menu looked good and may be worth revisiting when hungry. For now just sitting and having a cool one was the best thing to do on an extremely hot day. If you need internet, this place has free wifi- just ask for the password.

Here is a beer that is billed as local but is certainly different than constantly drinking Pilsnor which is the cheapest thing you can buy that is called beer.

I wanted ice cream and walked towards a local grocery store. But I got sidetracked at a nearby salon and spa. I went in and asked the price of a haircut. The lady had her son there because of the school vacation. We spent about an hour teaching the youngster some English pronunciation of simple phrases. Kind of like the beginner things you learn in Spanish. I showed Michael how to run my video camera and he even shot some video of his mother cutting my hair. So if you are in the mood for a cut or style drop by the New Station Salon & Spa. Just up the street from the grocery store called mi comisario.

Here is the video from the event. Thanks Michael. I hope to see you again some day. I do not have an email for you, so you will have to contact me.

Then I went across the street to get my ice cream and caffe lato cold drinks. The ice cream survived the 15 minute walk home in the 25 plus degree heat. 

The internet came back on in the evening at the Ibiza with the tech company on site.  It must have succumbed to a voltage spike with the power being out in the building and the emergency generator coming on and off.

5.4  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