Today was the day I had to get myself sorted in terms of footwear and a coat. My host in Almería told me about a place called Cudeca, which is a charity shop. There happened to be one right by my flat, so I went there to look for a coat.

They had tons of coats for 15 euros each. Unfortunately, most were way too big or too small for me. I found a camel coloured one that would have been awesome had it been three sizes smaller. As it was, I was wearing every layer I plan to where under a coat and I was swimming in fabric. So pass. I settled on a really lovely charcoal one that was just a smidgen snugger than I would have liked and with slightly too short sleeves, but it was clearly the best I was going to do and I’d spent enough time looking at new stuff to know I was getting a bargain. Four ladies in the shop told me that they were voting for that one, so it must look okay. 🙂

I ambled to my next destination and found the Sherlock Holmes pub. Rather random!

So many churches…

I found myself at Plaza de la Merced.

Where they had a great beer and wine special for breakfast.

My destination was the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and museum about his life, not to be mixed up with the museum where you can see his artwork. So here’s the house where he was born. His family had an apartment within this house, but the museum now encompasses the whole building. Admission is 4 euros, which includes an audio guide in several languages.

Am I glad I came today as they are closed tomorrow and all the other museums I want to see are closed Mondays and open Tuesdays!

Photography is not allowed in the museum, which was small but very interesting. The most memorable part for me was seeing Picasso’s original sketchbooks with his initial ideas for Les demoiselles d’Avignon, arguably his most famous painting, sketched out in ink. I also saw documents and photographs related to Picasso’s life and learned about his passions for bull fighting and flamenco as well as the enormous influence Málaga had on his life, as he spent his formative years here. It was  wonderful little museum and the audio guide was interesting.

Here I am back outside in front of the Picasso statue. By the way, I didn’t get a single guess or even request for a hint yesterday as to the statue I photographed. It was Hans Christian Andersen!

The obelisk that anchors Plaza de la merced, which hasn’t not changed much since its early days.

It was about 12:30 by this point and I hoped to find lunch. So I ambled my way back to the touristy core of the old town. Here’s a neat fountain. Wolves or dogs on this side…

…frolicking ladies on this side. Name of this side is “Diana’s bath.”

I must have a sushi radar or something because I found an all you can eat for 13 euros restaurant! But I went for the 8.50 menú del día as it promised as much food as I really should be eating at one meal. I started off with a beer, then my first miso soup in way too long. Even though it was sunny today, it was still very chilly and this hit the spot! Yum!

I also got fried noodles with veggies (mmm!) and ten pieces of sushi that were very good. For the menú del día, I wasn’t allowed to choose what I would get, so I advised the server about the egg thing so I wouldn’t be brought anything with mayor or, heaven forbid, the omelette sushi (tamago) that featured prominently on their menu! The server was very understanding and I was very happy with the selection.

Their windows were neat as they had barcodes!

Next, I found this hilarious store, the perfect place for those who crave 9-euro bags of Oreos and 10-euro boxes of Cap’n Crunch cereal.

Please do not give me this gift basket. I don’t miss American-type food. 😉

“The stars have no boyfriend” is the first line of a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca. Like all good poetry, it’s very evocative, but I have no idea what it means. 🙂

This part of Málaga is all very narrow alleyways, but, for some reason, it wasn’t hard to get orientated.

I passed a Chinese bazaar store as I headed towards the El Corte Inglés department store for footwear and decided to pop in to see what clothes they might have as I want a second fleece. I found one I liked a lot at a “nice” store for a reasonable 15 euros and one that I didn’t like quite so much (pull over versus zip up) at a different Chinese bazaar store for 10 euros. I hoped to find a third option to help me make a decision. Well, this store had the exact same 10-euro sweater, but for 8 euros. Decision made! I brought it to the till and the man told me that he could not get rid of that colour (a coral pink) and if I had exactly 5 euros so he would not have to make change, I could have it for that price. SOLD. 🙂

BTW, I am XXXL in Chinese sizes. LOL I’m anywhere from a 38 to a 40 in European sizes (encompassing the variability that is a North American size 8). I was worried I’d have a hard time finding clothes here as there are so many tiny people, but, thankfully, I’m just as average sized here as I am in North America and I can shop in any store that isn’t focused on “plus sizes,” which seems to be 50 and up here. Clerks here also seem to have a better eye for a client’s size. While I’m still mistaken by Canadian and US store clerks for being a much larger size than I am, Spanish clerks have been correct every time. It’s definitely been a lot more pleasant to shop here.

At any rate, with the fleece bought, I was all set to brave the weather I’m heading into… Well, I may add a hat, but with my scarves covering my ears, they may be enough. I’d rather wait. I have “glittens” I brought from home, fingerless gloves with a mitten cover, so I’m set on that end. I will need wool socks at one point, but I haven’t found any here. I can definitely land on Wednesday with what I have and not freeze.

Where was I? Oh, right, on my way to get boots. 🙂

There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts across from the El Corte Inglés department store that made me laugh. Look at the Cookie Monster doughnut!

After checking out many shops, I conceded that if I could afford them, which I could, a pair of Panama Jack boots would be an investment I would never regret. They are handmade of Spanish leather and while not easily found in North America, known enough there for me to have wanted a pair for a long time.

A pair of boots of comparable quality in Canada has set me back over $400 and the pair I bought today were $230… These are not the ones I wanted, but rather their base model. The ones I wanted were more aesthetically pleasing yet functionally identical and $30 more. Part of financial responsibility is conceding that you really don’t need pink soles and laces for traipsing through puddles, snow, and jungle! 🙂 These were phenomenal value in that they come pretreated to be waterproof and you get a cleaning kit with leather protecting wax, extra laces, and a carrying bag. Last time I bought boots in Canada, I had to buy all those things separately.

The shopping experience was good. You have to ask for service in Spain, so I had lots of time to comparison shop and think through my decision. I saw these on Saturday night so I’d already had time to pretty much make up my mind, but it was good to have a moment before making the plunge without having a sales clerk breathing down my neck. When I was finally ready for help, I went to a cash register and asked the lady there if she could help me. She said she could and followed me to the boots. I showed her what I wanted and said that I might be a 39 or 40. She went to the storeroom and came out with several sizes. I think 40 was the biggest pair they had for all models and it felt just a bit snug for me, especially since I was only wearing thin socks. The clerk reminded me that leather stretches and had me walk around a bit. Doing that made me realise the boots were going to be perfect once I’d broken them in  as they were a little loose at the heel and toe. So sold!

I went home for a bit and then headed out to start the breaking in process. I found this rather fancy alley:

And this not so fancy alley:

So many stockings!

Here I am back at the American store. I agree with them that, “Clients don’t expect us to be perfect. They expect us to deal with things when situations arise.”

Sign outside an apartment building: “Your right to smoke ends it impedes the rights of your neighbours to relax. Let’s respect the silence of the night and avoid police presence.”

I walked for a couple of hours in my boots and while they were stiff, they felt very good. They will mean having to drop my Keens, a decision I feel better about now that I found a charity drop off box. I’m sure someone else will get some use out of them. I’m at the point where I’m sick of them and I know I won’t have occasion to wear them again for a long time. So there’s no point trying to find room in my suitcase for them. I will also have to dump a couple of tee-shirts to fit the new fleece. I’ve worn through two of them, so that won’t be any hardship either.

Another thing I found in my travels was a train station my host told me about where I can catch a ride to the airport. She said it’s faster and cheaper than the bus! So that’s where I’m headed Wednesday morning. I just need to solidify the trip from the airport in Amsterdam to my hosts’ place. They gave me instructions, but I’m still not quite sure where to get off on the tram. I guess I should email them. 🙂

It was another good day here. I should have time tomorrow to do a little more exploring!