Friday, October 9th - Salou, Spain

The first thing I did tis morning was try to get on booking.com to book some more days in this unit but I still can't get on.  That's three days now where it says I'm not connected to the internet but everything else works just fine on the internet.  The other booking companies like expedia.ca and hotel.com and kayak.com all seem to work but they don't list this place as available so I'm assuming that perhaps this place doesn't list with them.  I figure it's time to go to the office and make the extension directly with them if they'll let me do it that way.  Normally they want the booking first but we'll see, so I go to see them.  Well, surprise, surprise, it's another Spanish holiday this weekend and I can't extend because they are completely booked, which is why they aren't listed with the other companies.

I knew there were three different booking agents for the complex so I went to the partial owner or time-share office.  I first tried to book it on Interval, my timeshare company, but that didn't work as it didn't show up as available there.  When I talked to the guy in the office he said they were sold out too.  I told him my predicament and asked where he would suggest I look next he had another idea.  After a few phone calls he said he had a place for me until Thursday.  Someone had booked a room Monday to Monday but hadn't shown up yet so I could have that room which was going to be free on Monday anyway.  I asked what would happen if the other guy just showed up for the long weekend and the attendant just said "too bad".  I guess if you haven't shown up by the fifth day of your seven day booking it's safe to assume you're not coming, and they had tried to reach him several times.  Of course this new place will cost me over twice what I have been paying and it means I will have to move tomorrow, which I hadn't planned on, but I guess I'll survive.  I made some comment to him about hoping the new place had a washing machine because I didn't have time to do laundry now and get it dry before I leave the old place.  He said the new unit did not have a washing machine but he'd make sure I had access to one.  I sure hope so!!!

So I went back to my unit and start getting organized and packing things up.  This time I have food and supplies to worry about as well as the usual clothes so there will be more to move.  I also booked a hotel near the Barcelona airport for Thursday night.  My flight to Ethiopia leaves on Friday around noon so the Barcelona hotel will make the trip to the airport easier with a much more leisurely travel day for me.  It's about a two hour trip from Salou to the Barcelona airport so I would have had a very early morning if leaving from here.  Now I just have to figure out whether the train or the bus is the best way to get to the hotel but I can do that later.

My Friday noon flight from Barcelona makes one stop and then flies on to arrive in Addis Ababa at five minutes after midnight on Saturday the 17th.  The 17th is the first day I am allowed into the country according to my visa so I hope the plane doesn't arrive earlier or I'll have to stand in the hall and wait to clear customs and immigration.  Our first presentation is at 9 a.m. that morning so hopefully I can get some sleep on the plane and then also some more sleep after I get to the guest house and then I should be okay for the day.  I know the presentation is for the guardians at the Kality Centre and I have been there before and met them.  Right now I just don't remember exactly where the centre is but I'm hoping it's close so we don't have leave to early that morning.

After such a disruptive and disappointing morning I decided I needed a break.  I went to the beach and read for a while.  I'm almost through the second book so I will need to go to the bookstore soon and see if any new books in English have arrived to replace the ones lost in the rain storm.  If yes, hopefully I'll be able to buy some and then take the books back to the library,return my card and get my money back.  If no, or if I don't like or have already read the ones he has in stock, then I'll have to go exchange my books at the library for some new ones.

Since I have some extra days here in Salou, I also want to go see the Human Towers which are in Cambrils on Saturday evening.  I'll probably do a tour around the town in the afternoon since I really didn't see anything other than the beach area and fish market last trip.  This was the town 8 km away that I ended up walking to one day.

I also hear there is a Gospel concert somewhere nearby on the 14th so I'd like to go to that.  I'll just have to make sure I'm organized enough that day that I can go to the concert in the evening and still be ready to leave the next day.  And of course I still need a couple of days to get caught up on my blogging before I head to Ethiopia so there is lots to be done even if I'm staying in the same place for another few days.  I'm sure the time will just fly by.