Friday, September 25th - Salou, Spain

Well, this is going to be a confusing day to write about.  I had the whole day planned but for some reason I thought it was Saturday.  I had a couple of hints along the way that I just didn't pick up on so it was probably after midnight (so Saturday) before I decided the whole day wasn't Saturday.  And I was pretty ticked at some people/places for not being open when they were supposed to be on Saturday.  Boy this retired life is confusing!

I know I didn't get up too early but I spent a lot of time working on Ethiopian stuff and trying to sort out flights and budgets and answering e-mails.  I had a big breakfast/lunch around noon and then decided to go to the beach earlier than usual because I had places to be in the evening so would have to come back from the beach a couple hours earlier than usual.  

My usual routine would be to go down between 3 and 4 and then stay until about 7.  Today I went down between 2 and 3 and stayed until about 5.  And for the first part of the time I was down there I had to stay in the shade of the palm trees because the sun was so hot.  It definitely reminded me of why I don't normally go out until later.  The beach was much busier, which made sense to me since I thought it was a weekend.   Perhaps it was just an early start to the weekend for some.

Anyway, at 5 p.m. I went back to the apartment , showered and changed and made myself some dinner.  My left-over chicken is lasting very well.  It has been in pasta and in wraps (my lunch today) and salads and there is still some for a sandwich.  Soon it was time to head out to the Roman ruins where they do guided tours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 and 7 p.m.  It was a couple of kilometres away so I wasn't going to make the 6 p.m. tour but my goal was the 7 p.m. one.  

I confess that it took me a bit longer than planned to get there.  At the railroad crossing where everyone was waiting for a train to go through, I decided to head int he direction I needed to go and cross at another street.  That was a mistake because there aren't many streets where you can cross the tracks.  And along the way I had to keep going away from the tracks as there was no walkway along the tracks.  Eventually I did get across but by then I had no idea where I was.  Luckily I had my map with me ad I figured out where I was and continued on my way - only a few blocks out of my way so not too bad.  I came to a long narrow park that covered several blocks and right at the end of it were the ruins.  However, I couldn't find the gate to get in.  I wandered all around the complex and it is quite large.  It is on a hill and also has an upper and lower level so I actually went around it almost twice but I still couldn't find the entrance.  I asked a couple of girls who were sitting in the park and they didn't know.  I yelled over the fece several times but saw no one.  I was really ticked off that I had walked that far and hurried that much and no one was there.  I was definitely going to talk to the tourist office about it tomorrow.

Since I was out in the middle of nowhere away from the downtown and promenade areas, I decided I might as well try to find another tourist attraction on their list.  I wandered up and down a lot of streets and through a lot of parks and did make it while only going about two blocks out of my way so that wasn't too bad.  This sight is of monumental olive trees.  There are 16 olive trees here that were transplanted in commemoration of the founding of Salou.  The came from the county of Maestrat and are estimated to be about 1,000 yeas old.  The trunks are huge and gnarled and definitely look old but the trees still look healthy and green.  The park is very nice around them with a pathway and benches throughout, all on a boulevard down the middle of a quiet street.

From there I wandered back to the promenade going past several sports complexes that seemed busy.  Some of the neighbourhoods were quiet and obviously residential - mainly high rise (4-6 floors) apartments or condos  The parks and the local bars and cafes were busy with people sitting, drinking and visiting.  Eventually I cam to Barcelona Street and it was as busy as usual.  It is a main street with shopping and restaurants and bars on both sides and there are always people on it day and night I now know  When I got closer to the promenade I wandered up and down some of the pedestrian streets that run off of Barcelona.  They were mainly restaurants, cafes and bars.

I crossed over to the promenade and, since it was only shortly after 8 p.m. and my next stop was not far away at 9 p.m., I sat down and had an ice cream at one of the many places along the waterfront.  I took my time and that killed about half an hour.  I then went over to the Cybernetic Fountain and there were already people gathered and waiting.  I sat down on one of the raised areas with everyone else to wait for the show.  Having rushed to the tour area when it was hot, I had been sweating and as still wet.  Sitting with the Sea breeze on my back now made me cool.  Some of the kids were running through one of the water displays and they were totally wet.  The more they shivered, the colder I felt.  Some day I am going to count all the different water pools and fountains in this beach promenade area.  I bet there are close to 100 of various shapes and sizes.

Precisely at 9 p.m. the show started and it lasted for exactly 20 minutes.  The fountain changed shape and colour many times going from small spouts to big spouts to borad mists or sprays.  The latter were good for reflecting the laser beams which they used well to paint pictures.  Fish swan and jumped across the blue water.  Sailboats sailed across the blue waves and birds flew across the sky.  People, whom I'm sure they identified but I didn't, were on screen doing different things.  And the music was great.  It went from old to new opera and symphony music to the Beatles and Abba.  At one point it was even We Will, We Will Rock You.  The music was loud enough to hear clearly but not deafening and the show was completely synchronized with it.  This was the show that I caught a bit of last week on the day I arrived.  That night I watched it from the street side as I was going by with my groceries.  At that point I knew there must be something reflected on the mist but I couldn't tell what it was.  The view from the Sea side was definitely much better and you could really see the pictures clearly.

When that show finished I joined the throngs walking to the other end for the next show - or perhaps they were just going home.  Who knows.  At the Laberint Fountain, there is a labyrinth set up with water shooting up all along the boundaries.  It's not really a labyrinth with just one path to the centre.  In this case you have to go where the water tells you to go.  There is an entrance (no shooting water) in one location and that's where you go in.  To move to each further inner level you have to find the next entrance.  But of course these entrances change all the time so you have to find them and go through fast before they close and you get wet.  Once you make your way to the centre, you have to turn around and start working your way out.  I think most people got a bit wet but they seemed to be having fun, and most of them seemed to be adults.

This fountain is just about across from my place so I took the opportunity to go to the apartment and change into something drier and warmer..  Of course as soon as I got back out I realized I was then too hot so I ended up wearing my sweater over my shoulders instead and survived just fine in my short sleeves.  This was the first warm evening we had had for a while, or perhaps I should say the warmest.  It was in the low 20's right up until midnight.  Other evenings have been much lower much earlier.

The last show as at 10 p.m. at the Lluminosa Fountain at the far end of the promenade. It again started precisely on time but it went for much longer - probably 40 or 45 minutes.  Unfortunately it wasn't that exciting (especially after the first show) so people didn't stay long.  I stuck it out until the end but thought about leaving several times.  There was music with this show but much softer.  Again it was a great variety but perhaps much "older" when compared to the 9 p.m. show.  There were no lasers at work in this one so it was just the fountain and many different coloured lights.  The fountain had lots of variety in its sprays but after while they did get a bit boring as they all started to look the same.  I have to say I was happy when it finally ended.

Now I could say that was because I was tired but obviously that was not the problem.  I went back to the apartment and started clearing e-mails, checking facebook and downloading pictures.  All of a sudden I realized it was 3 a.m. so I quickly shut everything down and went to bed.  I had no idea it was that late.

Part of what kept me going was the e-mails.  It seems I will  now not be going to Ethiopia until the 10th as that is the date my visa is approved for.  That meant I had to recheck flights and try to extend the booking in the place where I'm staying.  Then I started worrying about the Ethiopia to Malawi part and then what comes after that.  One thing led to another and suddenly it was 3 a.m.  

It was at some point between midnight and 3 a.m. (so Saturday) when I was looking at dates and bookings that I discovered that the day had really been Friday, not Saturday, and that explained why the Roman ruins were not open for a tour.  I still can't believe I lost a whole day but, given that I wasn't exactly doing anything too exciting, it didn't seem to matter much.  It just made me realize that I'd better keep these blogs up to date and on the right date or I may totally lose track at some point.

So that was my Saturday, I mean my Friday, although I thought it was Saturday all day!!!