WE DROVE TO PLAZA MAYOR yesterday afternoon. There’s a Mediamarkt there and San Geraldo needed toner for his printer. Unfortunately, that was the only HP toner not in stock. So, we went to Starbucks and treated ourselves to Mocha Frappuccinos. In addition, San Geraldo had a chocolate-chocolate chip muffin and I had lemon pound cake. San Geraldo isn’t much of a shopper, so the walk to Starbuck’s enabled him to at least see the new outlet mall in Plaza Mayor (click here).
We then stopped in one shop in the main mall where he bought a collection of new casual shirts. The mall was still a bit busier than we would have liked. We didn’t consider the fact that, although August has ended, and many people are back to work, there are still summer stragglers until the third week in September. We also forgot it was Friday, and weekenders had already returned. The parking lot behind our building doesn’t have reserved spaces nor enough for everyone when the building is full. There were about a dozen empty spots when we left and only one when we returned. That was a relief.
One of our local knife sharpeners (click here) was walking along the Paseo earlier today offering his services. I caught a quick shot and a very brief video of his talents on the pan flute. (I think the tune is known as the Call of the Knife Sharpener.) I turned to find Dudo watching me watch the knife sharpener and clearly wondering why he wasn’t the center of my attention. Before that, two more views of Thursday’s cloudy sunrise
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FUIMOS A LA PLAZA MAYOR ayer por la tarde. Hay un Mediamarkt allí y San Geraldo necesitaba tóner para su impresora. Desafortunadamente, ese era el único tóner HP que no estaba en stock. Entonces, fuimos a Starbucks y nos dimos un capricho con Mocha Frappuccinos. Además, San Geraldo comió un muffin de chocolate con chispas de chocolate y yo comí tarta de limón. San Geraldo no es un gran comprador, por lo que caminar hasta Starbuck’s le permitió al menos ver el nuevo centro comercial en la Plaza Mayor (haz clic aquí).
Luego paramos en una tienda en el centro comercial principal donde compró una colección de camisas informales nuevas. El centro comercial todavía estaba un poco más concurrido de lo que nos hubiera gustado. No pensamos en el hecho de que, aunque agosto ha terminado y mucha gente ha vuelto al trabajo, todavía hay rezagados de verano hasta la tercera semana de septiembre. También olvidamos que era viernes, y los fines de semana ya habían regresado. El estacionamiento detrás de nuestro edificio no tiene espacios reservados ni suficientes para todos cuando el edificio está lleno. Había alrededor de una docena de lugares vacíos cuando nos fuimos y solo uno cuando regresamos. Eso fue un alivio.
Uno de nuestros afiladores de cuchillos locales (haz clic aquí) caminaba hoy por el Paseo ofreciendo sus servicios. Capté una foto y un video muy breve de su talento en la flauta de pan. (Creo que la melodía se conoce como La llamada del afilador de cuchillos.) Me volví para encontrar a Dudo mirándome mirar el afilador de cuchillos y claramente preguntándose por qué él no era el centro de mi atención. Antes, dos vistas más del amanecer nublado del jueves.
¿Tiene prisa o simplemente no tiene ganas de lavar otro tazón de cereal? Simplemente vierta el Special K directamente en el recipiente de yogur.
En la Plaza Mayor entrando en McArthurGlen Outlet Mall.
Tentador en Starbucks, pero ¿quién necesita “mini waffles de caramelo” cuando tenemos un mercado holandés a unas calles de distancia donde puedo comprar los originales de tamaño completo?
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¿Por qué viajan los personas equivocadas? — Noel Coward
love the parasols creating a ceiling at the outlet mall. and dudo. and the sunrise.
anne marie:
I love those parasols, too. The first time I saw those was in Trondheim, Norway. Never thought of them as parasols there. Umbrellas!
Those parasol are all over Instagram at the mall. But your opening pictures steal the show. I know I’d be ready for the tourist and weekenders to leave. I haven’t really done New Hope proper in the town since June. Stayed mostly to the canal and towpath. Way to many people to my liking….but the tourist dollars are badly needed. Before reopening a slew of places didn’t make it as I posted way back. Ill be glad when things ever return to normal.
Mistress Maddie:
Saw those parasols in Trondheim, Norway last year. There, they were known as umbrellas. Yep, when things EVER return to normal.
At last I can see you photos again in all their splendor – I have my new computer up and running. Still have hope that the old computer can be revived, we’ll see. Much easier to write comments on an actual keyboard instead of a keypad. Dudo is your golden boy. Or, rather, one one of your golden boys – you are a lucky guy in that regard.
Wilma:
So glad you’re back in business! Although I use my iPad for commenting when I’m out for coffee, I definitely prefer the keyboard. Dudo and Moose are absolute sweethearts and they get more loving with each passing year.
They photos today are wonderful especially the clouds. I to am wondering why you are not adoring Dudo !
parsnip
Parsnip:
Trust me, I am constantly adoring Dudo … and Moose. Everything else is secondary.
Now that is a sunrise!
LOVE that umbrella canopy…….
Jim:
I love the parasols at the mall. Saw them in Trondheim last year. Here they’re parasols. There they’re umbrellas!
Umbrella hanging in the sky always makes me smile.
Bob:
Me too. Something very playful about them… and colourful.
The umbrellas have been done here in Liverpool
finlaygray:
I wonder where else they are. We saw them in Trondheim, Norway last year. Of course, ours are parasols. Liverpool’s and Trondheim’s are umbrellas.
I always wondered: what’s so special about the K?
Walt the Fourth:
You know… I don’t really know. But we had a guest at our hotel who found it really special. The guy came back one afternoon with his boyfriend looking almost vegetative. Someone else said, “Oh, he loves Special K.” When I heard that I thought maybe we should remove the cereal from our grocery list. Fortunately, I didn’t say it out loud. Anyway, the two guys left a short time later with the one basically dragging the other to the car with their bags. When I asked if he was OK, he himself gave me a thumbs up. And to think it has all those vitamins and iron.
I love the knife-sharpener’s pan flute — it almost sounds like some kind of bird call. Much better than our knife guy, who walks down the street yelling “GRINDING! GRINDING!”
Love the photos of Dudo, and I’ve seen umbrella canopies like that one — they’re pretty popular these days in trendy shopping districts. I think Starbucks needs to rethink selling those mini-waffles in a place where authentic Stroopwaffels can be had! (I have no idea whether I spelled that right, BTW.)
Steve:
The tradition here for knife sharpeners is the pan flute. I’ve never heard anything else. Your guy needs someone along with him to yell “BUMPING! BUMPING” I saw an umbrella canopy like this in Trondheim last year. It made sense there since it rains a lot. Here, they’re parasols (although they look exactly the same). I have a feeling those stroopwafels (just one F) are popular at Starbuck’s here. Not many people have a little Dutch market in their neighbourhood. Admittedly, even I was awfully tempted. Now I’m thinking of walking over to the market… except that I mixed up another batch of energy bites and SG has an apple cake in the oven… Maybe I’ll wait.
I wish we had a knife sharpener. Ours are as dull as plain-song and my sharpener doesn’t seem to do much good.
How can SB be flourishing in a country with such high taste for good things? I would think the folks would poo-poo it for proper local coffee shops.
Urspo:
When we first arrived, I wasn’t keen on Starbucks. Now I find I enjoy it … sometimes… especially for the iced drinks that aren’t found in traditional cafes. But I still prefer those traditional cafes. The traveling knife sharpeners are a fascinating tradition and seem to do good business. I hope that never stops.