La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
I went for a walk this morning in the climbing heat to get some exercise and fresh air, and run a couple of errands. Once I hit the street, I noticed a number of shops that should have been open were not. Another virgin had her day and no one told me.
This was the Day of the Virgin of Fuensanta, who is particularly known for ending drought. Her name means “holy spring.” She is not celebrated in Fuengirola, but she’s the principal patron of the City of Murcia and her statue there is said to work miracles. The sanctuary in Córdoba is about a 40-minute walk for us. I didn’t catch her on the streets this time around. All I know is I couldn’t buy any of the things I planned to buy today.
Our part of the city center was fairly quiet. As I got closer to the river, it got busier. So I turned around. Merced Gardens near us was beautiful in the shade, as you can see by the above photo and first photo below. At the start of my walk it was still pleasant enough to sit outside in the sun, but that didn’t last.
So, no new bank account today. I tried paying my credit card balance by transferring money from my account to the card using the app on my phone — as I was instructed yesterday after my wasted hour on the phone. No surprise. I could not do so.
Merchi returns to work tomorrow. Maybe after morning coffee, we’ll get to the new bank to open an account and, after that, I can go to the current bank and pay off that balance in person and be done with them. I’m thinking there’s a possibility I might be permitted to do at least that. We’ll see what the robot says.
Tonight I should see The Kid Brother. He should have been able to pay for another month of mobile phone service. I’m trying to figure out how to help him make it through the months, as long as I’m around to do so. I don’t know what else to do anymore.
We’re going to Goiko tonight. I wish they had a full bar. I don’t want to have my big splurge with beer.
Esta mañana fui a dar un paseo mientras el calor iba en aumento; quería hacer algo de ejercicio, tomar aire fresco y hacer un par de recados. Al salir a la calle, noté que varias tiendas que deberían haber estado abiertas permanecían cerradas. Resulta que era el día de otra Virgen y nadie me había avisado.
Se trataba del día de la Virgen de Fuensanta, conocida especialmente por poner fin a las sequías; su nombre significa «manantial sagrado». Aunque no se la celebra en Fuengirola, es la patrona principal de la ciudad de Murcia, donde se dice que su imagen obra milagros. El santuario de Córdoba está a unos 40 minutos a pie desde donde vivimos. Esta vez no me crucé con la procesión por la calle; lo único que sé es que no pude comprar nada de lo que tenía previsto para hoy.
Nuestra zona del centro estaba bastante tranquila, pero a medida que me acercaba al río había más gente, así que di media vuelta. Los jardines de la Merced, que tenemos cerca, lucían preciosos a la sombra, como se puede apreciar en la foto de arriba y en la primera de abajo. Al empezar el paseo, el tiempo aún era agradable para sentarse al sol, pero eso no duró mucho.
Así que hoy tampoco pude abrir la nueva cuenta bancaria. Intenté pagar el saldo de mi tarjeta de crédito transfiriendo dinero desde mi cuenta a la tarjeta mediante la aplicación del móvil, tal como me indicaron ayer tras perder una hora al teléfono. Como era de esperar, no lo conseguí.
Merchi vuelve al trabajo mañana. Quizás, después del café de la mañana, vayamos al nuevo banco a abrir una cuenta y, acto seguido, pueda ir al banco actual a liquidar el saldo en persona y librarme de ellos. Creo que existe la posibilidad de que se me permita hacer al menos eso. Ya veremos qué dice el robot.
Esta noche debería ver a «The Kid Brother»; debería haber podido pagar otro mes de servicio de telefonía móvil. Intento averiguar cómo ayudarle a salir adelante mes a mes, mientras yo esté aquí para hacerlo. Ya no sé qué más hacer.
Esta noche vamos a Goiko Grill. Ojalá tuvieran barra completa; no quiero gastar mi presupuesto para caprichos en cerveza.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
That park fountain is beautiful – as is that At Nouveau pediment! I just looked at the reviews for “The Pecking Rooster”, and it does seem to be a bit of a rip-off place – typical “tourist trap”. Jx
Jon:
I should get more photos of rest of the building with the art nouveau ornamentation. I had a coffee at the Pecking Rooster one day. The kind of tourist place with no personal touch. He figures he’ll never see anyone again. But the service was quick!
Hola, Scoot! Too bad about yet another virgin day in Cordoba — and here I thought the only virgin celebrated by the catholic church was Jeebus’ mother, LOL!
And I agree with Jon: that Art Nouveau pediment is absolutely beautiful! It could use a good cleaning though.
I hope Chuck is OK — everyone’s budget is being stretched these days!
Tundra Bunny:
It took me a while to catch on to the fact that all the virgins were the same Mary. The building with the art nouveau adornments is wonderful. I’ll get more photos. The years of paint need to be stripped and re-painted. Chuck was fine. Sigh…
Caught by another feast day. They’re endless, and usually when you need to do some transactions. Well, you did get a walk, so there’s that.
Good luck with Chuck. Boud
Boud:
And every city has different special days. This one was new to me. And, yes, I did get a good long walk. Chuck was pleasant.
You truly are a very responsible person, being so far away and still taking good care of your kid brother. Not easy and it is all to your credit. Hope your bank problem are resolved soon. The way you describe it sounds like technology gone mad.
Larry:
Thanks. I guess it’s love. I was brought up to own responsibility for Chuck. I AM my brother’s keeper.
Events with that bank continue to baffle us.
At first I thought that was you on the bike at the park.
Hopefully you won’t need to Smack-a-Robot at the bank.
And then enjoy a beer splurge!
Bob:
Imagine ME on that itty bitty bike! At least it didn’t have pedals. I don’t want to waste a splurge on beer even though I used to love it. Gin & Tonic, Martini, something special.
Ohhh, the Virgins!
I can’t wait to hear about the success with the banking… It has to be successful. It’s too crazy otherwise 😜. I’m also looking forward to hearing about how things go with Chuck.
Judy C:
Chuck was at least in a decent mood yesterday. I’ll tell you all about it. We did open our account. Not smooth sailing, but it’s open.
Could you go out for a drink before dinner?
You can see where my priorities lie.
It pisses me off so much that only virgins (or, supposedly virgins) got to get all the glory in the church. And so ironic- only women can create life in their bodies but the truly holy ones never had sex which of course, is almost always a sure way to prevent creating life in their bodies. Except for Jesus’ mom, of course. Why do people give any more credence to these old stories than they do to the tales of the Greek and Roman gods? Oh, those crazy Greek and Romans and their crazy gods and goddesses! Hahaha! People were so silly to believe in them!
Good luck with the bank. And with Chuck, too. You truly are doing all you can do.
Mary Moon:
“I” could got out for a drink before dinner, but SG would only do it to make me happy.
“Virgin” is considered by scholars to be an incorrect interpretation of the original word “almah” which also means simply “young woman.” But maybe I shouldn’t bring that up.
Chuck was fine. The bank was exhausting. But we have a new account.
We were warned that the machines would take over, ” “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that”.” Good luck with the banks.
David Godfrey:
Well, Dave, you’re right about that. The annoyances continue. And there were Hal-like issues at the new bank today, but we at least have an account.
Thank you for always sharing the pretty in spite of all the petty. Olivia
Olivia,
I’m grateful to still be able to appreciate the pretty on days like these.
Perhaps almah was mistranslated as virgin (from Ms Moon’s comment) because men assume all young women are virgins or at least they hope so. I’ve never understood why men value a woman’s virginity so much.
So many virgin days. It’s a wonder stores are open enough to make it.
I think, at least in the past, men wanted women to be virgins because, as the saying goes, “It’s a wise child that knows its own father.”
ellen abbott,
You’re probably right about the translation.
We can’t keep up with all the virgins.