Happy Independence Day to all my American friends! The celebrations here in Africa are just not the same as they are at home. I have not seen one American flag flying nor have I heard any fireworks going off. It's almost like they are not celebrating here today. It seems like a regular old work day around here.
We have just returned from an interesting trip to the Super Mercado for groceries. I must admit we did not take the most direct route to the store but we had a nice tour of some of the side streets of Ceuta. Thank goodness for the Google maps app. We may have never found it. I always enjoy going into big grocery stores in foreign countries. You never know what you might find. We ran through the Mercado Central, the main market of the city before we hit the modern grocery store. There was some sea life for sale in there that I had never seen before nor expected anyone to eat. I have another iPhone app (surprise surprise) called Word Lens. When you aim the app using the camera at some Spanish printing it converts it to English on the fly. It is not like it's 100% sure all the time, but it keeps guessing. It kept us from buying Steel Oil today when we were looking for Vinegar. The only thing we could not locate that is nearing the critical level is peanut butter. I hope we do not have to acquire a taste for Vegimite.
I know how to ask how much something is in Spanish, quanto? or something like that. The problem I have is that the person you ask usually answers in Spanish. The response is always a mystery to me unless they hold up some fingers. Fortunately, Charlie was with me and he seemed to understand numbers pretty well. Sometimes we just kept giving them coins until they smiled and waved.
We are stocked up and ready to depart for our next port. I think we are heading straight to the Balarec Islands. The Balarecs are a set of four major islands in the Med about 100 miles off the Spanish coast. They are a little over 400 miles from Ceuta and it should take us about 4-5 days to get there from here. The first island in the Balarecs in Formentera which will probably be our first stop. There is no real big port or city there and we will probably anchor out in a bay instead of pulling into a marina. We are not sure of the Internet situation there but I would guess we will not have good access there. Whenever I can post again, I will. Watch our Spots.
I know this sounds weird but we are going to hit the first McDonald's we have seen in a couple of months for lunch before we leave which happens to be right around the corner from the marina. I'm actually looking forward to getting a Mickey D burger. Happy 4th of July!
We have just returned from an interesting trip to the Super Mercado for groceries. I must admit we did not take the most direct route to the store but we had a nice tour of some of the side streets of Ceuta. Thank goodness for the Google maps app. We may have never found it. I always enjoy going into big grocery stores in foreign countries. You never know what you might find. We ran through the Mercado Central, the main market of the city before we hit the modern grocery store. There was some sea life for sale in there that I had never seen before nor expected anyone to eat. I have another iPhone app (surprise surprise) called Word Lens. When you aim the app using the camera at some Spanish printing it converts it to English on the fly. It is not like it's 100% sure all the time, but it keeps guessing. It kept us from buying Steel Oil today when we were looking for Vinegar. The only thing we could not locate that is nearing the critical level is peanut butter. I hope we do not have to acquire a taste for Vegimite.
I know how to ask how much something is in Spanish, quanto? or something like that. The problem I have is that the person you ask usually answers in Spanish. The response is always a mystery to me unless they hold up some fingers. Fortunately, Charlie was with me and he seemed to understand numbers pretty well. Sometimes we just kept giving them coins until they smiled and waved.
We are stocked up and ready to depart for our next port. I think we are heading straight to the Balarec Islands. The Balarecs are a set of four major islands in the Med about 100 miles off the Spanish coast. They are a little over 400 miles from Ceuta and it should take us about 4-5 days to get there from here. The first island in the Balarecs in Formentera which will probably be our first stop. There is no real big port or city there and we will probably anchor out in a bay instead of pulling into a marina. We are not sure of the Internet situation there but I would guess we will not have good access there. Whenever I can post again, I will. Watch our Spots.
I know this sounds weird but we are going to hit the first McDonald's we have seen in a couple of months for lunch before we leave which happens to be right around the corner from the marina. I'm actually looking forward to getting a Mickey D burger. Happy 4th of July!
