It's Not All Wine and Pâté
Travel Challenges
Valencia February 20, 2015
Today was just one of those days. Plans: go to the grocery store, grab some food for evening,
then walk to the Science Center of Valencia. Well, with only about 7 Euro left in my wallet, I needed
some cash, so I Google-Mapped a bank (on the old iPhone, the one with a paid
chip to use here in Spain). Once
at a bank, none of my cards worked in the ATMs. I tried a different bank. NONE! I have
four cards. FOUR CARDS! I’ve not had problems before. So trying to remember that “things will
work out for me” … I bought a few groceries with about 4 Euro – enough to
survive on. Back at Abuela’s, I
called Chase credit card’s toll-free international number and they said instead
of using an ATM, I could go IN to ANY bank with ID and they would give me a
cash advance… and that they, Chase, would send me a PIN in seven to ten days.
As long as I have some cash, that’s what matters at the moment. I already had my bus ticket so I headed
downtown hoping that a central bank could help me. Got there and … no such luck. “To get cash you have to use the ATM.” Seriously?! There are no tellers in any bank from whom to acquire money
or ask for assistance? Actually, there are no tellers at all. Then on top of all that: the banks
close at 2:30 and it was already 2:15.
I found a café where I used the WiFi before, had a beer to chill (and
help say thanks for the WiFi) and called Chase again. Got through to a Special Director who set up a special PIN
after I answered 21 personal questions (but I’m not complaining – financial safety).
It worked! Yes, I’m paying 5% of the total as a
fee, yes, they can charge me 19.9-something % interest (believe me, I’ve
already sent a payment through my online bank which
should arrive Monday – which I will double check, of course), but I have CASH
in hand! (Actually my 300€ is in three places – not my hand. I always spread out my cash and my cards .. just in case) After all that I thought it was
time to relax so I walked from the Center of the city (because I missed the bus
that Tourist Information said would take me) to the Park – that was once a
river – near the City of Arts and Sciences. It was about 4:30p by the time I arrived there so I decided to just head
home. “Home”. Thankful that the old iPhone had GPS, I
found my way back to a street I recognized, contemplating along the way whether
to eat at a little restaurant or not.
Finally decided to buy some more groceries (as much as I wanted) and
headed home to cook. These groceries
were under 8€ – about 2/3 the price of a dinner out AND I
cooked only half of what I purchased!
Chicken in garlic butter with sautéed red bell peppers and eggplant, and
two thin slices of a local cheese.
A light red wine accompanied dinner (because I have NO clue what the
wines here are – and yes, the bottle was included in the under-8€
price!) and a light pecan pastry for dessert. Not bad. Not
bad at all. I cleaned the kitchen,
washed some socks and hung them out to dry (on a clothesline that’s out the
window on the third floor), and sat down to watch some Modern Family in Spanish.
(Meanwhile back home in Maine, parts of Portland Harbor have
frozen over!)
One has to be flexible when traveling like this. That other night when I was
excited to get “home” with a portable WiFi antenna I was going crazy with
multiple online tabs and FaceTime with my Mom. (This was included in my last Blog entry) We got cut off after about 8
minutes. I am so used to unlimited
WiFi that I didn’t even think this antenna was limited. We got it worked out yesterday – well
Eva’s husband did - but Juanjo won’t let me pay – or even tell me the process. Anyway, now I practice a “limited WiFi” juggling act. The antenna is plugged in. I write all my blog entries and emails
and messages while off-line, then turn WiFi on and quickly copy paste what I
have. One item at a time, on and
off: laptop, iPhone5 or the old
iPhone – depending which I need to use and whom I need to reach. It’s quite a challenge and rather
interesting to plan out. And so
far it’s working – except I have no idea where I am on the WiFi limit. Now if I want to have FaceTime I will
do it from Eva’s where there is open WiFi. Oh, and for extra fun, each item has its own special cord,
and the US ones need adapters, and …
I took a photo today to show Juanjo something but … now WHICH
phone was that photo on?!
Juggle!
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