Clothes and mortorbikes

I went into the town centre yesterday to explore a bit. The main shopping street is called Calle Larios (see picture) and there were lots of tourists and shops. I am totally in love with Spanish clothes shops. I remember this from when I lived in Bilbao, but then I had no money and couldn't justify buying much. That said, it is clear that Spanish clothes are a lot cheaper than English ones. The prices that you pay for poorer quality clothes in the UK (H&M, New Look etc) are the standard prices in these shops for clothes of a much higher quality.


I bought a really cute skirt so I can stop wearing my tattered denim cut-off mini skirt all the time. The photo doesn't really do it justice - it is very cute, with a kind of puffed effect that looks nice. It was just €12.


Then I saw a shop that looked quite fun and went in... It was like my idea of clothes heaven! Called Desigual (which translates as "atypical", it lives up to its name. The clothes are all brightly coloured and funky, with floral and animal patterns, made of really comfy material and totally gorgeous! Apparently there are Desigual shops in London, but the prices are double there. It is not cheap in Spain, but on a par with FatFace, so manageable. I simply had to buy a dress! The neckline is very low, so I wore it with another top underneath last night (more about last night in a bit!) It cost €44, so I did feel a bit bad, but I had to treat myself! This site gives you an idea of their lovely clothes and the prices in the UK. My dress would cost about £70 in the UK!

Then I decided to have a coffee and some lunch while I wrote my postcards. I found a cafe that did tapas and had a slice of tortilla with bread and a coffee. Very nice.

When I came home, I went to the beach for a couple of hours and then got ready to go out. My new friend José picked me up at 7 and we went into town to meet with the others. He collected me n his motorbike - a very lovely Harley! It was such a buzz!!! I felt like a really wild young thing in my short dress and brown legs on the back of a shiny moto! José got me home at about 11 and then he stayed for a coffee and we chatted until 1am! He doesn't speak any English and he has a really strong Andalucian accent, so it wasn't always easy to understand what he said, but we coped. In Andalucía, they do not pronounce the 's'. An example that makes me smile is mí mismo (myself) is said mí mimo which I totally didn't get at first!

Many of the other people last night spoke with strong local accents and I struggled to get what they were saying. The people I understood most easily turned out to be from other regions: one from Galicia in the north and another from the Costa Rica in South America. I learnt another great verb last night: equivocarse, which is to make a mistake.

Well, today is Sunday, so it must be a another beach day! I think I will treat myself to some more tapas for lunch. This evening I might be meeting with some of Bill's English friends, but I am kind of reluctant because I am worried that, if I speak English, I will find it hard to get back into Spanish again.