So our last guest for the 2024-2025 season arrived Sunday morning. We went to dinner at La Cayetana.
So the next morning we went off to our fingerprint adnphot appointment for our ID cards to be made up now that our visa has been renewed for the next two year cycle. We took a cab and met with the gestor Valerie. we went into the waiting room and were given a number. while waiting the power went out. Valerie got a call from the lawyer that there was a power failure all over Spain and Portugal and France. ARRRGGGHHH - we were so close. Just waiting to see someone to finish the paperwork that we need to leave the country next Sunday. Finally the police got everyone cleared from the waiting room by making appointments for them. We were there about two hours total and went out to find the streets clogged with traffic (no signals) and no cabs available (who would want to sit in traffic anyway.)
So we bit the bullet as they say and started to walk home slowly slowly. It was 85* and sunny and sort of humid. Sidewalks were packed with people as all transit methods except buses were out of service- no trains, no trams (stopped literally in the middle of the street.) We were totally fried when we got home an hour later. But the apartment wasn't too hot (we had unfortunately turned off the AC before we left) because it was still cool from earlier in the day.
We had plans for a merienda with Janet & Mike (people we met just last week) but there was no cell service for phone or texts and no internet - as - no electricity. luckily our phones were well charged and so we could read and play games - Phil worked on Duolingo. We texted Janet & Mike who live on the east side of town beyond Alfalfa. But we didn't hear from them. Our power came back on around 5:40 almost exactly five hours without anyway to cook, and wanting to limit forays into the fridge etc.
We saw that our texts were going through to various folks out of the country but not Janey & Mike who were without power for much longer than we were. around nine we went to dinner where we had reserved (Manolo Mayo) only to find the restaurant dark. Many had closed after X hours. We saw that MING was open and headed there (beating a rush of lots of others who were happy to find a place to eat at all. When we walked home around 11:30 the street lights were out on Mateo Aleman so obviously things were not back to normal roughly 12 hours after the failure.
some of the things we had to eat at MING
