Knock-off

While looking in shops last night we came across the above "game" which attracted our attention, the name appears also to be trademarked. The company website on the reverse of the box was www.tereo.es but that doesn't link with anything. You would think if someone was going to copy anything from NZ of value they would have chosen the Warriors All Blacks!

We were the recepients of some rudeness today when we went shopping for fruit in the markets. There is no orderliness standing in front of a stall waiting to be served but there does seem to be a procedure where the seller calls out, I assume "who is next" and you have a fair idea when it's your turn.

After standing back for 5 or 10 minutes (Sherry had time to go to two other stalls while I waited to be served) when he next asked who was next I stuck my hand up only to be "shouted" down by a couple of women who had just arrived at the stall - the seller deferred to them and having sent them on their way finally turned to me. I guess in total it was close to 15 minutes before I was served (2 kilos of peaches and 1 kilo of figs 3.15€ or $NZ5)

Having done the shopping (of fruit at least) we headed off to the Teatro de Caesaraugusta being the Roman ruins discovered in 1972 when work was started on the construction of a new building.

After the visit we reminisced where we had seen the remains of similar Roman works and we could remember Rome, Pula (Croatia), Arles (France), and Cartegena and now Zaragoza

Next we went to La Lonja - the old Merchant Exchange on the Plaza del Pilar and which looks modern but is over 500 years old. Apart from an excellent display of black and white paintings there are two standout features of La Lonja - firstly on the exterior there are head "portraits" of the businessmen who funded the construction inset around the building...

... and internally the ceiling is quite stunning being of Moorish design

To complete our day of cultural immersion we then visited the Goya Museum which as the name suggests focuses on the works of Francisco de Goya. I think we found the exhibition of prints that he made between 1778 & 1825 the most impressive as there are 211 of them and are a commentary of life in Spain during that period.

Arriving back at the hotel we went to the roof terrace and took a couple of photos from that vantage point before being driven indoors by the heat - it was around 35 at this time of the afternoon

The Basilica

Looking down on a deserted Calle de Alfonso I - this is the main retail thoroughfare from the edge of the new town down to the Basilica. If I took the same photo at say 6.30 tonight you would hardly see any pavement as the town comes alive again.

Observations - without upsetting Spaniards, some of them lack what we would regard as common courtesy, the market episode an example. Also if you are walking down the street and someone is walking towards you it is always you that has to move aside as they just plough straight ahead!

I have noticed that there are many older people of short stature, say 5ft nothing. When I say many sufficient numbers that I have commented to Sherry on it as it is not something I have noticed in NZ.