Corinne CrawfordI normally choose my accommodations on a 3 or 4 factors and sometimes it is hotels, sometimes it is hostels and sometimes I do Airbnb either renting a room only or renting an entire place. My criteria boils down to price; location as it relates to walkability from train or bus station and proximity to the areas I want to spend my time in for the particular city; whether I need to do laundry; and how long I am staying for the purposes of having access to a kitchen so I don’t have to eat out every meal for more that a few days. So I knew for Girona I was staying 5 or 6 days and wanted to be able to eat breakfast and most of my lunches in the apartment to conserve a little money where I could. I usually buy very basic easy things that do not take up a lot of time or kitchen equipment like simple salads, grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs, cheese, grapes, yogurt, granola and maybe some pasta. This was the first place I had stayed where I had a decent private kitchen pretty much to myself and the host was so nice to point out that he had a shelf on the fridge for me and a shelf in the cupboard for my food items. Most of the time I am just eating to eat and to not be hungry but sometimes the meal, simple as it is, just makes you feel …. I don’t know, I guess comfortable is the right word. Comfortable in your surroundings, comfortable with the rhythm of your day, etc. One particular morning, I made a simple scrambled egg with ham and cheese and some really tasty bread and cheese with some grapes and coffee. Simple moments like this just makes me feel like I’ve got a good flow going if that makes any sense.
Besides, when if you have to eat out all the time, you might end up with something you aren’t too sure about.
I am having a hard time adjusting to the Spanish schedule and when to eat. Most restaurants do not even open until 8pm so I have to wait to have lunch later… but not too late and then I have to be prepared to go to bed later than I normally would. Which then means I am waking up later and I have just found that the later I wake up and get going, the harder it is for me to get going at all. But I went out at 8pm to find some dinner and I ended up a great Mexican restaurant with an outdoor terrace called La Tortilla Tex-Mex Barri Vell and ordered a quesadilla and was expecting a quesadilla but what I got were four miniature and delicious quesadillas. After I finished my meal, I went to the Sunset Jazz Club as it had popped up as a recommended place to go on some of my many internet searches. It was a very cool vibe, filled with just a few locals but no music on Wednesday nights. But I enjoyed the atmosphere and a really good cocktail and was even offered a glass of wine from the bottle the table of locals next to me were enjoying. I just had the one cocktail and the wine and then made my way back to my room.
Earlier in the day, my host had mentioned that I was leaving the next day and I panicked because I thought I was leaving on Friday and tomorrow was only Thursday. He said he was pretty sure my reservation ended on Thursday and sure enough he was right. But my next reservation at a hotel in Cadaques did not start until Friday so I had clearly messed up on my days. Luckily he let me stay an additional night and I used that day to work and do a final load of laundry and visit the spa before going to Cadaques the next day.
