We did get up earlier today and decided we would try to go to a mall, since all of the stores are having rebajas (sales) at this time. We tried walking to a bus stop to go to a mall outside of town, but we walked in one big circle as the bus route was interrupted by the tram construction through the middle of town. We had seen a mall by the university and decided to go there. We happily hopped on the bus and about 2 miles down the road the busdriver slammed on the brakes and t-boned at very small car. While the bus was slamming on the brakes, the unsuspecting passengers toppled like dominoes on top of each other when all came to a stop. Luckily, we were holding on to the rails and just watched the dominoes fall. Luckily no one was injured badly, just smushed. The traffic was completely blocked in about three directions and because the drivers really like to honk here, the horns were blaring. We stayed on the bus-not wanting to have to pay for another bus fare-then followed the crowd to the next stop, hopped on another bus, and crammed in. This time, we got front row seats of the driving. No accidents on that bus, but if you ever decide to travel here, do not drive yourself around. Crazy drivers!!
We made it to the outlet mall, walked through and thought ‘this is it’? Most of the shops and restaurants were closed. The mall was nice and clean, but unfortunately not well attended. We weren’t sure if it was because of the economy or some other reason. I did find a cute pair of shoes for only 6E, so all was well. Then we got back on the bus to go home. Lo and behold, not 2 minutes on the bus and he slammed on his brakes, and luckily, the bus stopped before hitting the car in front of us. We made it back to the apt and walked the rest of the day.
After making some dinner and drinking some cola-light, we decided to go walking around to try to find a t-shirt or souvenir shop. We walked everywhere and found plenty of shoes (zapatos), purses (bolos), jewelry (joyeria), and expensive clothing stores, but no t-shirt shops. Clearly these stores are meant for the wealthy tourists visiting here. Each store is having rebajas or sales right now, but the Euro to dollar exchange doesn’t make buying clothing a deal, even with a sale. There are plenty of souvenirs on the Esplanade to purchase, as mentioned earlier this week, but I was looking for an Espana soccer t-shirt and didn’t find one. Hopefully the airport may have one.
