Arrived in Figueres

I arrived in Figueres on Monday and Andrea, my real estate agent was right there waiting for me in front of the apartment building so that I could just drive up, park illegally with lights flashing, and unload my precious cargo of the two cats and the rest of the stuff that I hauled with me.  The cats spent the rest of that day crouched under the bed, but eventually they tiptoed out for a little look around in the evening and the next day they were even more relaxed.  They aren’t used to their new home yet, but they seem to like it better, at least the balcony, than the one in the apartment in L’Ametlla where we were for a few weeks.  This balcony is more open (I covered it with plastic chicken wire first thing the afternoon we arrived, otherwise I would not have opened the windows fearing that the cats might jump off) the view is of garden patios below rather than the port off to the side.

Tuesday was my birthday and is the day I bought the apartment.  It’s the biggest birthday present I’ve ever received and surely the most expensive.  After going to the bank and then signing papers at the notary, I took myself out for lunch to the Restaurant l’ou d’or (the golden egg).  Lunch was terrific: cheese canalons with a pesto sauce, baby squid cooked in their ink, and tiramisu for dessert.  Washed down with a cold white wine, it was a fabulous birthday lunch for the astounding price of 13 euros.  For supper I had some very tasty Basque tapas.  It was a good day.

I think I am going to like Figueres.  It’s not perfect and neither is the apartment, but I don’t think there is anything perfect in this life (and not too sure about the next).  Overall I like the apartment and I like the town.

One thing I like a lot about the town is that I can take a short 10-minute walk from the apartment and find myself in semi-country.  I drove the route when I came to view apartments because the real estate office is out that way in a mixed light-industrial commercial zone and I noticed people walking alongside the road on a path.  Yesterday when I drove that way again I noticed that someone was harvesting hay and it looked so inviting that I decided to walk out with my camera this the morning before it got too hot and take a closer and longer look.

I somehow don’t feel safe on isolated country walks alone, but urban and semi-urban walks suit me fine.  I also walk to do all my errands and go exploring around the city so that I am getting far more exercise than I have in years, in fact, since I moved from Tarragona where I walked everywhere to L’Ametlla where I went everywhere by car.

Yes, I think I am going to like it here.