It’s been a long time since l had an update about life in Valencia. The main reason is of course that things hadn’t changed much. Groundhog day and all that. This will be just a quick update as to the state of things both in Valencia, and the country as a whole. Cue nervous optimism here.
Valencia Spain is in the larva stage and almost a butterfly
Prior to this past Monday, restaurants (let’s face it, that’s one of the most important things in our immigrant lifestyle 🙂 ) were only allowed to stay open till 6 pm. While we really didn’t frequent them much, we have been making an effort to go out more than usual to support the local people and tip even more generously.
Yes, I know there are people saying we don’t tip in Spain and blah blah blah, but please keep your comments to yourself. These are not normal times and people are hurting badly, and if we can help in any way, I’m okay with that. You do you.
Yeah! We can eat out later:
Starting a week ago, restaurants have been allowed to open till 10 pm, so yeah!!… It’s been about six months, or so it seems. We haven’t had dinner out yet, I think it will be a while for us, not just because we have adjusted to life indoors, but because 10 pm also happens to be curfew time. I have no idea who comes up with this shite.
Their answer to that is to eat somewhere very close to your place so you can make it home by 10. That is simply ridiculous for a culture that prides itself on three hours meals to have to rush things, especially when 9 pm or thereabouts is when they would head out to eat in the old days.
Indoor eating is still at a 30% capacity while outdoors is 100%. It’s also okay to claim one or two parking spots to set out tables which l think is a good thing. It’s been really cool to see that a lot of restaurants that l thought had gone under are back, even if most are only open three days a week now.
The best part for me has been that the number of people at a table has been raised to six. This has meant not having to shout across to friends since the tables had to be far apart. 12 would be optimum :-).
Hopefully, that will improve too. The one other big change has been that you are now allowed to have visitors from one other household. Once again, we have become so used to it being just us that l am having a kind of weird hesitancy just thinking about having people over, something we truly enjoyed.
I am hoping that this too shall pass as the days go by. The inner hermits have truly emerged, especially with Federico who is way more introverted than l am. These rules are in effect till May 9th when the federal government is saying all measures will be lifted. People will be allowed to travel outside of their provinces once again and everything will be open fully.
Of course, most of the provinces for some reason or the other disagree and want to keep things as they are. What l do predict is a lot of confusion as most will make their own rules. This might hamper our plans to continue traveling through Spain.
It now seems like centuries ago that we visited Bilbao, Salamanca, and Burgos (someplace l totally want to revisit). I don’t want to get stuck someplace. We would also like to visit his family in Rome as well as mine in Nigeria. Everything is just up in the air for now.
Vaccination update for Valencia larva stage:
The rollout for the mass vaccination seems to be going well. A friend of mine got her first shot a week ago and she said from getting there, being in line and getting the shot took approximately 40 minutes which is pretty good and included the mandatory 15-minute wait after the shot.
The shots are being given to people in the age group 60-65 l believe and the older ones are being skipped for now since they ran out of vaccines for them. Based on this, I still don’t think my age group will come up for a few more months yet despite what they say (mid summer).
Life in Valencia:
Life seems to be getting back to usual just a bit more. A few neighbors that had gone to their family homes in neighboring towns are back, and gasp… we even have to wait for the elevator now and seem to be saying more hellos.
The flea markets are back. We are all still masked up. It is the law, and the fines are pretty high. Smoking is no longer permitted on the restaurant terraces (don’t miss that!), and your mask can be off only while eating and/or drinking.
It has to be on while driving (with people from different households) and exercising. They only recently reversed the decision to stop wearing it at the beach). One side effect of all this that I’ve seen is that the streets seem to be cleaner, and that is always a good thing.
I haven’t even heard of anyone speak of disco and nightlife in general. It is unofficially dead, and l really wonder if they will ever re-open to the high numbers again. Pretty sure the neighbours are the happy ones in this scenario. Don’t forget that the nightclubs are literally on the ground floors of apartment buildings.
I predict most youths will stick to private parties or the botellón tradition of congregating in parks and other outdoor areas to drink alcohol once. It’s always been cool for kids to do this, especially now when money is probably even tighter.
Has the tough love worked?
The people in the Andalusia region had it even tougher from what l understood. End result of all the tough love? Valencia went from having the highest numbers in the country to a nice nosedive in new infections. Was it worth it? Sometimes l think so. I am over it all. This virus is lingering so much.
I am looking forward to traveling now. The hibernation needs to come to an end, and the social butterfly needs a comeback. We will start planning after our vaccination. Perhaps at the rate they are moving, (4-5,000 people a day), they might get to this youngster 😃 sooner than later.
How are things over your way? Ready to hit the road yet?
“Based on this, I still don’t think my age group will come up for a few more months yet despite what they say (mid summer).”
I agree that your age group, those in their late 20’s, will probably be mid-summer. 😉 As a teacher, I got my first shot at the end of March. Second shot will probably be in July (the time for second shot will likely increase to 16 weeks). I am definitely ready for the comunidades to open up on May 9th.
Does that fresh pasta deliver outside cental Valencia? I was looking for somewhere to buy fresh pasta.
Haha! It’s so tough being in the younger age set. You old fogies got to get jabbed first… haha!
I keep hearing rumblings that Valencia is going to keep it as is despite what the government says. There will be riots in the streets l think :-). I am so ready for things to open up a bit more. Yes, l asked, and they will deliver to your neck of the woods. I will send you the info in a private email.
Kemkem, lovely to get this update from Valencia. Looks like the butterfly will be spreading its wings very soon. I hope it will not take long for your vaccine.
We are now travelling again, albeit here in England. Touring by motorhome feels very safe and in any case infection rates are very low and we both had the first dose of the vaccine. The future looks brighter 😀
I am anxiously awaiting being able to spread the wings and fly like you (in a home on wheels, even). I am keeping my fingers crossed that at the rate they are moving, it will be sooner. The future does indeed look brighter, time for those shades :-). Safe journey.
Wonderful reading the update from you, Kemkem, and how life is faring almost post-pandemic in Valencia. Your food shots look mouthwatering as always – too bad we can’t get the same meals delivered stateside, too! I hope you and Federico will be able to travel to your favorite spots in Spain soon as well as Rome and Nigeria to catch up with family.
Hi Annie, I know you guys are enjoying time seeing the grandkids and traveling about which is always good to read. Haha, definitely being home with someone who cooks well makes the time super tolerable. We were so lucky to find this chef. I know once things get better, he might not have the time so we will enjoy it for as long as we can. Thanks for the good thoughts, we are both missing family, even the ones that annoy us… haha!
It’s so nice to receive an update on ‘life in Valencia.’ I hope your lockdowns and restrictions have paid off, in terms of fewer deaths associated with COVID. I think it will take some time to analyze what worked and what didn’t. We didn’t start going out until we received our vaccine, and then only to outside seating restaurants, or to meet up with friends who are also vaccinated. Most everyone we know and care about has received the vaccine. Yesterday it was opened up all over the state to ‘walk-ins’ no appt. necessary. That’s a good thing, but it also means that the demand is less. We still have not achieved herd immunity in our largest cities and can’t until more people step up to get the shot. That mentality blows my mind.
What this all means for us personally is that Malcolm and I will leave on May 15 for a three-week road trip from Florida to Rhode Island. And, our daughter will fly to France in late June for a much anticipated, and previously canceled birthday trip. The next hurdle is some sort of ‘proof of vaccine’ that will allow us to move about across lines. As you mentioned, we don’t believe there will be anything uniform and every state, province, country, will have different requirements. We can develop a vaccine in six weeks, but we can’t create a universal health pass. Oh well.
I am happy that you guys are emerging and will have your shots by summer, if not before. It feels good to be almost there.
Hi Suzanne! Thanks for the comment, I know you guys must be busy packing up in preparation for the sale. Exciting times for you both l’m sure. Haha! I was laughing at you don’t want to run an Airbnb kind of lodging after your house guests even though you enjoyed the time with them. So glad you’re both vaccinated as it does make things a bit easier. I still can’t understand the resisters. I saw that about the walk-in situation and it’s great even though it sucks for my pharmacist friends as they always manage to cut the auxiliary help needed to run the pharmacies. I really hope there is a way for the U.S to help send the vaccines to countries that are hurting for them and where they will be appreciated.
I am looking forward to reading about your upcoming trip and l am also glad your daughter will be able to have that belated birthday celebration. Let’s hope the proof of the vaccination won’t have to be a tattoo 😂 on your body. It really will be a mess for a while. It really does feel good to be close to some sort of light. Safe journey!
I don’t think it’s too soon this time. Hopefully they learned from past mistakes and are not rushing things. It certainly looks like they’re still cautious and not jumping head first with “no more rules” 🙂
I always look at the UK for encouragement: they were doing so badly just a while ago, but with their massive vaccination campaign and strict rules, they are rocking it so far. I am sure the same will happen worldwide and, even though life will probably be a bit more normal in a couple of months, 2022 will be the 2021 we all wanted 🙂
I’m with you. I don’t think it’s too soon this time either. We all seem to be just super eager, and l think the lesson is learned. At least l hope so, otherwise… but l don’t even want to think about that. I also agree that no matter what happens, 2022 will be the 2021 that we all wanted. I know l am ready to travel again, but okay with local travel (if they lift it May 9) in the meantime.
Yeah, the U.K really did turn things around for the better. Valencia seems to have finally seen the light, and the mass vaccination is going along swimmingly. We are off to pick up our cards for the vaccination this morning, and then we wait to be called. I normally hate the phone, but this is one text/call l am looking forward to.
It’s always interesting to hear what’s happening with the pandemic in other parts of the world. 40 minutes total for a vaccine is pretty good. I was about an hour from the time I arrived to when I was good to go after waiting 15 minutes. Firefighters giving vaccine in the immunization clinics to help speed things up in B.C. We’re not supposed to be traveling outside our health region, except for essential reasons. This week the RCMP are putting up roadblocks, like they do with drunk driving, on the major routes coming and going into the Greater Vancouver Area. Crazy!
Yes, it is quite interesting how places are handling the same problem. I am quite impressed at the 40-minute time span too and hope they can keep it up. I was also happy to read this morning that some provinces have started the 55-59 group so l am hoping Valencia will join them soon which would be awesome for me. We had roadblocks here too for a long time to prevent movement around the locked-down towns and also to prevent the people trying to leave the city. It’s been a long year but hopefully, in just a few days, freedom in some form will reign. I am so ready for the world to change a bit.