1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Spanish-language edition of MacWorld

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1995

3 Months

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1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Fish Monger

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Where

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1995 Gran Canaria: Potpourri

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Back at Home

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1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Spanish-language edition of MacWorld

Wednesday 11 Oct 1995

Daniel and I drive to Eivissa Cuidad from Sant Joan this morning to get some errands done. Daniel has to visit the consulate - for the third week in a row - in order to get some paperwork done. There's always one more thing to sign. I have to order a 240 VAC power supply for the one-gigabyte hard drive, pick up fuses for my APS power supply, and pick up some European AC cords. It's also a good excuse for me to wander around and take photos. Here's a short walking tour:

From where Daniel parks the truck, we walk towards the port. The first landmark we hit is the Placa del Rey, the two-block long "square" shown here. Just to the left is the bookstore where we've been going to get Mayra's schoolbooks as they dribble in. To the right is the Old City. At the far end of the square, on the left, is the café Montesol (where we'll shortly be). In the square itself is book kiosk that specializes in foreign press.

Placa del Rey

Just to the left of where I stand is a pharmacy. On its wall is a huge tile with an old image of a pharmacist at work. This is from the original building.

Pharmacy Tile

Instead of going directly to the café, where Daniel and I traditionally meet at the end of errands, I decide to kill the remaining hour with a very quick stroll along the edge of the Old City. This is a small picture of the fortifications around the Old City, a small gap for pedestrians and mopeds, and then the buildings on the flat area surrounding the Old City begin. The gap is certainly less than 3 meters (9 feet).

City Wall

Walking along the wall I come to the huge ramp that leads into the Old City. It's the only way cars are able to enter. At the foot of the ramp are several cafés (the Croissant Show is one of them) and a fruit stand, pictured here:

Fruit Stand

As I turn up the side streets, towards the Gypsy section of town, I see an elderly woman coming home from one of the markets, carrying several shopping bags. A baguette peers out from one bag.

Shopping Woman

It's the shopping that draws the tourists to "Eivissa City" - there are literally hundreds of botiques that dot the area around the Old City. From the latest Parisian offerings to local jewelery, clothing, and pottery. I walk down one of the streets, peering inside shops to my left and my right. Here's a picture of a woman looking through the sale rack before the place is completely swept out before opening:

Shopping scene

My time is almost up; Daniel said he'd be at the café at noon. I swing by the port to take a picture of the statue of the fisherman, shown here. The sign at its base commends the generations of seamen who have provided for the island. The statue reminds me uncannily of a larger version that stands in Gloucester, Massachusetts (where I used to assistant-teach SCUBA diving).

Statue

Finally I make it back to the square, with a few minutes to spare. I stop off at a bakery to pick up two croissants con chocalate, since Daniel doesn't like the ones offered at the café. I cross the street to the chirping that alerts the sight-impaired that it's safe to cross. The Caf´ Montesol is in front of me:

Cafe Montesol

I sit down with my back to the café to wait for Daniel. One of the tuxedo-clad waiters recognizes me and comes over. Un caffè con leche, por favor, I say. He's already written it on his pad, either because he's come to know me or because that's what every tourist orders, and it's a pretty good bet to write down. I prefer to believe the former.

An Englishman at the next table notices my PowerBook, and we launch into the first technical conference of the vacation. He's full of questions about the Internet: can he get it here? How much does it cost? How do I get access? And so on. It turns out that he's staying on the neighboring island, which barely has phone or electrical service. As we speak the tables opposite us are freed and occupied by a stream of people. Here's one couple that was sitting across from us while I was demonstrating the Apple QuickTake 100:

Couple at Cafe

Daniel arrives. I make the introductions. The waiter fetches a coffee for Daniel, the Englishman runs to catch the ferry back to the island. As someone or another who Daniel hasn't seen for years and years recognizes him and joins us I wander across the street to the kiosk, where I pick up the Spanish-language edition of MacWorld. I become a little indignant to find that QuickTime 2.1 is included with the US$10 magazine. I paid that price for QuickTime 2.1 only a month earlier, using my First Virtual account to purchase the software over the web. I read the magazine - slowly, because my Spanish is terrible - as I meander back to the café. Daniel switches from mellow to in-a-rush, and declares that we're late. Not for anything in particular, we're just in a state of being late. We walk back to the truck and head towards Sant Joan, twenty kilometers (twelve miles) away.

While we've been gone the PowerBook has arrived from "Cut y Paste" in Barcelona. I unpack it, only to find that the right hinge has been completely torn apart and the entire plastic covering of the flip-top screen has been damaged beyond use. The video cable that runs by the hinge has been abused to the point that only part of the video signal makes it to the screen. The screws that were supposed to hold the hinge to the plastic, which now have no place to sit, have been tossed into the mix and packaged in bubble-wrap.

I sit back, stunned. I check the box for damage, hoping to disprove what I suspect. The box is unmarked. This didn't happen in transit, this was done in Barcelona. Someone fixing the machine made a mistake when they were reassembling it, tore the plastic, and rather than being honest about it they decided to punt.

I call Daniel in and sit him down. I show him the damage and explain exactly what's happened. (Having opened up every model of PowerBook I've ever had my hands on, I know how detailed Apple's instructions are concerning opening and closing procedures.) Daniel calls Barcelona, gets the master tech on the phone, and reads him the riot act. Ricardo hems and haws, finally admitting that they had "a little trouble" when they were reassembling the unit. Daniel tells them the unit is going back at their expense; Ricardo accepts.

(The screen video is only partially there, but for the next few days that's how I teach Daniel how to use his new machine. He returns it the day before I fly to Gran Canaria.)

Daniel drives home, having the loaner car means that I can stay later and try to upload some of these trip-report web pages. But my luck doesn't improve, my ISP doesn't answer at all. With a headache I drive home, arriving in time to a delicious dinner of carrots and soy burgers and a late night tea. (For all my trials and tribulations, I have to say that Daniel and Schrada's food have only been excellent.)

I head to bed with a copy of Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities.

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