That is how many you need between you and the person in front of you to meet the 2 meter requirement on the escalators at El Corté Inglas. Located toward the left (west) along the shore from the main harbor then several blocks up the hill, the department store is a massive eight storied block. Leaving the ship about 1030, it didn’t take me long to hike the ~1.5 km.
Starting from the top floor (furniture and cafeteria with excellent wifi if anyone traveling needs to know..) I worked my way down floor by floor. Like any other major department store just about anywhere in the developed world, there were all the major clothing brands that one would expect. Also electronics ranging from e-readers to large screens and a good smattering of games/gaming consoles. My goal was two fold; I needed to find at least one short sleeve shirt, and notions. The last time I really went looking through this particular store prior to this trip was in about 2016. At that point, on the top floor located near the linens and towels there was a small but good section of knitting, sewing, and stitching supplies. Not so anymore. I am going to assume from my sample of two stores, both large and otherwise well stocked. That this particular department wasn’t all that popular or profitable and so no longer exists. I can say that most definitively after starting at the top and walking every floor down through S4 (sub main 4). There wasn’t even a repair kit in the Supermercado.
Ah well. And as you would expect, this is not exactly the right time of year for short sleeve shirts, especially those with buttons. I wasn’t looking for logo t-shirts, I wasn’t looking for running gear, both of which I found. So, quietly discouraged, I worked my way back through the city on my second errand of souvenir magnets and was slightly more successful. I didn’t find any as nice as Funchal, but acceptable and distributed all but two by the end of the day.
I went back to Candles – the fancy version of the normal Veranda restaurant on Deck 7 for dinner and tried the vegetarian options which were excellent. I think I have now consumed both enough food and coffee to fuel me all the way back across the Atlantic Ocean.
We undocked and headed out promptly at 2200. No detour via Las Palmas this time, so if you want to see/watch lava just head to YouTube and watch the live TV feeds. Same with Iceland.
On the stitching front – I added 1068 stitches to the monochrome pattern and another 500 to the Barbara Ana. Not a bad day at all considering.
