Monday. No joy with our bank codes on the US Visa website. This is all getting a little too close for comfort. I have woken up in a bad mood, the wrong side of the bed, as they say. I grump this way, I grump that way, we eventually make it down to Alexander Coffee again and I grump my way through a double espresso and slice of carrot cake. I am marginally less grumpy.
Today is a shopping day. We need to buy some presents and today is when it is going to happen. I have promised a little old lady I will be returning to pick up a beautiful leather man-bag which she parts with for GBP25. Trust me, I'd bring home a dozen if I could.
We walk up and down the roads but Sarah is having extreme difficulty finding anything she wants. This stands in stark contrast to myself, who can barely walk into a shop without finding exactly what I want. I get a fake Bolivia football shirt for a fiver. It looks a lot like an Ireland rugby shirt. Strange but true.
But it gets stranger. In one fake football shop (as with all South America, all the shops selling the same wares congregate on the same street, so you have a street in La Paz that only sells fake football shirts (and tracksuits). It ends at Hairdresser Corner tho. A dozen barbershops all crammed in together) I spot this.
That's right. A fake Norn Iron shirt. And not just any shirt, but the weird away top with the chevron from four years ago. It looked REALLY fake. It was also a tenner. I was tempted, I can't lie, but I saved my cash. Thank God, because I needed it later.
Here, in another shop (much more helpful too) was a fake of the Adidas home shirt of 2012-2013. Except better! The badge is pretty good, albeit different, and the green is more attractive than the official shirt. It also cost me about GBP11 and included some shorts! It is XL though, which made me feel bad, but then its about the same size as my striped Umbro top, so I was quite happy about that.
Only one thing to do after that but trip and fall outside the shop! Rip my shorts! And have to go the The English Pub to get changed! And drink some Judas beer! Its not as exciting as it sounds.
By this point we have done a lot of shopping. I am no longer grumpy and Sarah has managed to re-write her entire gift list so that people are not getting awkward things, rather they are getting things we can actually find in shops. So its all been successful.
Back at the hostel I get some photos to illustrate the fakeness of my new shirt which I am very proud of.
We also got some free llama finger puppets from the lady I bought my new leather satchel from!
Do NOT trip and fall in La Paz. Shorts that you were about to get rid of will suddenly RIP and TEAR and FALL APART. A bit like these ones. Don't do it! Still, saved me from wondering should I wash them one more time before binning them.
In celebration of our successful shopping (trust me, mine is always more successful) we went out for a nice dinner. I had previously heard two girls in the lobby asking where the Wagamama restaurant was in La Paz. That was exactly the sort of dinner I needed. Sadly, for aficionados, its not an official Wagamama. Nor is it even called Wagamama any more. It is, however, an excellent (if not entirely authentic) Japanese restaurant down on Av Arce near the embassies. Only open between 7pm and 9pm for dinner, we were the last people in and the last ones out too. But it was worth it. I had a platter for about 8 quid that I could barely finish (and it was Japanese food for Gods sake! It never makes you feel full!) whist Sarah demolished her miso soup, chicken teriyaki and half a bottle of an excellent Mendoza red. Two enormous mains and a bottle of wine for GBP27? Half the price of Zen? Perhaps Bolivia is as cheap as people say it is. Mind you, we did walk back afterwards and nearly, so nearly, managed to get chatting to President Morales. Ah well, can't win 'em all.
No comments:
Post a Comment