COVID19 Lockdown in Girona, Spain

It's been a very long time, and many great trips, since my last 2016 blog entry for fat tire bike trip to Congo Rainforest basin (see next blog if you haven't seen this).  Now that I'm in Covid19 lockdown, blog is easy entertainment.

On March 10th we arrived in Girona with a one year Spanish Residency stamp in our passports, and then by March 13th, we were in lockdown for the Covid19 crisis that suddenly hit Spain.  We would screw up our hard work of getting residency if we choose to fly back, so we stayed in the Barri Vell apartment we had leased for a year.

Going into ICU is not a good idea during this time, for anything, much less Covid19.  So, we prepared ourselves to survive with minimal contact of anyone else.  Fortunately, we were able to get WIFI and television all set up just before lock down. But, this has been harder on Belinda than me because she doesn't sneak out and explore the world like I do.  She talks on the phone a lot and does exercises in front of the TV.  I've always a been solitary person a lot anyway, especially since my Spanish language skills are so poor.  She's very thoughtful and organized, and we eat fresh fish, fresh breads and pastries, wonderful cheeses, and other foods Spain is so good at providing us.  But, we are very careful when we go shopping as the photo below shows. 

I was able to get in two rides up to Els Angels before lock down:

First Road Bike Climb Up Els Angel After COVID19
Since then, it's all about sneaking out and walking the dog!  Everyday, I go out and walk the dog somewhere new, but I have to dodge the police who might give me a 600euro ticket for being too far from my house during lock down:  Long Dog Walk on March 28th

I had to cancel a planned tour of Northern Italy, and put off any other travel plans for the summer until we can see how this plays out.  As a result of cancellations and no travel, suddenly our credit cards have their lowest monthly balances in years!  Of course, the stock market tanked, losing almost 30% of our equity wealth almost overnight.  During lockdown, I have spent hours studying the marketplace however, and I expect to rebound out of this in a stronger position that before meltdown.  I bought travel stocks--airlines, cruise ships, Expedia--for the long term.  I also bought selected tech stocks that I thought might benefit from Covid19, or at least would survive and thrive later.