Our search continues

As we settle into our new home in Valencia, our time has been spent getting acclimated to a new city. Although our apartment is furnished and equipped with most of the basics, we’ve missed having certain essentials (essential to us anyway), like a water filter pitcher and a throw blanket for cozying up on the sofa when the weather turns chilly.

Not surprisingly, our phones and laptops have been in research overdrive as we’ve scoured sites to determine whether tap water in Valencia is safe to drink (it is).

Preferring to avoid purchasing bottled water, not just for environmental reasons but also to keep our expenses in check (we drink a LOT of water), we decide a water filter pitcher is a worthy investment.

In the US, we would hop in the car and head to the nearest Target, the department store where we purchased the majority of products for our home.

But we’re living in Spain now and there is no Target here.

El Corte Inglés is the largest department store chain in Europe and, according to their website, they had what we needed, so we set out to find said items.

Neither of us speaks fluent Spanish, though we both studied the language in high school and college. Rhys’ recall of the language has returned more quickly and easily than Shannon’s. Navigating a large, seven-floor department store while looking for specific items proved to be more challenging than expected.

Turns out, this large, seven-floor department store consists of five levels of clothing, a restaurant on the top floor, and a massive grocery store in the basement. No water filter pitcher or cozy blankets to be found.

When we asked an employee, she directed us to Building 2 on Colón Street, which was located multiple blocks away. When we arrived, the building was temporarily closed. Why she didn’t tell us this important bit of information is beyond us. But at least we got more steps in.

Our search continued as we walked to another El Corte Inglés in a different part of the city. Upon walking in, we were presented AGAIN with levels and levels of clothing, but no housewares. After another inquiry, the shopkeeper directed us toward another separate building at the other end of a large shopping mall.

We had finally found housewares! What we didn’t realize, however, is how expensive those houseware products would be - 160€ for a throw blanket and 60€ for a water filter pitcher?!? Uh…nope.

And so the search continues.