Well another town and yet another Hop. I guess I'd rather it was an iHop…read more Ah well. This one is just along from Mushroom Street. It had only one cow again as another Hop first the one in Valencia had three cows - one outside and two in an upstairs front facing window. My wife had an equally enthusiastic companion to shop with this time. Her companion had spied €10 colourful, snazzy sunglasses and they were polarised to boot. Sold. So as the ladies ambled among the tat, not buying for need, while the gents pondered lunch. Tempus Fugit

This one is in on the small side and not far from Mushroom Street. Not sure if the locals call it…read morethat, mind. It's a trinket style novelty store cheap and cheerful. I've no doubt most of the goods are cheap Chinese stuff. We give China tons of money so they can support Russia, Iran and threaten Taiwan and the west more generally. The latest in store offering is a model of the Ale Hop cow itself for I think 10 euro. I mean who can resist?

A friend and I stumbled into this souvenir shop near the Mercado Central in Alicante. There are…read morelots of souvenir shops in the city, but this one immediately differentiated itself through the quality and singularity of its products. I bought a lovely, reasonably priced drawing of the city by a local artist, while my friend found locally-made trinkets for her family. The owner was very friendly and went to great lengths to tell us about attractions that we could visit in Alicante, even finding a map to show us. He also gift-wrapped all of the items so that they were ready to give. When I looked up the store afterward, I found a Spanish-language article about the owner and his recent foray into the souvenir field after a career in entertainment. It seems to me as though his new enterprise is a success!