Sunny and warm. Leisurely walk to the centre. Stop at the charity shop and chat with the Thai woman who’s working today. Not busy. Not busy enough. This shop supports an animal shelter. It’s staffed entirely by volunteers, but the rent is €550 a month. That’s for the shop itself, one large room on the ground floor, and a storage room above. There’s also a small staff toilet upstairs, but that’s it. Prices aren’t high, but sales would probably cease if they were. And the price of brand new Asian clothing is low enough that second hand is pushed to compete.
There is only one other registered charity shop, the one near St Lazarus Church that supports cancer patients. However non-charity second hand stores have begun to proliferate, some of which sell on commission, and are serious competition. Remember a second hand shop a few years back called Curiosity Killed the Cat. We were in it once when a Scandinavian woman was expressing distress over its inexplicably cruel name. Didn’t seem too much happier when she was told about the saying.
Down at the beach there are auite a lot of tourists and kiosks have ice cream for sale. Would stop for coffee but our favourite little café has no seats. There can’t be more than about a dozen chairs there (all outside) and we’re probably not long enough after lunch.