Closed Mondays

My dad often wears a T-shirt from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (or is it the Walker, Dad?), the front of which says simply, "Closed Mondays." This is true of the MIA, that it is closed on Mondays, but people often assume this to be a personal slogan of my father´s. They nod their heads in agreement, say "Totally, Dude, me too," give him the thumbs-up.

The T-shirt would be very appropriate in Arcos. Okay, I understand the Spaniards like their siestas and thus everything is closed between about 2 and 5 pm. I don´t mind a little afternoon downtime either. And I understand that Spain is historically very Catholic and thus everything is closed on Sundays. That´s all right, I can prepare for the upcoming school-week on Sundays. But I get hungry by Monday! On Mondays I want to start the week off with fresh vegetables and a new loaf of bread! The supermarkets simply shrug their shoulders. "Eh," they say, "Come back Tuesday."