In Salemi

March 22, 2023

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the camera situation, and came to the conclusion that there’s something defective with the camera itself. It’s an electronic device, so maybe it had a stroke. After reading through some of the comments you’ve submitted I wondered about the warranty so I researched that and found that the camera is still under warranty and will be for another nine months (I only bought it in December) and decided I’ll just stow it away in the bottom of the pannier for now and send it in for a CT scan when we get back to Portland. It can’t hurt, and might help: they might replace it, they might repair it, they might just send it back, or it might get lost in the mail like our suitcases.

And in the meantime, I’ll replace it if possible. I look it up on Amazon and see that the successor, the ZS70, is actually now less expensive than the discontinued ZS60. I can’t order it from Amazon.com and have it delivered in Europe, so I try Amazon.it. The camera’s there, the price is right, but it’s only in Italian and it’s all too complicated to trust getting an order and delivery right, even if it lets me register without a European address.

So I decide to try to find a camera store. I pull up the map and execute a search, envisioning finding one in a larger population center - maybe Agrigento next week if we’re lucky, or Syracuse almost three weeks down the road. Surprisingly though, Expert Elettronica Bonura pops up on the map, just on the outskirts of Salemi. I’m skeptical, but they have a website so I pull it up, scroll through its very extensive product list, and find the ZS70 (well, actually it’s a TZ90, which is how the camera is branded in Europe for some reason). It’s only a mile away, so of course I’ll walk down when they open at 9 and hope for the best.

Rachael comes too. She’s taking a walk today (her still somewhat bruised butt would like a day off the saddle), so I draw out a walking route that passes by the electronics store. I saw in the catalog that they sell GoPros too, so she’s hopeful that she can find a backup battery for the one she forgot to pack.

Long story short: we come to the store, it’s filled with large household appliances (washers, ranges, etc), but nothing looking like cameras. Rats. The woman at the counter speaks no English when I ask about cameras so she makes a call and a minute later a man walks in the door. He speaks English, and gestures T us to follow him out the door. They have two storefronts, one for household appliances, the other for everything else.

They have the camera. How lucky is this? I need a camera, I’m in the middle of nowhere, and the one I want is for sale only a mile away. Unreal. Unfortunately they’re out of GoPro batteries until Friday, but that’s less important - Rachael’s doing fine with the one she’s got, and just needs to be careful to not run it down too fast.

She leaves for her walk while I wait for the battery to get a quick charge (if I were a really smart guy I’d have brought down the charged battery from my malfunctioning camera), and ten minutes later I walk out, take a photo of the shop, and the battery dies. Not much of a charge!

Come to Salemi for all your electronics needs.

I decide to climb back up to the apartment to charge the camera rather than taking a walk; and when I get there I decide I could really use a nap instead (I’m still adjusting to the time change). I set the alarm so I won’t oversleep, and when I wake up I walk down the hill again for a rendezvous with Rachael at La Giummara, a good looking restaurant that’s open for lunch. Pizza was fine last night, but we’re looking forward to something a step up.

On the way I see a magpie hiding in the branches and zoom in, but he’s too camouflaged by the branches for a good shot so I don’t bother. Then I see a small bird far off on a wire, too far off really; but zooming in I see it’s a European goldfinch. The Bird Quest lives!

The restaurant is dark. Rachael shows up looking fresh and fit after her twelve mile walk, and she and I climb the steep mile back to our apartment, resigned to another evening at the Burger House. When evening comes we’re back there again and Rachael makes the mistake of ordering a chicken panini and is served one of the least appetizing meals she’s ever eaten in Europe - it ranks down there with the horrible coq au vin we had on our first meal in France thirty years ago, or the catsup pizza we were horrified by in southern Poland. This meal is a work of art heavily breaded chicken on a bed of plastic cheese, wrapped in a wierd yellow, spongy flavorless bread.

We could have had a food photo, but I couldn’t make myself do it. It’s like taking pictures of the trash - I just can’t, so you have to use your imagination.

We do though have a photo to remember the Burger House - a selfie, testing out an enhancement on the new camera - a tilting viewfinder, so you can take selfies with it. It works great!

And we take a look at the town itself to give the new camera a workout, but those photos will go into a separate photo dump, soon to follow.

Still happy at the Burger House, because the ‘meal’ hasn’t arrived yet.

Looking toward the sea from the Norman castle.

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2023 Bird List

121. European goldfinch

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Scott FenwickI really can relate to your camera issues. Dropping mine off the boardwalk in Spotorno last October was hugely depressing but finding a suitable replacement the very next day in Savona was also a huge relief. I think that camera shops are becoming a thing of the past with many people using their cell phones as their only camera now. You were very fortunate to find another so quickly. Once again you and Rachael continue to amaze me with how easy you make problem solving while on tour look. You have very good luck and good karma. I really hope that the same good fortune will overcome your heart ailment, another thing we unfortunately share in common.
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1 year ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesYour camera replacement story is amazing and really struck a chord with me. One time in France, needing a replacement, we cycled kms out of our way to an electronics store, only to be told (mostly correctly) that point and shoot cameras are not sold any more, due to cell phones. We would have taken almost any camera, let alone an exact model.

I wonder if that TZ-90 has any other improvements, other than the tilting screen. In any event, in this happy ending you did get an upgrade, so cool!
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThe TZ-90 is identical to the ZS-70, btw. They’re just labeled differently in Europe. I’ve considered but resisted upgrading to this newer model, mostly because the older one was cheaper in the past; but also because it’s a bit slimmer and lighter and I didn’t care about most of the minimal enhancements anyway.

The tilting screen is definitely a plus though. Also, it’s got 20 megapixels which is an improvement over the 18 for the ZS-60.
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1 year ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Scott AndersonDo you keep the camera in a "pocket" such that the added size of the new one would bug you? I had thought about ducking your recommendation that the ZS-60 was fine, and going for the 70 just because, but the 60 is already rather bulky in the safety vest pocket I use for it. I assume that when (in the Scott standard three years) I break the 60, it will be a 70 to replace it, nonetheless.
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThe size is fine. It still slips easily into the back pocket of my bike jersey, so it’s always handy. So far I’m quite pleased with it.
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Scott FenwickI still can’t believe we were able to find the exact camera I was looking for in such an unlikely spot. Better to be lucky than smart, I always say.

I’m sorry that you have arrythmia issues too. I’ve been living with this for over thirty years and have regarded it as a manageable inconvenience until this year.
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1 year ago