The view from the back

Well a new year is here , on the back of our lucky grapes and in true Adams family tradition it's time for new business.

Our new business is , house hunting . Yes we're finally taking the plunge, we're going to put all the neigh Sayers behind us and try and find a legal cortijo in Almeria if such a thing exists !

As you will be aware we are currently renting in the almanzora valley near Albox, "the valley of the dammed " ground zero for illegal builds and demolished properties. Our rental is not up to scratch yet, it has just been granted urban land status but is still without planning consent , our neighbours are less fortunate being on rustic land and no planning. The thickness of a building block in the garden wall is the only difference , it's so unfair.  

So we hit the web, looking through page after page of cortijo's , finca's and villa's comparing them against our often revised wish list , then a possible and another so a viewing was arranged. 

We set off with the agent from his office , onto the autovia then off , on to a narrow, very narrow road twisting through the fields then a cloud of dust and were in the rambla then out and in and out up a drive way , well it could be with some work and at last a house . 

6 beds and 1 bath , could sleep 11 ? What with one toilet ! First up best dressed ! The gardens are out there somewhere and just need some work . But this house has lots of character and a good feel, just so much work and some more bathrooms, but the lovely wife is smitten and what's good for the goose ... 

Then on to the second , this was more like a stage in the Paris - Dakar hopping from one rambla to the next in clouds of dust and sand , now this one it says needs some work , he was not joking as one end of the house is a ruin and the other has had the upstairs demolished and needs rebuilding, all of that aside the real issue was it was very over looked. So a no and a maybe , the words of my dad ringing in my ears on pocket money day " now don't just buy the first thing you see " but what if the first thing is the right thing ? It worked with the lady wife after all ! A house half as good would surly be a palace. 

We sat up that night into the small hours mulling over the pros n cons the what ifs and reviewing the myriad of snaps we took. The out come was that we agreed to look for some more possibles online . 

The next day after breakfast we sat at the PC to continue the hunt , but no , the internet was down, a few calls later and we found out that we were off and staying off . Our Internet supplier had been evicted from his mast and could not find a replacement location. 

So we've been off line for 8 days , no house hunting just lots of mulling, we've arranged a second viewing with a builder and a pool installer , who knows it could be a hole in one? We were greeted back to the electronic world by a boxful of junk e mail , a wrong direct debt payment in the bank and an afternoon of Skype catching up with family. 

As for dad , well he had a great time In Benidorm and is 75 years young today !  So Skype and cards all round. 

The day has arrived , the day my dad is arriving with his entourage, well his partner and her sister, both of whom are so easy to get along with we look forward to seeing them. 

Dad however says he's easily pleased but is far from it. My dad got us into Spain when me and the lovely wife when just married in the mid 80's , shared holidays to Majorca gave us a taste of Spain , there our paths diverged he continued to seek the party times of magaluf and Benidorm while we sought out a more authentic Spain. 

30 years later He wants to see how we are settling in and what we like about this part of Spain. I have tried to explain that at the height of August Mojacar Playa might just be as busy as Benidorm in January , currently in the bottom of a recession on a cool December morning your lucky to get a coffee as so many places are closed or closed down , non the less we love it , the quiet walks on the front easy parking , no traffic . Can I get dad to see why ? 

So back up to Alicante airport to collect them in the new car , that will be a surprise he's expecting the old Touran with the dodgy wheel bearing . This Tiguan has 5 full size seats so  there should be ample room , but no , first comment - not much room in here for all us , then the usual 3 ring circus while they sort out the seat belts under directions from dad. 

Were off , good flight ? Yes, any body need to stop off on the way back ? It's 2 hrs shall we get a meal ? No ! Ok then I'll put the radio on . Then came my cringe, can you pass me some of that pork pie and a banana out of your bag love? Don't say it out loud WHAT THE DUCK , the lovely wife won't even let me have a sweet in here , must keep the peace , how many days ? 

It was 22:30 when we got in having been on the road without getting out of the car since 17:00 , first comment , it's cold in here , I'll put the gas stove on , I did say . 

The lovely wife quickly got out some supper of bread , cheese and salad with olives and oil to go with the acorn fed ham I was cutting from the leg, washed down with some bottles of beer.  Great every body dug in , whilst the lovely wife and I broke bread and dipped in the oil picking slices of ham up to eat along side , our guests sliced the rolls and made sandwiches with the ham and cheese cutting off all the fat ! ( Don't say it out load but do you know how much that ham costs ? ) would you have any pickle ? Don't really like olive oil. 

The next day was to be our Spanish Christmas Day ( mk 1 )  I say mk1 as we are having another for the lovely wife and I on the 25th and the Spanish one of the 6 January will not go un marked. 

I was up early to greet every one with rounds of tea , carols and presents . I put the fire on full but within half an hour these hardy northerners had the throws over them on the sofa obviously feeling cold but not wanting to grumble ( central heating and winter fuel allowance has sent them soft LOL ) it was already 17c and if it's a nice day we might get 19.5c with the fire and oven on , were alright ! Thus the mould was set for the week . 

Mid week we went for a run in the hills to see the scenery, orange and lemon groves , almonds and olives , sleepy hamlets smelling of olive wood smoke , as I rambled on enthusing about what happens when and pointing out where we saw the family of wild boar I looked in the mirror and their asleep , I nudged the wife and said just like our daughter she used to sleep after lunch in the car . 

I drove on for half an hour winding back to the village arriving at the bar we all went in and grabbed a booth, I started to get the order together for drinks and dad said I'll get these , when she comes round , ok, but the don't wait tables , I'll order them, why don't you get some tapas ordered , ?? , just go to the display pick what you want and they will bring it across , they'll put on my bill . 

After a lot of back n forth the drinks and tapas arrived , I said do you like it in here ? Yes but it's a lot of fuss , have you been in similar places before ? No not like this . This surprised me as my dad spends 2 months a year in Spain and went to college to learn basic Spanish but these days seem to have been his first real visit to Spain in 30 years. 

we find the albox area to be too English focused , but for dad this was more Spanish then he'd come in contact with before, he said he could see the appeal but it was all too remote and quiet in our village for a holiday and preferred the night life of Benidorm . 

I agreed its quiet and some of the staff can't speak any English but why should they ? I chose to live here! When your at home you don't go out every night drinking till the small hours do you , no , well neither do we when we're at home here. 

On Friday 20th December the tables were turned as we drove them up to Benidorm to continue their holiday with 3 weeks in Benny . Now me and the lovely wife have never been to Benidorm and the lovely wife is not keen on tower block canyons ever since her first encounter in down town Boston.

I asked dad if he had the address of the apartment , no , I'll tell you the way when you get there! So off again the autovia Mediterano shuttle hit the road . After an un eventful run up we turned off the autovia towards the cannons , down here , turn right , I can't it's been shut off , we need to be over there , throu the road works it's the other way , arr , have you driven here before ? No , usually on the shuttle bus ! 

Stop ! Get me the address and the tomtom, after 20 mins of weaving back n forth on 1 way street dodging road trains , funny buggies and people , so many people all over the roads , trapped in the mid afternoon gloom we arrived at the second row tower block. 

As we unloaded the cases we were greeted by a purple plastic parrot that requested we " got our f###ing fat a###'s " in side the store ! Hola to you too ! Dad asked if we were staying for fish n chips ? I said no I want to get a good start before it gets dark, looking up at the towers.

So we were on our way , 5 min later we were on the autopista , blow the expense . 

As we roared SW towards the setting sun and the three amigos set off for fish and chips we both were heading towards that which we desire putting the hiccups of the past week behind us. 

Who knows the real Spain ? What's authentic ? Flamenco and Migas or labumbas with chips ? For the time being Spain needs us both more than ever .