Chasing the dream in Spain. Part 2

Last weekend there was a bit of a party atmosphere in Algorfa, where Linda and I now live. The highlight of the weekends celebrations was the parading of the Virgin Del Carmen through the streets of the village in the evening on Saturday. The twelve men carrying her looked to be struggling with the weight in the heat, they paused often, I am not sure if they were having a breather or it was part of the ritual. All the church bells were ringing at regular intervals, they had to take the doors off the church in the square to get the Virgin out before the procession started.  Both sides of the street were lined with people carrying huge lit candles, everyone in the village must of been there. All through the day, firecrackers were being set off, they were absolutely huge. We walked into a street were one was being set off and were guided a safe distance away, the street was then blocked both ends. Then what must have been a fifty foot long monster was then lit. The noise was absolutely deafening, you could feel the shockwaves and see the shop windows bowing from the explosions. You would get locked up in the UK for being in possession of fireworks like these, they would think you were a terrorist or going to hold up the local post office. While the parade was working it's way round the streets, we managed to find a small eatery with an empty table on the street, so we sat down for a bite to eat and a couple of beers. What looked to be the cheap seats in the house turned out to be some of the best. We were not sure which streets the parade was going down, as most of the streets had been blocked off, I suppose we just got lucky.  As our refreshments were served, the procession came round the corner onto the street where we were sitting, bargain. They crawled past us back into the town square, taking the Virgin Del Carmen back into the church. Then the main firework display started. How, in a place with just over 3,500 people living in, can they afford to spend that much on fireworks? The display was awesome, no other word seems to sum it up, they do their firework displays here in style, to hell with the national debt. There were no 'damp squibs' here, it must have cost well into six figure money, and would have put most displays in the UK to shame, even the millennium ones. What does it get like if they get really carried away? I guess we'll have to wait for the football season to start to find out!

It may not be fast, it may not be new, but it's all ours and paid for. We are now the proud owners of an eight year old diesel fiesta. It's dent free, so we will have to get our own 'badge of honour', which probably won't take long, first trip to Torrevieja ought to sort that one! The insurance was cheaper than it would be back home, and it's any driver twenty six and over, handy when family visit. It came with a two year ITV, so we won't get the usual annual performance that you get back home when they always 'find' something that needs 'fixing'. We have gone 'native' and thrown some Hi-Viz vests over the backs of the front seats, and we'll see how things go. We will have to wait a while for the paperwork to turn up, the shear amount of random 'red' days, fiestas and the like, means everything 'official' is grinding to halt, and Spain seems to shut completely in August, so might looking at September. And now for the best bit, from empty to a full tank of diesel, change from €45! I asked the attendant (anyone remember when British garages used to have those?) to put €50 in and it wouldn't go! At home £50 of petrol for our old Seat Ibiza or Corolla wouldn't have touched the sides, this might be the start of some cheap motoring, we shall see.

A point to note, the police here must be wanting some bonus for the August holidays. It was mentioned in the local papers that someone had been 'done' for having a couple bags of shopping on the back seat on the N-332, a snip at €130! You can see the safety point of view, it should have been in the boot, but most people would think it's a little harsh for a first offence, maybe a talking to might have been better for public relations. We've all done it at home, we will have to learn not to, another quirk of driving in Spain.

 As of the end of June, I have broken the 10,000 page views mark for first part of this blog, despite ‘technical issues’. So, thanks to all who have read my scribbles. When I first started, I could never have expected it to be read by so many people. I hope I have given you a few laughs along the way. If I have offended anyone, it was not my intention, it can be easy to get the wrong end of the stick, so to speak, what passes for humour varies greatly from person to person. I will continue to write, but I'm sure there must come a point where there is nothing new to say, we will see. Once again, a big thank you to all.