Joe King and his wife have just had a serendipitous Wednesday.
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, serendipity is the fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary goes for the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.
Thermomix
Up early as usual and working on my computer, up popped an ad quite randomly on Facebook Marketplace for a second-hand Thermomix. This electrodoméstico, manufactured by German company Vorwerk, is an all-singing, all-dancing kitchen machine that renders all other kitchen appliances redundant.
Very popular in Germany where many a Hausfrau has one (and the rest aspire to own one), the Thermomix is only sold directly through agents. You cannot buy one in a shop. And they are very expensive. Around 2100 euros new for a top-of-the-range model.
This one was advertised as FREE, but clearly it wasn’t going to be. The asking price was 275 euros.
My wife, a German, already has a Thermomix, but a very old one and a couple of functions no longer work properly.
What do you think? I asked.
To cut a long story short, via Facebook Messenger I negotiated with the vendor Rocío and we agreed on 250€.
How serendipitous was that!
We arranged to travel to collect it that very afternoon. In Morón de la Frontera (Sevilla), somewhere we´d never been.
Eco village/hotel
Later that morning I took Lily, my German physiotherapist friend, to her first appointment, to treat the lady owner at a local hotel.
At the same time, Ollie, her joiner partner, priced up the repair of kitchen cupboards in the owners´ apartment which had been ruined in a recent flood.
That´s when Serendipity hit!
The lady, Susan, took us on a tour of the hotel, which is in a delightful spot beside the Guadiaro river in Benaoján (Málaga). It’s for sale.
Lily, Ollie and I looked at each other and all three of us smiled.
My German friends are investigating taking part in setting up an eco-village (eco-aldea), whereby like-minded people who want to opt out of the “system” and create their own environmentally friendly village which will eventually be self-sufficient.
They have already investigated several existing eco-aldeas in Spain on their way down from Germany (they travelled by road) and another which is in the process of being set up near Málaga.
In this latter case the participants would invest a sum of money in the project and would live in their camper vans until they had built the infrastructure, houses, shops, etc. It´s a 7-year project in the first instance.
When we discussed it later we all agreed that the Hotel Molino de Cuatro Paradas could be a great starting point, with existing hotel accommodation, which could be adapted to provide living quarters, spaces for activities such as yoga, craft workshops, a language school, etc. The list of possibilities is endless.
Most existing eco-aldeas build their own school. In this case there would be no need, as there are existing primary schools in Benaoján and Montejaque, both villages just up the road, and secondary schools in nearby Ronda.
The only problem would be how to fund the purchase or lease of the hotel. 900k is lot of dinero! Although good value for what you would get.
Food for thought and many a sleepless night.
Morón de la Frontera
At 5.00 pm we set off for Morón de la Frontera to collect the aforementioned Thermomix. Neither of us had been to Morón before.
After an hour and 20 minutes we fetched up at the house of the vendor Rocío. The house didn’t look like much from outside, but when you went in, it opened up into a huge internal patio with a garden and swimming pool at the back and rooms leading off. Upstairs more rooms and on top a 300 square metre roof terrace. Wow! An absolute delight.
I digress. We transacted the deal for the Thermomix, which, despite its 10 years of age, was in excellent condition. For the price we paid it was an absolute bargain.
Then came our third example of serendipity that day.
We decided to explore the town a bit while we were there. We trotted off to the square - a delightful spot with trees and benches, several cafés and shops.
As we were leaving the plaza we spotted that there was an exhibition of local art in the information centre. In we went, it was free, and we witnessed some really interesting paintings and sculptures using a variety of paints, materials and techniques.
A very pleasant way to close the day before heading back home.
That’s the thing about serendipity, it can crop up at any time. This was a Wednesday, the previous set were on a Sunday and other instances have been on different days.
Further reading
For a brilliant article about Spanish towns with “ … de la Frontera” in their names, check out this piece by Lenox:
Spain´s frontier towns – near no modern borders https://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/spanishshilling/20468/spains-frontier-towns---near-no-modern-borders.aspx
Also:
Serendipity I - straw bales, double doors and a house for sale
Serendipity II - Ana Belén, a car service and sushi
Serendipity III - Two Hungarians, Joan Manuel Serrat and Pasos Largos
Serendipity IV - A Cancellation, 2 TVs, Chateaubriand and the Palacio de Mondragón
Serendipity V – Molletes antequeranos, Karst rocks and buñuelos
Serendipity on a Sunday - Rilke, Winter Seedlings and a Pasta Treat
For information about eco-aldeas go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecovillage
https://zapatealasuelayole.webnode.es/ecoaldeas-andalucia/