Moving to Spain - Part 4

Second winter in Spain

Part 4

OK; I have made the decision I do not want to move to Spain (although a winter stay is most acceptable). To be true to myself I had to analyse why.

I was proud of where I lived and enjoyed maintaining the house and pottering about in the garden. Weekends in spring and summer were something to look forward to – walking in the Brecon Beacons or the coastal paths of Penarth, Sully and Barry. My part time job of delivering vehicles took me to parts of England, Wales and Scotland that I had never seen before. AND most importantly there was the family- how could I leave behind two children (although adults in their 20's) a son-in-law and a granddaughter. I would miss them terribly.

As 1999 progressed our thoughts turned to planning our next trip but first our experiences travelling through Spain left us in no doubt we needed to learn Spanish. We found a language school that was advertising a beginners class, but on enrolment, we discovered there were not enough pupils to make the class viable. We did, however, meet Gisela, a teacher who originated from Venezuela and who offered to teach us in our own home privately. Our adventure with the language had started.

In July we decided to change our car for a bigger model to make the long journeys more comfortable – so our small Clio was exchanged for a Laguna. The salesman was rather taken aback because when discussing specifications we asked “How many boxes of lager and wine will it carry?!!

In August we reserved our place on the ferry from Plymouth to Santander for 31fst October and in September we reserved a room at an hotel in the centre of Logrono for the night of the 1st November to break our journey. The apartment was already booked – for five months.

Our second trip to Spain began on Saturday 30th October 1999 – we travelled along the M5 in the direction of Plymouth. We had friends there who had invited us for the day and overnight. We spent the afternoon watching Australia beat South Africa in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup which was followed by a delightful evening meal before an early night in readiness for the following day.

We were parked up on the quayside well in time for the noon departure to Santander and this time the crossing was in calm seas which meant that we docked on time 24 hours later on 1st November.

We set off south towards Bilbao and then on to Logrono but we got caught behind a slow vehicle on a long, winding stretch of road........impatient to get on.......come on....come on.....solid white line never ending.....come on.....Monday afternoon, all quiet, siesta time......pull out to overtake.............

Guardia Civil appear around a bend coming towards us.......we couldn't believe our bad luck! They flagged us down but we had to carry on for a further mile before it was safe to stop. I got out of the car passports in hand – when they arrived and approached me did I grovel.....just off the ferry......... long way to go......won't do it again.......very sorry..........very very sorry.......lo siento mucho............

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Summary of Links

Moving to Spain
Part 1 - The Idea
Part 2 - The First Trip
Part 3 - The Return Back Home
Part 4 - Second winter in Spain
Part 5 - Xmas Eve in Spain
Part 6 - Trips to Spanish Cities
Part 7 - Madrid
Part 8 - Third winter in Spain
Part 9 - The Villa
Part 10 - The Decision to Move
Part 11 - Research
Part 12 - Leaving Home
Part 13 - Buying a Car...(or not!)
Part 14 - The Perfect House
Part 15 - Completing on the house
Part 16 - Moving In
Acknowledgements

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