Spanish life seven months in 😎

¡Hola todos! So how are we doing now that we're seven months into our new life?  Pretty good actually!  Also very busy, hence the delay in this next blog posting but better late than never I guess.

So now that we're very settled in Mallorca I thought I'd share with you some (very!) random observations of life out here.  So, in no particular order:

• never use a loo in a cafe/restaurant without first establishing where the light switch is.  Many toilets are internal with no windows and many switches out here operate on a push button or similar timer of challengingly short duration.  So do not do as my "friend" has done and smile politely at the lady leaving the loo as you enter it, 'settle' (ahem) and then be plunged into darkness the like of which you thought only existed underground.  You will be left blindly groping round the walls whilst trying to finish what you've started, a problem further exacerbated if you have had a few tipples.  Quite why it should be so important to continue said activity in the light I am none too sure, but it seems instinctive to immediately panic - or so my "friend" tells me.  So take a tip from me (oh go on then, you guessed it!) and identify the switch location and if you are really switched on - do you see what I did there? - push or reactivate the switch so that you get the full 30 seconds the proprietor feels you need to complete the task.
• if you arrange for a delivery of a parcel out here by any delivery firm whatsoever, you will very likely receive a text or some other notification of approximate delivery day and possibly even a time.  You will, however, be out at that time.  No really, you will.  You can stay in all day, ears aquiver to the slightest noise at your front door or for your apartment buzzer.  But you will hear nothing.  This seems to be because a specially trained team of Spanish delivery ninjas (and this includes Correos, the Spanish Royal Mail) will silently leave a hugely regretful notification that you were very sadly out when they called and you will have to rearrange delivery, in fluent and rapid Spanish, or trek to a delivery depot or the Post Office to collect said parcel.  One particular delivery firm doesn't even do the ninja notification - they just send you a text telling you you were out.  It happened to me once when I was looking down at the empty road from our apartment at the exact time they said they had unfortunately found me absent.  On the bright side, you have to REALLY want whatever it is you're ordering so you never know, you may save some money.
• try not to move home.  We moved to a new apartment in the centre of town which is wonderful but if you have residencia and wish to do things legally - and I mean really who wouldn't 😉 it will involve minimally a trip to the town hall to change address on the empadronamiento and a trip to Oficina de Extranjeria in Palma to do the same.  If you have a Spanish driving licence as we now do, that will also involve a trip to Tráfico  in Palma.  All of these quite naturally mean attendance in person, complete with passport, proof of this, proof of that, in fact every important document you have ever possessed including your certificate for winning the egg and spoon in Year 5, and lots of wonderful form-filling.  And just to motivate you even further, the ones in Palma can only be done by prior appointment.  Tráfico have a pretty sexy little website that books appointments rather like the DVLA one in the UK for tests etc but the idea of being able to just easily let them know that you have changed address as in the UK seems to have passed them by.  So an appointment in person, complete with passport (have I mentioned that already?) - well you get the general drift.  
• summer here starts on 40th May - who knew?!  Actually this is the quaint way the locals say that the proper summer weather starts on 10th June - yes I know that May has 31 days and therefore logic (or pedantry, take your pick) says this should be 9th June but if you're as sad as I am you'll have to learn to live with it.
• if you life depends on a fast and reliable internet, life here may not be for you.  If you're not technically minded please just skim past the next few lines, but in the last couple of days we have found our download/upload speed to be around 0.3mbps which, take it from me makes a lazy snail on Prozac look rapid.  We use it for social media but also, like many of us, for Skype calls and the TV.  And we have watched our Skype/TV picture buffering in a way that gives a whole new meaning to one of the dictionary definitions "...a thing....that forms a barrier between antagonistic people or things" because if it does so very many more times it's a toss up as to which one of us will demonstrate just how antagonistic it is possible to get.  Still, we're currently keeping our provider's ADSL technicians ever so busy whilst they try to figure it out.  In case you're thinking this is just our problem, nope, many locals have had internet problems just recently in much the same vein so do bear this in mind if this is vital to you.
• subjects that will definitely engage you in what might loosely be called 'lively debate' with people who live here are - cyclists (most contentious by a long way), buses and dog poo.  This may, or may not, be your idea of fun  but you have been warned.

In other news..... our boat is almost ready to launch so will feature in our next blog post..... and during the long (3 month) school summer holiday I will be working as an Airport Representative on Fridays so if you see me on arrival at Palma (near Gate C and wearing navy and white), say hi 😃

¡Salud y hasta luego! 

Rain, wind and processionary caterpillars

Well it's certainly been an eventful winter weatherwise so far!  As you may be aware from posts on Facebook groups etc, the winter weather has been quite spectacularly extreme with some locals telling us it hadn't been that consistently bad for 30 years.  In the last very few weeks we have had storms, VERY high winds, hail, driving rain for hour after hour and for around 2-3 weeks in January it was really cold too.  This is not the best fun in unheated accommodation that has been built principally to keep the occupants cool!  For some days I actually sat with a hot water bottle on my lap in addition to warm clothing and a heater.

In case you missed it, this picture gives you an idea - that is the terrace at the Illa d'Or!  A lot of damage was done to parts of Pine Walk, the beaches were covered with seaweed several feet deep and a number of boats worked loose and ended up beached or sunk.  

Another thing to adjust to is the damp.  The condensation on the inside of the balcony doors of our bedroom is incredible and on many mornings I get 100ml of water sucked up by the Karcher window attachment.  Mould grows incredibly quickly here and re-starts within a day or two of washing down an affected wall with bleach.  We have found some walls more susceptible than others and to always outside walls.  Behind pictures seems to be a favourite place and we nearly had a much loved stretched canvas picture ruined.

And processionary caterpillars!  These are laid by moths (who only live for a day or so, so I wonder why they bother!!) and form large nests in pine trees which look like a giant cotton wool spun cocoon.  When they hatch the little fellas march in procession down the tree trunk and across the ground in what seems like one long unbroken snake.  They then burrow into the ground for the next stage in their lifecycle.  They are hairy and it is the hairs that are the problem.  To humans they cause serious reactions including a rash and respiratory problems with children, the sick and elderly most at risk.  But it is very dangerous and can be fatal to dogs and other animals who often lick their paws where the hairs cause itching and this then transfers to the animals tongue with obviously very serious implications.  So currently we are somewhat paranoid and over-protective about our two dogs who are being kept very strictly on their leads.  

This all sounds like a catalogue of woes but the reason I mention them is this - for many of us, the Port (and Mallorca) are our little piece of paradise on earth and to an extent we place it/them on a pedestal.   We idealise them so to speak.  And having lived here now for over five months, despite being here for a week or so in Dec/Jan on many occasions, nothing could quite have prepared us for the admittedly extreme winter we have experienced.  So if you want to live in a place that you adore, be aware that you may struggle to still view it in quite the same light once the reality of everyday living hits you.

We have been lucky enough to meet in person one or two people previously 'met' on Facebook which has been wonderful :-)  Sometimes we have been told we are 'brave' to do what we have done.  We don't see it that way at all.  If we didn't feel the benefits of doing so outweighed those not to do so, we wouldn't have done it.  But there are times when you have to 'tough it out' despite all the careful planning and realistic expectations.  We feel you need to give yourself a full year to confirm if you've made the right decision.

Overall, you need to really want and be fully committed to making any move.  You need to be very realistic - daily life is daily life even if it is in a warmer climate - and give yourself time.  If keeping your perfect piece of paradise on earth as your 'go to' happy place is the priority then living here might be more of a challenge than you bargained for! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well it's been a while but then again, we've been pretty busy!  We thought we'd moved out here for a quieter life but seem to have been just as busy here albeit in a different way: I guess if you want something doing, ask a busy person!

Since our last posting in November we have got our residencias, applied for Spanish driving licences and re-registered our car in Spain.  We've also registered on the padron and at the local health centre as, due to my job which makes me a Spanish tax payer, I'm entitled to the Spanish equivalent of the NHS and was able to also register Ian as my dependant.  So we're pretty much 'converted' to Spain whichever way you look at it.  Technically you can live here for 6 months before you should apply for residencia if you intend to spend more than half the year in Spain but we felt we'd get this out the way, particularly in view of Brexit.  All these issues involved, in true Spanish style, a very great deal of paperwork and the need to speak Spanish so we paid for help for it all which was worth every single penny....sorry I mean cent!

Our first ITV - MOT in UK - was quite an experience.  If you are unaware, in Spain you turn up at a particular time at the test centre and drive your car through the test procedure unlike in the UK.  Any car from another country registering in Spain has to get it's first ITV beforehand to ensure it complies with requirements.  So at the allotted time we turned up to a huge queue of cars - we were at the Palma test centre as this is where the person organising it all for us is based but in future we will attend in Inca.  They moved things along quite rapidly into four smaller queues and then the process started.  This is all very well if you understand the Spanish instructions but we managed and in fact it was fascinating and made us wonder why the UK doesn't organise things in the same way.  It's very thorough and our old Honda passed easily thanks to Ian's careful prep of it (he's a trained car mechanic and was in the business for years) so we now proudly sport a Spanish number plate.  

In line with this we've submitted our UK driving licences for conversion to Spanish ones.  The rules are that you can drive on a UK licence here for two years, thereafter you must apply for a Spanish licence.  If you forget and the police stop you, the fine is considerable albeit they'd have to prove how long you'd been living in Spain.  We didn't want to risk a hefty fine and are here to stay so just cracked on with getting everything done.  As our UK licences had plenty of years left to run on them we didn't have to undergo the simple medical that is a requirement of renewal here so it really has been pretty simple.  

Other than this life has progressed well, my job is great and we've settled into Port life very happily.  As I type we have our Christmas tree all lit up, wreath on the door, cards up but the advantage of the sun shining outside.  We spent Christmas Day with friends where we had a classic Christmas dinner.  The weather has been lovely and this picture was taken on Christmas Day.  

We recently had three days of truly appalling weather though with a never-ending storm - high winds, heavy rain - when Mallorca does bad weather it really does it properly!  The weather in the UK was better than here other than temperature so hey ho.  But today we're back to gorgeous sun and blue skies with many days ahead forecast like this so we're back to where we like it.  Thankfully we had this lovely weather when Ian's son and his wife were out a couple of weeks ago.  It was glorious weather and we ate some wonderful food at Brisa Marina just before it closed and also at El Moli in Pollensa.  We can highly recommend both.  El Moli is open year round (Sundays and festival days in winter), with a classic Mallorcan menu del dia for 16€ pp.

We had a trip into Palma to see the Christmas lights and to the Christmas markets there; if you're in Mallorca at this time of year it's well worth an evening out although we felt quite the country bumpkins going to see the 'bright lights, big city'.

One lovely thing is that in the last few weeks we have met a number of people who we hadn't previously met but are friends on Facebook.  It has been lovely to put real faces to names and hopefully we will meet more in due course.  A lot of people have recognised us due to our two dogs so we're being upstaged by two Lhasa Apsos!

Anyway, both of us (not to mention the dogs) would like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a wonderful and healthy 2017.

Settling in to everyday life

Life in the Port is beginning to settle down although we have been very busy during the last few weeks, in fact Ian says he's been busier here than he was in the last couple of months in the UK!  This has been a salutary reminder to us that this is 'real life' now and not a holiday.

Ian has been working on our apartment and looking for storage for all his tools. It is really difficult to find lock-up storage/garages etc in the Port for any sensible rental but thanks to a couple of wonderful friends he has managed to do so which is a great relief.  He's also ferried me around to a hospital check-up following my stay there last month, to the doctor's for a bad ear infection and to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth removed!  I seem to be a walking medical disaster at the moment and he has waited patiently at all these places with me and it's all taken time.  You would think that we would have plenty of time on our hands but we really haven't and still seem to have a list of things to do.  I guess if you're a busy person this is unlikely to change really radically even if you do relocate; we all dream of 'doing nothing' but if your personality tends to being a 'doer' then somehow you still find things that need doing!  Speaking of which, Ian wishes mosquitoes and other flying bite-y things would also 'do one' as he has been practically eaten alive by them.  I on the other hand have barely been touched by them and suspect that the vast amounts of antibiotics I've had to take over the last few weeks makes me taste like the human equivalent of a witchetty grub on "I'm a Celebrity....".  A small but important triumph from my perspective.

In other news..... I have found a job :-)  I have started as an English teacher at the N1 Language School in the Port and absolutely love it.  I am so lucky to have found a job I love doing with such a great team and look forward to many years there.  I commute by bicycle (no train strikes and rush hour for me!) and now that I am gainfully employed and a taxpayer in Spain, I also get a health card to access healthcare at the local health centre no need to use the EHIC card.  We hadn't known this would be the case so that was a nice surprise!

In terms of life in general at this time of year, we've watched as gradually everywhere in the Port has shut down from the last weekend in October.  One minute you walk past somewhere serving food/drinks with candles lit and looking lovely and then, within a matter of days, everything is inside and shut up for the winter.  What has interested us is how many places are still open including the Illa D'Or although we suspect that these will be closed by mid-November.  But watching the Port settle down for the winter has actually been interesting and we've watched the locals (which now includes us!) reclaim the town as their own so to speak.  The weather is definitely cooler now, we have had some rain (which was much needed) and yesterday evening it was so windy I was quite worried when Ian took the dogs out for their evening toilet walk.  We went up to the Talaia d'Albercutx recently and took some pictures including some of the Port when the sky is less than blue and the sun struggles to get through - if you live in the UK this is probably ringing a bell!

Sometimes it's warmer outside on our balcony than it is inside the apartment and we have invested in a gas heater in readiness for cold evenings.  Bottled gas heats an apartment extremely cheaply compared to anything electric - and yes, we are well aware to ensure adequate ventilation!  In any event, it's hard to know quite what to wear as one minute it's in the early 20 degrees and the next the late teens and a chill wind.  But we were well aware that the sun doesn't always shine and we still love living here.  

"So far, so good" I think would be a good way to sum up living here. But it definitely feels like home and that can only be a good thing :-D

Not quite the start we had hoped for!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately but as many of you will be aware via Facebook, I was admitted to hospital late on 5th October with what turned out to be gall-stones and a gall-bladder infection.  We are philosophical about it - clearly was going to happen sooner or later - and in fact I received fantastic care :-)  So these are some thoughts on what it's like when things take you by surprise health-wise in Mallorca.

First it might be useful to point out that we took out an annual health insurance policy for those living in Spain (different to a travel insurance one) in early August before we left UK.  But TOP TIP: beware the small print!  The policy turned out not to cover overnight stays until we have lived in Spain for 6 months (and in some cases apparently some policies stipulate 12 months!!).  They would do so for an emergency but they classify e.g. a broken leg as an emergency; crying out in pain from an internal infection which needs serious treatment apparently is not. So we had headed to the private Juaneda hospital in Alcudia where I received immediate pain relief and diagnosis and then had to wait for an ambulance to transfer me to Hospital Comercal d'Inca for treatment on my EHIC card.  The private health policy did agree to pay for the medication I received in Alcudia, we paid for the overnight stay.

I stayed at Inca from 6th - 13th October and can totally vouch for the medical care in Spain (and at the private hospital).  The staff are friendly, efficient and reassuring (more about this shortly) and tests are immediately implemented.  I don't want this post to be a moan about the NHS as this is not the forum but suffice it to say that I am genuinely glad that if this was going to happen, that it happened here.  I will merely contrast myself with a friend with the same problem but in UK.  I was kept in on all manner of drips and a very carefully developed and monitored diet until they were absolutely sure the infection had gone.  I was discharged on the 8th day with an out-patient appointment at which time I will receive a date to return for an operation to remove my gall-bladder by keyhole surgery when I will apparently be in for one, possibly two nights.  My UK friend (with no other adult in the home) was discharged after 3 days, still in pain.  Unimpressed GP.  She returned to A&E twice before finally they gave her a date as a day case.  I mention this not to knock the NHS as much as reassure anyone who might require medical care in Spain as it is very good indeed and a nursing friend who visited commented on the cleanliness of the hospital.  However if you are cared for in the Spanish public sector be prepared for the fact that not a great deal of English is spoken.  Some doctors had some English, a few nurses had a little English and everyone is reassuring.  But TOP TIP: you will find the whole experience a lot easier if you either speak some Spanish yourself or have someone with you who can.  It's not so much communication about the major things like treatment, it's the everyday things that the healthcare assistants deal with as well as communication with other patients that I mean.  My Spanish was greatly improved by the experience (every cloud and all that!) due to total immersion and the need to survive so it actually did me a great deal of good.

Overall, whilst this was obviously not a pleasant thing to happen, it in no way made me wish I was in UK.  On the contrary, I felt more at home here than ever :-)

So that's the 'serious' part of this posting over.  But I thought I would share with you my experience of being in a Spanish hospital.

Inca Hospital patients stay in two bed rooms off a main corridor, same gender in a room.  Each room has a TV, two wardrobes and an en-suite shower room.  Rooms also have a door out to a large garden where patients can sit outside, smoke etc.  To use the TV you buy a 'tarjeta' and insert in a slot below the TV, but there are no headphones.  At Inca visiting hours are all day/night, as many as you like.  Yes, I really do mean this!  During my stay I was visited twice a day by Ian, who had to travel back and forth to the Port to see to the dogs, and twice by two friends.  

My first 'roomie', let's call her 'D', was an elderly lady but had no mobility or care issues.  She was sturdy and squat, spoke with a very deep, gravelly voice and in many ways straight out of casting as a matriarch in "The Sopranos".  Although she and her family spoke Spanish rather than Catalan, she was very hard to understand and was also slightly deaf and she gave up on communicating with me after about two minutes.  Her relatives seemed to consist of roughly one quarter the population of Mallorca and visited from about 8am to 10pm - mercifully I was spared the experience of a friend whose 'roomie' was brought some tasty food at 1am by some relatives.  Her visitors filled both patient chairs and most of the room and I was almost expecting to be asked if they could sit on my bed too although to be fair that might have been a step too far as many of them behaved as if I simply didn't exist.  Late Thursday to the Saturday demonstrated that not only are Spanish hospitals very noisy places in general due to chatter but that my room was an extremely noisy place.  When I was obviously trying to sleep the chatter just went on and one and on.....  I had also naively thought that an elderly lady may not have/use a mobile phone - how wrong I was!  She had two, and used them frequently, not to receive many calls but to make hundreds, especially when she had no visitors and heaven forbid we might have a little quiet for a while.  I wondered if she was in fact a crime cartel matriarch giving orders from afar - she certainly looked the part.  In addition 'D' had really quite epic flatulence which enlivened even those rare quieter moments.   

Things took a turn for the worse in international relations on the Sunday though.  I emerged from the bathroom in the morning to the joys of full Sunday mass on the TV courtesy of a 'tarjeta' that one of her relatives had thoughtfully purchased.  I have no objections to religion, and indeed was brought up a Catholic, but to be honest it was something I could have done without.  However in the interests of international relations I felt this was a small matter and let it be although the sound was quite loud.  Unfortunately from here on things went downhill rapidly.  Having now gained access to a remote control, 'D' insisted on having the TV on at an increasing volume pretty much all day.  This combined with her hordes of visitors all talking non-stop meant I got very little rest as I retreated into stereotypically stoic British mode and tried to blank out the noise.  Having had four children I am probably better able to tune out that many people and made it through to the evening.  I should say at this point that 'D', in addition to the thoughtlessness, flatulence and deafness, was an Olympic standard champion TV channel hopper.  Never one to actually watch a programme in full (which would at least have been something) she changed channel every few minutes.  And at 9.30pm she started a marathon session of this AND AT DECIBELS WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN HEARD throughout the entire ward and very probably further.  This was in conjunction with her other habit of turning on the lights exactly when she wanted and then not turning them off again so that I had to heave myself plus drip stand out of bed to go and do so.  So I lay there, clearly trying to sleep and plotting ways that I would cheerfully do away with her, with all lights blazing and the TV blaring and changing channels all the while. I came up with some quite creative ways that I would do the evil deed, one of which involved my drips and the handy plastic tubes.....  Eventually, after seething for an hour during which time I seriously questioned how anyone, of any age and any nationality could be quite so selfish, I plotted my revenge.  She was now tucked up in bed and unlikely to want to move.  And I really did need a quick visit to el bano (sorry, no Spanish keyboard if you're a stickler for language accuracy!) sooooo.....on leaving the en-suite I turned off all the lights and shuffled in triumph back past her bed not daring to catch her eye, and got back into bed.  Despite the VERY LOUD TV, you could have heard the proverbial pin drop.  I held my breath.  And then - the TV was turned off!  Cue partying, high-fiving and general whooping inside my head.  Honour restored I finally fell asleep only to be woken shortly after by a nurse changing my drip.  But I didn't care, I had made my point!

The next day 'D' was discharged (never even said adios and probably there's a hit out on me now for the lights incident the night before) and I had a room to myself for a few hours.  However just as I started my dinner that evening, a nurse came to tell me I was moving rooms.  So I moved two doors down to share with yet another elderly lady (was Inca Hospital trying to tell me something I wonder?!).  But this time both she and her relatives couldn't have been lovelier.  They were all completely adorable, helpful, thoughtful, total sweethearts and a complete contrast to 'D' and entourage.  In Spanish hospitals, if your relative requires any personal or mobility care, it's up to the family to stay round the clock to provide that; this allows the nursing staff to do the medical side.  Can you imagine that in UK???  In any event the elderly lady 'M' was nursed round the clock by daughter 'G' who seemed to have the stamina of an ox and slept by her mother every night on the two chairs pushed together. She was certainly required and dealt with shall we say challenging personal care, sometimes in the middle of the night.  She had even brought her own cleaning things for the bathroom (the hospital cleaners told her off but I thought she was beyond magnificent as shall we say I wouldn't have been keen to wait until they cleaned the bathroom...).  This family spoke Catalan but were happy to communicate with me in Spanish, and acting when that failed.  By the time I left on the Thursday it was kisses all round and I would've taken them all home with me if I could!

Overall the hospital is very clean, efficient and well-run.  The food is hard to judge as I was on such a restricted diet but it was freshly cooked.  If you find yourself in hospital though (heaven forbid) and aren't keen on fish, best tell them early on as the diet majored on fish.  The one thing I did miss was a bowl of cereal for breakfast though.  Breakfast was a coffee and, once I was on the road to recovery, eg. a piece of bread, a slice of ham and some olive oil.  Not quite what my British tastebuds were hoping for but beggars can't be choosers!  But I guess I'll find out what a more normal diet is like there when I return to have my gall-bladder removed.  Honest view - bottom line is I'd rather be in a Spanish hospital than a UK one.  But all the same, I really do hope I don't need a hospital again for the foreseeable future once I've had my op.

And we're home :-)

Hola!  Buenas dias! No posts for the last few days as we had no internet and have been just too darned busy, but to go back a little.....

Our journey from Zaragoza to Barcelona via the toll motorway was smooth and uneventful, it's well worth the toll fee with lots of decent picnic areas and service areas to stop at.  Not far out of Zaragoza the satnav said there were 277km until the next 'action' which gives an idea of just how straightforward it is!  The only traffic we encountered was the outskirts of Barcelona on the coast as we worked our way towards the port.  We were using Transmediterranea and it was pretty easy to find their offices.  We were way too early to officially wait for the ferry but on checking in and getting our boarding passes etc we were told we could park in one of their secure areas for 12 euros which we duly did.  This is very useful if you are anxious about the security of your vehicle and contents although there is also underground parking at the port.  However the peace of mind to be the other side of a gate with a security guard was definitely worth it.

We spent a few happy hours in Barcelona and enjoyed a cheeky jug of sangria although it was very expensive at 16 euros but we felt we deserved a treat.  We didn't stray far from the port but there are lots of cafes, restaurants etc nearby and Barcelona is definitely somewhere we will return to explore some time.

Embarkation was straightforward that evening.  Although you need to have muzzles, we were not asked to put them on this time which was a relief.  The dog area is a special portakabin on the top deck and you are issued with a numbered padlock.  

In our opinion the kennels are better proportioned than the Brittany Ferry ones and there was only one other dog and a kitten using them so we had choices and put our two in together.  There is a sink and the whole area was not in the last bit smelly so we were quite impressed.  Later, a crew member came to check the lock numbers and shut the portakabin outer door although it isn't locked so you can check your pet anytime.  We headed for the sleeper lounge seats (they call them 'armchairs' we had paid for.  They are off the main area and the room is darkened.  The seats are very like long haul airline seats and recline quite well but I needed my neck pillow which is a TOP TIP as is some sort of throw/blanket (which I left in the car and regretted as it gets quite cool) and ear plugs and perhaps an eye mask depending on how good a sleeper you are.  This is because people do go in and out which is disturbing so another TOP TIP is to head for the back of this room as the doors are at the front, something I only sussed when it was far too late to bother to move.  

We had paid for classic breakfast which is better described as basic breakfast but you can buy extra bits.  And then we were off the ferry and pitchforked into very early Saturday morning Palma.  Feeling slightly surreal we made our way to Puerto Pollensa, taking the route along from Alcudia as it's our favourite view of the Port.

Since then our life has been a haze of unpacking (our things arrived all in one piece on the Monday) and organising everyday life stuff such as connecting the TV and getting the internet sorted.  Telefonica is like the UK's BT and Movistar is part of this.  We had been recommended to go to the Movistar shop in Juan XXIII where they can speak some English and also get a package to suit.  We went for the basic package of fibre optic internet which also gives you a landline and 2 mobile sims for 62 euros.  Later that day we got a call from their technical department and the very next day it was installed which was pretty impressive stuff and quicker than it would have been in UK.  

We currently have 'holidaymaker envy' as we walk past tourists lying in the sun on the beach or by a pool or eating out etc because we are doing none of those things.  But we sustain ourselves by the thought that they will soon be going home whereas we ARE home :-)  This might be a good time to indicate that whilst moving to your dream location sounds idyllic, the reality is that like any other move it is tiring, stressful and emotional.  So you really do need to be committed to doing this and at some point or another it really will register that you are living far from the rest of your family.  All we can say if you find yourself ever making the move is, keep going and then TOP TIP: make Skype or FaceTime calls the moment you have the internet as this is massively emotionally reassuring.

In other news......there was a storm of biblical proportions on Saturday where apparently 39.6 litres of rain per sq metre fell(!) which was a useful opportunity to establish that our apartment is perfectly watertight (trust me, this is worth knowing!) and we seem to be being bitten by something other than mosquitos which is a first.  We have therefore commenced battle with the unidentifiable culprits and are determined to emerge victorious.


So there we have it.  We have survived the first week or so of living in the Port. It's been wonderful but also, like any house move, tiring and stressful.  Moving to your favourite place in the world doesn't mean that all the normal stresses and strains of moving will magically not exist......but it does feel like home :-D

The journey so far

Soooo.... the journey.  After a few slightly wobbly, verge of tears moments, we left our old home at about 9.30am yesterday and headed the 38 miles to Portsmouth where it seemed no time at all until we were loaded on board the Brittany Ferry, Cap Finisterre.  As we have dogs we had to take them to the kennel area and one of us stayed with them in the car until the time came to take them, muzzled - the rules :-( - but this was only whilst they were in the public areas en route to the dog area.  Tally was completely horrified and managed to rub it off after about 1 minute so we just kept walking and hoped no-one would notice.  Usefully, when I went to the Information Desk for the briefing for travellers with dogs, I happened to mention that we had wanted a dog-friendly cabin but that none had been available.  Apparently they're like gold dust and people book them up years in advance!  So the Brittany Ferry steward asked if I'd like to be put down for any cancellation; naturally I did so, but more in hope than expectation.  More of this later....  It took two trips from the car to get the dogs + their bedding etc and then our luggage as you aren't allowed to return to the car decks once the ferry has left.

We stood on the doggy deck with some friends who are making their way over to Spain with their caravan to travel round looking for an area they would like to live in and then buy property.  They too have made the 'big decision' but it really was sheer coincidence that they were on the same ferry, a fact which we discovered only about 3 months ago.  Their son had travelled from Littlehampton, where they are from, to Portsmouth and was on the Round Tower to see them off.  They had a flag to make it easier for him to spot them and FaceTimed as we went past.  It was very weird to see us going past on Pat's phone as we stood on deck, via her son's phone over on land!  Obviously it was quite emotional for her and that set me off too.  In any event, I shared his Facebook post of this on my Facebook, so if you are a friend on FB take a look!

We struggled through the next hour or two in the wind on the dog deck and eventually decided we had to trial leaving our two fur babies for a bit, but the small dog kennels really are very long and narrow and we wanted them to be together during the day time which was pretty difficult.  Added to which some of the dogs were barking and howling and it was a bit smelly (not dirty, just dog wee smelly) and we weren't too happy at all about leaving members of our family there.  And then just as we were panicking over leaving them we were paged and by some miracle a dog friendly cabin was available.  We literally ran to get our little dogs and carried them as fast as we could to a wonderful cabin which was also an outside one which meant that Tally could do her favourite thing in the whole world - sitting on the window ledge and watching the world (or sea!) go by.  This made us a lot more relaxed about the whole trip.  The boat was well appointed with entertainments, cinema, various bars and places to eat, swimming pool and so on. 


The first part of the journey was idyllic in lovely sunshine with a wonderful sunset which I captured 

but in the evening the boat started to pitch and roll.  By 8.30pm Ian declared he didn't feel too great and fled the scene (he left nearly an entire pint so I knew he meant it!).  The night was a very long one and the Bay or Biscay lived up to it's reputation.  The boat was all over the place and whilst this didn't affect me or the dogs, Ian has a TOP TIP: bring travel sickness pills/bands etc!!  I showered in the morning wedged against the wall or ran the risk of falling.  Needless to say Ian passed on the planned breakfast.  Feeling slightly guilty I thoroughly enjoyed mine but made the most of it by taking some rolls and pastries for Ian to eat later once on terra firma.

We arrived in Bilbao under very grey skies and some rain with grey, foamy seas which rather contradicted our expectations of arriving to some Spanish sunshine!  If travelling with dogs you have to take them back to the car when called (abut 50 minutes before disembarkation) and then return to the passenger area.  Fortunately Tally and Alfie were fine to be left and we were soon reunited.  Whilst our passports were checked, with regard to the dogs we could have arrived with a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd for all that the dog passports were checked but at least it meant we got away quickly.  The satnav was a godsend and we found our way out of Bilbao very well and used the wonderful toll motorways to Zaragoza (costs about 35 euros) where we had booked at the Ibis Budget which is dog-friendly.  

If you make a similar journey we can recommend stopping off somewhere like Zaragoza to break things up, and the Ibis Budget is on the outskirts of the city with secure underground parking and basic but clean and modern rooms.  There's also a square behind the hotel with some grass to walk/toilet the dogs and parks nearby.  We took them for a walk to a cafe for beer and coffee and then left them in our room to find a great local bar that did wonderful cheap food.  As we were the only non-locals in there we took it as a good sign.  As this isn't a tourist area, locals are far less likely to speak English so it might be worth bearing this in mind if considering a similar trip (my Spanish is reasonable so we had no problems) so TOP TIP: if you don't speak basic Spanish, use a translation app on your phone or bring a phrase book!

We were so exhausted that we slept well apart from Tally and Alfie deciding to bring us some of their biscuits in the night in case we got hungry - bless!  Other than that they were angels and slept well in their beds.  Breakfast is extra but we can recommend it - lots of tea/coffee/juice + pastries, bread, cereal, yoghurts and fruit.  We paid 25 euros for breakfast, dogs and parking.  The room was 24 euros so we thought this was pretty good value :-)  I'm typing this using the hotel's free WiFi before we pack up and head off for Barcelona and the ferry across to Mallorca :-D  Hasta luego!