One Year On

And so it came to pass, our first anniversary of our new life in the sun.

It still seems quite incredible. I’m still in the honeymoon phase, where I’m not quite sure if I am on holiday, or actually if this really is my life. Most days, the sun is shining, or it is at least warm. When it rains, it absolutely tips down, but we certainly don’t have the incessant drizzle that tends to hang on for days on end in England. Every day, is a pleasure to behold.

I have a palm tree outside my bedroom window, and a valley sweeping away below. The nearest neighbours are only in situ for 2 months of the year, and they are really lovely. The peace and serenity are truly blissful.

When we had birds nesting, we were able to simply spend an entire morning watching the fledglings learn to fly. We often just sit, and watch the dogs playing. We have time for each other, as well as time for new friends. When Ed does work, no one expects everything to be finished in a day. They are used to the Spanish taking forever to do a job – so are really happy with him. Everyone that has employed him, has called him back again, when the next job is ready to be done.

We have done a huge amount of work to the house and garden, although there is still much to do. As I type, Ed is finishing off a gable on the pump house for the pool filtration system. It will be a while before the pool area is finished, but the structural work has been done. It all looks lovely, even though it is actually a mess still!

Work has proven to be difficult for Ed to find. Much as the Spanish are constantly building, the same recession to hit the UK has hit here too. Building work has slowed down considerably, and no one has spare cash for projects. That said, it would have been the same in the UK, so there is every chance that he may have had no work there too – at least here we don’t have a mortgage to worry about. We only have power bills and council tax – these are a fraction of the UK levels, so not a problem. We are managing, but it is not a life of luxury – simply a luxurious life.

The language has proven to be quite a problem. Here, everyone speaks ‘Valenciano’, not proper Spanish. This is a strange mixture of Spanish and French. (Similar to Catalan) As I am learning Castellon, the true language of Spain, it is not the same language that everyone speaks. It makes it difficult when out and about, as both we and the person we are trying to speak to are speaking in a language which is not natural! However, we usually manage to make ourselves understood, although we have been surprised a few times at restaurants, when something unexpected has turned up at the table.

Any regrets? None whatsoever. Maybe we should have moved out 10 years earlier – but we didn’t know each other then! I promised that I would give it 5 years, before making any decisions on staying – but I can’t think of any single reason to give this life up. There are 2 airports about an hour away, making us accessible for welcome visitors.

Would I recommend it to anyone? Probably not. Ed and I have lived nomadic lifestyles, so moving house meant nothing and moving countries meant very little. But, if you want a peaceful lifestyle, where no one rushes and the sun shines most days, then this is certainly to be recommended. (But don’t come to l’Olleria - there are enough Brits here)