Migrating North To A Cooler Climate !

I know, you really do not have to tell me, I published my last ramble on the 1st August and then, without any advance warning for you, not a single word from me, my rambles just ceased to fall into your Email Inbox. But now, as we enter the first week of September, after what has been five weeks of silence, which I dare say, some of you may actually have been quite relieved about, the lack of my verbal diarrhoea over that period 🤭 But for some it left unanswered question’s, had we finally succumbed and become victims of heatstroke ? Or, had we been devoured by a rogue wildfire 😲 which obviously, you now know that we were not, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing or publishing this ramble 🤔 So, had we gone away on our own Summer holiday without telling you ? Nope ! Had either of us suffered a serious medical issue that took priority over rambling ? Nope! Had I suddenly come down with dementia and forgotten that I wrote these rambles, ? Nope ! So why the silence ?

The truth is quite simply this, there had been some ‘other’ events that had demanded our more immediate attention, one of which had left us both feeling very angry and frustrated, and it is never good to write any sort of communications, especially lifestyle rambles, when you are in the wrong frame of mind 🤷‍♂️

So, as many of you are probably aware of by now, if you are one of my loyal long time loyal reader’s, I never actually write notes to pre-empt or remind me of things that I generally end up writing about, I just tend to try and rely on my own cognitive abilities and then tap away on the keyboard, often aided by visual prompts, photographs, or images that I may have downloaded from the various ‘Doom and Gloom’ media sources and, so far at least, that has tended to work quite well for me. So, why change the habit of a lifetime and let me see just how well my memory is working as I attempt to retrace my thoughts to five weeks ago …………………; 🤔

In one of my previous, but fairly recent rambles, I had given a brief mention about having taken an ‘unscheduled’ trip into Estepona, and indicated that I would talk about the reason for it in a future ramble. So grab yourself a cuppa, or something stronger, you may well need it and, if you are sitting comfortably, then I will begin…………………..

It was Thursday the 23rd July, a week before I actually published my last ramble, we had returned from our local town around 3pm, having attended a dental appointment and then conducted a routine shopping trip at our local supermarket. We parked the car as usual in our gated communal car park and lugged the shopping up to the apartment. Due to the searingly hot temperatures we didn’t go out in the car for the next two days, just enjoying taking refreshing dips in our communal pool in the mornings and enjoying the cool shade of our apartment in the afternoons and evenings. However, on the Saturday evening at 7:30pm, we decided to go out for dinner and, as we approached our car, exactly where we had left it, to our horror and disbelief we discovered this….

You will note from the first photograph that we were actually parked in the end bay, the yellow line being a ‘No Parking’ area and, from the extent of the damage, this damage was not from another vehicle that had just given us a small bump during a manoeuvre, but must have given our car a right wallop. Of course the perpetrator had not had the decency to leave a note providing a contact number so that we could exchange Insurance details.

I of course took numerous photographs from all the different angles, showing not just the damage but also the actual positioning of the car in the parking bay, there was no logical explanation as to why another vehicle should have been anywhere near that side of our vehicle, or for the actual force of the collision that had created that extensive amount of damage, it is a small private car park where you would normally be lucky to drive anything faster than 5Kmph !! Fortunately, the car was still driveable and the door could still be open and closed, although it had been knocked out of alignment. We could do nothing more at that time, it was a weekend, so it was pointless trying to contact our Insurer’s, or the Police, who would not be interested anyway as the vehicle was parked on ‘Private Property’ and there were no casualties 🤷‍♂️ We went for dinner, but as you can probably imagine, our mood, and the incident, totally dominated that whole evening, and the following day’s, conversations 😡 I enquired on our on-line community forum as to whether anyone had either seen, or heard, anything but of course we received the usual……………..

I reported the damage to our Spanish Insurance Company using their online accident reporting portal on the Sunday night, knowing that they would not see it until sometime on the Monday. I had never had to use the Spanish Insurance Policy that I had had in the three years we have been here, so I wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to respond, or whether it would all be in Spanish and need translation, the accident report claim was all in Spanish. However, I have to say that they were extremely efficient and responded in English. They Emailed me on the Tuesday morning and advised me to find either a local garage myself that could facilitate the repairs, although they did offer some recommendations of their own, but the closest one of theirs was quite some distance away. We found one in Estepona, all of the on-line reviews gave them consistent 5-5 ratings, so I phoned and spoke to them and they advised that they could facilitate the repair. We took our car to the garage on the Thursday, at the time that the Insurance company had arranged for their Assessor to turn up and do what he had to do, hence that was the reason for the unscheduled visit to Estepona.

The Insurance company had responded swiftly, the assessor detailed the work that would be required, which would require the fitting of a complete new front passenger door, the damage was too extensive for it just to be panel-beated out, and there was damage to the lower door sill, but that could be re-aligned, the Assessor approved the cost of the repair on behalf of the Insurer their and then, less our own ‘Personal Excess’ contribution which is normal procedure. The garage owner stated that all the work involved, obtaining the parts, the three coat re-spray, the fitting and the re-alignment of the door sill would, he estimated, come to a final bill of around the €5,000 mark 😲 The other down side to this, other than the damage and all the administrative inconvenience, is that here as well as in most of Europe, most workplaces, other than the usual retail sectors, close down for a whole month and this particular garage was shutting down for its four week vacation period on the day following the Assessor’s visit 🤷‍♂️ So, current update (as at 30th Aug), the garage has re-opened but they now have to order the door and wait for it to arrive to enable them to start the repair, they gave a tentative date of the end of September before it could even be booked in, but no idea of how long we would be without our car, the additional problem with that is, that Shazza’s mum arrives at the very beginning of October for her two week annual visit, and being very nearly 85 year’s old with poorer mobility these days, we need the car to collect and return her from Malaga airport, and also to get her out and about whilst she is with us, yes of course we could hire a car for the duration of her visit, but that would involve quite an additional expense that we could well do without, having also just had other family visitors very recently, but more about them a little later in this ramble.

Under normal circumstances I should really end this ramble here, it is depressing enough just having to write about the incident and re-live it in my mind, never mind putting you my reader’s through having to read about it, so perhaps I should stop and focus on getting my mindset back into a more positive state of mind 🤷‍♂️

But of course I am not going to do that, I couldn’t let you off the hook that easily now that I have your undivided attention once again and to be honest, this, now that I have had time to sit and think about it, is quite a minor issue really in the grand scheme of things, when I consider that their are probably very many other people who are facing much more serious issues than this in their lives, so, time to get over myself and time for you to go and refill your drinking receptacles with whatever refreshments you were enjoying, mine is a very large glass of Anti Covid Vaccine if you are offering 🍷😁

So, throughout August the Spanish social events calendar continued unabated, both the larger annual National one’s that are well publicised, like ‘La Luna’ festival and the annual week long ‘Manilva Fair’, as well as the numerous smaller, more localised one’s, many that we quite often have no prior knowledge of and generally just find ourselves just wandering headlong into when we go for our morning or evening walk’s, which we still try to do when the temperatures permit us to do so, along of course with continuing whilst we can with our swimming pool sessions. The long and hot summer temperatures continue here, that is not unusual, and they will probably do so until we get to the latter end of September or stretching into the first couple of weeks in October, when the average temperatures will drop to a more bearable 24-25 degrees(c), but, reading the wider media reports, that is also true of many other European Countries who have also been enjoying a rather longer and much hotter summer period than would be usual. Of course there will be consequences as a result of this extreme heat in many countries, a few more rogue wildfires, drought, hose-pipe bans etc. but as most people will have just have enjoyed the extended Summer, they will not have given much thought to the price they may have to pay for them later, probably for they already know that as sure as eggs are eggs, it will not be too long and the Autumn and Winter storms and gale force winds, frost, ice and snow will once again soon return and be upon them, to replenish those essential water supplies and return the scorched earth back to the more lush green colours, the effects of those storms, well they are just the normal circle of nature and life 🤷‍♂️ I don’t wish to sound flippant, for I know such Autumnal and Winter weather can also bring about devastation, but down here, in our little corner of Europe, a few storms right now would be very much appreciated, so if you could spare a drop or two of the wet stuff it would be very much appreciated 🙏

So, moving on, and what else can I remember about what has been happening over the last five weeks that may be of interest to you ……………………🤔

Well, just in case it didn’t make the headlines in your own ‘Doom and Gloom’ media publications, there was a major invasion of a Spanish enclave on the Northern Coastline of Morocco, this happened towards the end of July, when it was reported that between 70-80 thousand Moroccans invaded Cueta, which I should just add is an ‘alleged’ speculative figure rather than a factually documented one, although, if true, is quite alarming as the whole ‘official’ population of this small enclave is only 80,000

Then, on the 9th August our Son, Daughter-in-Law and our three Grandaughter’s arrived for their annual two-week summer holiday with us. In previous year’s they had arrived a couple of weeks earlier but this time whilst they would be here with us, on the 12th August, we would actually get to celebrate the twins Eleventh Birthdays with them, and what a day that proved to be as it was also the same day as the ‘Solar Eclipse’, which our Grandaughter’s had never witnessed before.

We had started their birthday morning with a trip into the town for breakfast of Churro’s and Chocolate Sauce, which we ate down at the beach, then spent most of the day in nearby Estepona, so that they could spend some of their birthday money, and have lunch, and then in the evening they got to choose where they wanted to have dinner. I already knew that it would be either their favourite Italian in the Marina, or the nearby Indian Restaurant at the bottom of our hill, they selected the Italian. So, we went down and parked in the former fishing village, took them for a look around the small Castle before having a drink at one of the beachfront chiringuitos where we watched as the Solar Eclipse took place. We then walked the short distance into the Marina to the Italian. Although I had pre-booked the table, I had not mentioned that it was the twins birthday, but they had noticed the girls wearing their birthday headbands and, at the end of our meal, they came out with a small decorated Chocolate Cake with a Sparkler, sung Happy Birthday, in Spanish of course, and then took a photograph of them both. After paying the bill they told us to wait a moment and then came out with the photograph, complete in a frame, and presented it to them and at no additional charge, which we thought was a very nice gesture.

On another evening when we went out for dinner, we had just got to the bottom of our hill when Shazza announced “Their must be something big going on down here this evening” for one of the roads that led down to the beach was cordoned off with Police Vehicles all with their blue lights flashing. Fortunately, we were heading straight into town on this occasion and not down towards the Castle. However, further along on a slip road towards the Marina, there was an unusually long queue of traffic and as we passed we saw even more Police Vehicles that had cordoned off access roads ? We had parked our car in the town at what has become our ‘Summer’ parking location, on the opposite side of the A7 that intersects the town, and not on the seaward side. However, as we crossed the footbridge to make our way down we saw even more Police Officer’s stood on a road one street back from the main Promenade. We had seen more Police vehicles and Officer’s on that one evening than we would normally see in a whole year in our local community, our first thought was whether it was some of the Moroccans, who had recently attempted to invade the Spanish enclave of ‘Ceuta’ and when that had become much harder for them to do, well, perhaps they had decided to use dinghies to make the short crossing to mainland Spain ? It is a much shorter crossing than the one between France and the UK. Or, perhaps it was the drug smugglers who often surreptitiously ply up and down this coastline, although this time the authorities would be laying in wait for them 🤷‍♂️ Now of course, our curiosity was raised and so it would have been rude not to have wandered down to investigate 😂

I have to confess to being somewhat disappointed to discover that a major shootout wasn’t taking place between the Police and the bad guys, or that the armadas of dinghies hadn’t actually arrived on the beaches. What we did discover was that this large Police presence was due to the annual Charity Run, that we were totally oblivious to, it had started at the promenade in the former fishing village, went through the Marina and finished at the far end of the town, which is our usual walking route and would be quite a distance to run in the humid heat of the evening, the runners got precedence over everything else, both Vehicles and Pedestrians and the road closures would remain until the very last runner had passed each of the strategically positioned Police Officers. The route was of course lined with hoards of non-participants, cheering and clapping every runner in encouragement as they passed. We managed to get across the main running route road, in between the constant flow of runners, without interrupting their progress I hasten to add, our three grandchildren all smiling thinking that the applause was for them, the youngest letting out a rather deflated ‘Oh’ when I informed her that the clapping and cheering wasn’t for her own short, but very enthusiastic, athletic effort.

Being a weekend and with the added attraction of the charity run, the town was well busy and with a cooling breeze blowing off the sea it was a typical warm and balmy evening. The Grandaughter’s had requested to have a ‘Pizza Night’ so we headed into the Plaza, away from the seafront establishments, but unusually we were unable to be accommodated at our usual Cafe/Bar that served delicious freshly made Pizza’s. The owner shrugged his shoulder’s but offered to place tables and chairs further out into the main Plaza, that would have made us the centre of attention and we didn’t fancy that so we thanked him but declined his offer, I am not sure that he was that disappointed as he had more than enough customer’s to be going on with. Plan B was as equally as unsuccessful, our second choice ‘Bella Italia’ on the seafront was also rammed full and there was no space for an additional table as that would have put us out onto the promenade itself and into the main pedestrian thoroughfare. The girls were disappointed but Grandad had a sudden brainwave. There was a third choice, however, we had never used this establishment before, as when we had passed it on numerous previous occasions, it always looked empty, usually an indication that it was either not very good or overpriced but ‘beggars cannot be choosers’ as the saying goes, so I waved our merry bunch forward. “Where are we going ?” Shazza asked, “Just follow me” I responded. To my utter surprise, even this establishment was extremely busy, although I spotted an empty table with six chairs around it, although, as I pushed my way towards it I saw the irritating ‘Reserved’ sign festooned in the centre. Fortunately, as we were about to turn away and leave in disappointment and defeat, the male owner came over and asked me how many, seven I said, he looked around and scratched his head and then saw a table for four that had literally just come free, with enough space to add another table on to the end of it. He gestured for us to wait whilst he commanded two of his waitresses to quickly empty the table of the plates and glasses from the previous customers and to prepare the table for us, whilst he went in search of an additional table and three extra chairs. Finally seated amongst the throng of other diners, a friendly female waitress handed out menu’s and took our drink orders.

We were sat under a canopy with the chatter of voices all around us, all Spanish, and the constant wafts of hot Pizzas and Pasta dishes made us all feel very hungry. We were on the seafront promenade, with the gentle offshore breeze making it feel comfortable in the humid evening air, there were people constantly strolling past but we still had a good view of the beach and sea and so the ambience was fantastic. Amongst all of the menu items, Pizza and an assortment of Pasta dishes, we came across one that specified a ‘One Metre’ long Pizza, a combination of four separate Pizzas with individual toppings, which suited our large group perfectly, as the three girls would only eat the one with Pepperoni, Shazza and Sarah preferred the Vegetarian option whilst Chris and myself wanted the meat feast option.

Now of course, it was a busy two week period and we did lots of stuff with them all, although as usual on their visits to us, Chris and Sarah took the opportunity to have their own mini-break, which was also convenient timing as the day after the girls birthday it was their Wedding Anniversary, so they left the girls with us for two and a half days whilst they went to visit Granada, including of course the Alhambra Palace, it was good for them to have some time to themselves and it gave us the opportunity to have time alone with our Grandaughter’s. Chris and Sarah also had their own family day’s out whilst they were here, giving Shazza and myself a chance to catch our breaths and to get out to the supermarket to re-stock on provisions. They went up the mountain to the beautifully scenic town of ‘Ronda’, where they discovered that the youngest, Orla, travelling in a car up into higher altitudes caused her to suffer with car sickness, but having an experienced Nana Shazza on hand, who had already pre-empted this possibility, she provided an ample number of plastic bags, although it was only Orla that had suffered 👍 They also paid their usual visit to their own personal favourite long sandy beach at ‘San Pedro’, and on another day a visit to the swanky and much larger Marina Resort at ‘Sotogrande’.

We of course enjoyed every single minute of our time with them all, although for us their were two particular highlights, celebrating the twins birthdays with them in person, instead of just over a video call was one, but the second was seeing ‘Orla’ swim without the need for any buoyancy aids. Lily had learnt to swim in our pool two year’s ago, Eva last year and now Orla this year and she was swimming the full length of the pool by herself, unsupervised in the pool but with eight adult eyes always on alert, albeit not required. Unfortunately, with council funding throughout the whole of the UK, so they no longer have a community swimming pool in the town or immediate local area, which is one of the reasons why they enjoy coming across to visit us. They are all growing up so quickly, it won’t be too long and they will be asking for Grandad, or Nana Shazza’s Taxi’s to take, and collect them, from the nearest nightclubs 😲

They departed for their return flight home very early on the Sunday morning, 02:00am, but of course we were up to help with the loading of the suitcases into their hire car, to give the final hugs and kisses and then the waves until their car disappeared out of sight. By this time we were wide awake so we sat on the balcony with a hot cuppa. We both agreed that after this particular visit we had come to realise that as much as we don’t want to admit it, we are ageing and just do not have the same amount of energy that we used to have, the girls are growing up, but with that comes the increase in their growing energy levels against our deteriorating one’s, so by the end of each day we were both glad to get into our beds to re-charge our own batteries, I think we now urgently need to upgrade to those newer Lithium ones and wear hats with solar panels on them to keep them charged up 😂 Warning: If any Entrepreneur reading this takes this idea and markets it, at least list me in the credits for the idea 🤭

Whilst catching up with what else is going on in and around Spain, amongst the usual doom and gloom reports, there started to appear more and more news articles in the Spanish media that particularly attracted my attention.

Being very much aware that in only six weeks time I will be celebrating my 70th Birthday, No ! really Eric ? I hear you all shout, and believe me, I certainly do not feel that age either, although I do keep telling myself that it is only a number. However, I do tend to take particular interest in articles such as these, but what struck me as quite unusual is the increase in the number of more senior aged Spanish residents who are allegedly ‘Migrating North To A Cooler Climate’

I have to admit that before we decided to come and live in this part of Spain on a more permanent basis, the searingly hot and long Summer months with their blood boiling temperatures were my personal major concern, Shazza was the sun lover and Solar Baster, not me. However, in the little over three year’s that we have been living here permanently, we have quickly learnt that it is more a case of adapting our lifestyles and our daily routines to the seasons, much like you would do anywhere, whether that be extreme heat or conversely, extreme cold, but what we had not given any consideration to was how the heat may impact on us personally, as we too began to get into our more senior years.

When I read the media articles on the increase in the number of fatalities this year, directly related to the excessive searing heat, it also indicated that those who suffered the most, or who had passed away, also had other health associated conditions. Fortunately, for now at least, Shazza and I remain fit and healthy, we have never visited our local GP or Health Centre since first registering there in July 2023, so we will just keep doing what we are doing, it appears to be working 👍

Now you know me by now, forever the cynic, and from what I have read, and seen on numerous documentaries, those entering their more senior years prefer routines and familiarity. Younger family members may move away, but friends and neighbours in senior age groups generally do not. It’s one thing moving away from the heat, but these warmer climates also provide longer periods of outside living, allowing people to get out and enjoy the fresh air and to socialise. I ask myself how many older men I regularly see sat under the shade of trees in a Plaza having a good old gossip, putting the world to right’s, and the women sat outside their homes on chair’s with their neighbours also having a good old gossip. There will not be many months in regions along the Northern Spanish Coast where you will get the opportunity to do that. Closing shutters but keeping windows open to keep out the heat of the sun is far easier than chopping firewood for the log burners or traditional fireplaces, or for cleaning them out on a daily basis for months on end. Not being able to get outside their front doors to go to the local shops or the Pharmacy or the doctor’s surgery, when snow and ice is thick on the ground or the gale force Atlantic Winds and storms are rattling the doors and windows. So personally speaking, I just don’t buy the media’s claims as generally speaking, no matter where people live, the majority of them appear to survive wherever they are used to living, come what may with whatever weather conditions they are used to living with, what is that saying, ‘The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side’, well it is until you get there 🤔 So no, Shazza and I, although we do enjoy our visits to the Northern Spanish Regions and coastlines, have no intention of relocating there, well not just yet at least, Shazza doesn’t do cold very well 🥶 Unless of course our ageing bones get to prefer sitting and watching the yellow and orange flames in a warm crackling fireplace, whilst the wind rattles the doors and windows, with the added bonus of course of being able to see the actual physical change of the seasons, when Christmas actually looks like Christmas. So, Never say never, that’s what I say as you just never know with us when our itchy feet will start twitching again 😉

There is one very important seasonal change that we do get to see each year in this part of Southern Spain, the end of our own people invasion, the period when our normal car parking spaces become available again, when the Cafe/Bars are quieter, when we no longer have to pre-book tables in our favourite Restaurant’s in the Marina or in town, when it becomes less stressful to do our shopping at our local shops and supermarkets and best of all, when a certain peacefulness and calm returns to our world.

It was Monday 2nd September when we realised that there was no more being awoken by noises of suitcase wheels rumbling along the pavements after midnight, or loud voices in the stairwells, temporary visitor’s having no consideration that there are people sleeping, or trying to, or the banging of apartment doors. Our pool, and the one across the road in the adjacent residential community complex, have now become much both less crowded and noisy, yes, at last, the end of the Summer Tourist Season is once again upon us.

I know that to you I am actually sounding like an old person, with diminishing tolerance of younger people enjoying their well-earned annual holidays in the sun, but in my defence, like my senior Spanish counterparts, I too really enjoy and appreciate routine and familiarity, I guess it really is an age thing 🙄 However, in my defence, it does appear to have been a particularly very long Summer season this year. But we will now once again be able to take our daily walks, as the temperatures gradually decline ‘poco un poco’ (Little by little), we will watch as many of the Beach Chiringuitos board up their doors and windows until Easter next year, thankfully our particular favourites do not. We will once again get to open up all of door and window shutters to let daylight back in, well until the Autumn night’s start to get darker earlier again and, at last, we will be able to remove the mosquito net from over our bed, for like Shazza, the mozzies prefer the much hotter temperatures.

So for now, we have one more family visitor to entertain for a couple of weeks, then we have to get the car repair completed before we can settle back into some sort of normality, perhaps then we may also manage to take our own short Autumn break and take our turn in becoming for somebody, somewhere, another one of those damn tourists 😂

Until my next ramble …………………….

Hasta Luego mi Amigos, La Vida Es Buena, Si la gente no choca contra tu coche! (If people don’t crash into your car) 🙄