We ARE living in Paradise
November 14, 2006
The charisma, peace and beauty of this village and way of life is really growing on us. As I watched Mozart happily skip to school on this gorgeous sunny day and absorbed the beauty of the green mountains and sparkling sea surrounding her from our terrace, it really hit me. How blessed and lucky we are to be having this experience and how much this place is already growing on us. There is not a cloud in the sky today and the morning light is always quite spectacular as it shines on the green mountains dotted with white houses and the sea sparkles or is a cool electric blue. Again I am frustrated that my pictures just can not do justice to what I am seeing.
We are getting more settled and I think that helps. We had lots to bring up from the camper and had to
find ways to make it work here. Tomorrow we are suppose to get our satellite and internet connection so that is exciting and will help a lot. The internet cafe is only down the street, but sometimes he is not open when he is suppose to be or it is filled with kids playing video games after school and into the evening so sometimes no spots available even though he has ten computers or more. They do have skype and wifi there, but thus far we have not been able to use the skype for some unknown reason as it does not seem to accept our password.
We are lucky that we have more storage space here than most places. We do not have that much stuff but it adds up. Mozart has the most with books, toys and clothes so that is the bulk of our “stuff”. It is tricky with a child, especially one that is an avid reader who goes thru them quickly, but I have tried to keep it down to classics that have the most use in toys and can be read and reread. Still I will sell some things before we leave here and pack up some things to stay until next winter. (Not sure yet where I will store it, but am sure I can find some place to put a bag/box or two). So we should be much lighter when we leave here in the camper and it will be interesting to see how the camper drives when it is so much lighter as we hear there is quite a bit of difference. Now we can be light when we move and be happy to see our books and toys etc when we winter and have more room and time for them.
There is something comforting about nesting and making a home. This one grows on us more each day as we find places for our things and develop a routine. We have adjusted to its quirks and grow fonder by the day and we can not believe our luck in finding this lovely jewel at a bargain price. We still have yet to get to the hypermarket or even move our camper as it is easy to get supplies here in the village. Yesterday I never even left the house, but felt good about getting so much done organizing the closets and Mozart’s rooms. I like everything to have its place and to function easily for our life style. I got my exercise by going up and down the many stairs and steps between floors and my daily sunshine by spending some time on both terraces.
We had a good visit with Sam’s dad yesterday when he came to pick her up. At the moment his wife is recovering from surgery on her foot, so we have not met her yet. They have one of the top restaurants in the village around the corner from us and he is friends with the owner of this house and it seems everyone in the village. He told us about a Chinese lady who is a piano teacher in the village who is suppose to be very good and will take us to the Flamenco class that Sam is in, so that Mozart can learn that as well from a wonderful, award winning teacher. He said there are endless kind of lessons here if we are interested for the kids from ceramics to painting to indoor swimming and all sports.
We are enjoying walking around our village and getting to know it better, every nook and corner. There
is a pond with a little water fall filled with fish and frogs that Mozart likes. The views from almost all
the streets have mountain and ocean views and are breathtaking at the very top. We are getting to know more people so are waving and talking to people as we go. It is a tiny town so you are always running into someone you know and there is always time for a chat. We are becoming part of the village and it is feeling like home as the pace and cordial, happy atmosphere suits us. We don’t have a TV on purpose and enjoy that silence and distance from its cultural influence.
I will be in laundry hell for a while as I just kept putting laundry off towards the end of our trip as I knew we would have a washer here and I am not crazy about laundry duties. The washer is very small, so there will be lots of little loads, but things tend to dry quickly on the lines set up on the main terrace. So off to a little laundry I go on this day in paradise.
The charisma, peace and beauty of this village and way of life is really growing on us. As I watched Mozart happily skip to school on this gorgeous sunny day and absorbed the beauty of the green mountains and sparkling sea surrounding her from our terrace, it really hit me. How blessed and lucky we are to be having this experience and how much this place is already growing on us. There is not a cloud in the sky today and the morning light is always quite spectacular as it shines on the green mountains dotted with white houses and the sea sparkles or is a cool electric blue. Again I am frustrated that my pictures just can not do justice to what I am seeing.
We are getting more settled and I think that helps. We had lots to bring up from the camper and had to
find ways to make it work here. Tomorrow we are suppose to get our satellite and internet connection so that is exciting and will help a lot. The internet cafe is only down the street, but sometimes he is not open when he is suppose to be or it is filled with kids playing video games after school and into the evening so sometimes no spots available even though he has ten computers or more. They do have skype and wifi there, but thus far we have not been able to use the skype for some unknown reason as it does not seem to accept our password.
We are lucky that we have more storage space here than most places. We do not have that much stuff but it adds up. Mozart has the most with books, toys and clothes so that is the bulk of our “stuff”. It is tricky with a child, especially one that is an avid reader who goes thru them quickly, but I have tried to keep it down to classics that have the most use in toys and can be read and reread. Still I will sell some things before we leave here and pack up some things to stay until next winter. (Not sure yet where I will store it, but am sure I can find some place to put a bag/box or two). So we should be much lighter when we leave here in the camper and it will be interesting to see how the camper drives when it is so much lighter as we hear there is quite a bit of difference. Now we can be light when we move and be happy to see our books and toys etc when we winter and have more room and time for them.
There is something comforting about nesting and making a home. This one grows on us more each day as we find places for our things and develop a routine. We have adjusted to its quirks and grow fonder by the day and we can not believe our luck in finding this lovely jewel at a bargain price. We still have yet to get to the hypermarket or even move our camper as it is easy to get supplies here in the village. Yesterday I never even left the house, but felt good about getting so much done organizing the closets and Mozart’s rooms. I like everything to have its place and to function easily for our life style. I got my exercise by going up and down the many stairs and steps between floors and my daily sunshine by spending some time on both terraces.
We had a good visit with Sam’s dad yesterday when he came to pick her up. At the moment his wife is recovering from surgery on her foot, so we have not met her yet. They have one of the top restaurants in the village around the corner from us and he is friends with the owner of this house and it seems everyone in the village. He told us about a Chinese lady who is a piano teacher in the village who is suppose to be very good and will take us to the Flamenco class that Sam is in, so that Mozart can learn that as well from a wonderful, award winning teacher. He said there are endless kind of lessons here if we are interested for the kids from ceramics to painting to indoor swimming and all sports.
We are enjoying walking around our village and getting to know it better, every nook and corner. There
is a pond with a little water fall filled with fish and frogs that Mozart likes. The views from almost all
the streets have mountain and ocean views and are breathtaking at the very top. We are getting to know more people so are waving and talking to people as we go. It is a tiny town so you are always running into someone you know and there is always time for a chat. We are becoming part of the village and it is feeling like home as the pace and cordial, happy atmosphere suits us. We don’t have a TV on purpose and enjoy that silence and distance from its cultural influence.
I will be in laundry hell for a while as I just kept putting laundry off towards the end of our trip as I knew we would have a washer here and I am not crazy about laundry duties. The washer is very small, so there will be lots of little loads, but things tend to dry quickly on the lines set up on the main terrace. So off to a little laundry I go on this day in paradise.
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I have a ticket to Barcelona July 3d-Aug 12th and am chin deep in reading. I like the idea of avoiding the touristy hot places...especially since I am from Southern California and we are blessed with great weather. What village were you at in this blog? I will follow and read more of your wonderful blog. It would be my dream to travel with my 8 yr old daughter, Zoe but for this 6 wk adventure I will be traveling with a friend while she enjoys a summer at her Grandmother's farm. If all goes well I'd love to follow in your footsteps and spend a life traveling with her. Educating her would be key though! She is gifted and very bright! I will be reading more to learn how I might be able to enjoy such an amazing journey. This summer I plan to also see Marrakesh and Fez, Morocco and wine country in France (bordeaux)...enjoy your journey and please do share those highlights that are off the beaten path!
My best,
Liza
[email protected]
Posted by: Liza Ray | June 03, 2010 at 10:50 AM
Hi, My family and I are going to live in Spain for 6 weeks from Jan 1- Feb 15th, somewhere in the South but not too far South.
We have been warned against uninsulated houses- saying that even with a heater they are freezing at night.
But all the ones with any character seem to be older and uninsulated.
Do you have any feedback about this issue? We hate to be cold.
Juliet
Posted by: Juliet Funt | July 12, 2017 at 04:40 PM
Hi Juliet,
We never had a problem with being too cold, but we always wintered far south, near Malaga, so that helps I imagine. It gets quite cold in Barcelona in the winter, even snows sometimes, so being far south is important for staying warm at that time of year. We have wintered in older and newer places...likely neither had any insulation. We only used little heaters as necessary...not usually during the night. If i was up very late without heat or blanket I could get cold, but normal life wasn't normally cold. If you are near the sea it is less cold than inland in Andalucia and we were always near the sea, so never got too cold. Most days were sunny and heated things up during the day. Good luck! That time period is often the worst weather, so head to the far south for best weather and stay near the sea ( not deep inland). You should be fine.
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | July 24, 2017 at 10:36 AM