Blog Archives - Roaming Brit

From a new life in spain, to an old life in britain, 'roaming brit' documents uncertain times!

On 31st January 2016, my partner and I left Southampton to start a new life as Expats in Gran Alacant, on the Costa Blanca. This blog will document our journey, as we navigate the Spanish system, travelling a path untried and untested. With Brexit looming, political turmoil in Europe and an unpredictable future, harsh decisions have to be made. Illness, family bonds and a Change of heart all make for challenging times in a life of a 'Roaming Brit!'

Indian Sunday!

29/2/2016

Just eaten the best curry I´ve had, since I was in Malaysia. It was bloody gorgeous. I love my curry, so am somewhat of an expert!

To Darrell´s horror, the weather has been quite bad today, first day since we have been here though, and now it is as sunny as ever outside. We took refuge at ´The Hole in the Wall´ a local bar, had a few drinks before a late lunch and Sunday afternoon walk. English football on the television, to my horror, let alone Darrell´s!

Sunday Lunch!

28/2/2016

Just arrived at The Hole in the Wall. Nearly time for Sunday Lunch. Jamie has thrown up already. He said he has been poisoned. Personally I think its early morning cocktails!

Sunday

28/2/2016

sitting at Barloko having a late breakfast. Had a relaxing stroll into the centre. still a bit windy at the minent, but the sun is blazing hot. Carvery at 4pm and a nice bottle of prosecco. Just like Sundays used to be!

Jamie and a breakfast Mojito!

Darrell and me!

Working Girl!

28/2/2016

Tuesday

I was about to leave when I was asked what figure I was looking for. ¿How much would I be prepared to accept to work for the charity? It was a shock for me as this was unexpected, but very welcome!

Celebration

I left the interview at about 11.45am and walked with Jamie into town, only about five minutes away. It was time for a mini celebration, so we went to barloko for a few drinks and something to eat.

Interview

I was up bright and breezy yesterday morning. I had an interview with The Horse Charity, I had visited earlier during the week! Jamie walked down to the shop with me for 10am, where I met the Charity owner. She is a great Lady, who gave up everything to help horses and donkeys across Spain. Her and her husband have worked hard with dedication and devotion to a cause close to their heart for many years, without hardly a break in fifteen years. I have a lot of admiration for them both!

This is a charity close to my heart. Any charity that helps animals are worth their weight in gold. Animals have no voice and need dedicated people to help them, when in greatest need! In that respect they are no different to us humans!

I spent a good few hours talking to the Lady and we discussed the shops, their performance and future direction of the charity. I have to say she was upfront and I expected nothing more than a voluntary job initially, but the more we both talked the more I became aware, that my skills in the charity sector, could be utilised fully and I didn´t want to let this one get away.

I explained I could commit for a couple of days a week, because I did have to look for paid work as well. In all honesty I was certainly not looking for anything like I have done in the past, and need very Little cash to survive here in Spain. Life is cheap as they say!

We negotiated a rate of pay and I agreed to start work on Tuesday. I am truly looking forward to starting and meeting everyone next week and can´t wait to get stuck in. Three weeks in and a new job, can´t be bad!

Alicante

Popped to Alicante after Barloko. Darrell was going to buy me a new phone to celebrate the new job. We took a taxi to Soho Mar, our favourite restaurant at the marina, along the front. We think it´s the best place in Alicante and the views from the bar are amazing, next to the old pirate ship!

Benidorm

A Little bit merry, we decided to take the tram to Benidorm, just to get the feel of the place. Darrell and I went to Benidorm about twelve years ago, just for the day, and enjoyed it. This time it was very different.

I think we arrived in the worst part of the city. Benidorm train station is dirty, shabby and very run down, equally the streets around it are filthy. You can actually see the poverty, as you meander down the main strip. I bloody hated it!

After getting lost for a bit, we just decided to call it a day and get on the next tram home. It was a highly disappointing place speaking truthfully.

Initially, before we came to Spain, we were going to move to Benidorm or its outskirts. With the belief, that this would be the best place to get a job, we thought that would be the ideal city to relocate too. Well as we know now, nothing could be further from the truth. It would have been the wrong choice to go there!

We walked down to the front, which wasn´t much better to be honest. I know we are not in the summer season as yet, and I am sure that Benidorm comes into its own then, but my view of the place is based on what I saw, briefly. Anywhere large numbers of tourists travel to stay for a cheap fortnight in the sun, is bound to be run down, without investment and looking worse for wear! We will be back in the summer to see a friend, but until then, Alicante offers all we need!

Where there´s Brits

From previous experience, living abroad, as well as living within communities with a large foreign mix in the UK, I feel that places like Benidorm, do suffer from ´The British Disease´. Where there´s Brits there´s bull. This isn´t the same everywhere of course. There are many areas where the Britsh expat and holiday maker community, coexist happily with the Spanish, like here for example. The cheaper the area, the worse it seems to be!

We left Benidorm rather quickly and returned to civilization at Alicante. We popped in to our local Oxfam shop to get some supplies, bought a flemenco CD, which I have been listening to all day, some DVD´s and a new phone!

oAfter a stroll along the front and onto the marina, we had some dinner and looked at the lights along the front, on a warm winters night. Everything really is beautiful here and we are extremely lucky to have chosen the right place to live in Spain.

I am glad we chose this region and of course the city of Alicante. The pace of life is quieter, the people more friendly and the way of life less stressful.

I am enjoying the warm days and evenings, the food, the culture and of course being part of the expat community. Happiest time of my life!

Costa Blanca People!

26/2/2016

Tweets by @CBlancaPeople

Photo´s

26/2/2016

Just a few photographs from Casa Caprice today. Not much else to say, except, it has been a lovely day and we have just spent it walking about, seeing the locals and buying wigs!

Networking!

25/2/2016

The biggest stumbling block for Jamie in the cooking stakes is the multitasking element. When you are cooking a roast for example, timing is everything and with so many different things to do, it can be a bit complicated to get everything done, in the right order.

Jamie got a bit flustered, so he accidentally nearly set fire to Casa Caprice, leaving the wooden chopping board on an electric ring , smoking out the whole of the house!

Teaching Jamie

Still teaching Jamie life skills and he has at least managed to cook a roast for himself now. He still hates touching raw meat and doing the more ´clinical´side of cooking, but in time he´ll be fine. He is also eating stuff he has never eaten before. It even includes such things like stuffing and as I found out today, Baked Beans!

Printing

The local Irish girl who Works at the printers said we could email her our CV´s and she would print them out for us. So we emailed her early yesterday morning and we walked up to the shop to collect them. €5.00 for fifty copies, bargain!

She spent time to chat with us about Jobs. Shannon had been in Spain for five years, having given up her life in Ireland, rather like we had done in The UK recently. She had come to Spain and like us, couldn´t speak a Word of Spanish, but found it relatively easy to get by. This was a Lady with a 14 year old son and she has managed very well here in Spain. She gave us all the encouragement we needed to carry on carrying on. The Jobs are here in Spain, you just need to be in the know and be prepared to do a lot of leg work!

Bingo

Tuesday is Bingo afternoon down Bar Zest! After getting our CV´s done, we popped into Zest on the way home for a couple of beers, but as we know now, it never stops with just a couple.

I have never played bingo in my life, although Jamie has, and used to play regularly up until a couple of years ago.

Dick Turpin

By the time we left bingo at Zest, Darrell was steaming drunk in Dick Turpin. I´m not sure any of us are used to the drinking or the measures over here. By having one drink, you are really having four or five in one hit. Personally I drink beer, so don´t really have that problema,

Many of those at Zest came over to Dick Turprins. It really does feel like being part of a local community here and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Getting to know people is important when moving to a new place, so for me, I am loving the challenge of meeting new Friends, at my age, that is a task in itself.

If everyone had not have been so welcoming, our task here in Spain, of creating a new life for ourselves and our gay daughter Jamie, would have been really hard. As I have said before and want to stress again, please, please, come to Spain, it is everything you expect and more.

Jamie has made me up to look like a clown this evening. Apparently he used to wear a lot of make up in the past and encouraged me to do the same! I don´t take a lot of encouragement, it has to be said!

Peace and love always!

Zest was packed with expats, who go to bingo there each week, so we decided to join them for playing what seemed like a bingo maraton. They provided free chips and with the weather being hot, copious amounts of drinks were being consumed, mainly by Jamie and myself!

Darrell walked down to the square and met us half way through our bingo playing session, spending his time, getting drunk at Dick Turpins.

I was quite proud of myself, for winning three games although as Jamie reminded me, it is purely the luck of the books. I just reckon he was jealous at my so called beginners luck.

I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway, so will be there next week and every Tuesday thereafter!

Mollies

A nice brisk walk this morning to Mollies for breakfast. We handed out plenty of CV´s around the local area , to various pubs and eateries.

Out and About!

23/2/2016

Darrell and Jamie went off networking this morning at Once Upon a Time Café, talking to the locals and trying to find out about the local Jobs market.

CV´s off to the printers tonight, then it´s time for the hard work!

Just got back from the supermercado. We are still doing the shopping each day, while we wait to get a car. Still it´s keeping us fit, and personally I´m enjoying the walking!

What a beautiful day it has been today. The sun has been shining and it´s been hot. Jamie has been doing what the British do and still wearing his jacket, even in the heat!

With our CV´s done, it´s time to get them out there, to all the local businesses and make sure we are ready to work, at the beginning of the season, which starts in about four weeks!

Marmite

You either love it or you hate it as they say, and I love it. I really could not live without Marmite or Bovril, so thank god Unide sell it. Jamie is also a Marmite addict, I think it must run in the blood, always addicted to something!

We also found some Sunny D. ´Sunny D´is Jamie´s Nick name for Aunty D, so that made him happy and went some way to solving the homesickness problem!

It´s good the local shops cater for the English here. Not that I am against fitting in with the Spanish, but there are just some things one needs from The Uk, that you can not get easily!

Precious has been out and about today, exploring the local area on her own. Actually she has been desperate to get out and like us is enjoying the sun!

Precious

Darrell is feeling a lot better now, after his back problems, so is managing to get outside a lot more, which is great, since the weather is now hotting up for spring. Today has been about 24 degrees, perfect for exploring the local area!

Peace and love always!

Friends

22/2/2016

No matter where we are in the World, knowing our friends are just across the internet, helps us forget just how far away we are!

Luke 21 Feb 2016

Still Teaching Jamie!

22/2/2016

CV

Got up bright an early this Sunday morning. The weather is looking a bit dodgy today, so we are just staying in. Everything is closed here on a Sunday anyway, and I have to say I prefer it that way. Sunday literally should be a day of rest!

I have been sorting out myself and Jamie's CV. They are composed slightly different here and include photographs. From the templates I have looked at, they are also more professional in their structure. At least now, tomorrow, we can start handing out CV's to employers and finally laying done some roots!

Darrell has been concentrating on getting well, as he is still in pain and unable to do very much, so he is starting to sort the rest of Casa Caprice out, doing the Sunday housework and putting the washing on. Just normal Sunday stuff, that needs to be done!

Bread Making
Teaching Jamie

I am still trying to teach Jamie some life skills, part of the deal with Jamie before he came here to Spain! Actually I was supposed to show him how to bake a Victoria Sponge, but not being able to speak the language well enough, Jamie had bought bread flour instead of self raising flour.

I dragged the bread machine out and showed him the easy way to bake bread!

Jamie said he is enjoying cooking, learning new things and being creative. Jamie can do all the things I am showing him anyway. I truly believe, that through all of our life style choices and mistakes we all have made, the knock in his confidence has been huge. He certainly needs to believe in himself a lot more and he will be amazed what he can actually do, even without being taught!

Jamie`s enthusiasm for cooking and baking, has at least put a spark back in this old Queen and allowed me to once again cook. Darrell reminded me, that I had not cooked in over a year, up until now, so not only is Jamie learning, but I am also remembering how to cook again!

At least the packet mix turned out ok, which is more than can be said for Jamie´s bread! Clearly not bread flour, after all!

Elaine

Times like this are great and relaxing. I spoke to Elaine, Natalee and also Aunty Myra, all longstanding, true friends, who in many respects we had not been close enough too over the last year or two. Even though we are living here in Spain, we are gradually getting closer to the people we are now really missing!

Peace and love always!

Packet Mix

We found a Happy Shopper Brownie mix in the cupboard, so while the bread was cooking, Jamie made brownies, or rather used a packet mix and added water.

One slice was more than enough for me. It was as heavy as a brick and tasted foul. Darrell and Jamie however ate the whole thing.

Had a quick chat with Elaine from the UK, looking gorgeous after a heavy weekend, bless her. Great to talk with her!

Darrell is now cooking dinner!

It´s been a traditional Sunday here in Alicante. I haven´t moved from Casa Caprice. Cooking, cleaning and CV´s have been on the agenda this weekend, so with the weather outside, not at its best, we have all just got on with the things we have had to do.