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How do you relax? Are you one of those people that can divide your day into manageable slots and allow time for relaxation or are you like me and only give yourself permission to relax when all tasks for the day are achieved? Our relocation to Soller from North London has given us a very busy time. Moving house is stressful enough not to mention the myriad of tasks that have to be done when starting a new life in a new country. All this has meant that relaxation has been in short supply. Sure there are times at the beach, swimming in the pool and mountain walks with the dog but they are hard won. Every day a long list of things to do, a far cry from when we used to come here for holidays and manage to switch off almost as soon as the plane touched down. We accept that we are not on a permanent holiday and as we are living and working here we have to develop a balanced life. A year since our arrival and I knew that something was changing because I felt the need to consult the guide book to my relaxation –‘the art of the tart.’ A cookery book I hasten to add! It is when I can cook more than the basic ‘eat to live’ recipes, even referring every now and then to a cookery book that I know I am relaxing. Roasted tomato tarts and lemon meringue pies are becoming regular offerings from my new oven so maybe relaxation is only just round the corner.

Soller relaxation is interesting to watch especially on summer Sundays. The local beach in the Port of Soller is full of my neighbours claiming their space on the sand and unpacking picnics that go on for miles. The tables and chairs come out and the lovingly prepared food is kept in cool boxes and portable fridges until the whole family have arrived. Not for them a couple of hours on the beach - they come for the day – start about 10 am and leave the sand at around 9 p.m. There is much exchange of information and gossiping and a promenade of people going from one picnic site to another greeting their friends. Lucy and Robert took Kate and Emma for the day to Western Water Park on Sunday. They won a family ticket there as a prize in the Pirates Charity Raffle so entry was free. They arrived with all the Spanish families at just after 10 am and felt like the poor relations when all the picnics were being unloaded. They had a wonderful day and arrived exhausted back to our house in Soller sometime later for a ‘lovingly prepared’ picnic – some dishes thanks to ‘the art of the tart’ and my new found state of relaxation. So they needn’t have felt jealous of the Majorcan picnickers!

Lucy was interviewed on television last week on BBC News 24. They were responding to a survey on how many young people were considering living abroad, particularly in Spain and their reasons. She was very excited about being questioned by Huw Edwards and relished her three minutes of fame! The reasons that people surveyed gave for relocating was to do with Britain having ‘gone down the drain’ and ‘the high cost of living’. Lucy’s reason when asked was that in London she and Robert had both worked long hours to pay their North London mortgage and hardly saw one another. Family life was reserved for Sundays in between doing the chores. In Majorca they find the cost of living means that it is not necessary for both of them to work full time so they have more time to spend together as a family. Huw Edwards told her that he completely empathised with that problem and that many people are making lifestyle choices as opposed to purely financial ones. She was then asked if she had any advice for other young families contemplating moving to Spain. Her answer would have warmed the hearts of our local Soller teachers –learn the language-the first rule of relocation was her answer.

One of our stated aims in moving to Majorca was to start a new exciting life with more time for recreation, leisure and entertainment. Now we are just approaching our first anniversary can we say we have achieved this? The answer has to be no. Life is full of surprises and challenges and doors open that one would have never foreseen so we are on the verge of becoming just as busy and committed as we were in London. We don’t regret anything but are learning that its best not to have any ‘stated aims’ but just enjoy each day and do what feels right within it. The next major challenge is to open the new business and as that begins to grow time will be once more at a premium. We have a couple of weeks before the final paperwork is in place. This week’s hiccough is that the Spanish Tax Office (Hacienda) needs a certified translated copy of the ‘Articles of Incorporation’ of the London end of our business before giving us the number that allows us to trade. Just when we thought they couldn’t ask us for another piece of paper they did! That’s Majorcan life for you so it gives a little more time to relax and consult that recipe book again.

Next week: Wild weather and broken bones...

 

 

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