I thought I would post about some of the things that are different here to in the Uk and just general things I have observed. Because of the heat here, everyone woks to a very different routine them back in England. It is too hot in the afternoon to work or do anything much at all bar veg so everyone works until 2pm then everywhere shuts, and I mean everywhere. All the shops and services. They then all go home and have lunch and spend time with their families. I love this. The whole of Spain stops everyday to spend time with their family. What a great thing to do! They then go back to work at about half five and open up until 8pm. In the cities and town this can even be till 10pm. So all the shopping is done in the morning or evening. Parking rules on street meters don't start until 9am and you don't pay between 2pm and 5pm when everyone goes home or on Saturdays or Sundays either. Everything is more relaxed here and there is a feeling of don't rush, it's ok. Tranqiulla! None of the social gatherings for fiestas start before 10pm as it is too hot for people to bother going out. So you see children out really late here and they are sleep in the hottest part of the day. On the whole is it much cheaper to live here. Fuel being about 40p cheaper, and food in some cases much cheaper. You can get bread here for 20p and fruit and veg very cheaply too. Everything is at least a bit cheaper if not a lot. The parks here can be really messy though as they rarely have grass so they just have stones or a dusty floor with which the children get covered from head to toe in dust. I have found parks with grass, but as it is so expensive to water them every day it seems to only be in big cities. Nice grass is a rare find here and takes a lot of looking after, although the higher up the mountain you go I have found places where people have brought land and it is covered in lovely grass, so it is here. I think you just have to look really hard to find land with really good water supply. Water in Spain can be a real problem as you can imagine. Most of the houses in towns and cities have mains waiter, but not all! and those that don't are supplied with agricultural water. This comes from the snow that melts up on the mountains, so as you can imagine this in summer can get in really shout supply. There are a lot of houses where in August they have no water until it rains heavily again which here can be a long time. If we buy land here, it has to be on mains or have a source of spring water all year. You have to be so careful as having water in the winter does not mean that you have it all year. There are a lot of dry rivers here at the moment and I bet if you came looking for land in the winter, it would look completely different. It has been really good to see Spain in the hight of summer as this is when you see all the issues that rise with the heat and problems you are likely to get with your land. Winter is a bit easier. It hasn't rained here since we got to Spain.....at all yet!
All of the small towns are still like they used to be in England with all the small separate shops selling their own produce. You have a separate bakers, butchers, fish mungers, and they are shops selling all the local cheeses and hams here in Alpujarra. There are lots of shops that sell large hams and meats on one side of the shop, and then the wine to go with them on the other side of the shop. That's it. That's all they sell is hams and wine. Tim will love it here! You can still find all the some kind of produce in the large hypermarkets and there is even a better range of the gluten free and diet stuff too. There are shops devoted to ice cream made here, and ceramic shops with work done out the back. There are lots of wicker work places to selling baskets and water holders made while you watch. There is a market every Thursday that sells everything form clothes to local veg and spices, and a Rastro on Sundays where local people sell the things they have made or just want to sell. It's a cross between a car boot and a proper market. The roads in this region are really bendy, high, and narrow. As we are on the side of a mountain, you have no choice but to drive on some road that I never imagined that I would. How the Spanish do it in their little puntos I have no idea! They just don't know any different. I am getting used to it, but if you are afraid of heights then this is not the area for you. If not though there are some of the most amazing views that I have ever seen. I must admit that there are some road that I just won't do and some houses on the edge of the cliffs that I wouldn't want to be in. If we buy land here we need to be specific about it being relativity flat, having easy access (which just means actually being able to get the car up to it) and having really good water. The higher up you go the colder it will be in winter too. That s the next thing to see. What is it really like here in winter? Does everyone leave? Is it too cold up here? We will see. Anyway, I must go and clean my children who have been running around outside and playing with the small stones on the camp site floor again and are now covered in dust. ( a regular occurrence ) At least here we can shower!
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