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| Our first day in Spain, pictured above Carboneras 07/10/11 |
To this end Stuart came to the UK in October 2011 and we spent a week in Spain together looking at different areas up and down the coast from Almeria on the Costa Almeria up to Denia on the Costa Blanca. We were staying 3 nights in the Torrevieja area after swinging through the Mojácar Playa area on the coast.
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| Looking from Mojácar Pueblo down towards the coast 09/10/11 |
When we returned to our respective homes in the UK & USA we began talking more and more enthusiastically about making the leap to moving there and settling in the general area around this valley.
Stuart made another trip to visit me in December for a month over the holiday period in the UK and we were really beginning to formulate plans by this time. While we were visiting friends in North Wales for New Year, Stuart's house got an offer on it and it became a reality that he was now free to move and make our dreams a reality.
The early part of 2012 was spent putting into place all the preparations needed for us to both make the leap to living together in Spain. We set a date for our arriving of the 1st of April. Stuart would need to set off on March 31st and I would meet him at Almeria Airport on the afternoon of the 1st of April. The plans were set and we began to look forward, looking into property online and reading up on lots of information we needed to know before we made the move!
As noted previously, I cannot tolerate cold and damp weather. However, as a labor (labour for you Brits)of love, I bit the bullet and spent 23 days nin Blackpool over the Christmas/New Year's holiday. Cliff we still working 4 days a week and it was the only way we could be together during that time. I had brought my nice American style wind-proof umbrella which lasted about 3 milliseconds in the winds of Blackpool. Oh well! Live and learn. We did have a wonderful time together despite the rather limited living arrangement. Cliff's friends Vinny and Dave were lovely and we look forward to their visiting us in Spain.
ReplyDeleteWe also had a smashing end of the old year and beginning of the next with David and Paul in Wales. They were gracious hosts and great fun. We look forward to their visiting us in Spain once we get settled.
I had two weeks after I returned from England to ship some things to Spain ( now being stored in Los Angeles for 3 months) and then sell most of my things through an estate sale. I had to move out of my house on January 25th and stay either with friends or in a motel until I left Arizona. It was a long two plus months until I was finally able to leave for Spain. I can only live in Spain for 3 months without a visa. So we had to time my move so that I would not have to leave Spain before I would be notified by the Spanish consulate in Los Angeles, where I applied for my retirment visa, that it was ready for me to return and have the visa attached to my passport. The typical time period is from 3 to 6 months before it is ready. The consulate says 3 months (February 15th started the clock), but others have reported that it can be as long as 6. So we are trying to split the difference by arriving at 4.5 months. If I do not get notified before the end of June, we will have to go to England to wait it out since I cannot be in a continental country in Europe without violating the waiting period.