It's getting harder to leave

As I wake up on our final morning in Spain, I look out from the balcony at the gentle haze that’s hugging the valley. It’s going to be a spectacular April day – the weather app confirms it’ll be 29 degrees in Alhaurin el Grande. The town didn’t go to sleep until the wee early hours because the Good Friday Semana Santa parades were still marching through the town at 01:30. At 09:00 however it’s peacefully quiet and I feel like I’m the only one awake in this vast, beautiful country.

We pack the outdoor furniture away, empty the fridge and the bins, turn off the gas. All of the practical things that need doing before we close the door for the next little while. We check the weather back home. It’s one degree. ONE DEGREE. It’s at that point that I also check the flight prices to see if I could stay on for another few days. Unfortunately, I’d need to remortgage to be able to afford the last minute prices. So we carry on packing up, but each time we do this it’s getting harder.

This week I’ve felt like we really live in the town. More of the locals are starting to recognize us, there’s lots of smiling and holas as we try and converse with each other. The grandmothers who live opposite talk to us at the speed of light (in an accent that no-one gets taught on Duolingo), but as they chatter, I think they like seeing us around and are keen for us to be part of their town. (I don't know for sure though, because honestly, I've no idea what they're saying).

The first time I visited Southern Spain was for my university field trip. That week, I learnt a huge amount about the area and I’ve felt a deep connection with it ever since. Having said that, this week we had a day trip to Granada, one of the places I had been on my visit 25 years ago. Going back, I had literally zero memory of the place and I got to enjoy it all again as if it were the first time. As I wandered the streets I thought there might have been one or two memory jogs, but I remembered nothing. Nada. Mind, I did drink a lot that field-trip week but I was 20, in fairness.

Granada, specifically Alhambra and Generalife, are spectacular. You can spend a whole day just wandering around the beautiful grounds, the gardens and inside the Nasrid palace. We had booked our tickets a month or so previous, which was a good job as on the door the tickets had sold out. We paid 18 EUR a ticket, and it was well worth it. The Alhambra is a magnificent Unesco World Heritage site and is one of the most visited monuments of the world. Deservedly so. Read up before you go, so that you know what you’re seeing, and if you do go, wear sensible shoes. The walk down into town from the Alhambra is all lovely and pretty. The walk back up is a killer!

Granada is the last of the big Andalucian cities that we’ve visited in the past 12 months following a wonderful roadtrip through Cordoba, Seville, Cadiz and Malaga last summer. Really getting to know this part of Spain is a joy. It’s a truly beautiful country that I just want to keep wandering around slowly.

Back to this week... Again, it’s been about slow living. Enjoying the festivities, sitting in the sun, eating great food, drinking the San Miguel, planning the next round of house renovations. ‘Project 50’ has now been born. A killer to-do list in honour of the mega birthday party that I’m going to host in four years when I turn the big 5-0. Also by that time, my plan is also to have either won the lottery or written an international best-seller so that I only have to lock up and fly back to the UK when I’m good and ready.

So now we return to celebrate Easter Sunday UK style. A roast dinner and Cadbury’s chocolate Easter eggs. Not too shabby of course, but not in the same league as the celebrations in Spain. Mind, if it’s only one degree when we land, it’ll be just what’s needed to re-acclimatise.

Happy Easter all!