Pam Sarky

I only nipped over to go to the phamacy, and didnt even know anything was going on in Portugal today. What should have been a half hour round trip took me bloody ages.

brisca

Do you think it could have been a Carnaval celebration?

Maybe those girls have been reading our posts, and that's where they got their inspiration from!!!

Lynn R

I grew up in a teraced house in Lancashire and when I was a child in the late '50s/early 60s it was quite common for people to sit outside their houses on dining chairs anc chat - it makes me quite nostalgic when my Spanish neighbours do the same now. My OH often sits on the front doorstep on warm evenings and has a few words with passers by. In fact it's quite usual for perfect strangers to plonk themselves for a sitdown on on our doorstep, children and adults alike. They don't always move when they see us coming up the street either, until we ask them to so we can get in the house! When new sewers were being put in the street the workmen often sat on our step to eat their lunch. Does anyone else have the same problem?

Lionda

SNAP I also gew up in a terraced house in Lancashire and remember neighbours sitting outside in the summer, we also had some great haloween and bonfire parties with all the neighbours outside enjoying the fun. More of a community spirit in those early days. This is one of the things I miss and look forward to experiencing again when we move to Spain.
(don't recall doing any of it in dressing gowns though )

brisca

[In fact it's quite usual for perfect strangers to plonk themselves for a sitdown on on our doorstep, children and adults alike. They don't always move when they see us coming up the street either, until we ask them to so we can get in the house! When new sewers were being put in the street the workmen often sat on our step to eat their lunch. Does anyone else have the same problem?]

YES!!
Our rented house is right on the village Plaza, and has portales (covered arches) outside it. We have a step that attracts EVERYBODY!! Children and teenagers mainly, but it seems that historically this has always been the place to sit. Also, because it's the only area in the Plaza that is covered, it's the favourite place to congregate when it's raining or really hot!

We get large groups of youngsters sitting on the step for hours at a time in the summer, playing music on thier mobile phones, singing and shouting as only the Spanish can!
When the older lads come along and rev their motorbikes up as well, or have Spanish rap on untuned car radios, I have to admit that it sometimes does my head in!! The combination of the heat, and just the desire for a tiny bit of peace and quiet at the height of last summer, drove me to despair on a few occasions. However, I know that was just because it was a difference of culture that I wasn't used to; and I can't really complain about how people go about their lives, because after all, I'm the one who chose to come here.

I must say we also found it really bizarre that no-one moved when we wanted to get in or out of the house! I think we must have been feeling terribly British about "our space", but now we've adopted the more laid back attitude, it doesn't seem strange at all.
However, we've got a German Shepherd who really doesn't like feeling "crowded", so it's a complete nightmare when she needs to go in or out. Trying to negotiate your way round 20 teenagers with a restless dog is not much fun!

My only big bugbear about people sitting on "our" step, is the amount of rubbish that they leave
It's the one attitude difference that I just can't come to terms with here!
I get so fed up of having to pick up other people's rubbish from outside our door (on a daily basis) - especially when there's a bin 6 feet away!!
I did lose it once last summer! I (politely) told the teens that I REALLY didn't like them spitting on the doorstep!!
At least here, you feel able to speak to youngsters without fear of a load of abuse (verbal or physical)

Lynn R

I don't usuallly take people to task either, I agree with you about accepting the cultural differences, but it does bug me when I open my front door in the morning to find sweet wrappers etc on my doorstep or come back from shopping after sweeping the pavement before I go to find a half eaten cake on the doorstep! I do draw the line though when the children, as they sometimes do, start throwing stones or building materials that have been left in skips around, as they could cause some damage or hurt someone. But it is good that if you tell a child off here they look guilty and slink off (after the usual "it wasn't me, it was him" story) instead of giving you a mouthful of abuse as would happen in the UK, or getting their parents round to do it for them.

keithwalters

This wasn´t in some little neighbourhood shop - it was in a huge shopping centre!!!

And she may think that by wearing an overcoat she might fool us, but we know she was in full PJs and slippers!

rugbymatt

I have soooo seen that in Spain!

Pam Sarky

Ha Ha very funny. Definately in the pj`s.

Are you in the clubhouse for drinkies tomorrow?

Sam

Mrs eddie

What also cracked me up as that they were looking at expensive perfume...takes all sorts !

keithwalters

Unfortunately No! I´m not around Ayamonte at the moment. Would be nice to know if anyone does go though.

Pam Sarky

Not been myself yet on a Saturday. I may pop down this week to have a nosey. Will let you know.

Sam

MnM

This photograph is so obvious!

She was probably getting ready to have a shower, when she noticed that her bottles of Armani shower gel, shampoo and conditioner were all empty.......so she thought, I'll just pop out across the road to the local mall and buy some

Makes perfect sense to me *l*

Lionda

But of course! ........like you do