Here you can read personal stories and experiences, written by our resident blogger Alina. Formerly a customer of La Taha, now living in Spain herself.
Part 1 of her story series – written in October 2021, the move to Spain.
“When you travel to a destination, pay attention to the road. For the way enriches us as we walk in it.” (Paulo Coelho)
The trip to the south, the move, our plan was to make it in 2.5 days. But apparently fate had a different plan… Saturday we left Leiden, after 300 km we are stranded with car trouble just before Lille. Car towed to garage, mandatory sightseeing on Sunday and back on the road Monday.
Tuesday we cross the border to Spain, yes! After 200 km, through many tunnels (!) the stop alarm light comes on again. Long story short: we end up with car trouble again along the A1. Towed again and taken to a hotel. Never before (let alone twice in 3 days) have I been in a tow truck.
What an adventure! Is it annoying? Yes. Are we bummed? Yes. Is it a disaster? No. Are we angry? Also no. We get to places we would never have been otherwise. We even danced in the hotel disco. We only meet nice and helpful people and learn to live in the moment more than ever. As a yoga teacher recently told me, “Trust life.” And now that’s the best exercise ever!
After two days of Briviesca, also a nice small village by the way, our car is transported to Burgos. In this village, apparently, the problem cannot be solved. That will be the 3rd tow truck experience for this 4-wheeler. This time we go by taxi, it is only 40 km. Our travel insurance will be very happy with us soon. The receipts are piling up. We keep our fingers crossed that the Peugeot garage in Burgos can solve it. We ourselves have the idea that the problem is not too big, that the one (water pump in Lille) is related to the second, the alternator/battery connection.
Anyway, fingers crossed that it can be solved tomorrow. We still have a long weekend in Spain ahead of us. With two sets of clothes for the original travel time of 2.5 days in the suitcase, we are not getting any more charming! We turn our underwear over one more time. The rest of our clothes are in our car, in vacuum bags.
Burgos is such a nice city!
Last night we strolled through the streets, and finally that much-loved Spanish vibe was felt again. Pleasant bustle on the street, people enjoying a drink, tapas and each other. That’s what we like about the Spanish culture; it mainly takes place outdoors. A very nice bonus: Burgos is on the route of Santiago de Compostela! The route even runs right through the city! And since it’s on my bucket list, I can now say that I walked a small part of it.
It has been a wonderful journey so far, with depths, but also highs. We get the energy from the highlights to be able to deal with the disappointments again and again. By the way, it’s a fact, we now officially own a house in Spain! We missed the transfer this morning but everything has been arranged through our lawyer. Too bad we couldn’t be there in person. But it is what it is.
Life doesn’t always give you what you want but what is sometimes needed for personal growth. Even if it sometimes means shedding tears. Anyway, today for us plan B goes into effect. Whatever happens, we are heading south, to our new home in Álora.
Would you like to go on holiday to Alora yourself? Click here!
