Gabrielle reaches out to Ray D’arcy radio show 06.03.2019
Lets go to Valencia with Lily Anne
Many people think about doing a home exchange at some point in their lives. I responded spontaneously to a ‘Reach out to Ray’ call on the Ray D’arcy radio show in Ireland on Wed. 6th March 2019. Friend Kerri who knows how I dither over booking flights marvelled at my confidence in stepping up to the challenge of a house swap. I bought Vanish and more Vanish and we got going on a clean the carpets campaign, only three in the house as it happened. A friend in need …
Texting back and forth to young Gabrielle, a Kilkenny woman married to a Spanish guy called Vicente had all the excitement of a new romance. The romance included Vicente and their two gorgeous children a girl of 3 and a boy of 1, who I guess had little say in the matter. We understood in theory that this was a business arrangement. We had to think about possible home and car insurance matters and where we each kept deeds of the house. More than that we each queried the possibility that our homes might be fine for us but would they pass the visible and invisible home exchange test? I had photos at the ready and even if a decade old they represented a true image of how my home looks on a sunny day. There was just one little thing that irked me a little. My wooden kitchen floor looked pretty battered – I could never remember it looking so shabby but the photo had been sent in any case and I convinced myself that it must have been an optical illusion. I sensed that Gabrielle and Vicente were doing a similar kind of analysis in their coach house. Their home looked and sounded wonderful to me and by way of a passing comment I stated that I wasn’t looking for a fancy house I was looking for an adventure. I received a text from Gabrielle to say Lily Anne we love you already x. Clearly the deal was sealed but ‘business officialdom’ was out the window!
Gabrielle and Vicente arrived at my front door on Tuesday 16th April. The plan was originally for the day before. As it happened, my niece from Chile, Maureen now living in Shanghai was due to visit on 15th with her Austrian boyfriend and three members of his family. That day was a real beat the clock experience with professional window washers still doing the finishing touches when the visitors arrived. How did Gabrielle know to ask if it would be ok to postpone the arrival by a day? In any case the fridge was full, and Casa Lily Anne was all set for an interesting few days. The Austrian Irish Chilean connection were here today and gone tomorrow as per plan. The ‘Bienvenido a mi casa’ banner was prominently displayed and the home exchange in Kilkenny commenced.
When I arrived in Valencia I was met by Vicente’s parents Vicente Senior and Paqui at Estació València Joaquín Sorolla. I had come from Alicante where I had left my small case containing my laptop in the boot of a taxi but had managed just in time to knock on the driver’s window to avert disaster. Gabrielle was texting to know had I been collected in their car or in her in-laws car. I hadn’t a clue- she asked what colour was the car. Again I hadn’t a clue – I said that all I noticed was a beautiful wooden dashboard. That answered the question.
I told Paqui and Vicente about the English football enthusiasts on the train who broke into song. On disembarking from the train one such punter shot across in front of me and was face down on the ground but resurrected himself just as rapidly as he had fallen. It looked like he had already too much beer, too much sun or too much of both. On arrival to the coach house which was everything I had hoped for and more, Paqui had organised a ‘home-made tortilla and cold beer welcome.’ I was introduced to Salvador, the family cat who had a beautiful account of himself written in wonderful handwriting. I was very impressed! It said ‘I am four years old in human terms’- it said nothing about nine lives or how many had already been compromised.
Main Bedroom Coach House
Bedroom 2
Living-Room
Courtyard