Letsgoloolala with Lily Anne
Bells and Whistles
Gabrielle made her plea at the beginning of March. Two weeks later Ray D’arcy, presenter of the Ray D’arcy radio show spoke to us in tandem. Had this been rehearsed one might have assumed that I had fluffed my lines when I commented that The Tallent Taberner family were at a definite advantage regarding the plan to swap cars. They had the 2018 Renault Scenic with all the bells and whistles and my humble offering was my 2004 Toyota Yaris. There was also some small confusion about the location of a certain Singer sewing machine but hopefully the little blips added to the fact that this was not to be an arrangement made in stone but one that was essentially about trust, flexibility and adventure. One thing that stood out for me on hearing the interview later was that Gabrielle and I were full on optimists while Conor Pope and Ray were adamant that they would not consider letting anyone take over their dens. No way José, Conor or Ray!
Although I did a test drive with O’ Briens Renault Garage in Kilkenny and was still willing to think ‘maybe’ to the car swap proposition I wavered significantly when I saw this so called village. The village closest to Gabrielle’s original home place, by now had a population of 745 at the previous census.It is still sporting two main crossroads, a supermarket, a few pubs, a well known ceramic pottery , a church and a primary school. Aldaia had a train station, a bus station, a population of 31,492 and most significantly a twin called Alaquas. Jointly the population compared almost identically to Waterford city. The river in between was usually bone dry but that all changed in September as a result of flooding that caused a road closure and train stoppages. This was May. Cars were plentiful. In fact, to be fair to residents, there were signs indicating which side of the street was available for parking in four seasonal rotation.
Still not one to give up without trying I arranged to take out the car on a certain Sunday. By now I had a new friend I made, when asking directions on a tram one day. His name rhymed with Ryanair so that’s what stuck. That same morning we had completed a grand cycle tour with others (not to be recommended on a week day) and were on the train to Aldaia. I, who should have known better missed the stop much to the amusement of other passengers, even the ticket inspector. Meantime Paqui, mother of Vicente awaited our arrival. She, a very neatly proportioned lady took the front seat on the passenger side while the long legged Ryanair took the back seat. The fun began. With no gear stick to cling to I felt very insecure. Two pairs of eyes and a palpable stress factor were enough to knock me off my stride. Had it been an actual driving test I would have fallen at the first hurdle. As Aldaia was quiet that Sunday I managed to keep going in spite of various advisory comments and sighs, and the whissh of repressed expletives, flying back and forth denoting my ineptitude. I knew that I would never have passed the test and was happy to let Paqui do the final parking but only after I had released Ryanair from his captivity with all bells and whistles still in full working order.
Author Lily Anne