Changing Places Week 165 W/C 19th April 2009

The smells of honeysuckle and orange blossom are all around now that the rain has dried and there is heat in the sun.  Time spent walking the dog and getting away from it all is accompanied by wonderful sights and sounds. The goats and sheep on the ridge of our nearest mountain and the birds singing away in the sunshine remind us that it really is spring.  The beauty that we live amongst soothes the soul on troubled days and puts life into perspective.  The Easter holiday makers obviously liked what they saw because there was a flurry of activity amongst the local Soller Estate Agents.  Some of our neighbours are keeping their options open by putting their houses on the market and contemplating renting if they were lucky enough to sell.  They are not confident that the tourists this year are going to spend enough to keep them ticking over in the hospitality profession.  The option of selling your house is a harsh reality but better that than contemplating the bank repossessing when you can't pay your mortgage. There is a worried air about the place and a hope that this is really the worst it's going to get.

Soller was on the list for the government grants to help the unemployed and all of a sudden we have teams of people working everywhere.  I passed a dozen or more clearing overgrown paths and road edges on the entrance to one of the main walkers trails out of Soller and over to the Port.  The beach is full of people spreading the tons of new sand that has been delivered and it is being lovingly raked and spread waiting for this years bucket and spade brigade.  The deckchair concessions are the talk of the town with sealed bids and intrigue being claimed.   New restaurants are open and old favourites closed down - its all go in seaside towns at the beginning of the season no matter where you live.

`Trouble in Titipu' is occupying our family at the moment and the practising of Japanese make up.  The children of Centre Stage Juniors are in the final stages of rehearsing for their two consecutive appearances at the Sala Mozart in the Auditorium in Palma. Granddaughter Kate and her friends have a   wonderful opportunity to sing in front of a sold out audience in professional surroundings.  A great experience for an eight year old.  The costumes are great and all the mums are involved in the Japanese make up and doing the `fan' training.
I was singing along with Kate the songs I remembered from the Mikado and was stopped in my tracks when she asked how I knew the words to `I've got a little list'.  I told her of my own school days of singing the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan and she looked at me in amazement. `I thought Mr Conway wrote it' she said.  That Mr Conway-musician par excellence and a writer of famous lyrics too - he'd better be careful or we'll report him to the Lord High Executioner!  Anyway if you can beg, borrow or steal a ticket the performances are on 2nd & 3rd May at the Auditorium.

Sun Search meets the Fame Academy - also known as the Mimosa Park Hotel on the way to Magaluf.  Our Kids Reps were doing their induction training and I went to make sure they were all happy.  Going in the door was like being in a centre for performing arts.  Dancers, singers, choreographers, sound technicians - you name it they were all there giving it their best shot.  Over 300 people there training and preparing to be the entertainment teams in the hotels of Majorca and Minorca.  It was such an exciting place to be, full of energy and funny stories.  The team were telling me of audition days in London where they have had their X factor moments.  Simon Cowell is certainly not the only one that sits and judges hopeful talent.  This is a job that the tour operators and entertainment agencies have been doing for years - long before it became a cruel art form.
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