Changing Places No 116 W/C 4th May 2008

The dancing feet were given their Saturday airing and I was the chauffeur. The granddaughter heads for Magaluf on Saturday lunch times to be taught the cha-cha, quick step, waltz and jive all courtesy of Pickles Ballroom. Children beginning the journey into ‘strictly come dancing’ was a pleasure to watch and it was all I could do to sit still. I have been known to strut my stuff on Pickles floor but the incentive will be even greater from this week. They are installing air conditioning!! Last summer the ‘latin in line’ dancers reduced to the hard core as it got hotter but from now on there is no excuse, air conditioned comfort will surround us all as we get those feet moving. Ann and Ian are catering for all ages these days and Pickles Ballroom in Magaluf is a centre of excellence we are grateful for. There are some buildings that are at the heart of the community and Pickles is one of them from the church that meets there on a Sunday to the use of the building by mother and baby groups, children’s theatre, dance classes and adult dancing every day. This is a building that never sleeps. The air conditioning will be appreciated by hundreds every week. This rates alongside the Anglican Church in Son Armadans where the Georgie Insull Singers practice twice a week , Centre Stage use the building every day for children and young peoples singing and theatre groups plus all the church use. There are lots of activities to choose even if the car has to point its nose away from our lovely mountains and down to the fleshpots of Palma and Magaluf.

The circus has come to town and Soller has its own ‘Big Top’. The attractions include a lone elephant, zebra and llama and they graze in the meadow alongside the ticket office. We North Londoners do not do circuses – we have been living in Hampstead too long and the political correctness of the circus was debated often in our local papers. Eventually a circus was allowed on the edge of Hampstead Heath courtesy of Gerry Cottle and it must have been the only circus in the world where the star attraction was a troop of budgies! Not an animal in sight but a lot of clowns. Political correctness aside there is something sad about the circus and its token animals – the only amusing thing is that with the backdrop of the Tramontana Mountains and lodged between fields of sheep, goats and chickens there is an elephant. Soller surrealism is the name of the circus in our estimation. The circus gives way now to the fairground because we are heading for the Firo – Soller’s own fiesta. The main road is clogged with folded down fairground attractions parked up ready for the day they can install themselves in town. This weekend the Moors and the Christians fight again and a raging battle takes place next Monday. Before that the town is in party mood and from Saturday onwards every day brings something from the fiesta’s programme. Music, dancing, fun fair, battles on the sea and land there is no end to the excitement. The flags for the opposing sides have been going up on houses all over town and we are just not sure who to support. It’s not a democracy though the same side always win and will do so with or without our allegiance. We have our own town bank holiday next Monday and the office ansaphone will explain to intrigued callers that Sun Search Recruitment is closed to commemorate the battle of the Moors and Christians which took place in 1561………..Soller surrealism strikes again.

My husband is a patient man and puts up with a lot but not much compares with the arrival of the London women. Four good friends arrive on Saturday and are here to party, they talk about how we have all grown up and are very respectable these days but it doesn’t take much to revert to type. I have only just been able to talk to some of the restaurant owners on the beach in the Port of Soller since their last visit. There are memories of paddling in the sea and singing at midnight fuelled by a little alcohol. Trev wants to take out an ad in the local paper to say he is not responsible for the actions of his wife and her friends during the coming week. Maybe I can use this column to save him the bother but it is fiesta time in Soller – maybe we will just get lost in the crowd.
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