 Changing Places Week 131 W/C 17th August 2008
The weekend and holiday builders surround us here in the streets of Soller. We understand how it works now and can set our watches by what happens. The builders are renovating a house opposite and creating three apartments. They only work at weekends and fiestas and it is amazing what they accomplish. Eight o clock in the morning they are already banging, whistling and churning cement. The house at the back of us has emerged from being a relic to a beautiful stone clad building all with the use of intensive weekend labour. Bank holiday last week saw ten men up on the roof hauling stones and roofing material around as if it were play dough. We are just in awe of their strength in this heat. They strip down to the minimum and sing as they work and the children in the neighbouring gardens (including ours) answer back so there can be a mini opera going on over the fences. All in a day's amusement for us - we take pleasure in the simplest of things - us Soller people!
If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen - we all know that phrase but imagine working in the kitchen of Majorca's cafes and restaurants right now. I spend a lot of time in these places because Sun Search Acquisitions are very busy showing interested parties' restaurants, cafes and bars for sale or lease. These are the people who have stopped talking about moving here and arrived on the plane ready to take a look at what Majorca has got to offer. My lovely clients this week all wanted café/bars so the heat of the kitchen was very relevant. The current owners talk of shedding stones in the kitchen in the hot months and of the enjoyment of putting the weight back on when it gets a little cooler. No-one is complaining about it - Majorca is seriously hot for a couple of months a year - a fact of working life in this country. It is fascinating to hear the stories of why people are leaving the UK and want to open a business here in Majorca and it's not just about the economy. They are a canny lot; most have done their research and know the Island so their searches are quite specific. On their behalf I know Magaluf, Palma Nova and Santa Ponsa very well these days! The cynics out there have heard it all before and they make a face about anyone coming here to open a café or a bar as if it is `so last year'. They would be smiling on the other side of their face if they could see the audited accounts of some of these establishments. There is a seriously good living to be had if you give the visitors what they want when they want it. For some that means cooking a full English breakfast all day long, for others it is cooking large family meals at five o clock in the afternoon and for others it is keeping their bar open till three in the morning. I admire them all and their cheery faces when I wander by with another customer looking for their place in the sun and the heat of the kitchen.
Soller is in party mode and the fair has come to town. Every night there is a concert or a dance in the square and then the Fiesta of St Bartholomew explodes into the antics of the devils. All very macabre, full of fire and very watchable. The town is already filling up with relations of local families who always holiday back in Soller around the time of the main fiesta of the year. The streets and beaches are crowded and forget it if you want to park at our one supermarket. The parking tales are now legendary and have on occasions needed the local police to intervene. Trev has had enough of the heat and the crowds and is off to London in the morning for some respite and to attend a family wedding. As for me I'll creep up to town and watch the devils and then take myself off to meet another crowd looking for the heat of Majorca's kitchens in the heart of the South West of the Island. Happy Days……………
 |
||
Copyright © SunSearch Acquisitions 2008
|
||