England expects .... but not yet!
I have spent the past few weeks trying to get an overall picture of the effect the coronvirus has had on the Costa Blanca residents with scant results. Taking into account the ‘lockdown’ restrictions and individual ‘masquerade’ enforcements, the attitude has been one of boredom (particularly in my case) rather than objection to pressure. It is best described as stoicism. Not exactly exciting so I decided to leave it to the reporters and move on.
Then I received an email from friends in England which got me back in the ‘information’ groove.
Ray and Dora Wood live in Worksop, Nottinghamshire were regular visitors to Finestrat, where their daughter had a cottage. Sadly due to illness they had to return to the U.K. However, they did intend to come back this year.
I found their email both interesting and factual so rather that give a second hand description of their experiences of Covid-19 in England, here are their impressions:
LOCKDOWN EXPERIENCES
We are a couple in our 80s says Ray. We are in complete shielding lockdown so our movements have been severely restricted for some considerable time. During this time we have been well supported by close family so we have all the essentials provided for us. We have a comfortable home and a lovely garden so in theory we have more than enough to sustain us during this difficult time. During our lifetime we have travelled widely throughout the world so we have many happy memories on which to draw. However we have visited Spain’s Costa Blanca on many occasions staying in Altea, Alfaz del Pi, Albir and Villajoyosa but our extended periods in Finestrat pueblo were by far the most enjoyable. Mainly because of our attachment to Finestrat, our daughter and son in law purchased a house at the highest part of Finestrat with 360º views of the surrounding area. Sheer bliss!!! Here we spent a period of many years immersing ourselves in village life, resulting in us making many enduring friendships.
Approximately ten years ago, after several tragic events we were compelled to return to our home in England. We vowed to return but for health reasons we were not able to fly. We did manage three brief visits by train but we have not been back for several years and we miss it terribly. This year being able to fly at last, we were due to return on Easter Saturday for an extended stay but Covid 19 intervened and we were “locked in.” We spent some time thinking of some way to compensate for this loss!
We came up with a 'Virtual Finestrat Holiday'. Even in England we normally eat a very Mediterranean diet, but Dora devised a wonderful menu – aubergine & zuchinni 'a la plancha', pepperanata, tortilla and patatas bravas plus for me a lamb shank. So what would round off the meal completely? My mind went back to those heady days very many years ago and the marathon experiences of L’Obrer and Tres Telledores. My enduring memories were of copious amounts (sometimes too much!) of El Coto and Glorioso crianza. Daughter Deborah came to the rescue. She put me in touch with a Spanish bodega and very soon I had a generous shipment of my favourite two Rioja crianza tinto.
Perfecto... Salud!!!
OUR LOCKDOWN TRIALS SAYS DORA
The first few weeks were in many ways a blessing. No pressures to go anywhere, no time restrictions with leisure time to garden. Then the problems started. We needed to get food delivered because we were restricted to our home. We were in shielding because Ray has cancer. We tried to get on the delivery service of several supermarkets. All to no avail. Eventually Morrisons accepted us and after struggling we managed to order our groceries. Although we ordered correctly, the computer made us feel totally inadequate. The night before our first order we received a telephone call informing us that our delivery had been cancelled because our bank had refused payment. It was too late to contact the bank. We did make contact the next day only to be told we had been ‘scammed.’ even though we had a substantial amount in the account. It appeared that we had been scammed for £182 and the bank covered the amount. We explained the situation to Morrisons but unbelievably the same happened again! We then emailed the CE of Tesco and were made priority grocery delivery customers. Family-wise we had excellent help from various members despite them having to work too and neighbours also offered help.
Personally I am sick of the extra housework. The garden is immaculate but socially I am sick of playing Rummikub – we are now experts – and doing jigsaw puzzles has its limitations and I’ve become a bit techy.
On the flip side I have spent time telephoning people I know who are alone on a daily basis. I rang one last week and there was no answer. I knew she enjoyed my calls and we talked about books. I panicked and later discovered that she had had a heart attack in her kitchen and died! No one in this situation should ever be left alone!
As for us, we have not been in a shop or had any social visitors. Ray has enjoyed writing about our moans and groans – it gave him something to do – and he likes looking back on good times. In retrospect, if the media is to be believed, the Spanish authorities are coping admirably particularly with the needy. “Wish we were there” springs readily to mind. Watch out Finestrat, we might be back sooner than you think! The Covid-19 bug bear can’t go on forever but as it’s so wide spread...
Who are we to moan...