It's carnaval season in Cádiz! Each town in the Cádiz province hosts a carnaval on different weekends, the main attraction is the variety and creativity of costumes adorned by locals. As we are awkwardly British we are still trying to get our timings right. We were determined to see a carnaval in the local town of Arcos de la Frontera, we were disappointed and thought we'd missed it after we arrived at 3pm (turns out it started at 5pm and I was told it was amazing, but we'd left by then). So we drove to another local town, Bornos, which is smaller but still had some great costumes to see, as well as some musical performances.
On our way back to Prado, a tyre on my car blew. That will teach me for being too awkward to figure out how to pump them up. My insurance's recovery provider, thank the good lord above, had an english-speaking department. A mechanic from a nearby town came to change the tyre within 40 minutes. Since that happened it's been a week of figuring out solutions to 'adult problems', especially since we decided to move!
I never thought I’d be happy moving out of our Spanish apartment. It was huge, considering the price. Despite some decor oddities (watch the video here!), it was really beautiful. Ultimately, its size was its downfall. Andalucían homes are not built for winter. It’s sometimes colder inside than out, which really became a problem in the winter months.
Our landlady owns about four different apartments in the building, and was renovating two of them upstairs. In our first week she showed us an apartment which had been gutted, but also had access to a roof terrace. I CANNOT explain the awe I felt when she showed us the terrace. I thought we were lucky with our little patio. Last week she gave us another tour of the now completed apartment, and said we could move in if we wanted! It was the same price but significantly smaller than our other apartment. However after seeing the terrace, it was incredibly challenging to say no. I was amazed at how casual the exchange was. Is there a new contract? No. Have I told the authorities I’ve moved? Also no (but I will ofc). We only have three months left living in Spain so we figured we didn’t have much to lose if the apartment didn’t suit us.
So we moved! We told our landlady we’d like the apartment on Monday and we were moved in by Wednesday. I’m still getting used to the relaxed Spanish way, as there were a couple of hiccups during the move which caused a 24h delay, despite our landlady did say it could be immediate. I feel like I’m constantly waiting for vague WhatsApp messages in Spain.
So far, so good! There are a couple of challenges with our new place, but I think I’d just be happy with a shed on the terrace at this point. Roof terraces are pretty common here, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the view. I'll be sharing a video of our transition soon so be sure to keep up on my Instagram! It’s the Prado del Rey Carnaval this weekend, depending on my mood I’ll join in or appreciate the view of it from our little spot of heaven.
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