Soy el dueño

The purchase was complete by the end of February 2016.

My abogada (who we already love) said that it could happen very quickly, but we thought we had seen enough of Spain to know how things usually happen very slowly. Not in this case.

The week after Easter 2016 was the first time we actually got to stay in the apartment. Other than a slight detour to collect our keys, it was straight to our Valencian home from the airport. Great feeling.

We were delighted to be able to catch the Easter Sunday parade in the Cabañal district on the first day of that visit. These Easter parades are one of those Valencian events that have you wondering how they get the time to organise the whole thing, particularly straight after Fallas. This parade is enormous, around 2hrs of marching church groups, brotherhoods and bands, from the old to babes in arms, all in full biblical-themed dress or full uniform. The parades prior to Easter Sunday are obviously more sombre, but Easter Sunday is a celebration. The pointy hats are off to denote the resurrection, and the girls in the parade will throw you a flower if you plead with a well-timed shout of "guapa!!".

The pointed hats are off for Easter Sunday. The pic doesn't do the spectacle
any favours, but the Easter Parades in Cabañal are something special

But we had to get down to the business of furnishing an apartment.

My Spanish is what you might call a work in progress, but I couldn't buy furniture in English. The main purchase was to be a large corner-type sofa with a chaise section, that quietly whispers "siesta" to you every time you pass. 

Despite my stuttering Castellano, the staff in Corte Inglés and myself seemed to understand each other that Easter Monday. Delivery was arranged for the following Thursday.

Again, that feeling of too good to be true. But all was well, the sofa duly arrived, and we were up and running with the process of furnishing the place. That would prove to be a ongoing work in progress, the way these things are.

Avenida Portugal in Tormos on a bright, clean Valencian morning,
just around the corner from our apartment. There's a lot to like about Tormos.

We also had to start our relationship with Tormos, our chosen Barrio in the district of La Zaidia. It soon became apparent that there's a lot to like about Tormos. Parks, healthcare, sports facilities, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bars, cafés. A short walk to the Tranvia... part of Metrovalencia. Only a slightly longer walk to the fantastic Turia riverbed park, and the old city on the other side. Charming things happen among the day-to-day Valencian life... like the horses and carriages that give the tourists a ride in town, clopping down our street on their way to work.

Ahora Tormos es mi barrio, no?