Unaccustomed unpacking

Despite the holes in Theo's jumper and the fact of our marital status, Alex and Jorge decided to give us the thumbs up as flatmates. Hoorah, a hole in one! We could move in that very afternoon.

Cesar and Belen were quite disappointed our stay with them would, after all, total one night only. We had offered to be short-term lodgers, rather than long-term spongers and apparently they'd been considering charging us €500 per week (which I said we would consider provided we were brought a cup of tea in bed every morning and were allowed to watch the naked vacuuming). Belen was also disappointed that Mendez Alvaro was such a trek from SSDLR - but seeing as everywhere in Madrid is a trek from SSDLR and Belen doesn't walk anywhere if she can drive, we're not anticipating the distance to be a huge impediment to our social intercourse.

We got a delicious farewell lunch consisting of Belen's own recipe tortilla de patates followed by turron and did some silly dancing in the lounge to Christmas songs on Youtube before we took our leave. After Theo's and my clumsy pas-de-deux to Fairytale of New York, Cesar and Belen were probably relieved to see us go. If not that, then definitely after Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses.

Our new landlord/flatmate Alex was cheery enough when he came to greet us at the gate, despite our arrival coinciding with his holiday siesta. Within a few hours, Sheena was safely installed in the underground garage and we were safely installed in our new room. Oh, the wonderful sensation of unpacking all the belongings from our van! To be able to put things in cupboards which didn't need the bed to be dismantled before you could open them! To be able to cook without kneeling down or sitting on a bucket! Theo and I might be sharing one room in a flat, but after nine months of living in a van, it feels palacial.