Black Friday? More like mad Friday,
Putting up the Christmas tree has always been an enjoyable occasion but one that was crammed into the hectic run up to Christmas this year was to be no different. Even with no kids and no jobs you’d think we would have all the time in the world to put up a 2m artificial tree, but no.
Up at 6:30 to put the gas heater on then a cuppa for the lovely wife got to try and avoid bad luck! (Is black Friday still black Friday in Spain?) Then in to it, the carpet the tree the 420 lights and 400 baubles all in the many shades of red. An hour later it was done, our first Spanish Christmas tree, I remember wondering a year ago if it would seem out of place in Spain, but with the weak sun just rising over the hill side and a frost on the car it seemed quite at home (this place is cold enough to have a real tree and the needles would sweep up easy of the tiles)
After breakfast our new best friends called round to collect our old car and sort the papers, she was off for a spit and polish then the garage to have the wheel done.
We however were off to Ikea in Murcia, after failed attempts to buy duvets the common answer was Ikea, not sure what the locals have on their beds but its not duvets. The run up was uneventful the usual empty auto via, when we reached the outlet centre where the Ikea is I got a shock, I had allowed all my memories of traffic to drift away but they had just returned, 5 lanes and service roads , lights and islands this was more like Birmingham than Spain.
I’m no nervous driver, but I’ve been out of the game for 6 months and the odometer only says 198km, it’s not like Almeria !! Here the biggest worry is going round a bend and finding the road full of goats or sheep, this was more akin to the chariot race in Ben Hur . Needless to say we went round the island twice before I was able to go from turning left to pealing off up the service lane.
Well all Ikeas are the same, aren’t they ? No not this one, 3 floors ? One way lifts but 2 way stairs ? They even had to employ multi lingual staff to direct the foot traffic and control the use to the trolleys, the wrong type of trolley ? I mean come along Gromit ! But at last we were in , time for a coffee and unwind, and another with a bun , and another best have it on its own ! Then the lovely wife reminded me that we had come to go shopping and un like some stores you have to walk round and pick your own items up here, how quaint !
Now I don’t know how many of you are Trekkies, but this store is like the chess variant they play where you keep moving pieces from one floor to the next seemingly without any strategy, eventually we had what we needed 5 x 4.5 tog duvets for the price of one 13.5 tog duvet, we’ll triple them up with the ones we already have for our guests and when they have gone we have a pile of spares as we only use 4.5 tog duvets, the lovely wife is hot in bed generally must be the rash
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I suggested another coffee before we left but the wife thought it was not a good idea what with the 3 I’d had and my age! Perhaps for the best, after all they are new seats 
Is it just me or are most drivers in Spain really poor at passing you on the Auto via? At time it seems that a lorry in the near side lane is used as a good opportunity block you in and hover just on your back quarter whilst watching you indicate then whizzing past as you have to brake so as not to join the boxes of fruit or what ever. Only to slow down so you can pass them to let them have another go further down the road.
I’m getting used to the “ask for no quarter and none shall be given “ style of driving that is found here, on that basis and a touch of telepathy I get by, however on our way back during one of these I’ll block you in incidents I missed the brake pedal and found the clutch ! with cruise set at 115km/h, stabbing the pedal a couple of times before I figured it out and swapping one across, the fruit looked fresh but his number plate was held on with rubber bands, time for that coffee and a trip to the servicio I think.