San Joan

España, June 24, 2019

While San Joan is being celebrated here in Spain, meaning the beginning of the summer, we have our first official week with guests done with. And what a week! We would never have dreamed that it would be so fantastic. Thanks to our last-minute offer, we suddenly occupied 2 villas instead of 3, and even 1 night occupied 3 villas. Not bad for a first week. It was a true surprise by pure-bred Dutch people. We were inundated, as it were, with typically Dutch (or are they Netherlandish) expressions and statements. Awesome! Eventually we already start talking a nice mouth with that wonderful language. They turned out to be seasoned naturists, so it was quite a challenge to make them feel comfortable. It also seems pretty successful ; the atmosphere was good right away, and the daily free aperitif at 7 pm on our shared terrace turned out to be a hit. It creates solidarity, jovial conversations, lots of laughter, teasing, atmosphere, cosiness and so on. Always a moment to look forward to. The first days it was a bit of a wait, but after 2 days, everyone arrived punctually on time for the appointment. Delicious! The bar, which in the meantime has been transformed into a very cosy place and the terrace with the beautiful views is a real attraction, if I say so myself. Every evening finally ended in social gathering until the early hours, and Wim took the fire pit out to chat around the fire under the clear starry sky, accompanied by bats and salamanders.

This is called being happy … We really don’t need anything more.

From these moments we also benefit from the feedback from our first guests to know what is good and what is not good, ask for ideas and gratefully absorb everything in us, and then later reflect on what we will do with it.

The garden appears to have a huge attraction on the green fingers of some guests, and so we discovered that we apparently have a real ‘waterfall’, at least that had been there before, and is still there, except for the pump of course . In any case, we give our gardener the order for a quote to bring the waterfall back to life, with express thanks to Remco for his fantastic eye for our garden. Remco and Bianca even came at a certain point with a succulent plant that they had found in the mountains. It just lay loose and turned out to be in bloom. “Well, it would look nice in the garden,” they thought, and so done, he got his place by the pool promptly. But getting the thing into the ground is sooner said than done, because the ground here is bone hard …

We have also organized a lot that was a great success. And I did not expect that immediately. Our first official “Lavinia shuffleboard tournament” was a direct hit. As a full-fledged organizer, Wim has organized the entire tournament and there was a lot of shouting as if their lives depended on it, complete with diversionary manoeuvres, shouting and encouragement. Afterwards, the official winner was proclaimed with a drink and a real certificate.

Apparently that was appreciated, because we see it appear on the Facebook page of the winner. Secretly I am very proud of my boy; people think he is fantastic. So I am not alone 😉.

Thursday the sauna was finally completely renovated and we also officially opened it for our guests.

Coincidence or not, but the two men of villa Melodia, the tower house, are sauna masters. Ideal for having the sauna tested by real experts. I had made scrub salt myself (long live internet), lit the bubble lamp, and had the sauna pre-heated. He was therefore fully approved. And when sauna masters approve, it’s really good too. It has become a picture, very cosy, in the Dutch way, and it was used eagerly. For the occasion we had a night-swimming linked to the highest swimming pool, with again the fire pit and a drink. It was a special evening. Everyone cosy at the table next to the flames, swimming naked in the illuminated pool and with only the dark night above us.

Remco spontaneously gave a helping hand to haul tables, chairs, the fire pit and wood. Bianca suddenly conjured up nicely washed out glass bowls from a dessert for the tealights. The two befriended couples from the tower house cheered cheerfully, very pleased with the sauna. It is great that people feel so involved and think along with you, and ensure cosiness. How “strangers” suddenly become “friends” in a matter of days.

Totally unexpected we also suddenly had a Belgian and an English couple visiting this week who wanted to see the domain. They were totally overwhelmed by the splendour and beauty, the peace and cosiness of the domain and the villas. So very that the Belgian man wanted to dive into the swimming pool and the English couple sent an email that same evening asking if we still had room next month. They book as soon as they get back to England, and that’s tomorrow. I’m curious. Wim is one hundred percent sure that they will be here next month, because they were very charmed by what we had made of it and their nice e-mail spoke volumes about their yearning to come here on vacation as quickly as possible. They have the advantage that they can take time off whenever it suits.

And we? We fully enjoy all the fun, being together with people, getting to know new people. On the other hand, we also miss the we-time. But we already solved that by closing 10 days in July to catch our breath after the busy past year. The season has only just begun, but the preparations, the renovations and the opening have taken a lot of energy. We give ourselves this gift. Enjoying our domain, our sauna, our swimming pools, eating out, the nudist beach, being tourist ourselves…

In any case, after this first week we both have a very clear feeling: this is what we want. This is our project, this is where we have lived. This is so right, so good. I see Wim really blooming, I see him in a different way than usual. Despite his much introverted nature, he knows how to charm and inspire people. Coming in his unique calm way, sometimes very unexpectedly with an extremely perceptive funny pronunciation. I feel so wonderfully satisfied and happy …

Hasta luego,

Annemie or Ana