Norman Verona Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Interesting to read about the Brit pack you found in Italy. We got "sucked" in to the Brit pack here. After a certain incident I said to HM "what are doing? We wouldn't mix with these people in the UK why should we here" Now that probably sounds snobbish and probably is. But when you've mixed with people who have there own businesses why would you want to mix with retired postman and people who just went to work and saved for there retirement. No ambition, no conversation skill, no interest in anything. We were playing Trivial Pursuit and I had a chap as a partner who I quite liked. He knew nothing. Every subject that came up he declared total ignorance. We now mix with the French. My French isn't that good, HM is far better but we can socialize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Some really good comments by Dodgey and Norman, I have a holiday home in southern Spain and really like the Spanish there, we have some good friends who have the same attitude to family and life in general. But Spain has economic problems the same as the rest of Europe, of course the really nice weather makes up for it a lot. So it's good to combine the UK and Spain, picking the best of both. My brother is a true expat and hasn't been living in the UK for 20 years, but has lived in the far east, Canada, USA and now Perth Australia, which is where he wants to stay. He is in oil, which is currently big in that area, but he and his wife have more friends there than anywhere else in the world. I think that must say something, the people who spend their lives as expats all seem to end up in Perth as the nicest place to live in the world. Whilst I am sure that doesn't suit everyone and is of course influenced by being in the oil industry it's an interesting observation. I do think you need to integrate and often its hard without any other Brits around, just for the humour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Interesting to read about the Brit pack you found in Italy. We got "sucked" in to the Brit pack here. After a certain incident I said to HM "what are doing? We wouldn't mix with these people in the UK why should we here" Now that probably sounds snobbish and probably is. But when you've mixed with people who have there own businesses why would you want to mix with retired postman and people who just went to work and saved for there retirement. No ambition, no conversation skill, no interest in anything. We were playing Trivial Pursuit and I had a chap as a partner who I quite liked. He knew nothing. Every subject that came up he declared total ignorance. We now mix with the French. My French isn't that good, HM is far better but we can socialize. That is so true Norman, we tend to avoid the brits when on holiday and never go into the brit run bars, much prefering the spanish ones. Mix with people you like irrespective of nationality or colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Scotland - cheap as chips and no neighbours to bother you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Jones Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I also have a place in Spain, Costa Blanca area. When buying I really didn't want to be in an isolated brit enclave so went for buying an apartment in a larger town in a area that has a very mixed set of nationalities, probably 50% Spanish, 50% northern euro. This was more expensive but means most things are in easy walking distance and there are plenty of local services. The downside is that there is not really a stable local community to integrate with. The Spanish dominate in August but the rest of the year it's just a very mixed bag with relatively few permanent residents. This has worked out fairly well for how it gets used, as a holiday home for up to 4-5weeks. It's quick and cheap to get to and does not require much maintenance and is always sunnier than home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stanton Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Currently sitting here in my lounge in Brittany over looking 2.5 acres of paddock nearest neighbour over the lane is 83 and she's great, village with all you ever need just 4km away good food wine very friendly locals all I can advise is don't consider Brittany unless you get yourself a ride on mower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 This OK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretron Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I am norwegian living in Spain, Costa Blanca, Marina Baixa area. We have been here permanently since May 1997 and find the area very nice with one of Europes best climate. The comments from Norman Verona, Nick Algar and Kevin Jones are good ones, but in the Marina Baixa area there is lots of different "nationalities" living permanently. Socialize are easy here, and you are close to the mountains, the sea, big cities and rural aereas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stanton Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Norman that looks ideal it beats my 15hp and twin 42" blades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 We had a friend who just went on and on about Polaris World. Bought two off plan. I said that it wasn't sustainable but he wouldn't listen. He sold the second before it was finished. As he didn't say how much he'd made I reckon he lost money. The other is tiny, and I mean tiny. You can stand in the lounge and touch both walls at the same time. Anyway, it's worth next to nothing now. Most people are refusing to pay the service charges which is putting them up for those that do. Then some of them started a class action because the brochure showed a town centre with a street, gardens, fountains and bars and shops. This hasn't been built. The last time he was here he wanted to pay the 1,300€ to the local solicitor to join the herd. I've no idea if he did as we no longer see them (but that's another story). I'll bet a pound to a penny he did because I would tell him that even if they won it would take several years, several calls for more money but the company wouldn't be there to pay out. He accepted all this, sat thinking for a few minutes and then said "but if they do get compensation...." The biggest laugh was when I'd picked them up from Nantes and was driving back. He innocently asked how big the barn was (i was working on the barn at that time). I replied the floor was 11 metres by 7. He turned to his wife a in all seriously asked how big their flat was, including the balconies. She said 78 square meters. He then turned to me and said his flat was bigger than my barn. No account being taken of the upper floor or the offshot part which was another 28 sq. mtrs. I was trying not to laugh out loud and just left it at that. He was really serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 What, like this: It's called Herbie and HM does around the apple trees in the orchard with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 We had a friend who just went on and on about Polaris World. Bought two off plan. I said that it wasn't sustainable but he wouldn't listen. He sold the second before it was finished. As he didn't say how much he'd made I reckon he lost money. The other is tiny, and I mean tiny. You can stand in the lounge and touch both walls at the same time. Anyway, it's worth next to nothing now. Most people are refusing to pay the service charges which is putting them up for those that do. Then some of them started a class action because the brochure showed a town centre with a street, gardens, fountains and bars and shops. This hasn't been built. The last time he was here he wanted to pay the 1,300€ to the local solicitor to join the herd. I've no idea if he did as we no longer see them (but that's another story). I'll bet a pound to a penny he did because I would tell him that even if they won it would take several years, several calls for more money but the company wouldn't be there to pay out. He accepted all this, sat thinking for a few minutes and then said "but if they do get compensation...." The biggest laugh was when I'd picked them up from Nantes and was driving back. He innocently asked how big the barn was (i was working on the barn at that time). I replied the floor was 11 metres by 7. He turned to his wife a in all seriously asked how big their flat was, including the balconies. She said 78 square meters. He then turned to me and said his flat was bigger than my barn. No account being taken of the upper floor or the offshot part which was another 28 sq. mtrs. I was trying not to laugh out loud and just left it at that. He was really serious. Thats been the main problem in Spain, too many speculators trying to make a quick buck and thinking house prices can only go up. It has all come tumbling down.a lot of them were Brits Very pleased that like Kev I have somewhere which is mainly Spainish, but also towns around which don't empty in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Nick, agree. However this chap should have known better. He was a senior Building Society Manager. He was/is the sort that writes 20 page letters of complaint after every package holiday he had. He had 2 slight road accidents where he was run into the back at roundabouts. He was going to get 1 million pounds in compensation and never have to work again. All that happened was he got nothing, became addicted to codeine and became impossible to talk to. He just picked completely outrageous arguments with all his friends, including me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Nick, agree. However this chap should have known better. He was a senior Building Society Manager. He was/is the sort that writes 20 page letters of complaint after every package holiday he had. He had 2 slight road accidents where he was run into the back at roundabouts. He was going to get 1 million pounds in compensation and never have to work again. All that happened was he got nothing, became addicted to codeine and became impossible to talk to. He just picked completely outrageous arguments with all his friends, including me. Know the type Norman, you are lucky he is no longer in your circle of friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgey Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Oh I didn't have a Brit pack in Italy, just two really good English friends. All my other friends are/were Italians. My English pals were the only people I could talk to about tech/gadgets/science/IT/common music tastes etc etc - things that interest me. - My Italian friends want to talk only about MotoGP & football - and footie is so not my thing. Conversations about MotoGP just ended up in "Valentino Rossi is Number one!!!!". Once the English went (who were all part of the Italian crowd of friends there that I now know) I was left with only the Italians and no common interests. Nothing to do with being Italian, just the area I lived in - agricultural and fashion manufacturing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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