Don't you just love those 'Well I never....' moments?

On Boxing day night, (I always think there should be a proper phrase for it but I've no idea what!) we were invited up to our neighbours on the hill for tapas and drinks. Janet had been given a lovely recipe book for various tapas dishes and she wanted to try a few out.

She had also invited Maria and Bernardo, who are our nearest Spanish neighbours. I had met Maria once before, while sitting in the car at the roadside trying to do some internet stuff in those distant days of not having an internet connection at the house - wow, that seems such a long time ago! Anyway, Maria has a herd of goats, about 100, which she walks everyday for about 3 hours, and she was walking them past the top of our land when she passed me in the car. I had a chat with her, using all my best practiced Spanish phrases and she walked away.
We had heard about Bernardo, but had never met him.

So it was good to meet them both and, as they don't speak any English, the majority of the evening was spent with Janet, Graham and myself trying to have a conversation in both English & Spanish, and with the help of the dictionary we managed quite well.

Maria & Bernardo have lived a rural, farming life among the almond trees and have raised a family here, some of which are still local and others have moved away. One of whom, also called Bernardo, works at a restaurant in.....

Yes, you've guessed it.....this is the 'well, I never' moment.....

San Juan de los Terreros!

Now, I did remember, through a slightly intoxicated state, when were at Pepa's for Halloween, one of the waiters I was talking to told me that he was from Velez Rubio. Hey Ho, it turns out that our nearest Spanish neighbours are his parents. I know Velez isn't a massive town, but it does have about 7,000 inhabitants so I still think that is a genuine 'well I never' moment.

Such things just never fail to amaze me!