what's on your menu today?

[ethandron]

for us it's the usual sandwich for lunch - egg mayo today, followed by a slice of home-made banana cake and a nectarine.
evening meal will be lamb steaks with cauli, broc, carrots, peas and gravy.
maybe a freddo for supper :)

[Sqad]

vibra........I taught her the acrobatic positions later ;-)

[ethandron]

squad, who was this vulnerable and niaive person? did you ever get to meet him?

[Sqad]

cazz...Train station story...........wife 1
Audiologist.....wife 2.
Ethandron....;-)

[ethandron]

do you think you'll ever come back to england to live? maybe to take advantage of the nhs at some point if necessary? have you lived wherever it is you live for a long time?
questions, questions....

[Sqad]

Ethandron...health care on the continent is as good if not better than the NHS. One female ABer said " First sing of an illness sqad would be back to the UK like a rat up a drainpipe" I didn´t feel that it deeded dignifying with an answer. People in the UK have been brainwashed that the NHS is the envy of the world and it´s doctors are the best. it is not and they are not.

Had a holiday home in Menorca for 25 yrs and have retired and lived in Menorca since 2001. People are very friendly if one integrates and accepts their traditions and way of life.

Would I return to the UK? Not out of choice, but one must never say never in life.

[ethandron]

i wasn't implying anything, just curious :).
i was thinking particularly of cancer care, or serious illness where maybe 'home is where the heart is'. i wouldn't expect anything less of a brit living abroad that their health cover would be a priority.
to be fair to the nhs, we had private medical cover for many years but when himself took early retirement at 50 a few years ago we decided not to continue it. so far, we've not had any complaints about the nhs, in fact they've stacked up very well against the care we received privately.
i guess having a holiday home there for so long before living there full time makes a difference too. what a nice life :)

[Sqad]

ethandron.....my comments about the NHS are not derogatory, in fact the standard is high, but not BETTER than other comparable countries. My gripe is, perhaps it has changed now, but it was made clear that a UK Drs training was the best in the world and that somehow you were la creme de la creme of medicine. It is only after one had met doctors from other parts of the world did you realise how ridiculous that statement was.

In fact we bought some land eventually and Mrs Sqad designed the villa herself....I just paid the bills.

[Answerprancer]

A good hot potato, onion and carrot soup with loads of garlic and ginger and hot sauce I've been infected with someone else's filthy bloody cold germs and I'm coughing like a steamtrain.

[ethandron]

is there a kind of ex-pat community or have you truly gone native? and do you speak the language?
we both speak passable french but not enough to understand the subtleties if we were to live there. i would think it makes a difference.

[Sqad]

There is a strong ex pat community in Menorca..dinner parties, cocktail parties, Probus. Freemasons, Ladies luncheon club, but Mrs sqad and me have nothing to do with the British ex pats and socialising.After saying that, a dozen of us meet for breakfast, chat, laugh, ect but that is it for the day, although there is plenty of things to do.

We have tried to integrate and we can get by with the language, however you are quite correct, if you don´t speak the local lingo fluently, then conversation tends to be "intermittent" with many of the nuances lost.

The locals love to speak English as Menorca is a thriving holiday resort in the summer.This summer there has been less Brits, but more Spanish from the mainland.

[ethandron]

interesting, thanks for answering my questions, i'm sure you wouldn't have answered them so readily if you thought i was prying, i'm just very curious about people generally :) it's my hobby...along with the painting .
now, you see, we don't have a holiday home in minorca, but we do have our 'caravan of love' and we can take that wherever we want. our own gp also has a caravan and we have long conversations about where we've been or are contemplating going. his wife is a dentist and they have no children so they're not short of a bob or two but their favourite thing is to get away, sur le contintent, in their caravan and totally switch off. you ought to try it, you meet all sorts of weird and wonderful people - rich, poor, posh, chavvy, the whole lot.
it's good to talk ;)

[Sqad]

ethandron....good to talk my love. Caravanning..........not for sqad, but I wouldn´t knock it.