In late 2005 after several Spanish holidays we finally decided that Spain was the place where we wanted to live, we had been slowly growing disillusioned with life in Britain and Spain ticked all the boxes for us. We both love the Spanish way of life, the food (especially the food) and the country itself. It was not an easy decision by any means, we both had reasonably well paid jobs, a house and of course I would have to give up watching Manchester United but probably our biggest sacrifice would be leaving our eldest son, Ian behind. After lengthy discussions and soul searching the decision was reached and with Ian’s support we went for it, time to find a better life for ourselves and our youngest son Conor.
Conor was of course our next problem, although not that keen on the estate where we live he was a happy go lucky 9 year old with a lot of friends. How would he react to our plans and the thought of moving to and having to go to school in Spain. We shouldn’t have been worried because when we told him of our plans he responded with a loud "YES". He then went on to explain that he didn’t want to live in England anymore and that Spain was where he wanted to go too. We explained that it wouldn’t be like it is on holidays that this was for real, for ever. He then looked at me like i was stupid and said "You and Mum don’t come from here so I don’t want to live here either" (I am originally Irish and Carola is German) - what could we say to that. We have asked him several times since if he is worried about moving and he gives us the same response every time "no". The thought of going to School, making new friends and learning a new language do not bother him one little bit, he is well up for it... he is our hero.
So our first problem was where to start looking, I suppose like most people we started looking towards the coastal areas, although I would like to say we never at any time fancied the Costa del Sol or any of the other Ex-Pat over-run Costas for that matter, so we decided to look at Andalucia.
We went out in September 2006 and had a good look around but in all honesty lacked help and guidance, so never really got the best out of the trip and probably didn’t get to see the places and properties that would have really appealed to us. After a few days we realised that it was not the place for us, there were too many building sites and lots of places were a bit too far from towns where we could find work. To cut a long story short it just didn’t feel right for us, something was missing, it was not our dream, so with heavy hearts we returned to Manchester and resigned ourselves to maybe having to stay there, but the dream wouldn’t go away and so after a couple of months we started to look again, only this time we decided to look at what we really wanted and to take more care about where we would look next time. We started watching the TV program "A Place in the Sun" to see if we could discover an area to investigate, we had also by now realised that we wanted to live in the Real Spain and by that we do mean the Real Spain not the one that is so often advertised as such because it is a few kilometres inland and actually has a few Spanish people still living there. We did not want all day English breakfasts or Irish pubs and we certainly did not want Ex-pat urbanisations. So through the programme we discovered Extremadura and started to search and see what we could find out about the area.
It was while doing this research that we came across Hendrik Berends website "Extremadura Country Homes", in which he explains that he works within the Caceres province. It was the discovery of this website and the information that was on it that was to shape our destiny. We read everything on the website at least twice, it sounded like everything we wanted and had dreamed about. But who was this Hendrik Berends, he described himself as a Lifestyle Consultant and after reading all the Client Testimonials we decided to grab the bull by the horns and contact Hendrik. He replied almost immediately and asked us a few questions about our plans.
We sent several emails asking questions and seeking advice on all manner of things and Hendrik always replied promptly giving good sound answers. It is very reassuring to know that you actually have a point of contact and someone that you can bounce ideas off, as Hendrik has said to us a couple of times he understands that the move we are attempting is life changing and that he will be there to guide us through every step of the way, we then made up our minds that it was time to go out to Caceres province and see it for ourselves.
We landed at Madrid on a beautiful sunny November evening, nothing like the cold slate grey skies we had left behind us, we were full of optimism and as the week progressed we were proved right to feel that way. We jumped into our hire car and proceeded to do a couple of laps of the airport, it seemed our Sat Nav was more lost than we were, but once we had sorted the problem out we were on the road to Caceres. Just as we entered Caceres City at 9pm my mobile phone rang, it was Hendrik asking when we were due to arrive and explaining he was already at the Hotel waiting for us. So 15 minutes later after finding the Parking garage which was literally 100 yards from the hotel and checking into our very comfortable triple room at the Alfonso IX Hotel, we finally met Hendrik who greeted us like long lost friends, immediately inviting us for dinner at an excellent Tapas bar in the City. Conor and Hendrik struck up an immediate friendship and chatted away for ages about all sorts of things, I have to say we all felt very comfortable in Hendrik’s company and after a few more drinks we said our goodnights.
The next morning we were picked up by Hendrik in his Jeep and driven to a small village not too far from Caceres City and shown a village house which was within our budget, as Hendrik said "just to get a feel for the type of property we could go for and to use as a point of discussion". He then proceeded to show us the area, took us into local shops and introduced us to people. The next day we went to a different village to look at another house which we both liked immediately. It needed some renovation but could be lived in straight away, it had terrific potential. The Village that this house was in was right up our street too, just what we were looking for, so with a sense of excitement we headed back into the City to meet Alfonso the English speaking Bank Manager. He took us straight into his office to open our Spanish Bank account, he immediately put us at our ease and explained everything to us, he even sent one of his staff out to buy sweets for Conor.
The next day we went back to look at the village house again and I think by this time we had decided that this was the one for us, but I want to stress that at no time did Hendrik put any pressure on us to make a decision, in fact he even suggested that we come back to Caceres another time when he had more properties within our price range available. He always gave us space to look around and see things for ourselves but was always readily available to answer any questions.
To get to the point we discussed the house with him on the way back to the City and we made an offer which Hendrik said he would put forward to the owner that evening. Later that night we were having a drink near to the beautiful old town of Caceres (which has to be visited) when my mobile rang, it was Hendrik saying we had a deal and just like that we became "locals".
The next day we were introduced to our Lawyer who speaks absolutely excellent English and is very open and friendly, she explained all the legalities involved in the house buying process and how things would proceed.
I must say how reassuring it is to have a Bank manager and a lawyer who speak English, people who can offer help and advice and it is Hendrik’s good fortune to have them as part of his "team". One thing I do know is that without Hendrik and his knowledge of the region and his contacts we would still be at square one wondering what to do next, his assistance has been that valuable. He has made what at first seemed very difficult reasonably easy and definitely achievable, all we need to do now is sell our house in England and join life in our village in Caceres.
I just wish we had a Hendrik Berends here to help us achieve that just as easily.
We are going over again in a few weeks to measure up all the rooms properly and to see exactly what renovations we need to plan but also to see Hendrik and Caceres again. We really are looking forward to making the move permanent as soon as is possible, we want to get Conor settled into the local School and make our new house our home.
We have to look for some way to earn a living once we are settled and have a few ideas on the back burner, Hendrik has also been very helpful here too with several suggestions and the promise of as much help as possible when need be.
We are firm believers in fate and it was definitely fate that brought us into contact with Hendrik, we do not consider him to be our Lifestyle Consultant - he is our friend.
Phil and Carola Canning
ccanningp@aol.com
January 9th, 2008