Saint Lucia was cool. But it didn’t change one thing – if I could live anywhere in the world, it would still be Europe. So, to follow the advice of my yoga instructor, “if you want to be in Europe, then go to Europe and see what happens!”. 

So here I am. 

I don’t need any sort of visa or permit to remain in Europe for some time. The money or the desire to be here may run out beforehand. But we shall see what happens. 

 I knew beforehand how hard it would be to go to a place where I knew absolutely no one, had no prospects and no knowledge of the culture, and just start over. I didn’t really need a reminder, but Saint Lucia gave me one. 

So I did something I never do – I decided to call out a friend for a favour. I contacted someone I had met in Europe. We had hit it off extremely well when we had met, and as I was leaving, he said to me, “Darling, you will always have a place to stay with me if you want to come back.” 

So I contacted him, and said, “”Can I stay with you?” And he said, “of course, darling.” 

Darius is one of the most interesting and intelligent people I have ever met. He is kind and generous. He has a million different things on the go. And he knows a ton of people. If someone can help me come up with some different ideas of what to do with my life in a different locale (even if its only temporary!) its him. 

What I didn’t realize is that he has a one-bedroom flat and I have bumped him to the couch. The ultimate example of his generosity is that he refuses to trade places with me and keeps insisting I can stay as long as I want. And then he also wouldn’t let me buy supper. 

• 

• 

It is a different style of living, to say the least. The place is in a prime location in Gibraltar – right along Main Street, just off the main square. It is in a 300-year old building that is about 4 stories high. His place is on the first floor, and he also gets to occupy most of the ground-level courtyard. Whether he does that out of legal right or practice I do not know. 

Places built 300 years ago did not exactly have 21st century living standards in mind – the bathroom is a narrow addition, there isn’t truly a kitchen. It’s so bloody dark! But the stone structure stays quite cool even on the hottest of days, and it has a cozy, comfy character I can’t even begin to describe. Last night there were these noises I couldn’t identify, and I finally decided they must be from ghosts. But I had no fear, only a relaxing sensation of being surrounded by spirits from the ages. 

• 

• 

• 

Adding to the character of the place is that my friend is a rabid collector of Victorian-era items, and everything else antique and eclectic. You can’t turn around in the place without hitting something. I live in terror I will break one of his precious relics. And then I ask myself, “how long would it take him to notice?”.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I have previously been a tourist in Gibraltar and hit most of the main sites, so I won’t have a lot of the typical tourist blog posts. If you’d like to read about Gibraltar from the tourist perspective, check out my blogs from the last time I was here. They can be found at midlifemeetmedici.wordpress.com, and in order of publication, they are:

• Gibraltar
• War Remnants
• The Little I Have Learned of Life on the Rock

(See the links below).

https://midlifemeetmedici.wordpress.com/2019/02/09/gibraltar/

https://midlifemeetmedici.wordpress.com/2019/02/11/war-remnants/

https://midlifemeetmedici.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/the-little-i-have-learned-of-life-on-the-rock/

So if I’m not busy being a tourist, what am I going to do here? That’s a good question. Maybe we’ll find out together.