The Restaurant Dream (And Nightmare)

Sat in a bar (Foxes, Puerto Alcúdia). British TV on. "Living In The Sun". Here's a familiar tale. Couple with dreams. Buy restaurant. Restaurant needs a load of renovation. Biggest problem is with the electrics. Bloke offers quote and then seems to disappear. Quote was for about 1000 euros. Another bloke says he'll come. Time he's due, he's way away. The poor saps, this couple. The bloke said he'd be there at 12:00. It's 20 past and he's not turned up. Twenty minutes! What do they expect? If he comes the day he says he will, it would be a miracle. This is Spain! Finally, another bloke comes, gives quote, three times as much, but they go with it. Opening of renovated restaurant misses planned time for start of season. Misses by a fair way. Couple, not having run a restaurant before, are doing all the cooking, not having actually done that for a restaurant before. They try out dishes as "signature" dishes, invite a bunch of "friends" along to sample and give opinion. Friends = local expats used no doubt to freeloading a free meal. Happens all the time. Never to be seen again despite what they say.

At this point I left. Maybe the couple went on to make a success of it all. But it would have been against the odds. At every turn, it was like the manual for how it is, especially if you want to do a place up. Prepare to be let down, prepare to pay more than anticipated, prepare to have to wait for the bloke to actually turn up. It was comical. Twenty minutes late. That is nothing. Prepare for nothing to be as you expect and then you should be fine.

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