When I want to grab the car keys, my middle sister is holding up the shopping list right in front of me. “Where do you think we can get this…”, she asks me with a smile on her lips. “At the Aldi or the Mercadona?” I run my eyes over the list. “Lettuce, tomatoes, avocados…” I don’t see anything that stands out. It’s only when I reach the bottom of the list that I start laughing. “Handsome man, six foot four”, is written in the handwriting of the youngest. I shake my head. After having worked at Albert Heijn (a Dutch supermarket) for eleven years, I doubt whether we can get that in the supermarket here. Nevertheless, I’m not taking any chances. “Make that two if you get the chance,” I tell my sister, who is about to fold the list again. After all, you never know, is what I am thinking to myself when we get into the car.
Now it’s six months later (and the youngest is off market again), and I must agree that they are indeed (and unfortunately) not available in Spanish supermarkets. My sisters, who are concerned about my happiness (or yearn for a bit of entertainment), carefully ask whether applying to “B&B Vol Liefde”* would be an option. I firmly brush this suggestion off the table. How do they envision that? My bed is currently in a windowless office and I can’t even remember the last time I wore clothes that weren’t covered in paint.
Dating with a fulltime job and a nice apartment in the Netherlands was already difficult enough. Now that we live in Switzerland for half of the year and Spain for the other half of the year, it is almost impossible. No wonder this televisionshow was created. But if I had to apply right now, I would select solely on the job skills of a potential candidate. Forget about the six foot four. A plumber, electrician or carpenter? Yes, please! If we want to open our doors in the fall, we can use all the help we can get. I don’t really have time for love right now. I’d rather put all my love into the house. That’s what we’ve been doing so far. So while my lovelife remains uncertain, there certainly is no uncertainty about our Bed & Breakfast. It’s definately already full of love.
*“B&B Vol Liefde” (meaning “Bed & Breakfast Full of Love”) is a Dutch televisionformat from 2021. In the show single Dutch Bed & Breakfast owners (who are living abroad) invite potential love interests to come and stay with them to see if love can grow between them.