Introduction
This will be a strange story that will later reveal what the title of the book means.
To begin. My name is Simon and I spend a lot of time in southern Spain with my wife Mieke.
A good friend of ours has a villa here where he lives 3 months a year. He thinks it's a nasty idea that it will be empty for the rest of the time. That's why he asked us if we wanted to live there for a few months.
Gained many contacts in Spain. Including a very special one and I want to talk to you about this person.
We went to do what you do very often in Spain; eating tapas with a glass of wine, in a local restaurant. You make contacts quite often and so today.
We were sitting on the terrace on the beach and there was a rather "special" man sitting next to me, about 70 years old, with a tail and a very loud voice. He also turned out to be Dutch. Now that is nothing special, there are many Dutch people here. They also often meet for golf, bridge and Queen's Day. Nice.
I just didn't have the idea that this man was very fond of that. He also did not need contact with Spaniards. Well with the English (of which there are many here). Well not this one either.
It started to surprise me that this grunt wanted to have contact with me.
It turned out he was a scientist, something with physics and astronomy. What was not entirely clear to me, but I found it all very interesting. Especially since astronomy (don't confuse this with astrology) fascinated me very much. We introduced ourselves. His name was Isambard. His father was idolized by the famous English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The designer of the first iron ship and a propeller instead of a paddle wheel. Hence the striking name. Child of a Dutch mother and a Spanish father and grew up partly in the Netherlands and Spain. He looked more Dutch than Spanish.
He had lived in Spain for many years in a villa nearby. That happens to be an urbanization next to ours. We were more on the coast and he was deep in the hinterland. And I mean really hinterland.
It just so happens that I was allowed to use a 4x4 off-road vehicle with which I explored the entire hinterland and much more. An open Suzuki Vitara of 15 years old. Have been through everything with this powerhouse and it has never let me down.
I knew the area where Isambard lived and there are some large villas with very high walls and large thick Spanish gates. After that it's bush, lots of bush and this is where he lived. I always wondered who was going to live there so abandoned. Had often driven there in the Suzi and then you saw that house in the distance. Until I couldn't get through because a miscreant had placed a large fence. And this miscreant was now sitting next to me. I couldn't resist noticing something about this. “Oh,” he said, “were you the bastard who drove that little white car across my land?”
"Yes, I was, and who do you think you are to just close that road?"
Well the acquaintance started well. Well, we calmed down a bit. After a while we got talking again. After the necessary wines it became even more fun. The conversation was about whiskey, among other things. We were both fans. His favorites were Glenfiddich and Laphroaig. Well, dear reader, if you've ever tasted Laphroaig, you'll be shocked. It tastes like iodine. I had tasted this last at a whiskey tasting. The most pronounced taste for the last. It was a shock, but you get used to it.
The grunt turned out to be very amusing company, a bit eccentric, but I liked that. He actually invited me to come over sometime. Well, I didn't let myself be told twice. I had been curious about the inside of those forts for years. But usually nothing comes of such an invitation. I wouldn't let this happen. Made an appointment for two weeks. Put this in the agenda of my IPhone with an alarm for the day before. So I wouldn't forget that. Asked him if I could approach his estate from the North. He would make sure the north gate was open by then. The main entrance was somewhere south.
Have a look at home on Google Earth. Loved the house and estate, it seemed gigantic. There was a long road from north to south with a house in the middle. This was square and large with an atrium in the center with a round pond (it seemed) in it. To the south was a swimming pool and to the east was a large building. In front of the house was a square with a fence in front of it. All kinds of dirt roads criss-crossed the estate itself.
Before I left I bought a bottle of Laphroaig. This was quite a tour. You can buy many types of whiskey in Spain, but this one was very special.
Nu hadden wij een 4x4 terrein auto waarmee ik nhet hele achterland en nog veel meer verkend heb. Een open Suzuki Vitara van 15 jaar oud. Heb al van alles doorstaan met deze krachtpatser en ze heeft me nog nooit in de steek gelaten.
.
Het gebied waar Isambard woonde kende ik wel en er staan enkele grote villa’s met hele hoge muren en grote dikke Spaanse poorten. Daarna is het bush, veel bush en hier woonde hij. Had me altijd al afgevraagd wie daar zo verlaten ging wonen. Had daar vaak gereden in de Suzi en dan zag je dat huis in de verte liggen. Totdat ik er niet meer door kon omdat een onverlaat een groot hek had laten plaatsen.
En deze onverlaat zat nu naast mij. Ik kon het niet laten om hier iets over op te merken. ‘Oh’ zei hij, ‘Was jij die klootzak die met dat witte autootje over mijn land reed?’
‘Ja, dat was ik, en wie denk je wel dat jij bent om die weg zomaar af te sluiten?’
Nou de kennismaking begon goed. Afijn, we bedaarden enigszins. Na verloop van tijd raakten we weer in gesprek. Na de nodige wijntjes werd het zowaar nog gezellig. Het gesprek ging o.a. over whisky. We waren beiden liefhebber. Zijn favorieten waren Glenfiddich en Laphroaig. Nou, beste lezer, als je Laphroaig wel eens geproefd hebt, dan schrik je er van. Het proeft naar jodium. Dit had ik wel eens op een whisky proeverij als laatste geproefd. De meest uitgesproken smaak voor het laatst. Het was schrikken, maar alles went.
De knorrepot bleek eigenlijk heel erg amusant gezelschap, beetje behoorlijk excentriek, maar daar hield ik wel van. Hij nodigde me zowaar uit om een keer langs te komen. Nou, dat liet ik me geen twee keer zeggen. Was al jaren benieuwd naar de binnenkant van die forten. Maar meestal komt er niets van zo’n uitnodiging terecht. Dit zou ik toch niet laten gebeuren. Een afspraak gemaakt voor over twee weken. Dit in de agenda gezet van m’n IPhone met een alarm voor de dag ervoor. Dat zou ik dus niet vergeten. Had hem gevraagd of ik z'n landgoed kon benaderen vanaf Het noorden. Hij zou zorgen dat de noordelijke poort dan open stond. De hoofdingang lag ergens zuidelijk.
Heb thuis eens gekeken op Google Earth. Vond het huis en het landgoed, het leek gigantisch. Er liep een lange weg van noord naar zuid met in het midden een huis. Dit was vierkant en groot met in het midden een atrium met een ronde vijver (zo leek het) erin. Zuidelijk lag een zwembad en oostelijk was een groot gebouw. Voor het huis was een plein met daarvoor weer een hek. Door het landgoed zelf lagen kriskras allerlei zandweggetjes.
Voordat ik onderweg ging had ik een fles Laphroaig gekocht. Dit was nog een hele toer. Je kunt in Spanje vele soorten whisky kopen maar deze was wel heel erg speciaal.