Today the door bell rang and low and behold guess who it was? No, not Santa Clause, even better than that…. It was the Postal worker with a package for us. We finally got our Visas in hand.
It is the final piece of the process that we needed and now we are all set.
Well today was an interesting and frustrating day to put it mildly.  We were up early today full of excitement to attend Toronto and  finally pick up our Visas. We rented a car (sold our car awhile back) and were on the road at 7:30 am. We left early because the consulate is only open until 12:30.  We had gathered up our required documents as indicated in the email “Your visa application has now been approved, and you have now 30 days in which to pick it up. Kindly bring your passport and airline ticket to this Consulate for its issue.”
We drove through heavy traffic to arrive at the consulate around 10:45 am and took a number (#45) and waited for our turn. There were numerous people there and the consulate was very busy. After about 15 minutes our number was called and a very friendly consulate staff member asked us what she do could do for us. We told her that we were there to pick up our approved visas. She said, ok that will be easy and asked us for our flight info.  We provided her with our flight itinerary and our passports and that’s when we knew something was wrong. She looked at our passports and said you won’t be able to get them back today. They need to put the visa into our passports and they won’t have time today. We offered to wait all day if needed to get them, but to no avail. She said that we needed to get a prepaid postal envelope and they would mail the passports back to us sometime next week, when they had time to affix the Visa to our passports. She told us that Tuesday next week is a Spanish holiday and the consulate is closed. Not what we wanted to hear, but at least it was a step forward towards our goal of getting the Visas.  So we headed off to find a post office in order to get a prepaid Xpresspost envelope that they wanted. Of course the consulate is only open until 12:30 and time was quickly going by….  we found a post office nearby and bought a prepaid Xpresspost envelope (total cost about $13.00). We returned to the consulate and took another number and waited for our turn. We noticed the staff member was out in the waiting area and we were able to speak to her.  We provided her with the Xpresspost envelope and she reviewed it and all was good.  Of course we had to ask….. (because you just never know)  did we need two envelopes? one for each  passport?  She looked at us, smiled and said no one will do.
We left the consulate shortly before noon upset, frustrated and not completely surprised. We knew there would be setbacks and bureaucracy, throughout the process. Today we thought we were at end of the process for the Visas. On the up side we are approved and the Visas should be “in the mail” next week.
We left downtown Toronto in heavy traffic and drove home. It was a long day with lots of emotions, but the good news is that the Visas will eventually arrive.
Well today is an exciting day for us. We have received an email notification from the Spanish Embassy that our Visas are approved. Â The email today simply stated “Your visa application has now been approved, and you have now 30 days in which to pick it up. Kindly bring your passport and airline ticket to this Consulate for its issue.”
It is interesting that a simple short email could evoke so many different emotions. We are relieved that it is approved of course. The fact that we sold most of our stuff already, we are glad it wasn’t  in vain. The realization that the Visas are secured also is exciting and invigorating knowing that in one month from today we will be heading to Spain not to visit but to live there.  We are nervous about the adventure and moving to a country where we have never been to.  We are also sad leaving friends and family but know that social media will help us to stay in touch.
To sum up how we feel I guess you could say we are standing at the edge of a cliff looking down and getting ready to bungee jump. We know we have a cord tied to us, but it still scary as heck. The only thing left is to take a leap of faith and jump.
So tomorrow we go to the Spanish consulate and pick up our Visas.
We continue to move forward with our plans, although we have not heard from the Spain Consulate regarding our visa application yet. There is only two months left before we leave and it is getting busy for us.  We have started selling our furniture and have sold numerous items so far. The apartment is starting to look a little bare. The artwork and decorative items on the walls have been removed and given away to family or sold. We have sold our dinning room set and  we are now eating at the coffee table in the den. The computer desk has been sold and now the filling cabinet is our new computer desk.  Adaptation and a positive attitude are important as we move forward.
We have given our notice and plan on leaving Kingston in Mid December to move back home with our parents for a few weeks before we leave for Spain. We have secured a mover for the few belonging we will be keeping in Pembroke. We have also started the task of closing off our accounts related to the apartment. We have notified, gas, electrical, internet and TV companies that we are leaving and closing the accounts.
The challenge now is selling the car. We would ideally like to keep  the car until we leave, but that is simply not feasible. We are trying to sell our car now and if it sells quickly we will be renting a vehicle when we need a car in the interim.
We are updating  our wills and preparing for the final pieces to be in place before the move to Spain. There are lots more things to do, we need to finalize our taxes with CRA, change our mailing address, obtain international drivers licences etc. and of course we are still awaiting our Visas.
The logistics of finding a permanent residence will be key to ensure we are located in a good area. We want to be located in an area that has easy access to transit, grocery stores, entertainment etc. We won’t have a vehicle and would like to cycle as a means of transportation where possible. We want to be in a good neighbourhood and be located in an area that is not focused on tourist. In order to find the perfect spot, we want to be on site and look at rentals first hand. We want to have a feel for the neighbourhood and walk around the area before renting long-term. In order to do that we have rented a two month rental to give us time to research and walk the neighbourhoods before renting long-term. The short-term rental is located in a tourist area near the sea. It is a modest apartment with all the amenities needed to function. We are located close to a bus stop and not far from the city centre of Alicante. This is a tourist area and during the summer it is very busy. We are fortunate that we are arriving in Spain during the off season and we should be able to get a “feel” for the area without the influx of thousands of tourist. The challenge is to find a long term rental within the first two months of arriving in Spain. The adventure of retiring like this is to push the comfort zone and experience the unknown.
Below are a few photos of our apartment and the view.
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