102. Laura Hamilton; A Place In The Sun, Quarantine, Coffee Shop Owning and The Wombles
A Place in the Sun presenter, Laura Hamilton, and Lisa are having a coffee in the ‘new normal’ in Spain, masks at the ready, with a lively conversation about property abroad, bargain cave houses, lack of tourists in Spain, Greek idylls, making tea for Dermot O’Leary, getting stuck in Sri Lanka, nerve-wracking Egyptian taxi rides, galloping around the Pyramids in Cairo, skiing after C sections, becoming a postmistress, running the local coffee shop and the surprise revelation about who her father is! There’s a clue, in the title. On this episode we cover: The new series of A Place in the Sun What it’s like in Spain with fewer tourists around Fuengirola being a Spanish working town Laura being on a flight to Spain when the quarantine was announced Lockdown having been mentally very tough People wanting to take holidays Lisa and Laura on Channel 5 News together Takes a brave person to go to a country AGAINST Foreign Office says don’t go Still having access to healthcare with EHIC card People on social media judging each other 400,000 Brits having homes in Spain Property currently being very cheap in Spain A Place in the Sun viewers booming in lockdown People wanting escapism Camelot say the number one wish is for a holiday home Guests on A Place in the Sun being ordinary working people £29,000 cave houses available Laura having stolen Lisa’s dream job Laura’s Dad being Uncle Bulgaria in the Wombles!!! Starting off at Channel 4 making tea for Dermot O’Leary Buying her first property age 19 Being made redundant Always turning a negative into a positive Getting her break as a children’s TV presenter age 21 Taking part in Dancing on Ice being a game changer Having bought and renovated 8 houses helping to get her the big gig The coffee shop, restaurant and deli she owns in Purley Moving a good half an hour to be with her husband Turning the café into the village shop during lockdown Working really hard on set rather than being on holiday Travel being so important for kids Laura’s entrepreneurial spirit meaning she’s a workaholic Lisa always thinking of opening shops or cafes (despite burning a pan of water) Becoming a postmistress, but struggling to keep the Post Office going Her insurance salesperson husband sometimes thinking she’s mad Skiing for The Jump just 3 weeks after an emergency caesarean Timeshare holidays in Tenerife The ‘shame’ of caravan holidays age 13 Slate mines in Wales! A round the world ticket in her early 20s Leaving a French campsite every day in full make-up to film Laura gets star-spotted whilst we’re sitting there A nerve-racking experience at the Egyptian border Having dinner with the taxi drivers family in Cairo (weirdly, Lisa had a very similar experience) Galloping on horseback around the pyramids Getting stuck in Sri Lanka because of the Icelandic ash cloud Flying to Maldives instead The coffin-like ‘spa treatment’ full of cockroaches Wanting to instil a sense of adventure in her children How music on travel can always take you back in tome Leo Sayer’s Thunder In My Heart taking her back to a road trip in a Mini through the Australian outback