We have just returned from our latest visit to our Spanish home and it certainly hasn’t gone to plan, not least because of the devastation inflicted on our garden by the recent appalling storms.
It has been a roller coaster of a visit that can be divided nicely into the three sections that are the title of this blog.
The Good
There have been many ‘GOODS’ fortunately and these have mitigated all the downsides and made the visit more than worthwhile
The first ‘Good’ is our new road. The road to our house, and 6 other properties further down the hillside, was a rutted stone track that started where the adopted tarmac road ended. It was passable with relative ease but care had to be taken in places. I understand that the heavy rains had taken their toll on the road and made it impassable. We now though have a lovely smooth road almost to our gate, thanks to a persistent neighbour who badgered the Council constantly as he couldn’t get access to his house.
Another ‘GOOD’ was the fact that the house was where we had left it. But surely, I hear you say, that is a minimum expectation you have of your house, to be where you left it. Yes, I reply, under normal circumstances that would be the case, but the weather here had seen unprecedented levels and intensity of rain that have literally washed houses away. Our garden had suffered when the terraces gave way under the flow of water and Deb and I were sat in the UK over the last week imagining our house had suffered the same fate. So it definitely falls into the ‘GOOD’ bracket as it could have been much worse.
Then there was the invitation to Julians surprise birthday bbq from Marijse. That was a major ‘GOOD’, excellent night with fantastic company, outstanding food, thanks John, and copious amounts of alcohol, thanks Marijse.
Roll of Honour in the below picture is me on the left, Marijse next to me with her halo as she is our guardian Angel, our Superhero Julian next, suitably adorned, and finally Deb on the end. Great night.
I so desperately wanted to add to the ‘Good’ category the arrival of our new bed that we bought in August. We arrived on the Thursday and had organised delivery for the Friday. I had little to no expectation that it would show up from previous experiences of Spanish logistics and, guess what, they lived up to my expectations. We had to go back to the store on the Saturday, kick up a fuss, after which they faithfully promised delivery, two days later on the Monday. A slim chance it could make it into the ‘Good section.
Next ‘GOOD’ was the house re-naming ceremony. We have a tile fixed to the side of the house, facing the drive, that you see immediately as you approach up the drive. This tile proudly displays the title Buena Vista or Good View. It annoys me every time I see it for the lack of thought and consideration for a property in idyllic surroundings with a vista that is the best we have seen by far in the dozens and dozens of properties we have viewed over the years. It’s a name that doesn’t reflect any love for the house or just highlights a scary lack of imagination.
Anyway, the naming ceremony. Makes it sound rather grand but in actual fact we had just got up, sat in our PJ’s having a brew when Deb said, ‘Shall we do the re-naming now?’ So we did. We weren’t removing the tile as it would have made a mess of the wall but we had a weatherproof tile sized sticker made with the title ‘Case én Trébol’ proudly displayed. This means ‘House in Clover’ which is to live in comfort and luxury. Not sure about the luxury but we’ll replace that with love and contentment.
Then there was the ‘Good’ surprise visit from our friends Claire and Tommy who have a finca in Xativa, a large town approx 20mins drive away. We met them when we were searching for villa rentals in the area as they rent theirs out during the season when they are at home in the Isle of Wight. We hit it off immediately and they have remained firm friends since. Impromptu boozy lunch followed. Sometimes they are the best ones.
We were expecting another ‘Good’ with a visit from John and Jo, who we know from the UK but also have a house in Denia, and they were in Spain at the same time. However, commitments and circumstances conspired against us this year but we hope we can have ‘boozy’ lunch sometime next year.
We invited Julian and Marijse for dinner on our penultimate evening, in part as a thank you for everything they had done for us but mainly because we enjoy their company. This was a ‘Good’ event most definitely and we look forward to many more.
The Bad
The garden has to take prime slot in the ‘Bad’ category. Four terraces partially collapsing and the loss of well established olive and fruit trees, it was appalling, devastating and really upsetting.
The retainng wall supporting the upper terrace was truly a feat of Spanish Engineering. How a 10ft high wall formed with, amongst other well known building materials including, a cot, a shopping trolley, a toilet pedestal and a Zimmer frame, ever held back the ravages of weather in the past is completely beyond me. The concrete bonding them all together must have been an extremely strong mix. Ok, there were some more traditional materials in there as well such as brick and stone which I’m sure contributed to the stability, but even so…. a toilet pedestal??
The Loss Assessor turned up while we were there, filled out his paperwork, took numerous photo’s and promised to report back in a few weeks. We’ve not heard anything yet but I’m not pushing it, there is devastation all around us and these guys are really up against it.
A very close second ‘Bad’ was the amount of mosquitos. Due to the amount of rain that fell and the subsequent amount of standing water that resulted meant there was a plague of ‘mozzies’, approximately 100 Gazillion of the little buggers, which was just in our garden.
If I counted up all the ‘mozzy’ bites I have received on all the holidays I have had throughout my nearly sixty years then factor up that number by 10, that is how many bites I received on my first day. Ok, ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but it was a hell of a lot. Tiger ‘mozzies’ during the day, Spanish ‘mozzies’ at dusk and dawn, meant that you were house bound unless you were wearing a Hazmat suit. Plus sides of wearing one of these is that you didn’t need expensive ‘mozzie’ spray or sun cream, but you don’t half sweat in them and they aren’t practical at social functions, unless it’s a fancy dress party.
We all do it on holiday, you get up in the morning and say, ‘Look, I’ve got another here and another here.’ We just gave up after 2 days, we had so many. For some strange reason my face was left untouched, I wouldn’t say I was ugly but when a ‘mozzie’ would rather bite the top of your bum crack rather than the juicy flesh of your face cheek you have to question your looks.
What other ‘Bad was there? Oh yes, the bed never showed up on the Monday. We waited in all day, changed our plans and just sat there by the pool feeding the local population of Tiger mosquitos. We also waited in the following day just in case there had been a mix up, still nothing. This was turning ‘Very Bad’ but I don’t have a category for that so we’ll leave it where it is for now.
Groundhog day on the Wednesday. Drive to bed store, kick up a fuss, they promise faithfully to deliver the bed on a certain day, in this case the Friday, and we leave having zero faith that they will fulfil their promise. Same old, same old.
Friday came, we waited in all day again, and then we got a call at 6.30pm, your bed is on its way. We looked at each other disbelievingly. Could it actually be arriving? Has Spanish logistics eventually got it right? We were so excited. Deb had to drive up and meet the van to guide the driver in and then, there he was, on our car park, lowering the tail lift and raising the rear shutter to reveal… a bed base. A bed base with no mattress. I looked around for the Candid Camera team who I was sure would be there to record and laugh at my reaction. I was so beside myself with lividity that I thought I was going to explode.
How hard can it be to deliver a bed. The bed base is in two parts and then there is a mattress, three components that you purchase, together, which form a useable item and that you would reasonably assume would be delivered together. Individually they are of no use whatsoever. Unbelievable.
The Ugly
What wasn’t fitting into the ‘Ugly’ category was my face. I eventually got a bite on my cheek. It was on the morning we left and I was locking the gate for the last time as we were on our way to the airport. I felt it on my face and I was actually rather pleased because I was bending down at the time to secure the padlock and my bum crack was on show and the ‘mozzie’ chose my face. Result.
‘Ugly’ would definitely be my description of the wording in my e-mail to the bed company. Julian also waded in with a strongly worded e-mail to the company describing his disbelief in the way we had been treated.
Whether it was my e-mail or Julians or a mixture of both I know not, but I do know that the mattress turned up on the Tuesday before we were due to leave on the Thursday, so we would at least get two nights in our new bed.
Still doesn’t make it into the ‘Good’ category as we had to change our plans to constantly wait in for a bed that was eventually delivered in installments. In future, for any large items we order, we are going to hire a van and pick it up ourselves. I can’t stand the stress.
The final ‘Ugly’ award has to go to the Tiger mosquito. The bane of our lives for two weeks and the reason we look like dot to dot pictures.
Conclusion
We missed out on a few trips that we had planned due to waiting around for deliveries, but on balance a very good two week break only marred by an ‘Act of God’, as insurance companies like to refer to things they want to avoid paying out for, poor logistics and ‘few’ insects. All part of the rich tapestry of life in Spain… and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Moving to Spain? Help! 