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Our cottage in Spain, problems and good experiences, part 2
Our cottage in Spain, problems and good experiences, part 2
It can be a little boring to read a text without any pictures, so I have found some old pics to show.
It has been funny for me to see them again.
Fourth time in Spain
As we had decided, we went to Spain in our summer holiday 1982. This time we weren't flying to Spain, but went in our car. In the month July the airfares were very high, and we also want to bring some furniture with us - still optimistic about the chance to finish the cottage. We had been campers for many years, it's a cheap way to see the world, so we brought a small tent with us too. We also liked to see other parts of Spain, and this was a good way to do it. But it's not a short trip to Spain, from home in DK to the lot there is nearly 3.300 km, so we need more than one stop. The first stop was in France, and the next in the northern Spain, where they have some fantastic beautiful campgrounds with a lot of facilities. Son loved to stay there, and we stayed for 2 nights. One stop more before we arrived to the town near our cottage.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 6546"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-MO30SU ... t.jpg"></a>
camping on our way to Spain
Manulo and finding a place to stay
We contacted Manulo. The house was still unfinished, and he allowed us to store our furniture in his cellar. Fine, it wasn't so nice to drive around with a table and other furniture on the roof!! There was no campground nearby, but the company, which sold us the lot, had told us that a Danish woman was living in the town, and we could stay with her. We found this woman and got a room in her house. It was a good idea, she could introduce us to some other Danes living in Spain permanently, and in that way we could start to find out, if someone had a good idea about what to do.
The next day after our arrival we of course- very exited - went up to have a look at the cottage.
OH,NO! They have built it from the first drawing, not the drawing with the extra 10 square meters!!
A new contact to Manulo. No problems, we will correct it!
Moving
The woman we stayed with was a funny person, and in some way I liked her. But after a few days in her house I was aware that we had to find another place to stay, or my vacation would be spoiled. Why? One reason was that she didn't have the same attitude to hygiene in a kitchen as me, second, it seems as if she disliked son, told me that we spoiled him. And it was right that we also showed consideration for his wishes planning the day, but he was such a sweet boy although. (I know that moms always think that their children are wonders, but I have seen many times how people normally felt for him straightaway). The third reason, which perhaps was the one which hit the nail on the head: she was much, much more interested in hubby than in son and me!!. That was of course flattering for hubby, but he agreed with me. We had to do something without risking offending her, but what? The solution was that we told her that we would move up to our cottage, because it would be easier to solve the problems from there, perhaps someone needed to have a look at it.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 2466"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-L_IzDS ... 1.jpg"></a>
son "talking" with Spanish children in the town - before we moved
A new "campground"
So we moved. Hubby placed our tent in our future sleeping room and used some nails to fasten it with. All our camping equipment was placed in the dining room, and hubby made a very nice "bathroom" outside on the hill, where we could sit and enjoy the view - until we found out that it was close to the track, people used, when they went up to their fincas higher up! So the following days we made our visits in the "bathroom" as short as possible!
We liked to camp in our cottage. We had shadow inside, and sunshine outside. We could make food on our camping gaz or on the grill, and we tapped water from a public place in the town. We said hello to the man with the goats, or as you say in Spanish "hola", and we said hola to the farmers, who passed by, we were invited to visit a Spanish man, who had his finca nearby, and where some of the chairs were old car seats, yes, it was just perfect! The only important thing, which was missing, was that we haven't got, what we came for - a building license. But then we met some persons, who knew another person, who knew the mayor. So all of a sudden we managed to have a meeting arranged with the mayor. It was the final call- we had to leave the day after the meeting.
color=blue]fantastic facilities in the campground - here the "bathroom"
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 5234"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-Nj2nFV ... t.jpg"></a>
and the nice dinner place
[
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 0434"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-MHM7Kl ... t.jpg"></a>
Party
The night before the meeting we had invited some of our new friends (including the woman we have stayed with) to dinner on the building site - our cottage. It was such a funny evening. We served grilled sardines and meat together with a salad buffet. And we had enough to drink, so it was very late, before the guests left. Hubby had to drive some of them back to town, so son and I were alone on our mountaintop. Suddenly I heard a noise outside the cottage, and I have to say- got afraid - knowing we were alone, no one could defend us. I grabbed son and a flashlight, and we were standing pressed up in a corner as quiet as mice waiting for what happened. But then a cat came in and got very frightened seeing us! I can still laugh of the experience, it could have been fun, if we have had a pic of that situation
.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 9266"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-Pm9DDU ... r.jpg"></a>
son helps father with the grilled sardines
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 2994"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-MXy1RW ... t.jpg"></a>
buffet
The meeting in the town hall
We were so exited, when we came to the town hall, would we succeed in getting a building license? Hubby and I were placed before the mayors writing table, and son was placed in a corner opposite us. In addition to the mayor there were three other men, one of them was an architect, who could speak a little English. It was a strange meeting, we could only say a few words in Spanish and had to look in the dictionary many times, the mayor couldn't speak neither English nor German, so the architect had to help now and again. We tried to explain that we were a little family, who loved Spain, how unhappy we were about not to being allowed to build, and that we only would use the cottage for our vacations. It didn't interest the mayor. His purpose with the meeting was to get information about the company, who had sold us the lot and get information about Manulo. He wanted to see our contract and told us a lot of things very fast. We didn't understand much of it.
It was very hot in the office, and a fan standing on his table was running. He gesticulated much during his speak, and suddenly he got his thumb in the fan, and a stream of blood began to ran. The three other men sprang up and began to help, and after a while he was bandaged and the meeting could continue. I was not feeling well, the party the night before had left its mark, it was hot, and it was not the best to see blood in such a situation. Also I was afraid that the episode would leave him grumpy. And after that I only heard him say no and no and no and realized that we wouldn't get, what we wanted. I was SO disappointed, all our efforts were wasted! All this meant that I couldn't prevent that the tears began to run. I tried to hide it, but son saw it, left his chair, went over to me and put his arm around me to comfort me.
This situation was too much for the four men!
Suddenly the tone was changed, and the result of the meeting was that they told us that they couldn't give us a building license, it was against the rules, but they would tell the police that they shouldn't stop it.
We were of course very, very happy. Both because we loved the place more and more, but of course also because we then got what we have paid for and didn't loose any money
.
So sometimes we are thinking back on how we ended up having a cottage in Spain - all these coincidences
- if I haven't had the time to read the
newspaper more intense as usual
- if hubby hadn't catch a cold
- if we haven't been there when the other
couple should look at a lot
- if we haven't met a man, who knew the mayor
- if I haven't start crying to the meeting
we wouldn't have had a cottage today. The rules are still the same. You need 25.000 squares
meters to get a building licence.
The following years
The problem with the building licence was not the only one we got. I could write a book,
if I should tell about all our experiences. I can mention some of them:
The company stopped payments and later stopped all its activities. But luckily the owner had some money left and worked for that people should have their deed. So after 4 years waiting we got ours.
It was the wrong drawing the cottage was built from, it was corrected, but for many years the walls cracked between the old and the new building. But at last hubby succeeded in finding the right way to repair it.
In 1983 the house was still not finished, and we went to Spain again and moved into the house
while the builders still were working. In that way we prevent many mistakes, and it was so funny to see the old fashioned methods they used.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 8066"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiS-4W0 ... s.jpg"></a>
the unfinished house
In 1984 we were told that the cottage finally was finished, but when we arrived, we could see that there were many things, which weren't done properly, too example they haven't made space enough for the gas cooker. It took a long time to correct that.
The cottage is built directly on the ground, which means that the damp goes up in the floor and the walls. So every time we come, we can see that our quarry tiles dissolve. And every time we have to paint some of the walls. We have tried different methods of painting, and it's better now, but the problem hasn't been solved. One day we have to remove the floor and start all over again.
Some years, if it had been a rain full winter, everything has been filled with mug, the walls and the ceilings have been black, and we have had to paint all over. Today we have some windows open the whole year, which means that the cottage instead is filled with dust. But we pack everything in plastic boxes before we leave, and we prefer dust for mug.
Altogether there have been a lot of things, which needed to be repaired or corrected. But it was very cheap to have it built, so of course we cannot compare with a Danish house.
And we also have had a problem, which now amuse us thinking of the situation. Our main water supply is rainwater collected in an 8000 litres water deposit underneath the terrace, so we need a pump to get the water up. One year we couldn't pump it up. Hubby tried everything, nothing to do. "There must be a problem inside the water deposit", he said, "I had to dive down and see". I was not happy with that, but I washed him carefully, he took his snorkel on and swam to the opposite corner of the opening, while I was looking - very nervous. There was only a very little free space with air up to the ceiling. What should I do, if something happened? But he found and solved the problem.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 0386"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiRHfHP ... l.jpg"></a>
hubby as deposit diver
We also learned a Spanish word, we never forget: "trabajunta" (I don't know how to spell it, can't find it in the dictionary, but so it was pronounced). "Trabajunta" means a doorframe. Why did we need to know this word? Because we for some years had problems with termites. As the carpenter told us, when we for the third or fourth time came to buy new doorframes "the termites are my best friends". But at last hubby succeeded in finding a solution for this problem too.
Then we suddenly got neighbours. 4 big houses with swimming pools were built behind us, and our small cottage now looked as the servant's house (which we call it now for fun). At first we were not very happy seeing these houses. We had been alone on our mountaintop, and now we had to share with others. The worst was that one of the houses was built very close to ours, actually a small part of it is placed on our lot. The problem was that some years we only visited Spain in July, so we were not able to protest, before it was too late.
But today we are happy that we have neighbours. That solved our perhaps biggest problem:
Break-in
Until we got neighbours, we have had 8 break-in. EIGHT! The first one in 1985 was the worst. We had just finished the furnishing of the cottage, when we got the message that most of it was stolen.
Luckily some big things were left including our table, which is hubby's grandparent's old table.
We had found it in the hen house at his uncle, renovated it, and brought it to Spain (regrettably the thieves had amused themselves with making letters in it, which still is to see). But what made us really unhappy was that they had stolen or destroyed our guest book, which also was a diary about our visits in Spain. So I had to reconstruct what has happened the first years as good as possible, but I could of course not reconstruct what people had written in it. Now we always take the guest book with us home. Also some wood bookcases we have had with us from DK were stolen. The special thing with these bookcases was that it was old boxes, which had been used to make or form cheese in. Hubby had spent much time renovating them, and we are sure that the only thing, they would be used till in Spain, was to burn.
Since we had some bigger or smaller break-in, sometimes it was our gas heater, other times some
tools, many times all the flatware, plates and pots. We never forget the evening, we arrived very late and very hungry just to find out that all the flatware and all the plates were disappeared. Luckily hubby has a knife we could use to cut bread and meat with, so we managed to have something to eat. Another time some of our duvets were away, so son had to sleep together with us. And there had been mice in the one duvet, which was left. What a smell!! I tried to spray the duvet with a deodorant, but the mixed smell was awful too.
We didn't have electricity in the house before in 1989, but hubby had borrowed a generator and had made installations for 12 volts ready to change. But in one of the break- in all the contacts were ripped out of the wall. We think they liked the Danish quality!
Why didn't we run screaming away?
Sometimes we, or I have to say mostly me, were ready to give up and try to sell. When we arrived to a very dirty house, and we perhaps have had a break-in, I thought that it was foolish to have a vacation like that. But after some days in Spain I couldn't give up. There were also a lot of positive things, which compensated for the negative things.
But when someone at that time asked me, how it was to have a cottage in Spain, I always answered that you need three things, to be an optimist, have a sense of humour, and as the most important thing have a handyman in the house, who likes to use his abilities.
The positive things:
If you need sunshine, you know which months you are sure to have it.
It's so wonderful to sit on the terrace in the evening, listening to the cicadas, looking at the sea trying to count how many fishermen there is out fishing this night, or admiring the starry sky, which is different from home. The mornings are wonderful too, when the sun rises behind the mountains.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 2210"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiSFbkG ... g.jpg"></a>
sunrise
We love to go to our favourite beach restaurant eating delicious fish and salad, drinking our Spanish "painkiller", listening to the waves, relaxing in the sun.
We have met so many nice and special people. Some of them are still our very good friends.
And I can't resist telling about a party, we were invited too. We met people of different nationalities. The Spanish men made the food - goats - in a big pan over a fire, and it tasted really good. None was drunk, but a Spanish elderly woman was in high spirits and began to dance. She wore a skirt with the length to the knee, knee-high socks and slippers. What a sight! We love such episodes. Another funny thing to the party was that some English women, we didn't know, raved about son, how impressed they were hearing him speak English, how polite he was, and how nice he talked to his mom. Later we were told that the one of them was the mother to Guy Ritchie- you know Madonna's husband, and that Guy didn't seemed as one, who was polite and nice to his mother. So that could perhaps explain the raving.
Another positive thing is that we have seen so many beautiful places in Spain. In many years we were driving to Spain in the summer holiday, and normally we used the opportunity to see different places every year, We always had a stop south of Barcelona in Tarragona, where you can find the most beautiful beaches and campgrounds. We have seen Costa Brava, San Sebastian, Granada etc., and we have been in Gibraltar, Portugal and Andorra on our way home. Now the flight tickets in July are cheaper, so for 2 people it's not more expensive to fly, so that's what we do today. We rent a car in the airport and very often we use a day or two to drive to places, we haven't seen before. We still miss to visit some of the big cities as Madrid, Cordoba and Seville, have only been in Seville to Expo 92, but it's simply to hot in the summertime. But one day we will go.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 8514"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiUsDl5 ... 2.jpg"></a>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 7074"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiTz5Qf ... j.jpg"></a>
as you can see: our money wasn't spent on hotels or restaurants
And during the years the life has been much easier. We have made some smaller improvements and have had some bigger:
we now have electricity - among other things it's better to have an electric water pump
we now have a big refrigerator, further we only had a small gas refrigerator, but now we can make a lot of ice to the drinks! Very important!
we haven't any termites, break-in or mice, and we have nice neighbours, who look after the house - together with their dogs
and as the latest big improvement. We have built an extension to the house, a new water deposit in the ground, which can contain 50.000 litres of rainwater, there is a garage above and a roof terrace on the top. We are especially happy for the garage. Nice and big. Here I can have a washing machine, hubby can have all his tools, and we can have our garden tools, stocks of wine and beer and other important things.
But now it must be the time to end this part. In the next part I will tell a little more about the cottage and show you a lot of pics. I will also tell about and show pics of the town, the beaches, the people
etc., and it's my plan that the latest part will be a TR of the trip this year, including many "foodporn" pics and also pics from the evening Spain won the European championship in football (=soccer).
Linne
It has been funny for me to see them again.
Fourth time in Spain
As we had decided, we went to Spain in our summer holiday 1982. This time we weren't flying to Spain, but went in our car. In the month July the airfares were very high, and we also want to bring some furniture with us - still optimistic about the chance to finish the cottage. We had been campers for many years, it's a cheap way to see the world, so we brought a small tent with us too. We also liked to see other parts of Spain, and this was a good way to do it. But it's not a short trip to Spain, from home in DK to the lot there is nearly 3.300 km, so we need more than one stop. The first stop was in France, and the next in the northern Spain, where they have some fantastic beautiful campgrounds with a lot of facilities. Son loved to stay there, and we stayed for 2 nights. One stop more before we arrived to the town near our cottage.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 6546"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-MO30SU ... t.jpg"></a>
camping on our way to Spain
Manulo and finding a place to stay
We contacted Manulo. The house was still unfinished, and he allowed us to store our furniture in his cellar. Fine, it wasn't so nice to drive around with a table and other furniture on the roof!! There was no campground nearby, but the company, which sold us the lot, had told us that a Danish woman was living in the town, and we could stay with her. We found this woman and got a room in her house. It was a good idea, she could introduce us to some other Danes living in Spain permanently, and in that way we could start to find out, if someone had a good idea about what to do.
The next day after our arrival we of course- very exited - went up to have a look at the cottage.
OH,NO! They have built it from the first drawing, not the drawing with the extra 10 square meters!!
A new contact to Manulo. No problems, we will correct it!
Moving
The woman we stayed with was a funny person, and in some way I liked her. But after a few days in her house I was aware that we had to find another place to stay, or my vacation would be spoiled. Why? One reason was that she didn't have the same attitude to hygiene in a kitchen as me, second, it seems as if she disliked son, told me that we spoiled him. And it was right that we also showed consideration for his wishes planning the day, but he was such a sweet boy although. (I know that moms always think that their children are wonders, but I have seen many times how people normally felt for him straightaway). The third reason, which perhaps was the one which hit the nail on the head: she was much, much more interested in hubby than in son and me!!. That was of course flattering for hubby, but he agreed with me. We had to do something without risking offending her, but what? The solution was that we told her that we would move up to our cottage, because it would be easier to solve the problems from there, perhaps someone needed to have a look at it.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 2466"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-L_IzDS ... 1.jpg"></a>
son "talking" with Spanish children in the town - before we moved
A new "campground"
So we moved. Hubby placed our tent in our future sleeping room and used some nails to fasten it with. All our camping equipment was placed in the dining room, and hubby made a very nice "bathroom" outside on the hill, where we could sit and enjoy the view - until we found out that it was close to the track, people used, when they went up to their fincas higher up! So the following days we made our visits in the "bathroom" as short as possible!
We liked to camp in our cottage. We had shadow inside, and sunshine outside. We could make food on our camping gaz or on the grill, and we tapped water from a public place in the town. We said hello to the man with the goats, or as you say in Spanish "hola", and we said hola to the farmers, who passed by, we were invited to visit a Spanish man, who had his finca nearby, and where some of the chairs were old car seats, yes, it was just perfect! The only important thing, which was missing, was that we haven't got, what we came for - a building license. But then we met some persons, who knew another person, who knew the mayor. So all of a sudden we managed to have a meeting arranged with the mayor. It was the final call- we had to leave the day after the meeting.
color=blue]fantastic facilities in the campground - here the "bathroom"
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 5234"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-Nj2nFV ... t.jpg"></a>
and the nice dinner place
[
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 0434"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-MHM7Kl ... t.jpg"></a>
Party
The night before the meeting we had invited some of our new friends (including the woman we have stayed with) to dinner on the building site - our cottage. It was such a funny evening. We served grilled sardines and meat together with a salad buffet. And we had enough to drink, so it was very late, before the guests left. Hubby had to drive some of them back to town, so son and I were alone on our mountaintop. Suddenly I heard a noise outside the cottage, and I have to say- got afraid - knowing we were alone, no one could defend us. I grabbed son and a flashlight, and we were standing pressed up in a corner as quiet as mice waiting for what happened. But then a cat came in and got very frightened seeing us! I can still laugh of the experience, it could have been fun, if we have had a pic of that situation
.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 9266"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-Pm9DDU ... r.jpg"></a>
son helps father with the grilled sardines
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 2994"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SH-MXy1RW ... t.jpg"></a>
buffet
The meeting in the town hall
We were so exited, when we came to the town hall, would we succeed in getting a building license? Hubby and I were placed before the mayors writing table, and son was placed in a corner opposite us. In addition to the mayor there were three other men, one of them was an architect, who could speak a little English. It was a strange meeting, we could only say a few words in Spanish and had to look in the dictionary many times, the mayor couldn't speak neither English nor German, so the architect had to help now and again. We tried to explain that we were a little family, who loved Spain, how unhappy we were about not to being allowed to build, and that we only would use the cottage for our vacations. It didn't interest the mayor. His purpose with the meeting was to get information about the company, who had sold us the lot and get information about Manulo. He wanted to see our contract and told us a lot of things very fast. We didn't understand much of it.
It was very hot in the office, and a fan standing on his table was running. He gesticulated much during his speak, and suddenly he got his thumb in the fan, and a stream of blood began to ran. The three other men sprang up and began to help, and after a while he was bandaged and the meeting could continue. I was not feeling well, the party the night before had left its mark, it was hot, and it was not the best to see blood in such a situation. Also I was afraid that the episode would leave him grumpy. And after that I only heard him say no and no and no and realized that we wouldn't get, what we wanted. I was SO disappointed, all our efforts were wasted! All this meant that I couldn't prevent that the tears began to run. I tried to hide it, but son saw it, left his chair, went over to me and put his arm around me to comfort me.
This situation was too much for the four men!
Suddenly the tone was changed, and the result of the meeting was that they told us that they couldn't give us a building license, it was against the rules, but they would tell the police that they shouldn't stop it.
We were of course very, very happy. Both because we loved the place more and more, but of course also because we then got what we have paid for and didn't loose any money
.So sometimes we are thinking back on how we ended up having a cottage in Spain - all these coincidences
- if I haven't had the time to read the
newspaper more intense as usual
- if hubby hadn't catch a cold
- if we haven't been there when the other
couple should look at a lot
- if we haven't met a man, who knew the mayor
- if I haven't start crying to the meeting
we wouldn't have had a cottage today. The rules are still the same. You need 25.000 squares
meters to get a building licence.
The following years
The problem with the building licence was not the only one we got. I could write a book,
if I should tell about all our experiences. I can mention some of them:
The company stopped payments and later stopped all its activities. But luckily the owner had some money left and worked for that people should have their deed. So after 4 years waiting we got ours.
It was the wrong drawing the cottage was built from, it was corrected, but for many years the walls cracked between the old and the new building. But at last hubby succeeded in finding the right way to repair it.
In 1983 the house was still not finished, and we went to Spain again and moved into the house
while the builders still were working. In that way we prevent many mistakes, and it was so funny to see the old fashioned methods they used.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 8066"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiS-4W0 ... s.jpg"></a>
the unfinished house
In 1984 we were told that the cottage finally was finished, but when we arrived, we could see that there were many things, which weren't done properly, too example they haven't made space enough for the gas cooker. It took a long time to correct that.
The cottage is built directly on the ground, which means that the damp goes up in the floor and the walls. So every time we come, we can see that our quarry tiles dissolve. And every time we have to paint some of the walls. We have tried different methods of painting, and it's better now, but the problem hasn't been solved. One day we have to remove the floor and start all over again.
Some years, if it had been a rain full winter, everything has been filled with mug, the walls and the ceilings have been black, and we have had to paint all over. Today we have some windows open the whole year, which means that the cottage instead is filled with dust. But we pack everything in plastic boxes before we leave, and we prefer dust for mug.
Altogether there have been a lot of things, which needed to be repaired or corrected. But it was very cheap to have it built, so of course we cannot compare with a Danish house.
And we also have had a problem, which now amuse us thinking of the situation. Our main water supply is rainwater collected in an 8000 litres water deposit underneath the terrace, so we need a pump to get the water up. One year we couldn't pump it up. Hubby tried everything, nothing to do. "There must be a problem inside the water deposit", he said, "I had to dive down and see". I was not happy with that, but I washed him carefully, he took his snorkel on and swam to the opposite corner of the opening, while I was looking - very nervous. There was only a very little free space with air up to the ceiling. What should I do, if something happened? But he found and solved the problem.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 0386"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiRHfHP ... l.jpg"></a>
hubby as deposit diver
We also learned a Spanish word, we never forget: "trabajunta" (I don't know how to spell it, can't find it in the dictionary, but so it was pronounced). "Trabajunta" means a doorframe. Why did we need to know this word? Because we for some years had problems with termites. As the carpenter told us, when we for the third or fourth time came to buy new doorframes "the termites are my best friends". But at last hubby succeeded in finding a solution for this problem too.
Then we suddenly got neighbours. 4 big houses with swimming pools were built behind us, and our small cottage now looked as the servant's house (which we call it now for fun). At first we were not very happy seeing these houses. We had been alone on our mountaintop, and now we had to share with others. The worst was that one of the houses was built very close to ours, actually a small part of it is placed on our lot. The problem was that some years we only visited Spain in July, so we were not able to protest, before it was too late.
But today we are happy that we have neighbours. That solved our perhaps biggest problem:
Break-in
Until we got neighbours, we have had 8 break-in. EIGHT! The first one in 1985 was the worst. We had just finished the furnishing of the cottage, when we got the message that most of it was stolen.
Luckily some big things were left including our table, which is hubby's grandparent's old table.
We had found it in the hen house at his uncle, renovated it, and brought it to Spain (regrettably the thieves had amused themselves with making letters in it, which still is to see). But what made us really unhappy was that they had stolen or destroyed our guest book, which also was a diary about our visits in Spain. So I had to reconstruct what has happened the first years as good as possible, but I could of course not reconstruct what people had written in it. Now we always take the guest book with us home. Also some wood bookcases we have had with us from DK were stolen. The special thing with these bookcases was that it was old boxes, which had been used to make or form cheese in. Hubby had spent much time renovating them, and we are sure that the only thing, they would be used till in Spain, was to burn.
Since we had some bigger or smaller break-in, sometimes it was our gas heater, other times some
tools, many times all the flatware, plates and pots. We never forget the evening, we arrived very late and very hungry just to find out that all the flatware and all the plates were disappeared. Luckily hubby has a knife we could use to cut bread and meat with, so we managed to have something to eat. Another time some of our duvets were away, so son had to sleep together with us. And there had been mice in the one duvet, which was left. What a smell!! I tried to spray the duvet with a deodorant, but the mixed smell was awful too.
We didn't have electricity in the house before in 1989, but hubby had borrowed a generator and had made installations for 12 volts ready to change. But in one of the break- in all the contacts were ripped out of the wall. We think they liked the Danish quality!
Why didn't we run screaming away?
Sometimes we, or I have to say mostly me, were ready to give up and try to sell. When we arrived to a very dirty house, and we perhaps have had a break-in, I thought that it was foolish to have a vacation like that. But after some days in Spain I couldn't give up. There were also a lot of positive things, which compensated for the negative things.
But when someone at that time asked me, how it was to have a cottage in Spain, I always answered that you need three things, to be an optimist, have a sense of humour, and as the most important thing have a handyman in the house, who likes to use his abilities.
The positive things:
If you need sunshine, you know which months you are sure to have it.
It's so wonderful to sit on the terrace in the evening, listening to the cicadas, looking at the sea trying to count how many fishermen there is out fishing this night, or admiring the starry sky, which is different from home. The mornings are wonderful too, when the sun rises behind the mountains.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 2210"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiSFbkG ... g.jpg"></a>
sunrise
We love to go to our favourite beach restaurant eating delicious fish and salad, drinking our Spanish "painkiller", listening to the waves, relaxing in the sun.
We have met so many nice and special people. Some of them are still our very good friends.
And I can't resist telling about a party, we were invited too. We met people of different nationalities. The Spanish men made the food - goats - in a big pan over a fire, and it tasted really good. None was drunk, but a Spanish elderly woman was in high spirits and began to dance. She wore a skirt with the length to the knee, knee-high socks and slippers. What a sight! We love such episodes. Another funny thing to the party was that some English women, we didn't know, raved about son, how impressed they were hearing him speak English, how polite he was, and how nice he talked to his mom. Later we were told that the one of them was the mother to Guy Ritchie- you know Madonna's husband, and that Guy didn't seemed as one, who was polite and nice to his mother. So that could perhaps explain the raving.
Another positive thing is that we have seen so many beautiful places in Spain. In many years we were driving to Spain in the summer holiday, and normally we used the opportunity to see different places every year, We always had a stop south of Barcelona in Tarragona, where you can find the most beautiful beaches and campgrounds. We have seen Costa Brava, San Sebastian, Granada etc., and we have been in Gibraltar, Portugal and Andorra on our way home. Now the flight tickets in July are cheaper, so for 2 people it's not more expensive to fly, so that's what we do today. We rent a car in the airport and very often we use a day or two to drive to places, we haven't seen before. We still miss to visit some of the big cities as Madrid, Cordoba and Seville, have only been in Seville to Expo 92, but it's simply to hot in the summertime. But one day we will go.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 8514"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiUsDl5 ... 2.jpg"></a>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.dk/benthe44/Gam ... 7074"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/benthe44/SISiTz5Qf ... j.jpg"></a>
as you can see: our money wasn't spent on hotels or restaurants
And during the years the life has been much easier. We have made some smaller improvements and have had some bigger:
we now have electricity - among other things it's better to have an electric water pump
we now have a big refrigerator, further we only had a small gas refrigerator, but now we can make a lot of ice to the drinks! Very important!
we haven't any termites, break-in or mice, and we have nice neighbours, who look after the house - together with their dogs
and as the latest big improvement. We have built an extension to the house, a new water deposit in the ground, which can contain 50.000 litres of rainwater, there is a garage above and a roof terrace on the top. We are especially happy for the garage. Nice and big. Here I can have a washing machine, hubby can have all his tools, and we can have our garden tools, stocks of wine and beer and other important things.
But now it must be the time to end this part. In the next part I will tell a little more about the cottage and show you a lot of pics. I will also tell about and show pics of the town, the beaches, the people
etc., and it's my plan that the latest part will be a TR of the trip this year, including many "foodporn" pics and also pics from the evening Spain won the European championship in football (=soccer).
Linne
Linne, thank you so much for sharing this story with us. I am really enjoying reading about your adventures, and seeing your old photos. You must have been very resiliant to continue with this project! I think I would have torn my hair out.
The story about how you won the mayor over with your tears was priceless!
The story about how you won the mayor over with your tears was priceless!
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Awesome stories Linne...great reading...
Cheers to you, thanks.
Cheers to you, thanks.
STJ Villa Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
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Rachelle & Joe
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:23 pm
- Location: ohio
linnes story
Wow ! this is the first time i've read off topic & I could not of been happier as to stumble upon your family's journey to spain ! I could not stop reading !As your story unfolded it made me want more !!! Love the photo's ! keep them coming & thanks for sharing & i hope u r making copies of your writngs your son will appreciate them some day ! if he has'nt already !
