Off to Seville

Tuesday 8th October

After an hour or so on the main roads, we decided to take the scenic route over the high sierras, and quickly got lost, with the disappearance of direction signs. J eventually worked out where we were from a vantage point overlooking 3 villages (see pic), and we returned to civilisation, stopping off at Moron for a coffee break and visit to the ruined castle, as one does .….little to recommend it. Then off to Seville, arriving about 2 pm. We immediately noticed the difference in temperature ….much hotter than on the coastal plain.

Decided to park car on street as near to centre as possible and walk in to find hostal and find cheap long term parking….always a problem in large cities. Booked into the hostal Van Gogh, and found we had a room with a roof terrace with cathedral views ….all for 55€ per night !

Orientated ourselves by taking the 1 hour city bus tour which helped to locate key places to visit and plan next days sightseeing. Back to the car and quickly found a car park with no ticket machines or attendant …apparently free (confirmed by a bus driver….we thought), although some cars had 60c tickets inside….decided to leave the car there anyway, and treked to the hostal with luggage and chilled out on terrace with a glass of wine before dinner.

After a foul meal at a tourist restaurant near the cathedral, we explored the old city at night, with all the buildings illuminated to spectacular effect.

Latest Drain Solution ..??

Monday 8th October

J gave Ricardo til 10.30 before chasing him, and he came round within the hour with Tommy. After showing him the pics of the flood and discussing the options, we agreed a much larger drainage pipe was required (110 mm), and the patio and part of kitchen floor would have to be dug up. This was a guaranteed successful option rather than my fancy regulation system of water off the roof terrace.

As we are off to Seville for a couple of days, he would start tomorrow and hopefully finish it before we get back. Asked how much……no charge …it is fixing our mistake…..Popped over to Barrionuevo in Coin to get some kitchen tiles…15 € for 2 square metres , so still a cheap option.

After lunch at El Timon, bacalau and albondigas, cleared the kitchen ready for the next onslaught to the house. J then chilled out with a book on the roof terrace soaking up the sun.

We visited the vendor’s Solicitors in the evening to see if any more news. Indeed, there had been. The paperwork had been reviewed by the Judge in Coin the previous Friday (5th October) for the third time….apparently it had been rejected on 2 previous occasions, the first time for reasons unknown, and the second time because they got J’s name wrong ! It should be formally registered with the Land Registry in a month or so…….where have we heard that before ??.....but apparent progress.

Tuesday 9th October

Ricardo and Tommy arrived bright and early @ 8.00 am and almost immediately started digging up the patio and kitchen floor with their big drill, whilst J was having her breakfast. Decided on a quick getaway to Seville and were gone before 9 am.

Sunday in Malaga

Sunday 7th October

Another lovely day and we dressed semi-smartish and spent the day in Malaga promenading and seeing the sights.

Treading The Grapes & Visit...!!

The young girls in their traditional dresses carried the grapes in baskets to be deposited in the half barrel ready to be trampled.

The videos give a flavour of the event.

Arrived back at the house to find ‘Ruin’ man and his wife just padlocking the door of the ruin. Obviously the old grapevine works well in Spain and they had come round to investigate the drainage pipes. After a slightly heated / apologetic conversation in Spanish with the wife it was conveyed that these pipes were a temporary measure and would be gone by Monday!

Feria in Mountains

Saturday 6th October

Another lovely autumn day. Decided to get the car checked over at a Renault garage as knocking noises have not dimished…just in case it was a loose wheel….not so good on the mountain roads. He reckoned it was the suspension and advised that it was not dangerous as long as one did not exceed 80 kph….we think !!

Drove on to Tolox, a white village in the Sierra Nieves to look for a feria (fair) I had seen advertised, but no sign of it. The reason became apparent when stumbling on a small Tourist Information house….there was a feria in Torrox this weekend…..about 60 km away…….anyway it was lovely village and we had a coffee in a terraced bar overlooking the town.

There was also a feria in Yunquera, the next but one white village further up the mountain, so we decided to check it out, and spent a pleasant afternoon listening to music and watching their grape treading event…..a sort of harvest festival.

Metalica & Marbella

Friday 5th October

After breakfast, walked down to see Antonio the metalica man about the banister, who looked apologetic for not turning up Monday….”very busy”….he’s been taking English at the language school lin Fuengirola it transpired. He will come at 5 pm with his colleague from Sevilla.

This allowed us to drive down to Marbella to see J’s solicitor to collect her Spanish will…a pre-requisite for property ownership over here, but no news on the land registry….only seven years since she purchased the house, but hoping it will happen next year.

After coffee in Orange Square and a walk round the old town, had walk along the port and front, and discovered a very reasonable tapas bar at the end of the promenade, and enjoyed a medio racione of baqueronnes ….fried anchovies.

Back home to await Antonio , and he appeared on time with his “Friend” to measure up for the banister.

Car Problemos + Chase R

Thursday 4th October

Weather bright and sunny again. After the local market, we caught 2 buses to the airport and collected the car. However, because of the cock up from yesterday, they no longer had the clio/nova car booked, but were offered a 1.6 diesel at same price…sounded good !!. However, when we found it, it turned out to be a Peugeot Partner….a cross between a van and a car. Driving out of the airport, it had a decided “knocking” sound over each bump…..bit like wheel bearings that have gone.

Lunched at a rural menu del dia restaurant, plagued by flies, and driven inside by a light shower. Had a leisurely perambulate round town and a light tapas supper at Bar El Timon.

J phoned Ricardo about the flood despite his additional drainage pipes, but he couldn’t come around until Monday.

J Arrival

Wednesday 3rd October

The morning after the storm dawned bright and sunny, and spent most of day mopping up and drying the house before going to the airport to collect J. Got there in good time to pick up rental car, only to find that the offices were in the airport security zone…..only incoming passengers could access the rental car desks…..

Not to be thwarted, I found the “car return desk”, and he could have processed the booking ….unfortunately I had not brought my passport with me, so could not book car out anyway. Considered the options, including a return taxi ride back home to collect passport in 50 minutes…..rejected after negotiations with taxi driver @ 96 euro (should be 25-30 euro each way), and getting a taxi tonight, and picking car up tomorrow..

J arrived quickly through and decided to try and rent car in her name, but as she had not brought her driving license, this was a non starter . Caught a taxi (35 euro) back to house.

Big Storm....new Solution ??

Tuesday 2nd October

Ricardo phoned late afternoon, saying a big storm was approaching and he must come straight away to drill holes, rather than wait until tomorrow. He arrived with Tommy about half an hour later with a huge drill (50mm) ready to drill holes through next door to the ruin, rather than front of house. I said this wasn’t a good idea, in view of the problems we’d had with Ruin man and his wife. He said he could not drill holes at front because it was too thick and his drill was not long enough.

Against my better judgement, I let him drill 2 holes in the wall overlooking the roof of the ruin……as a temporary measure for the oncoming storm, with tubes jutting out over the roof.. He suggested I paint them white to avert attention from neighbours …..

Had a long chat with J later in evening, and she was NOT best pleased with solution, and we had a long “debate” about the “solution”. Returning from the locutorio about 11.30. I got caught in the start of the storm and got drenched. The rain continued to get heavier and heavier, the road soon became a torrent (see bottom picture), and the patio drain quickly flooded, (even though 6 of the 9 drainage holes were blocked with corks) and the house flooded, despite 100’s of litres held back on the roof terrace. The water on the terrace stretched back to the 2 new drain holes on the roof, but only a little trickled out.

Unfortunately, I did not have another two corks to block 2 the remaining 3 holes to fully test the theory……ie holding 1000 litres on the roof allowing the patio drain to cope….. Instead, I spent a couple of hours mopping up in the house, but gave up at about 3 am and went to bed.