Measure twice, cut once

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Paul

Our builder has given us a start date of the 25th October, strangely a tuesday, and after some discussion it has been decided that I will make the personal sacrifice and take a couple of months off work (major contracts allowing) and spend my time in Galicia.

Oh, the hardship!

The thinking behind this is for me to keep an eye on the barn development, be on hand to resolve any issues, do a little clearing and preparation work on the main house, and possibly dig a channel and a nice big hole in which to put the drainage and septic tank.

Whilst trying to focus on keeping a local government focussed IT business afloat in these times of financial armageddon, it is difficult not to be thinking about the exciting adventure ahead as I try to survive for a couple of months in a rural paradise, without my interpreter, on a very tight budget, and with absolutely no idea how a washing machine works!

There are so many things for me to think about;

        • Organising somewhere to stay
        • Booking the ferry once I am sure that I am going, but before the prices go up, again!
        • Trying to purchase a cheap, but reliable, left hand drive 4×4 to take (and possibly leave)
        • Looking to hit the peak of a fluctuating exchange rate market for the cash we’ve got to transfer out
        • Sorting the contracts out with the builder, who speaks no English
        • Liaising with the architect, who speaks no English
        • Arranging a trip for my brother and sister-in-law to come and visit
        • Working out where I am going to get wi-fi access to do a daily blog
        • When to book a flight home to Yorkshire (via Stansted) for Christmas
        • Considering whether it really is safe for me to be let loose with a chain saw (bearing in mind my less than perfect safety record with power tools)
        • Learning what the spanish is for ‘how does this washing machine work?’

So, the countdown to the 25th of October has begun, now I’d better get on with some real work.

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The force is strong with us

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Paul

We never travel alone.

When in Spain we always have ‘Yoda’ with us as ‘Our guide, he will be’. You’d be forgiven for thinking that we’re smuggling the reknowned wrinkly Jedi master with us to help us ‘use the Galician force’ but it is far more mundane than that, as Yoda is simply vocalising what our humble Tom-Tom satnav tells him.

But without any recent updates, Yoda is getting increasingly confused and frustrated. Confused and frustrated because the Spanish keep changing the road layouts. Yoda doesn’t appreciate that the changes are all for the better.

Despite a few hiccups, mostly thanks to contractors downing their tools over late payments, the construction of the missing pieces of motorway, to complete the coast hugging Autovia del Cantabrico, are progressing well.  The European Communities’ money is still good here, and very welcome.

The latest section of the motorway will hopefully be ready the next time that we visit, although we’ve been thinking that for the last twelve months. It is a stretch between El Manto and Salamir which comprises a couple of short tunnels and one long high bridge section. Once complete it will cut out a short detour through Rellayo, and shave about ten minutes off the journey.

Nice new bridge

There are currently three such detours, ranging from a few, to several kilometers. All serve to slow the journey across the top of Asturias and into Galicia. Combined, these add about thirty minutes to the journey but once all the dots have been joined with autovia we should be able to get from Asturias Airport to Ribadeo in about 45 minutes (90 km). Our estate agent, Ramon, claims to have already made this journey in forty-five minutes to catch a flight. Once the autovia is complete, travelling at his speed, we’d arrive before we set off!

Perhaps I’d better plug Yoda into my computers USB and let Tom-Tom HQ bring him up to speed!

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Time for an eviction

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Paul

Those of you who are following this blog will be aware of our sadness at learning of the demise of Carlos’ aged and motheaten donkey, and the subsequent frenzied hunt over our two acres to see whether he’d taken the liberty of burying it on our land.

Our understanding was that new laws in Spain meant that it was no longer legal to breed donkeys as working animals, and that they were becoming something of a protected species. It seems that either we were wrong, or Carlos has decided that the law really doesn’t apply to Galicia/Lugo/A Pontenova/himself, as last time we visit in July we were greeted by Carlos’ new donkey, lets call him ‘Eeyore’ for want of his real name, if he has one.

Carlos' 'new' donkey

He seems a much better natured beast than the now dearly departed, primarily because he doesn’t stamp his hoofs and snort whenever he sees me. He’ll happily take a fuss and a good scratch behind the ear and I dare say would have eaten the odd sugarlump or two if we’d have had any.

Carlos arrived soon after we had introduced ourselves to Eeyore. He saw our hire car and nearly skidded off his motorcycle in his hurry to get to us which could have been catastrophic as he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and was wearing no helmet. He was obviously perturbed by our surprise visit and tried explain about the new arrival, telling us proudly that his new steed was five years old and that he was good at keeping the grass to manageable levels on our land.

But we’ve some bad news for Eeyore, and Carlos for that matter, for we’ve appointed a builder and got ourselves a start date for the structural works to the barn.

This means that from tuesday the 25th October Eeyore will be barnless as our chosen contractor moves in to start stripping and replacing the roof, underpinning the south facing wall, digging out the floor, opening up some new windows, installing a first floor and putting in the beams that will eventually form the balcony.

We’d taken three quotes. One was astronomical from someone who obviously didn’t want the work, but the other two were very close and reasonable. After checking out some of the previous work of the builder who submitted the lowest price, we decided that he was the one for us and we are now in the process of signing and returning contracts and moving the money for materials over to our Spanish bank account.

There are lots of other things that we now need to put in place, and I’ll be blogging about those over the coming weeks including, ‘how do we break the bad news to Carlos?’.

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The alternative route to Galicia – part two

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Paul

Resuming our return to Bilbao airport and checking the satnav, we were either going to be very unfashionably, early or we needed to find another stop somewhere en-route to eat up a couple of hours. The weather was great but we’d already been to one beach that day, and out of the depths of her memory Amanda recollected that Santillana del Mar, just short of Santander, could be worth a visit.

The more she thought, the more she remembered, and mentioned words like; medieval, cave paintings, monasteries, cobbled streets and one of the most beautiful towns in Spain. It was sold to me, we re-tasked the satnav, Santillana del Mar would be our weeks final detour.

She was right.

We quickly found a space in the car park (small charge in July/August/September) by the side of a park, but ignoring the lure of the greenery we headed for the old town that we’d seen in front of us before we turned into the car park.

Entering the old town

Looking back from the top of the town

What a great little town, the camera was working overtime in the glorious sunshine, under the piercing blue sky. It’s not enormous, but there is delight at every turn. Gorgeous old buildings, small artisans shops, quaint bars and restaurants.

[mediaplayer src=’/sadfish/visitgalicia//wp-content/uploads/2011/08/santillana.wmv’ ]

We spent our time wandering the streets, buying speciality chocolate (from the fifty different flavours on offer) and window shopping.

We didn’t have time to visit the caves boasting prehistoric cave art, but perhaps that is for next time. Plans are already being made to make Santilla del Mar an overnight stop the next time we do the Bilbao route.

And the verdict on the Manchester-Bilbao option?

It is great at the UK end, forty-five minutes each way to the airport saving fuel and wear and tear on my car. The downside is the flight times and the long-long journey on the Spain side. It’s swings and roundabouts with very little to choose in it. I think that it will be a matter of checking flight prices, and whichever is the cheapest route will be the one that we select for that particular trip. 

 

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The alternative route to Galicia – part one

Posted on August 10, 2011 by admin

As soon as we heard that EasyJet were opening a new route from Manchester to Bilbao we were determined to give it a try at the first opportunity. So in July we did just that; a short journey to the airport in the UK (rather than the hike to Stansted), someone elses car in Spain, on empty roads, and with now marginally cheaper diesel. 

Landing just after seven in the evening, and with almost two further hours passing before we had the keys to our hire car, the journey to Galicia was a race in the gloom, and then darkness, to our overnight stop in Aviles. We did make a quick stop-off at a smashing little restaurant for beautifully cooked hake, but it was simply to get something to eat and drink. As it was we didn’t get to Aviles until well after midnight.

We were determined to make the journey back to Bilbao a more leisurely affair so allowed plenty of time as we set off on the friday morning ahead of our early evening return flight. We’d called at Pantaramundi, in Taramundi, and picked up a sandwich and traditional cod empanada to sustain us on the journey, and armed with water and biscuits and the remnants of our travelling sweets, we hit the motorway.

Making good time we decided to find ourselves a beach to eat our picnic and following local signs, pulled off the autovia at Playa La Franca in Ribadedeva.

Our picnic beach

It was a great decision. A beautiful wide beach surrounded by towering cliffs and fantastic clean sand. Parking was free, as it is almost everywhere outside the main Spanish cities, and we found a picnic table at which to consume our provisions.

Great view

The view was great, perfect to recharge the batteries and rest the right foot (with 170km still to go).

Super grub

And the empanada was superb.

But this wasn’t our only stopover, and on our second small detour we found an absolute gem – more next time, along with the verdict on the alternative route.

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