Monday 8th April 2013

An absolute scorcher of a day, and not being on a mountain was so much warmer and less wind.  Las Nuevas was so gorgeous a retreat and 500m above sea level we found out.  A perfect place to unwind and get away from it all.

Jane and co were awake to say farewell which was nice, and our journey begins!

Arrived at Rosana's office 5 minutes late, trying to find a parking space, and then the kids needed the toilet - typical!

Well we left the Estate Agents - WITH THE KEYS! - YEH!!  Such happy bunnies. 

Corrine had even drawn a Congratulations on getting the house Mummy and Daddy card.  I think she was relieved?!  Corrine had got upset a few times in the last week, wondering when we would get a house.

Time for a quick picnic in the car as La Carlota was only 20mins away but the kids were already hungry,  so we stopped on the way to eat and take stock.

Got to the house and started to unpack the car.  The kids were excited that they had somewhere to put their things.

It was really nice to put the keys in the door and enter our new home for the next 1-3 years.  Kids obviously ran straight to claim their rooms!
It was so more relaxing to have our space by putting our belongings away knowing that we wouldn’t need to pack them back up again.  And the poor little car will be get a clean inside and out.  I know being a Citroen we really slated it a lot, being a jam jar car, but it got us hear – not in style – but hey.  The extra work and a full service we did on the car and the engine helped it perform beyond it’s normal work load!

However,  I hope it’s not listening – but I’ve already got my eye on a Mitsubish Montero (Shogan in Spanish terms) which is two tone, bottom third is black and the rest is white with chrome edgings and leather seats.  However, can’t really justify the fuel costs yet even though it was a diesel.
The car is empty so now it’s time fooooor – Let’s all sing together.  Mercadona! Mercadona!  Maybe I could download the tune from the internet and upload to Facebook for you all to enjoy!  

It was also nice to do a food shop knowing that you have the room to put it all away.  My little munchers seem to eat the same as me.  And to the people that know me, I do like my food!  I just do not know where they put it all.

But I am now a very proud mummy having a marble shelved pantry!  Yes girls, I know.  I am easily pleased but it makes me smile!

put put their things.

Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th April 2013

Time to sort out all the stuff we brought and see if we can get it back in the car.  And typical, our two last days were scorchers,  the kids had a little paddle in the pool - albiet very chilly, and came out chattering with blue lips! 

Well we did manage to get everything back in the car, but will the roof box stay on!!

The kids had a busy day helping Jane do some weeding alongside bouts of playing and spending time with the other children.

Early night for everyone though,  We would have to leave at 7am to allow for slower driving due to the weight of the box. 

I wonder what tomorrow will bring - may have to hotel it for a couple of days and re group if everything goes down the swanny..........

Friday 5th April 2013

Well I don't know about Paul but I awoke with a horrible feeling in my gut.  What happens if we can't rent the house, we were due to leave Las Nuevas today.  But Jane was really good and as there was no one booked for the week said we could stay for an extra few days.  Still what was going to happen.

Anyway we sent an email explaining the situation to the landlord's Irish brother-inlaw, asking to meet to see if there was anything else we could do to give him peace of mind. We had just sent the email when I received and email from the second bank I contacted and after a couple of emails back confirming a few things we got a letter.  Wasn't exactly every word that the landlord wanted, but it was something.

So this wonderful Bank Manager, although really busy,  took the time to assess a situation and give me personal customer service.  He even faxed the letter to the Estate Agents for me.  within minutes we had an appointment to sign the contract on Monday 8th April at 11am.

Relieved we definitely were, but still unsure because of how easy it is to get lost in translation, whether we would get the keys and move in then??

Thursday 4th April 2013

Up bright eyed (or shall we say sleepy eyed) and bushy tailed ready for the challenge ahead.  Paul and I discussed what we need and plan of action.  So I was on the phone to my bank,  the first call I made the man in the call centre advised that I would have to write a letter whilst I was in Spain, post it together with a cheque to pay for the fee.  This would then be received by a central processing department that would take upto 5 days and then it would be posted to a UK address!  Of which was absolutely no good to me, bearing in mind the time constraints.  Well I wasn't happy with that, so decided to go through and call a different number, which I then got through to the right department (Status Enquiries) after speaking to only one person - that's good I thought somebody who was trying to help, instead of reading the standard script!.  Well it started off good, but they couldn't help me either, he did make a suggestion of how we could cut down the time by sending the letter by courier, however he said that any request would have to come from the landlord direct, then a letter of authority and expressing the urgency, if I called a few days after sending via courier they might be able to fax.  Well it was better than nothing - so I got some courier prices.

I know there are security issues and data protection but there surely must be another way.  We can't all be pigeon holed - what ever happened to personal customer service, not everybodies circumstances are the same.

Well you've guessed it, I wasn't going to be pigeoned holed.  So I called my other bank, and asked to be put through to the branch where I opened the Account.  And asked for the Branch Manager - Yeh brave I know.  Anyway I got through to him!  Cutting a long story short I was able to send him and email with some security info so he knew it was coming from me.  But the man had said he was busy and sounded it, so I didn't know even if he would help me.

I tried the same thing going back and calling the bank I spoke to earlier - that was harder to get to the Manager - but I insisted, politely of course, and left a message with the Assistant.  Well she read my Account and noticed I had called centrally, so she quoted me the standard book proceedure.  Well at least I tried.

We must havve spent almost five 1/2 hours trying to sort this out, kids were fractious as would couldn't let them out to play, without a grown up and even though only one of us was on the phone we needed to refer to each other during calls.

Tired and a little dejected we waited to se what the next day would bring.  Maybe sleeping on it would give us some other ideas!

Wednesday 3rd April 2013

We had received the third party letter from the UK.  And was just awaiting Rosana to call regarding signing the Contracts.  As we did not hear anything we decided to make contact, and there seemed to be some misunderstanding and couldn't quite work out what was happening.  So as time was getting short we decided make our way to Cordoba,  yes it was 2 1/2 hours away and it was already 3.30pm - but we could make it in time - thank goodness for Siesta!

Anyway we grabbed an overnight bag - just in case.  Always better to be prepared and we could always stay at Hotel Albetos should we need to.

Anyway, we got to API Tres (Rosana's office) at about 7.00pm by the time we parked up and walked through the pedestrian part of the of the City.

Cordoba is a beautiful City - It's a City without the stress of traffic jams and hustle and bustle.  There is something for everyone no matter what you fancy.  It is steeped in history with the most gorgeous architecture and buildings. Typical spanish shops alongside trendy boutiques and modern pedestrian areas leading to tiny narrow cobbled streets (that you can only get your Vespa down). Lots of bars, restaurants and Cafes, parks and fountains in abundance. Surrounded by mountains in the North and rolling fields in the South - almost like England.  But the best thing of all, no big loud tattooed lobster faced Brits in sight! 

Anyway back to the days proceedings - We arrived at Rosana's office and used my best friend www.translate.google.co.uk to assist us in finding out what the delay was.  Well we had definitely lost something in translation.  Even though we had Passports as ID in Spain you need an NIE to do anything - basically to breathe.  And because we didn't have one the Landlord and Estate Agent were waiting for us to provide a letter from the bank confirming who we were and that we could afford the rent and were trustworthy people.

Well, I don't know anyone who banks with the same Branch that they opened up their Account with - so how will they know we are trustworthy people?

Well scratching our heads - we double checked what was required and the Agent spoke to the landlord to confirm if that was done could we sign contracts.  So that being that, we decided it wasn't worth staying overnight anywhere as tomorrow we have work to be done.  So Paul drove back to the beautiful mountain.