Next stop - San Juan de los Terreros - Home

Teruel was a lovely town and we enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Reina Cristina. When we had booked we had enquired about parking as with suitcases and 2 dogs, we didn't want to have too far to walk. They had said that parking was limited on a first come first parked basis. By the time we arrived the underground car park was full but we were able to park the car there while we unloaded everything and get directions to the nearest car park.

The instructions were simple - end of the road, turn left, then next right and there would be a multi-storey where we could park overnight for a reasonable sum. So, I took the dogs up to the room while Neil went to park the car. And we waited, and we waited and we waited. Eventually I got a call from Neil, he couldn't find the car park but he had done his own version of the Italian job driving the car through the paved courtyards and down narrow streets, not always in the right direction.

Eventually he came back to the hotel and I went with him to find the car park - 1st left , 1st right and there it was - unfortunately Neil had done 1st left, 1st left - and it opened up a whole new world.

Back to the hotel for dinner we discovered that the Spaniards eat late, the restaurant didn't open until 9.00pm so we were ready for dinner when we sat down to look at the menu - which was of course, all in Spanish. Although we could understand enough to know whether it was chicken or fish, we didn't know how it would be cooked or what it would be served with, so I said I would go and get the faithful Nintendo DS so we could order. In the time it took me to go to the room and back, the waiter had taken a menu through to reception and the receptionist had written some basic translations on that enabled us to order dinner - what service.

The following morning we were on the road by 10.00am on our final leg.

Once we got past Alicante we headed south and I started to see familiar signs. We were amazed at the amount of buildings in Benidorm, wow, that must be so busy on summer. We saw some lovely towns from a distance (we were on the A7, so passed most places at speed) and eventually started to see place names we knew.

Before long we were passing the turning for San Javier airport at Murcia and we were on roads we had travelled before. Our journey was almost at an end. It was with great excitement that we left the main road at our turning to San Juan and drove through the hills waiting for our first glimpse of the sea, the buildings and our new home.

Driving onto the coastal road and into the town signalled the end of a very long and eventful journey. We parked the car and walked to a beach side cafe to have a drink while we waited for Tarleton to come and open up the villa, our home for the next few months.

12 months of planning, 4 days of travelling and we were finally here - our new home!

First stop Teruel.

We had a days drive through northern Spain to Teruel. We chose to take the toll road as we had a lot of miles to do. As we left Santander behind us we drove into beautiful hilly countryside. We started the journey at sea-level in a car that didn't do uphill's without working down through the gear box. So, we spent the first hour climbing into the hills south of Santander. We got to view the scenery in so much detail - we couldn't go too fast uphill!

However, we had to reach the summit at some point and when we did, weeeeee, top gear and cruising past lorries (that had overtaken us on the way up!)

We seemed to drive through the hills for a couple of hours but then all of a sudden they were gone and we were on an massive level plain for hours.

Now, if you have been reading this blog over the past few months you will know all the planning, the detail and the preparation that has gone into this trip. But, there was always the suspicion that I had forgotten something. Well, today we discovered what it was.

We were in Spain - and had forgotten to get any Euro's - we had about 25 from a previous trip. On previous trips we had always paid our toll fees with cash - so now doing 2 hours on a toll road, we had no idea how much it would be and no cash to pay with at the end. With thoughts of spending our first night on Spanish soil in some police cell rather than a comfortable hotel, I decided I needed to get my Nintendo DS out with the Spanish training program on and learn the spanish for 'do you have a cash machine?'

We saw a sign for services and decided we would call at them as we needed fuel anyway. As well as the obligatory fuel station there was a lovely restaurant and small shop as you would find on any of our motorways - with one fundamental difference - no cash machines.

OK, car re-fueled, dogs walked we set off again and called at the next services, this time it was just a fuel station with a snack section - and no cash machine.

Panic was beginning to set in as we got back in the car. An hour later and another sign for services - so, as it was time for lunch, we decided we would try again. Again, no cash machine, so out came the DS again and a moment later I approach one of the assistants to ask 'el toll, puedo pagar con una tarjeta de credito' (can I pay the toll with a credit card).

The assistant looked somewhat bemused as she answered 'Of course!' Feeling quite foolish that we didn't know this we had lunch and got on our way. At the end of the toll road we duly paid our 25 euros by credit card, no pin required, no signature needed, and we continued on our way.

Arriving in Teruel we found our hotel, checked in and then went to look for a cash machine!

The Ferry Journey

I think Brinkley describes the ferry journey pretty well (see http://2littlepuppies.blogspot .com), it was long and we weren't happy for the pups.

All along I had concerns over whether we would have problems at customs with Brandy not having his full passport. Although we didn't need the passport to go out to Spain, there was always that question mark at the back of my mind. However, on the day there were no problems. When we arrived at the ferry port we were given a label to hang from the rear view mirror that basically indicated there were 2 adults and 2 dogs in the car so that when we got to customs and they asked for the paperwork, they knew what they were looking for. I passed over our 2 passports, Brinkley's passport and Brandy's vaccination record...... and held my breath.

The customs official looked at all the documents, asked when we would be bringing the dogs back and when I said we were doing a one-way trip, passed them all back to me and wished us a good trip. What a sense of relief as we drove on to the ferry.

The trip was long, but we had calm waters and so it was relatively straight forward. We'll leave any further comment on the trip to Brinkley on his Blog, and just be glad it's over and we don't have a return trip to do.

We drove from the bowels of the ferry into bright Spanish sunshine, and on to Spanish soil - we had arrived!

All we needed to do now was swap maps and remember to drive on the right side of the road. A quick check that the dogs were settled and we set off for our days drive through the north of Spain to Teruel.

OK, a catch up!

Let's go back a week. We had a long journey ahead of us this time last week, looking back it doesn´t seem so bad as it was at the time.

Before we left Sheffield, I took out European break down insurance on the car which actually cost us more than the car was worth, but it gave us peace of mind. Well, the little car loaded to the hilt travelled well until we came off the motorway at Exeter for a break. Suddenly there was an horrendous banging noise from one of the front wheels which sounded like the wheel was about to fall off! So, before we had even left the UK, we had the RAC out, who had us back on the road in about 30 mins. Only problem was, although we knew the wheel wasn´t about to fall off, we still had the horrible noise so a quick once around the roundabout and back to the carpark in the hope he was still there. Luckily he was, and this time we had the whole wheel dismantled and put back together. Nothing wrong, so something must have got caught in the brakes but we were on our way again and arrived at Plymouth still mobile if a little late.

We had booked to stay in a Dog friendly hotel on Plymouth Hoe, just around the corner from the ferry. When we arrived they had not got the key to our room as the previous guest had left with it so we ended up in a 4th floor room (no lift) and a carpeted room (with 2 puppies who were nearly house trained, but not able to get down 4 flights of stairs when in need of a pee). The owner was also looking after a friends Rotweiller, so the lounge and bar were off limits for us to take the dogs, otherwise they would have become a small snack for the Rotty. All in all, not the most restful of days, but the dogs had travelled incredibly well so it looked good for the drive through Spain.

Last Wednesday saw us off to the ferry, more later.......

Yippee, the car made it......and so did we!

Wow, what a journey, but we have all made it including the car. Slight hiccup at Exeter, but thanks to a very nice man from the RAC, we were on our way and got the ferry as planned.

We are now settled in the villa and making that our home, the dogs absolutely love it here (but not had them in the pool ...... yet). We have spent our days shopping, finding our way around, getting up to the golf club (not played yet, Neil goes out on Wednesday for the 1st time) and generally catching our breath after a stressful few days travelling.

So much to write about that I will need to do this in instalments, and the pups have a lot to say as well, but just found the internet bar so now we are back in touch I can let you all know about our journey.

Got to go and find out about registering on the padron as we have just bought a car this morning and cannot pick it up witout it.

Back soon.

Just short of 1,000 miles - in this!

2 adults, 2 dogs, 2 suitcases, one dog crate, no power steering, no air con, no radio ........

Would you do it?

To start a new life in Spain, by the sea, by the golf course, no work, no stress?

Too right I would!

We've had a trial run, with the back seats down we can get the dog crate length ways behind Neils seat which means I can see if the pups are OK.

We then can have a small area for them to walk about and stretch their legs behind my seat and our 2 cases will go at the very back of the car.

That's the plan.

This is why we are no longer driving through France as well as Spain, as we originally planned. We can have a relaxing day on the ferry and set off from Santander after a good nights sleep.

So, logging off for now, I will update as often as I can once we set off and hope to be back on line as soon as possible once we arrive in San Juan de los Terreros, our new home!

Adios mi amigos

Our Worldly Goods are on their way to Spain!

Having spent the last few weeks sorting everything in the house into 2 categories - going to Spain, not going to Spain, and the last 2 weeks packing everything into boxes that is going, we finally got to the end of it yesterday.

We have ended up taking a lot more than I expected, but it is really difficult to be totally ruthless when you are wanting to make a new start away from family and friends and everything that is familiar to you. You just want to take things to make the new house, a home.

I did discover that you can buy moving packs of boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap etc - I didn't know they existed but a quick Google found me on a number of sites including Argos. We managed to get a really good deal from Mad4boxes.co.uk and they delivered the next day - http://www.mad4boxes.co.uk/

As agreed, the removals van arrived and within a couple of hours our possessions were on board, Phil and Russ somehow got all the boxes to fit together like a 3-D jigsaw, but without a picture to refer to. It was very odd to see our worldly goods drive away and not to be following. Previously I have always been re-united with my possessions within a couple of hours, we won't be seeing these for a week. In fact, they will be arriving in Spain before we've left. Everything went very smoothly at this end, and once in Spain they will sort our stuff into what is to go to the villa and what is staying in storage and then wait for us to ring them to let them know we have arrived. http://www.instyle-instorage.com/

So, walking around the house now is very odd. We still have some oddments to finish getting rid of, some furniture to have collected, some car boot items, charity shop items and a skip to be collected, but we needed something to do over the next few days until we leave, after all our golf clubs are already on their way, so we can't pass the time trying for a perfect round.

So, we have managed to get ourselves invited out for dinner over the next few days, just as well, our crockery, cutlery etc is on it's way to Spain, meals at home are very low key. Paper plates, plastic cutlery and what ever was left in the cupboards and fridge - some very strange concoctions are being served up at the moment.

All packed up and no where to go!

Well, if it's going - it's packed and if it's not packed, it's not going. We have finished packing everything and are waiting for the removal van to arrive. I hope they have a big van, there looks to be a lot of stuff here. We no longer have Sky, we've already filled one skip and are on the second and the dogs are wandering around so they don't get packed if they stand still too long.

We've had our first crisis, I cannot find Brandy's vaccination card which we need, as he doesn't have his passport - a quick phone call to the vets to ask for a duplicate. I was sure I knew where it was but, not there, it's probably got packed.

So, we are currently in a lull between 2 storms, this mornings frantic activities to finish packing and the imminent arrival of the removal van.

Yes folks, this is really happening, we are moving to Spain - it's all becoming very real.

We’re taking what?

Well, I now have Neil at home full time and clearing the house is going to be much more difficult than I first thought with him around, basically anything I put in the skip he will be taking out, we were ditching our old stereo system with record deck and a whole box of 45's and 33's until Monday, Neil's first day off work - he started to look through the 45's - fatal, he ended up in the conservatory sorting through them, playing a lot of them and we are now keeping said stereo system and 45's! This is after I have been out and bought a new mini system to take with us (we used is Saturday night so I just had to buy it here.)

I did get to a point where I was ready to turn the key on the conservatory door, after listening to 9 minutes of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody on a 45! All I kept hearing was, hey, you'll remember this one - Simon Park orchestra, Eye Level - oh, it's going to be a long 2 weeks!
Neil suggested we use the mini system on the roof terrace and keep the other in the lounge, which is not a bad suggestion.

Over the last couple of days Neil has been packing boxes at an alarming rate. I daren’t put anything down or it ends up in a box, I had put some paperbacks to one side to pass on to friends as I’d read then and knew I wouldn’t read them again – came back from walking the dogs, they’ve been packed.

Today the house is really starting to look empty. The skip outside is starting to fill up, the patio furniture is packed and all the pictures are off the walls. The removal company have been in touch and are coming to collect all the furniture next Thursday, so we have a deadline to have it all completed. I hope they bring a big van, there seems to be so many boxes, I don’t think we’ve quite got the hang of this ‘down-sizing’ idea.

Once the furniture and boxes have gone next Thursday, we’ll have a few days before we leave for Spain. We’ll have somewhere to sleep, paper plates to eat from and plastic cutlery, so I am trying to arrange to have a few meals round with friends for the last few days, just so we can sit on a proper chair.

Looks like we could be having a few take-aways!