Off to Spain we go!

We're heading out for our Discovery Trip this Sunday. I'm excited, anxious and just a tiny bit terrified. If anything makes this move a reality, this will be it. I've been searching the real estate websites pretty much daily to find something I love. Haven't found it yet. I think I'm in for a harsh reality when I get there. Our realtor, Mele, has been guiding us but hasn't actually sent me a link to anything yet - my hope is she's just waiting til it's closer so she can make sure it's still available when we go there. That's my hope. She seems to be on top of things and has been great about educating us about life in Spain.

Apparently she's not educating me enough though. As I said, I've been doing some research on my own and last week I found this fantastic website http://www.johntaylorspain.com/barcelona.html that I was taking a look at. I found a few great properties like this one http://www.johntaylorspain.com/930ba.html that I sent over to Josh. "Hey Josh, aren't these great? Why do you think they are so cheap? This one is only 1.250 euros per month. Do you think it's the area?" He tells me these are fantastic properties (seriously, you should see the crap I've been finding on the other websites) compared to what I had been finding. Here is an example of one of the ones that I had seen before that before I saw this website was at the top of my list. http://www.idealista.com/pagina/inmueble?codigoinmueble=VP0000002796826&secc_inm=fotos So anyways, I send my link of my fabulous apartment to Mele with a note similar to the one I sent to Josh and seeing if at all possible, can we see one of these places?

That night as I sit on the couch I go back to the website. There I notice there is a tab for both rentals and apartments. Hmmm... which one was I on earlier and what is the difference? I click on rentals. Nope, this isn't where I was earlier. These ones are small, crappy and expensive! What's going on here???? I click on apartments and light dawns on marble head. These aren't apartments (well they are as far as Europeans are considered), these are condos!!! And they aren't 1.250 euro per month. This place is SELLING for 1.250.000. Notice my use of decimals. That's what tricked me. Yes, this isn't 1,250.00 (with an extra zero because I just figured that maybe in europe they go to the thousandth instead of the hundreth). This is 1.25 MILLION. Hmmm... just slightly out of my budget. Now embarrassed that I've sent these suggestions on to my realtor, I now must send her an email explaining my faux pas. Thankfully she gets a kick out of it and probably now thinks I'm quite the airhead. Oh well. For just a few hours I thought I was going to be living in the lap of luxury. That bubble has most definitely been burst!!

So off Josh and I go to explore at the very least, the neighborhood we are going to end up in. It would be great if we can find a place too (otherwise he will have to do this in Dec), but we need to first figure out what part of Barcelona we want to be in. Right now we are torn - Eixample and Sant Gervasi are both in between Aidan's school and Josh's work...however, the Vila Olimpica (where the 1992 olympics were held) is close to Josh's work, in a family oriented area and by the ocean. Can't get much better than that. Only it's very likely (we don't know for sure) an hr commute for Aidan to school. We probably wouldn't do the bus for him if that's the case and one of us would need to bring him to and from school. The decision we need to make is do we sacrifice lifestyle for a commute to school? If there are more kids in this area to play with, more parks, a boardwalk and the ocean, do we have him do a longer commute rather than be in an area where there are less kids and few parks to play in? Keep in mind we are not going to have a yard so a park is essential and a boardwalk would be nice for the kids to bikeride on. And we are beach people. I keep finding myself pulling to the Vila Olimpica neighborhood but until I see it and the others, no decision is final. We need to decide where we are going to be happy as a family. http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/albums-en/port-olimpico/index.html

In addition to this, we finally heard from the relocation company this week. Since speaking to them I've received several emails with forms. I've chosen to ignore the emails for the past two days because if I don't open them, then the forms I need to fill out just don't exist. I suppose I should fill them out before our discovery trip. Fun stuff. We also talked about our container for our goods and that it can take 4-6 weeks to ship and get thru customs. So in order for us to have our goods waiting for us when we get there, we will probably need to ship at the end of November. Keep in mind we are gone almost the entire first week of Nov (next week already!) which means that I will have less than 3 weeks to determine what is staying and what is going. How in the world did I go from 3 months to 3 weeks? It's like a blink of an eye. Every day I do something related to this move and yet I feel like I've made minimal progress and now I have to have it all done in about 3 weeks? Just shoot me and put me out of my misery!!

There will definitely be a lot of updates and pictures in the coming week. I'm looking forward to the pictures - I can't wait to see what the city looks like in person.

Post again soon!!

Julie

Craigslist is the best thing ever... Hertz is NOT!

On the long list of things to do for our move is to sell my car. It's something I've been dreading because the last time I tried to sell a car (my camry) it sat outside my garage for months. I was anxious about what happens if we're suddenly in the middle of December and I still haven't sold my car. You see, we still owed money on it so it didn't make sense to keep making payments on a car that we can't drive for 2 years. So I made the decision to put the minivan up for sale in the middle of October in the hopes that in 3 months I could sell the car. Just one more piece of stress to add to the ever growing pile.

So the weekend before Columbus Day I decided what the heck, today is the day. It's beautiful out and the bright blue sky will make a nice backdrop to the car. I hadn't had it detailed or anything at this point figuring that I'll just do a quick car wash and then vacuum out the inside so it doesn't look filthy (2 kids, 2 dogs and a husband - the car is rarely close to clean). I figured I'd just throw a few pics up on Craigslist to see what happens. I've only posted to craigslist once before and didn't have any luck with it but I figured a car had a bit more value than some old toys.

Well, wouldn't you know it - it only took 2 days to sell the car!! Absolutely crazy! Of course we then had to rush to pay it off. And you know that wasn't going to be easy either. We sold the car on Saturday and then called Toyota on Mon to see how we proceeded with the payoff. They told me the best way to get the title quickly was to send a cashiers check because electronic payments get held for up to 10 business days. Ok, so where do I send it? A PO Box? Do you have a physical address I can send it to Ms Toyota Service Person?? What do you mean they will just then forward it to the PO Box? Are you serious? Ok, so Josh goes to the bank the next day (it was closed that day for Columbus Day) and gets a cashiers check and mails it off to an obscure PO Box in Illinois. We wait and wait. Friday - call and the check hasn't cleared yet. I call again on Mon. You have my check? Yes!!!! Ok, so when can I get my title? The woman says, "we've sent you out a form to authorize us to send the title to DCU (our bank)". Ok, why would you send it to DCU? "Because that's who paid off the vehicle" she replies. Um...no. We paid it off with the cashiers check you told us to send. Seriously are you that dumb?? So I ask her if she can overnight the title. Sure!! Just give us your fedex number. Thankfully I have one. So the next day I call to get tracking. "What do you mean you haven't sent it out?" Ugh... these poor people have now been waiting over a week for this car that they can't take possession of until we have the title. So one more day goes by and we finally have it. Now off to get my rental car!

Not so surprisingly, the rental car process wasn't so easy either. Ok, it was easy to begin with. I went to AAA to see if they had any good discounts since I needed the car for over a month til I get Josh's car when he leaves in Dec. They ended up booking me with Hertz saving me a few hundred dollars over Enterprise. Don't forget, you get what you pay for... just remember that as we go along here. My friend Bill takes me to get my oh so cute Toyota Matrix (which they somehow define as a midsize car - not really sure how they got that definition - it's as small as Josh's A3 hatchback). Great car for a family of 4 ... not. Anyways, I get the car and all goes smoothly until he asks about insurance. I tell him that I have insurance. He says, "well didn't you sell your car". Well, yes, but I haven't cancelled my policy. Turns out when you turn in the plates (which I hadn't yet) you also cancel your policy. He wanted to charge me an additional $600-1200 just for insurance on the car. Being oh so smart, I tell him... I'll forgo the insurance for now and just take the car. Surprisingly, he lets me off the lot insurance free...

That night I call my insurance company and yup, the guy is right, they won't cover me. I call again the next morning because maybe that first guy misunderstood me and though I meant would they pay for the rental not would they cover me in an accident. Nope, they understood and no they won't cover me. Will you cover me under Josh's policy? "Is his car in the driveway disabled?" No... "then no we won't". Thankfully this guy was helpful and suggested that I try one of my credit cards. Apparently some card will actually give you rental car insurance - who knew????

So I call my credit card that I used to hold the car. Nope, only for gold and platinum members (Josh we need to become gold or platinum members - apparently they have all the fun!). So I call my business card's number and yes, they will cover me for no extra charge as long as the car is paid for with that card. So I'm in the car at this point with Liam, driving without insurance, heading to Norwood to pick up my computer that was being repaired. So I call Hertz and sit on hold for a good half hour before I get someone - all I want to do is change my credit card number. "Sorry we can't do that on the phone - you have to go to a location for that." Well there is a 1/2 hr of my life I won't get back. Ok, well, I've got my trusty GPS and need to go from Norwood to Braintree to drop off my license plates. So let's see if there is a Hertz on the way. Oh and Liam is already in meltdown mode at this point. He's a grump and is making it clear to me that he's not a happy child. We go about 15 mins out of our way to get to the Hertz and he is in full meltdown mode at this point screaming and throwing himself all over the place. I tell the guy that I would like to change over my credit card number for my rental. Again, thinking this should be a simple process. He looks at my one page contract very seriously and tells me he will need to go out back (there is a phone in front of him) to make a call to see if he can do it. Liam is screaming bloody murder at this point and after my 1/2 hr on the phone, I'm starting to lose my patience.

He comes back all apologetic a few minutes later. "Sorry, we can't do that - we could get in trouble because it would then become our reservation and North Attleboro would lose it". In sales speak that is "we can't steal their commission". Honestly I don't give a rats ass if you steal their commission, do you not see my screaming child??? Ok, I didn't say that but I was thinking it. But I did ask him if he was serious that I now need to go to N.A. to change a stupid f**ing credit card number. "Yes, you do. Oh and by the way, the $200 AAA discount you got - you may want to check with your credit card company because some cc companies won't cover you in an accident if you don't pay the full amount billed". Ok, are you serious???? Now I'm getting punished for being a saavy shopper?? I'm just about in meltdown with Liam. I grab him up like a football under my arm and just walk out the door, him screaming and all.

Thankfully the DMV took my plates and I was in and out of there in under 5 mins with a little mini meltdown from Liam. It was not one of his best days. I finally work my way back to North Attleboro. I've been on the road for about 2 1/2 hrs at this point so I can kind of understand Liam's crankiness. I'm cranky too. I get to Hertz where I got the car and guess what? They are expecting me. And yet, it still takes 20 mins to change over the order to a new credit card. Moral of the story. DON'T USE HERTZ!!!! EVER!!!!!

However, I don't like to end a story on an angry note. My new car is bright bright blue and very zippy. The kids like it and it will suffice until I take on Josh's zippy car in a month. At least the minivan is sold and I can check one more thing off on my ever growing list.

Julie