Almost There... License (and Car) Update

So on October 16, I took the theoretical exam again for my drivers license.  Seriously, I debated it.  If I hadn't already forked over several hundred euros I was just going to call it a day.  My driving instructor had told me that you don't need a Spanish license to drive or insure a car here, but if you get caught you could get in trouble.  I was thinking I was willing to take that chance rather than have to continue with this painful process.  But the goodie two-shoes in me decided that I have to do things the "right" way.  And so I took the exam again... and passed.

But trust me, it wasn't passing without doubts.  I left there with at least 4 questions (you can only get a max of 3 questions wrong or you fail) that I was unsure if I had the correct answers.  I looked them up as soon as finished and was out the door.  Two of them I definitely got right, the other two I was unsure.  And so I figured as long as the other 26 were correct, I stood a good chance of passing.  The idea of the wait was agonizing but thankfully I actually got the text that night with the good news.  I'll admit, I did a little shout (to which Aidan who was upstairs freaked out - why are you screaming mom???).

However, before I go on to where I am now, let me just share a few of the questions that I had on this second exam.  Two of the four that I had doubts on were motorcycle related.  Yes, motorcycle... you know, because that's the license I'm getting????  No seriously, I'm not getting a motorcycle license but apparently that doesn't matter because apparently I should know some key info about them regardless.  Perhaps this is because after 2 years I can legally drive one???  Who knows.  But I had one question asking where the gear shift is on a motorcycle (the left foot in case you wanted to know) and the other was in reference to the brakes - if a motorcycle has separate brakes for the front and back, where is the front brake (the right hand).  Thankfully my years of owning an ATV came in handy and I vaguely remembered where those were and I did get them right.  So two down, 2 unsure.

Regardless I passed.  And now on to the driving portion of this process.  I couldn't get a hold of the driving instructor via email - bounced back 3 times... didn't bode well for me - though just figured, ahhh Spain.  When we had spoken at the school, Eduardo had told me that for experienced drivers, he normally suggests at least 3-4 double lessons (a single lesson being 45 mins).  The "mandatory" lesson is considered to be the day before the exam.  Why?  Because believe it or not, the route is given from the DGT (the DMV of Spain) to the driving school.  So the day before you practice your route.  Finally we texted and made an arrangement for last week for me to do a practice lesson.

Of course, he was late to the lesson.  And I only had just enough time to get back in time for the school bus.  But regardless, the lesson was a good one.  I hadn't driven since July but like riding a bicycle, I jumped right back into it.  I tried to focus on not just the signs, but on my hands on the wheel (at 10 and 2) as well as my speed (it turns out in your exam you are allowed to go up to 10 kph over the speed limit... seriously????).  A lot to focus on...and then translate in Spanish.

We didn't do the class entirely in Spanish but did do most of it.  And he showed me a bunch of areas with spots that always had people failing the exam.  The more I drove, the more comfortable I felt.  But again, he's the instructor, not the examiner.  However, apparently I did well enough that he actually said I didn't need 3 or 4 double lessons but just the one right before the exam.  My exam date has been set (and no, I'm not telling you) and so now it's just a waiting game.

In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for a car.  I think I've found one but am waiting to hear back.  Josh and I had talked about several options here.  We don't want to spend a ton of money for a car we will have for just under 3 years, especially in a city where the guy pulling into a spot really could care less about bumping you.  Cars just get the crap beat out of them here, it's just the way it is.  So do we buy used?  Do we lease?  What to do?

I solved that problem just knowing that I was going to be the one who had to deal with all the logistics. I've owned a used car before but always bought from a dealership.  To buy a cheap used car here was going to mean going direct and that meant negotiating, purchasing, title exchange, etc etc in Spanish.  I made the executive decision that this is not the way that I want to go.  I don't want to deal with all of that not to mention having to figure out how in the world am I going to sell it down the road when I'm already trying to pack up our lives again to go back home?

That leaves me with leasing... ok, it's not actually leasing here.  It's renting.  Leasing is pretty much like buying - I'm not actually sure of what the difference was between leasing and buying but they sounded almost identical.  Renting is like leasing in the US.  It includes my insurance, license plates, maintenance (except oil changes I think) - everything.  And in 3 years, I turn it in and I'm done.  No worries about selling it to the next guy.  No problem about inspection stickers (which actually on a new car doesn't have to be done til the 4th year!), etc etc.

But the $64,000 question is - what can I afford?  We haven't had a car payment in the 3 years we've lived here.  And it's been nice not having to add that in to the budget.  We've substituted that expense with travel which we have done an abundant amount of.  So now we will have to compromise on travel or make cut backs in other ways (hence my new cell phone plan that I just blogged about).  We don't want a high end car here, not when people constantly bump into you and have little regard for your vehicle.  Not that we can afford it here anyways.  And I didn't want a junker that was going to fall apart easily or not be safe enough for the family.  I need something in the middle of the road - affordable, safe, compact (no big SUV here).

Regardless of the compromises, I think the freedom we are going to feel with a set of wheels again is going to make it well worthwhile.  The ability to get somewhere on time and not have to allow for extra time for public transportation or walking.  Don't get me wrong, I love to walk everywhere.  But there are times when I just want to get to where I'm going NOW.  Or as an example - Liam had a playdate the other day - the parents were lovely and offered to pick him up at our house.  When here they asked if I would mind coming to get him later.  I told them I'd be more than happy to, just give me their address.  The dad then proceeded to give me driving directions - I had to interrupt... "but we don't have a car".  He looked at me and said, "then we will drive him home too".  Super super nice.  But I'm tired of living that way.  I want to go to the family class parties in Gava.  I want to go on the hikes to an out of the way restaurant in Sant Cugat.  I want to get to a Halloween party that's late in the evening outside the city and not stress about getting home with two small tired kids via public transit.  I want to just say, hey, let's go to France today.  Or let's go to Port Aventura with the kids.  Or let's go explore a town that we've never been to!  Freedom!

Now on to the car shopping.  It's interesting to note that my US drivers license does not work here BUT that I don't need to have a Spanish license to buy or insure a car.  However, if I get caught driving the car without the license I can have a hefty fine and they can tow my car away.  Though if I've had my US passport stamped within the last 6 months (which I have), I might be able to get out of said fine and towing.  Obviously it makes more sense to just have the license.  I don't want to be driving around stressed that I'm going to get pulled over.

But since I don't need that license to get a car and since I am taking the test in a matter of weeks (and even if I fail, realistically I should still have the license before the end of the year, even if it means taking it several times), I've started my car hunt.  Actually I've found a car and am just anxiously waiting to hear back if I've got it.

I went on Friday with a friend of mine to go look at cars.  We wanted to find out the difference between renting and leasing (as I described above - didn't know this info before Friday).  And then to find out what cars based on that information would fit into my budget.  My initial thought was VW (my preference), Audi (highly unlikely but you never know), Toyota and Honda.

We stopped in at Honda and took a look at the Civic.  Nice enough but a bit plasticky feeling.   And when we asked him about renting versus leasing, the dealer explained it to us but also said that the majority of companies will only rent or lease to corporations, not to individuals.  We'd have to buy the car.  My heart sank - this is not what I want to do.  Maybe buying used off the street is the way to go???

He ran some numbers on the Civic for us, the Civic Sport, so it's a relatively bare bones car.  And yet, the payments for 3 years would be over 600 euros per month.  Oh and the average interest rate here is about 8% - my last car I had 0% financing so 8% is pretty high (not to mention tax here is 21%).  Yes, for a Civic!!  Ridiculous!!  We left there and I felt a bit frustrated and felt that a car may not be in my future despite the cost outlay for the license.  

We decided to try Volkswagon before heading to lunch and then depending on how VW went, come up with a plan of action on where to go from there.  Thankfully the woman at VW was hugely helpful and yes, they do renting there!  Yes!!!  We looked at the Polo, Golf and Tiguan.  Of course I loved the SUV but to get it in an automatic meant buying the fully loaded package which ran about 36,000 euros - a bit out of my budget for a car I'll have for barely 3 years (especially since Josh's original budget to me was 3000 euros - which I've managed to stretch...oh just a bit).  So down to the Polo and Golf.  My preference of course, the Golf but it comes down to money.

She ran the numbers and remember, the renting includes insurance and maintenance.  The Golf was first and YES, fit my budget...sort of.  Fits my budget depending on what Josh had planned for insurance and maintenance (since my budget was originally just for the car), otherwise I was off by about 160 euros a month.  But I think that easily would have been what we were paying for insurance and maintenance.  And I dropped my cell phone plan by 60 of those euros, so now we're really only at 100 euros over budget which definitely would have been around the insurance rate, right?

Regardless, the Polo only came in 50 euros less than the Golf and so really for 50 euros it didn't make sense to get a car that much smaller with that many less features.  So Golf it is!  But wait... there's more (there's always more isn't there?).  I live in Europe... I drive an automatic.  The two really don't mix.  And it limits my options.

Option 1 - a white 2012 Golf, not fully loaded but pretty close (and honestly I don't need fully loaded for a car I don't need to drive daily).

Option 2 - a pacific blue 2013 (my timing sucks as it's the new model year this month), fairly basic car, pretty color though.  10 euros more per month than the 2012 but with many less options.

Obviously I want Option 1 (even though white is not my preference in color, but beggars can't be choosers).  The problem is the 2012 is on hold by someone.  Their hold expired on either Fri night or Sat AM (I can't remember which) and she said that she would call today to let us know if they didn't take it.  I'm still waiting... and waiting ... and waiting...

Josh has given the ok on either of them... like me, he'd prefer Option 1.  While we don't need all the bells and whistles, why pay more for the car that doesn't have them?  I agree.  So for now, we wait and while waiting I've put together the majority of paperwork needed to move forward.  My hope is that by the end of next week (this may be completely unrealistic especially since we are gone Thurs/Fri this week and I'm gone Tues-Thurs next week), we will be the new owners of a VW Golf.  Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you posted!!

Besos,
Julie

Quick iPhone Update

For those waiting with baited breath on how the iphone saga turned out, here goes.  It didn't.  I went back to Vodafone twice to see if they had any new iphone 5's.  Each time he told me no.  Then I went car shopping (blog entry coming on that) and made a decision - I can get an iphone 5 or I can put that money towards a car payment.  I'm opting for the latter.

I also decided the guy at vodafone is a total asshole.  Not only was he a bit of a jerk the first three times I went to see him but when I went today to make the changes to my cell phone plan without getting a new phone, he was an ass.  The good news - I totally understood EVERYTHING he told me, in Spanish.  Go me!!  But the bad news is he didn't make the changes.

Long story short, I went in, he asked me if I was looking for the 5 and I said (in spanish), actually, two or three weeks ago, yes, now, I want a car instead.  And so I told him I only wanted to change my plan.  He tried to convince me to do my landline and internet thru them to which I replied that I'm happy with Movistar.  This isn't necessarily true but I'll be damned if I'm going to attempt to go with a new carrier again - it was hard enough getting our landline and internet in our new apartment.  Regardless, I told him no, just the new plan.

So then he looks me in the eye, looks at the computer, looks at me again and tells me his computer is no longer working and I'll have to call 123 (vodafone customer service in English).  Jerk.  F**king jerk.  For those not in the know, English customer service sucks.  Like royally.  Like I get that I don't speak fluent Spanish but I don't have a job here in Spain that I need to speak fluent Spanish.  The people who answer English customer service at Vodafone are not native English speakers, not even fluent speakers most of the time and it's annoying.  When I was in Munich I spent a good hour or two arguing with them about why my phone wasn't working in Germany.  So I wasn't thrilled to have to call them.

But I did and I "think" my phone will still be working tomorrow with my new, less expensive, cell phone plan.  70 euros a month towards my new car.  Cutting back where I can!  And seriously, I have like 4 friends here, for what reason do I have 1000 minutes per month in calls?  No need!!  However, it's still possible you could see a rant on here at some point about how my phone no longer works or does something it shouldn't.  It could and likely will happen.

Besos,
Julie

Our (Failed) Attempt to See London

Since the kids weren't as enthused with our nature hike thru Chipping Campden as I had hoped, my original plans of hitting another Cotswolds town or two and exploring before heading to the airport no longer seemed like a good idea for Sunday.  They have, apparently, become city children.  So I made the (mistaken) suggestion of heading into London.  The kids were super excited by the idea and Aidan was talking about Hamleys, a huge toy store he'd heard about through kids at school.  Because yes, that is the whole purpose of going to London - to see a toy store.  

Because we were flying out of Gatwick Airport, just south of London I figured that we would just drive in, park, go to the toy store, have lunch and then go to the airport.  A pretty quick trip in and out but since I haven't been to London (nor have the kids) it would at least give us a little taste of what's there.  That was my plan at least. The kids and I went to have breakfast and Josh went out to tinker with the GPS. 

When we were ready to go Josh said he spoke with the hotel people and they suggested we go into town instead by train.  Apparently there is a congestion fee to pay when driving into the city and there is a lot of traffic heading in as well.  They suggested that we go to Leatherhead and take the train in since that station was relatively close to Gatwick where we had to be later. This already sounded like work. I suggested to Josh maybe we stick with the original plan but he said he just did all this research... Blah blah blah. 

In the end we decided let's just do it.  It took me about 45 mins on my phone to find the actual address for the Leatherhead station as we headed in the direction of the town which is all the GPS had allowed us to enter in.  That should have been a sign.  We struggled with the machine that sells tickets once we got to Leatherhead and probably paid too much. On our 5th attempt to buy the tickets we missed the train and then had to wait another 30 mins for the next one.  Again, a sign that perhaps this was not such a great idea.  

Finally, after waiting a half hour (during which time we figured out what we needed to do when we got off the train), we got on the train. Oh and I should mention that as we waited on the platform we found out that the tracks were closed in between some stops and we would have to take the bus part way.  Our 11:15 train had us to the "final" station by noon and then we got on the bus and sat in traffic.... for over an hour.

As we sat in traffic, Josh and I argued.  It wasn't pretty.  We're normally pretty good travellers together. And believe it or not, the kids were better behaved than he and I were.  He kept telling me that we should get off the bus and I needed to be the one to get off first.  This is because we'd get off as we sat in traffic and not at an actual stop.  I said to him to man up and for him to go first.  Not a good moment for either of us.  Finally someone else made the jump and we followed.

The reason for throwing in the towel?  Well, we only were going to have about 2 1/2 hours in the city to begin with.  By losing an hour plus on the bus we had already cut our time in half and we still had to deal with this traffic on the way back in.  Was it worth risking our flight back to Barcelona?  So by 12:45 we had gotten off the bus, headed to yet another Starbucks for a refresher of coffee for the children (yes, the children, neither Josh nor I were interested in coffee at this point).

We had not made it any further than Wimbleton.  I guess now I can say I've been to Wimbleton???  Even though I have no idea where they actually play tennis at Wimbleton nor did I see any tennis courts.  Thankfully we found a bus within 5 minutes of leaving Starbucks and hopped on.  It was heading to Raynes Station which is where we needed to go to get back on the train.  And once again, we stopped in traffic.  For another hour...

We heard this isn't normal and that there had been a major accident.  Given that I had seen no less than 6 ambulances during the course of these 2 hours leads me to believe, they are right.  Regardless though, it threw off our entire day unfortunately.  We made it back to Raynes Station, hopped on a train and finally at 2:45 made it to lunch.  We made our flight on time and as Aidan said, "we still had an adventure today" which was so true and a very positive outlook on what essentially was a disaster of a day!

So in the end, we never made it to London nor did we get to see more of the Cotswolds for that matter. But as far as a trip goes, this was a great one.  We all had fun, got to see some great new (or really old) places and we will just have to add London in for another time!

Besos,
Julie

Stepping Back in Time - The Cotswolds

Slightly northwest of London lays an area called the Cotswolds.  Before the last year, I had never heard of it but the more people I have talked to, the more have said what a gorgeous area this is and an absolute must visit when in England.  The Cotswolds are relatively untouched - with homes dating back hundreds of years made from a golden limestone.  The homes, many of which still have thatch roofs, glisten in the sun with their stone facades.  It's absolutely beautiful and the more I heard of it, the more I realized, I must go!

When planning this trip, we knew that we wouldn't need three days in Legoland.  And Josh was already going to London this month to see the Patriots play.  So after looking at google maps and doing some recognizance with friends to figure out where specifically are the best areas of the Cotswolds, we decided to make that a part of our long weekend.

Friends of ours had suggested Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Campden as two great towns in the Cotswolds.  The first because it is fairly centrally located and is slightly larger than many of the towns which meant easier access for hotels, food, etc.  And the latter because it is known as one of the most charming villages in the Cotswolds, conveniently only about a 20 minute drive from Stow-on-the-Wold.

The drive to Stow-on-the-Wold was about 1 1/2 hours from Windsor.  With puke bags at the ready for pukey child, we were on our way!  I had plans for us to drop off our bags at the hotel and then head straight to Chipping Campden to do a 4 mile loop of the Cotswolds Way.  The Cotswolds Way is a national trail that leads from Chipping Campden to the town of Bath, about 100 miles south.  And since we weren't going to be doing the full 100 while in town for a day, we decided to do a loop that was suggested on the Cotwolds Way website.

However, as with all good plans, something must mess them up.  Right?  We were probably 30 minutes away from Stow-on-the-Wold when Aidan started to complain about a headache.  He is often headachy so I didn't make a huge deal of it (and yes I've had his eyes tested).  But then he told me he thought he was going to throw up.  Since he's 8, I handed him the bag and left him to his own devices.  Nothing happened.  But then... he decided he really didn't feel well so I suggested to Josh that he pull over into a parking lot up ahead.  As Josh pulled in, I threw myself out the door and whipped open Aidan's door to drag him out...only he turned his head...the wrong way.  And puked in the car.  Yup, we can never win with this puking thing (the good news is that this was a puke free tree for Liam - woo hoo!!).

Somehow I wasn't prepared for class and had no wipes on me or anything... just three tissues that did nothing.  So the kids and I huddled in the cold (mind you, cold is about 55 degrees - though that's dead of winter here in Barcelona) while I sent Josh in the car to a nearby gas station to pick up some diaper wipes and paper towels since we really couldn't put the kids back in the car the way it was.  Always an adventure with us when we travel!!

Puke free child taking in the sights

Not feeling so hot...

Finally back on the road we started driving through picturesque little towns with homes made of golden stones, quaint little shops lining the streets, all of which gave you the feeling of stepping back in time for just a moment.  We passed tons of farms, rolling hills, sheep, cows and at times drove through patches of woods where the trees cascaded over the road like a covered bridge.

As we approach a village

Drive by shot

Another drive by

Center of town

Leaving town already

Some of the rolling hills taken as we drove

We arrived in Stow-on-the-Wold and I could not picture a more beautiful little town.  The center made up of more of these golden buildings, old mixed with new in certain cases and it was hard to tell which was which.  Josh and I both loved the fact that builders here stick with tradition and even with new construction, the golden limestone is still the primary building block.

Our hotel was right smack in the middle of the square which was perfect.  Later, after returning from Chipping Campden, we had a chance to do more exploring there as well.  The hotel was, charming... ok, it could have used some renovating.  But the owners were gracious hosts and were willing to meet whatever needs we had and for that I can forgive the need for decorations from sometime after 1970.  But the woodbeam ceilings and crooked walls, those to me were a part of the charm of what apparently was a historically old building.  Our room was interesting.  A family room, we had beautiful wood beams in the ceiling and a floor that dipped about 20 degrees in one direction and a bathroom that dipped probably 40 degrees in a different one.  Interesting.  But it worked and it was only for one night.  We had dinner there that night and once again, the staff was courteous and accommodating and the food, delicious.

Our hotel, the Old Stocks is in this square

Part of the center of Stow-on-the-Wold

More of the square in Stow-on-the-Wold

Church in the center

So I've gotten sidetracked.  With pukey child in tow, we headed off to Chipping Campden for our 4 mile walk through nature.  When planning this trip I was so excited about the idea of spending time outdoors with the boys somewhere other than in a concrete jungle.  The idea of fields of grass, rolling hills and trees was incredibly appealing.

We got to Chipping Campden and if I thought that Stow-on-the-Wold was beautiful, well, this just went above and beyond.  The homes were even more quaint though there were certainly areas of town that were just reeking money in the magnificence of their homes.  I want to live here.  The town was filled with quaint pubs and shops and the sight just warms you from head to toe.  There was an old marketplace that dated back to around the 17th century that's still standing (no longer in use but the structure is still there).

Stunning house in Chipping Campden as we enter town

Nope, no money here...

Center of town in Chipping Campden

More of town

Union Jack flying above town

Marketplace that was being used for their Sat market

More of town

Super old market no longer in use.  Dates back to 1627...

Another view of the market

The main road

Liam being goofy with Josh

Church in the background

Heading to lunch

Fascinated by the flowers

As it was getting close to lunch time we decided to have something to eat before setting off on our walk.  There were a number of cute little pubs and restaurants along the way.  Hunger was quickly setting in though and so we chose the Lygon Arms.  We walked in and were the only people in there.  Normally I take this as a bad sign - no customers means the food probably isn't that great.  But while the upholstery needed some updating, there was a beautiful wooden bar and a fire in the fireplace surrounded by stone.  We plunked ourselves down in a banquet near the fire and looked over the menu which looked quite appetizing and in fact, it was our best meal while in England.  With cheese toasties (OMG amazing!), fried brie with grape chutney, and a potato leek soup, lunch was spectacular.

A real fire in a real fireplace... oh how I've missed that!!!

Soooo not feeling good... poor little guy

Drinking his water via his fingers... classy

Playing Brave on Josh's iphone

Where we had lunch :)

Unfortunately Aidan still wasn't feeling well so after lunch we still decided to embark on our walk but with the knowledge that likely we weren't going to make it the full 4 miles that we had intended (and nor did we make it that far, I'd be shocked if we made it 2 miles).

We found the walk pretty quickly and started our incline up to the top of Dover Hill which had the best views in town.  Both children, of course, complained about walking uphill.  I reminded them that we live in a city that is situated on a hill and that they walk uphill daily.  And they reminded me that there is a difference between walking in the city and the country.  Have my children gone city on me????  Nooo!!!!!

Heading to the Cotswold Way

Hmmm which way to go???  (actually it was the side with the small arrow since that was the loop route)

Pretty church, moody, sick child

Well marked trails

The first part of the walk took us through a beautiful neighborhood, I'm sure the people love all the tourists walking through their 'hood...

And on their lawns...

Another sign

Now getting more onto the trail

Checking out the sheep

Liam"why are the sheep marked with colors?"  Me "so that you can tell who owns them in case one gets away, for example maybe the Marcus family owns the ones with the green"  Liam "you mean we own all these sheep?  Can we take them home with us?  I think I can fit at least 3 in my bedroom".  Ahhh Liam...

Looking downhill towards the sheep and the valley

And upward climb ahead

Liam in the rear as always

Waiting patiently for the rest of us

The view from where Aidan was sitting

These are from the top of Dover Hill

Josh and Liam taking pictures

Some kind of ninja move

Rain heading our way (missed us)

More rain

So we had to go through a double gate to get into this field because apparently animals also graze here... insert note - animals also poop here, a lot.

Liam playing the "don't step in the poop" game

Cool wall where we turned around (because apparently Josh and Aidan already had but didn't tell us)

Running to catch up to Josh and Aidan

Dr Who telephone booth!!

So while our walk wasn't what I had intended, it definitely gave me the feel for what it's like in this area and it's definitely a place I'd like to go back to.  Actually if I can rally anyone to go, I'd love to do the entire Cotswolds Way this spring - from Chipping Campden to Bath.  Anyone???  

We headed back to the hotel after that to chill out and enjoy town and then dinner.  While the day didn't go totally as we had hoped, it was still a successful and enjoyable time out in the country with the fam.  But wait til you see our adventures from our final day in England... stay tuned!

Our hotel room, not so luxurious but definitely historic!

Liam reading his English version of the story of Sant Jordi (Saint George) one of his favorites

I don't think I've ever in my life seen a restaurant this old - over 1000 years old!!!!

Another Dr Who booth, this time Josh just had to stop in!

Besos,

Julie