CASA OLIMPIA.

Monday/Sunday 6th/12th April.

As we got up on Monday morning the electricity went off at 10-00am,it did not bother us as power cuts are the norm so I carried on and went across to Estepona to the bank and on the way back I called into the English butchers and the small general store in Puerto Duquesa.As I arrived back at the villa I noticed in the lane outside that there was a notice stuck across the electricity meter box, it was the cut off notice with all the details so we rung Chris/Kerry in England and got them on the case; the amount outstanding was ten times the usual bill ! At the moment in Spain the electricity company, since Christmas has gone to monthly estimated bills from the normal two monthly bills and the system all over the country has broken down. It soon appeared that we had a problem as until you pay the bill you can’t query it and the float we had for emergencies did not cover it, Chris then tried to pay the bill from England on his credit card but the Spanish/English translation system on the electricity company hotline has also broken down! Over the next two days we all tried to settle the account; I was back and forth down to Tarifa, exchanging currency and finding how and where to pay the account and over in England Chris was trying also to send the money to us by various means but because of the amount under the new rules at the moment it was just proving impossible! Mano tried to help us with the system but even that broke down, meanwhile we had a major problem at the villa with no lights, no heating,no hot water and no cooking facilities and a further complication was that Chris and Kerry were due to fly back to Lisbon on Wednesday! We sorted out candles and torches on Monday and managed to have a cold meal and a sandwich during the day,but on Tuesday morning we started Plan B,we found an old Thermos flask and I went up to the Hotel on the main road, which is a few hundred yards away and filled up the flask and a kettle with hot water and also brought back some toasted rolls for breakfast,we then went up to the hotel for lunch so as we could have a hot meal and keep Joan warm and content! As it happens this was our routine for the next five days as it came apparent that the power would not be back on until the following week! Chris and Kerry who had flown to Lisbon had to in the end fly back to England on Thursday, when they should have been home and arrange a very complicated payment with different banks in London to get the bill paid; but by then it was the start of the Semana Santa weekend and everything shuts down here from Friday to Monday!We also lost all our food in the fridge and freezer and had to chuck it all out by the end of the week. We managed in the villa with the candles and the help of a full moon in the evening as well as using the Thermos flask,which we topped up at lunchtime to keep Joan going on her hot drinks and filling a hot water bottle at night;the hotel also charged our mobile phones during lunch.Chris then booked a flight home on Sunday to Gibraltar,Day 49 at Casa Olimpia! The pictures below show us at the Hotel Meson de Sancho in the three roomed restaurant which has all around the walls a large display of hundreds of bottles of Whisky! They looked after us very well over the last six days and a big thank you to all the staff and management! On Saturday and again on Sunday we had to light the fire as it got rather cold and we were concerned about keeping Joan warm, Chris arrived back late on a delayed flight on Sunday evening and after saying our goodbyes to Boo and Mille, who we are already missing we then left Joan back in Chris’s hands, we have become very close to and fond of Joan over the last seven weeks! When we got back to our house in Manilva Mano and Anna called in with a chilled bottle of Moet and we also had one with us so we soon were very happy and glad to be back in the village and caught up with all the news and gossip and watched the Semana Santa processions on the local TV station which we sadly missed this year.Today we are sorting out our things,doing the household chores and washing and paying the bills as we are going over to Guadalmina Alta on Wednesday/Friday,for a week to look after the dogs and cats,but no grandmother! as Clive and Carolyn contacted during last week,no rest for the wicked!! Tonight Mano and Anna are coming for dinner; Roast Rib of Beef with all the trimmings, which we are looking forward to.