I got to Barcelona a week ago, and it’s been a frustrating week, to say the least! Well, let me start out with the good news – Liz from Memoirs of a Young Adventuress asked me to be in her series The Expat Files! You can check out my piece here about what life abroad in Barcelona is like.
Also, a big apology to Liz for being pretty much the worst person in the world to get in touch with. But, that’s got a lot to do with the latest developments in Barcelona…
First, here’s a soothing, pretty picture of the city to calm myself down and remember why I like it. If you wish to stop here and stay soothed, please do.
Not in the mood for being soothed? Here we go!
I landed at noon last Sunday and was looking forward to a hot lunch and a hot shower. After dragging my overweight suitcase (it’s always overweight!) into my flat, I turned on the shower and got…a rushing jet of freezing cold water.
After realizing my boiler wasn’t actually plugged in, I felt stupid and laughed it off, and went back for round two.
More cold water.
I tried everything I could think of to fix it, but after about an hour, I gave up. My water was stuck at 50°F. After being on a plane for 20+ hours, I felt exhausted, grumpy, achy, and just wanted a shower and a warm bed.
Ah yes, that’s the other thing my boiler controls – the radiators. So there was no heat for me in the near-freezing night!
Three days later, my landlord finally fixed the boiler, which something had exploded in. Well, mostly fixed it – it’s leaking water and only works with a lot of coaxing. This is a truly lovely surprise in the middle of January.
At least he fixed it relatively quickly (this is the same man who took FOUR MONTHS to repair my collapsed bathroom ceiling last winter. Outdoor showering has never been so not fun!). I let it slide…and then got a lovely e-mail telling me I had to move out RIGHT AWAY.
Sigh. So I’ve got short notice to pack up and haul all my junk across the city. Luckily, I don’t have to find a new flat as they are ‘kindly’ letting me move into another one of theirs. But after all this drama in just a week, plus a series of other issues, I’m not sure I still want to put up with them.
Add in the rainy weather, and let’s just say I’m not feeling very charmed with Barcelona at the moment. Hopefully things will pick up soon! (And again, my apologies to Liz for being a terrible guest writer!).
Besos!
-Jess
This is terrible! We had something similar happen when our electricity (and with it, the hot water, light, and heating…) went out on December 30. The problem wasn’t fixed until Jan 3, but luckily we only had one freezing night in Madrid as the rest of the time we were in Porto.
No acabo de entender la mala suerte que tuviste con lo de esa mudanzo forzada!! No wonder you have had a rough welcome back. Good luck with the move, and here’s to a better rest of 2013!
Thanks! It can only go up from here, right? Knock on wood…
wow, this makes my furnace story pale in comparison. installed a new furnace because I was afraid our nearly 20 year old furnace would fail during winter. ready? NEW furnace has failed 3 times in 4 years! ah….company that installed it refuses (and I can’t get hubby on my side for this one) to install another one. Instead I have the owner’s cell number and the NEXT time (I have zero confidence in it at this point) it fails, you better believe I will call him!! but, yea, being without hot water and heat for that long: YUCK!! the longest I was without heat was 24 hours. I’m with you. You should find better landlords. Buena suerte!
Wowww that’s awful – 3 times in 4 years?? Jeez. Stay warm!!
I have my fingers crossed for better landlords this time.
We had something similar last weekend! Couldn’t use half the toilets or any of the showers in our building. Using the secondary school male toilets and swimming pool showers for a few days wasn’t too fun!
Urgh, that sounds unpleasant haha. Hope your hot water is working now!
I’ve been in the same situation also. Years ago I lived in what I thought was a dream piso in San Sebastian but a few months after moving in (and almost that long without hot water) I had a shitty thing happen with a roommate which forced me to move out. I then moved to Irun, where I am now, and a month later met my principe azul! I’m certainly not saying you’re going to meet your prince charming but sometimes things happen for a reason and the move, although it might seem like a huge pain in the ass now, could have great outcomes in the future! Just keep your head up and try to look on the bright side on things….even through the cold and rain! Suerte!
Gracias! That’s true, it could definitely have a silver lining. Thanks for a great perspective, chica!
Oh wow, I’m so sorry you are being forced to move! Shitty landlords are the worst.
I remember leaving Madrid in August and thinking to myself, “Good riddance of this cockroach and mold infested piso!” When we first moved in, for some reason the landlady hadn’t installed the walls to our shower (it wasn’t a bathtub just a standing shower). I pretty much had to take showers by squatting in the shower for an entire month, otherwise the water from the shower nozzle would have sprayed water every single time. My roommate and I couldn’t understand why the casera didn’t get this issue resolved BEFORE we moved in. This is just one instance of a lot of the craziness we had to put up in that apartment (including the neighbor’s cat periodically breaking in!!!! that was the weirdest).
Can’t say I miss it too much! I hope things get resolved for you soon. Do you have friends who can help you out with the mudanza?
Haha what is it with Spanish landlords? There must be some good ones out there, but everyone I know has a horror story. That shower sounds AWFUL!
Luckily, I have a couple friends who’ve already offered to pitch in for the mudanza, so it won’t be too painful (I hope).
what a bummer way to return!
I know when I returned from my holidays travels I was feeling out of sorts but thankfully didn’t have to deal with what you have- that would have sent me over the edge.
Hope there other place has less problems, or maybe it’s time for new landlords?
Sounds like you had a long stay in California- lucky you!
Seriously, I was NOT happy this week haha. New landlords are the solution, I think!
I was in California for three weeks, so it was a pretty long trip. It feels like I was gone forever!
Oh no, so sorry to hear that! Hope things get better for you from here on out! No where to go but up, right?
Exactly! I’ve already cheered up a bit. I was mostly just shocked by the “GET OUT NOW” message. Oh well, onward and upward!
We all have these days. Just remember that the majority of the time is amazing! Looking back at the days when I lived in Japan, I had some horrible horrible days, but now they are distant memories. Those bad days can seem so real and are so disturbing. I can’t remember what some of those days felt like in Japan and I am glad. Hang in there. When the weather starts getting warmer, things seem to work out better to.
True! Things will definitely improve, it was just a shock to my spoiled California system (it was above 20°C on Christmas last year). I can’t wait for it to get warm again!
Don’t even worry about it! I thought your post was great! Thanks for being part of my series 🙂 I hope things get better for you! I would switch apartments and find a better landlord! Good luck and besos 🙂
Cheers, thanks for inviting me to join the series! I’m definitely going to have to find a new apartment…it’s just such a hassle. Gracias, chica! 🙂
Oh dear. Sorry to hear about your troubles, Jess 🙁
Oh well, things are luckily looking up so far. 🙂 It was just quite a nasty shock to come back to – I’ve only been back a week!
I think everyone has apartment rental stories like this one here in Barcelona. My inlaws had problems with their apartment which were only fixed more than half a year later, and only after they withheld paying the rent! I do hope your new place is warmer and cosier! It’s been pretty chilly here the last few days!
Oh dear! I suppose not paying would get them to pay attention quickly haha. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a lucky apartment hunt, and for warmer weather!
eek!! I hope that the new place is at least warm and you know, has not-so-freezing water for your showers 🙂
Thanks! Me too! 😀
Spanish landlords are often so messy (Believe me – I am spanish!). The last landlord I had in Madrid only gave me my second key (that is, the key to open the “portal” after 2 weeks. Every single day, I had to pray that anyone else in the building was at home and trusting me to open the door…
I hope your new place is way better than this – at least warmer!
Wow, that’s terrible! I hope you were lucky during those two weeks.
At least it’s a relief in some way that it happens to Spanish people too; I always suspect some of them are ‘aprovechando’ because I’m foreign.
I’ve got my fingers crossed for a nicer and warmer flat this time around. 🙂
Spanish landlords are the worst. Wish you the best.