by Helen | Mar 17, 2017 | Renovation
This room, above, when we viewed for the first time in July 2016, was something of a mess. Two sets of bunk beds, random shelving, dishevelled bedding, bare plaster walls, bare floor boards – all in all, pretty dismal. BUT, with a beautiful soaring ceiling, original beams which could be made beautiful and a view out over what could be the front garden, and beyond to fields and woods, we figured this could be a pretty special room. Eventually. But definitely not when we viewed.
Fast forward to March 2017 and we’d gone with our guts, bought the house and had moved in. All of our belongings arrived on a huge lorry at the start of March, but we still needed furniture for the two guest bedrooms. And, as we’d decided to initially carve out Bedroom Two as a cosy and comfortable hideaway, whilst we were renovating, we had get furniture and furnishings sorted quickly. A trip over to IKEA in Zagreb did the trick – at time. we didn’t know how close we were to Trieste where there’s an IKEA and we were months away from discovering great stores like Jysk, so Zagreb it was. It was all a bit weird to be honest, as, like you’ve expect, the layout was just so familiar and so we could have been in the Ashton-under-Lyne, or Warrington store. But, no, we were in the Croatian capital, trying to furnish a room.
Anyway, we did it and a week later, everything was delivered from IKEA. IT was flat pack chaos, as obviously nothing could be unpacked and built, before we had painted the room. So, this was where we started, whilst living around boxes in the living room.
The decision had been taken early on that all walls in the house would initially be painted white, so that we had a real blank canvas and could get a feel for the house, when it felt light, bright and clean. So, armed with rollers and paint, we set about tackling those awful walls in Bedroom Two. We had plans for the woodwork, but that was going to have to be left to another day, as we just needed to create a room we could escape to.
The internal decor of the house was very traditional and not to our taste at all. Every light fitting was removed and replaced. Rather than overhead lights, most rooms had wall lights, with the most horrendous opaque glass horrendous. These were immediately skipped when we sourced some amazing shades which had been rescued from a Communist era office block in Zagreb. Very cool! The bed we had bought was large – comfort and size were top priorities – so we didn’t want bedside tables cluttering up the room, but we still wanted good lighting. These industrial style wall lights, from IKEA, were just perfect. A beautiful anthracite colour, with that gorgeous retro cabling. All ready to be wall mounted on either side of the bed – when it was built.
We pushed the boat out a little with the bed. A kingsize divan, which was just so comfy when we tested it in store. It definitely wasn’t the cheapest, but we knew that we had a good few months ahead of us of discomfort, so wanted to be sure that at the end of the day, we could just sink into a bed and fall asleep. It was put together fairly quickly and we were delighted with how sturdy it looked.
I can remember taking the photo below and feeling such a sense of achievement. Within days of us arriving in our new home, in a different country, we’d navigated purchasing everything we needed in a new capital city and were on track to having our first completed room. And, just look at those walls – brilliant white and so, so clean. Beautiful.
Next up was manoeuvering the very thick, substantial and therefore heavy, mattress, up the wooden stairs. After a lot of heaving and getting it around corners and through doorways, it was eventually in Bedroom Two, on the new bed and ready to be dressed. A big day!
The whole bed was wrapped in a grey fabric cover, so when new bedding was purchased (including a soft, new duvet – bliss) grey was the obvious choice. We also managed to locate some artwork from the hundreds of boxes, piled up around the house, so that the room started to have a little bit of personality.
This may not seem to much of an achievement to anyone else, but I think we really did smash the creation of a gorgeous new bedroom, within two weeks of arriving in Istria. And although things will certainly develop as we
by Helen | Mar 4, 2017 | Lifestyle
So, three months after we signed all of the legal documents for The House in the solictors’ office in Rijeka, we found ourselves, on 1st March 2017, heading from our stop-over in Zagreb, to the village of Zrenj in Istria. A very good friend of ours had helped us to organise the transportation of all of our belongings – we were working on round about 10th March for everything to arrive, but a text, as we were driving over, confirmed that the lorry had left Manchester and would be with us on Thursday 2nd March. The VERY NEXT DAY! Hurrah! All of our goods were going to be with us much sooner – so we had a house to prepare.
Not having been lived in at all for over 18 months, it was FREEZING. So freezing, we could see our breath when we talked, but after a celebratory drink, we had rooms to clear of cobwebs and accumulated dust before the lorry arrived.
I can honestly say we’ve never been as cold as we were the first few nights in the house. The only heating option we had was an inherited woodburner, but no logs – and no knowledge of where to get them from. As all heaters we owned were on a lorry travelling across Europe, we initially relied on wearing multiple layers, candles and tealights ( I knew you could never have too many) and getting great use out of all of the hygge-style blankets and throws I had been accumulating. Cleaning down such a big house – as had become clear as all of the furniture, save for the bed, had been taken away – definitely kept us warm too.
We had thought that the process of getting all of our belongings out to a small part of north west Croatia would be tricky. Certainly, all of the companies who quoted, who specialise in overseas removals, made it sound that way. However, the way we managed to do it – having a friend who owns a furniture & interiors company and who has guys who do regular trips to the continent – really took out all of the stress. We couldn’t quite believe it, when almost to the exact ETA, the lorry rolled up the road. With our lives in the back…
It’s quite amazing to see absolutely everything you own – apart from what we could carry in luggage – being loaded off in front of your eyes. Everything – including four large bamboo trees and five bay trees, all brought over from West Didsbury.
We had the crazy idea that everything would neatly go into its appointed room and that we would unpack in an orderly fashion. How naive! Things were offloaded very quickly and we soon gave up trying place things in the right rooms. It was cold and damp and we all just wanted everything off the lorry as quickly as possible. And pretty soon, the very bare, empty house, started to fill up…
Three hours later, that was it. The lorry was off and we were left looking at hundreds of packing boxes and wrapped furniture, not quite sure where to begin making sense of it all. Luckily, our new neighbour Marino, was on hand to help lift and shift. We also had a visit from Stella, the new owner of the restaurant literally on our doorstep, with a welcoming bottle of wine – and the even more welcoming news that the restaurant was open, for the first time, that very evening. However, before we could even think about eating, we had the mountain of boxes to tackle and the task of trying to create something resembling a home…
(With heartfelt thanks also to our amazing friend, Paul – without him, we would probably still be awaiting our furniture!)
by Helen | Feb 1, 2017 | Lifestyle
Fast forward a couple of months from the last blog, and Monday 5th December, saw us sitting in a solicitors’ office in Riejka, with the sellers, signing paperwork & taking possession of the keys to the house…
Just five months after seeing it online for the very first time, the house was ours! The whole process from start to finish was actually quite stress-free – especially when compared to the selling of our house in Didsbury, which was quite another story. The purchase of the house was slightly less complicated than it could have been because we were in the fortunate position of being cash buyers.
We had done lots of research and it seemed that a mortgage was going to be a difficult thing to get quickly, not being Croatian nationals, so we discounted that straight away. We knew that if timing was right, we had sufficient equity in our UK property to make a cash purchase – but the wheels grind very slowly in the UK, and we had to act quickly. Especially as another purchaser had come along and made an offer on our dream property. A bridging loan was secured from some very generous and dear friends and we were on our way! If buying in Croatia is something you might want to investigate, here’s how we’ve done it so far…
- Our purchase was through private sellers, who were actually based in the UK, the house having been their family holiday home. This helped massively as we were able to communicate directly with them, cutting out any agencies (and subsequent agency fees)
- Our offer, of the asking price, was accepted immediately – but it was quite soon after Brexit, when the pound was fluctuating. However, we agreed with the sellers that the price accepted would be fixed in sterling – meaning that once we had agreed, it didn’t matter in terms of the house price, what the pound did
- We paid a 10% deposit to the sellers, backed up by an agreement, written by our UK solicitor, and signed by both parties. If we pulled out, subsequent to signing, we’d forfeit the deposit, if they pulled out, we’d get the deposit back. Again, no fees to any external agencies (except the cost of the agreement)
- We applied for our Osobni Identifikacijski Broj (OIB), the personal identification numbers needed to do any kind of financial transaction in Croatia. We visited the Ministry of Finance Tax Office in Umag, completed the application forms, presented our passports and within 10 minutes had the very important documents, which would enable us to purchase the house
- We met with the sellers and solicitors to complete the purchase. We had also employed the services of a legal translator so everything was read in Croatian and English – this is definitely something we would recommend, as we now have all legal documents in both languages. The process was very straightforward – but be aware that in Croatia, cash is often king. Something we were not entirely aware of! The legal fees (approx 2% of the purchase price) were payable on the day and in cash. Yes, even the legal system likes cash over cards!
- The final piece of the jigsaw was ensuring that the tax office agreed with the price we had paid – documents were sent off on our behalf, and we have just recently been advised that all is in order and that the final tax bill has been approved. In Croatia, this is usually 5% of the purchase price and you have 45 days from the date of approval to pay this sum.
So, all done & dusted – especially now that the sale of our Didsbury house has gone through and all of our belongings are packed up and in storage. We’re currently in a transition phase, living in a friend’s apartment in West Didsbury and getting everything into place for the next trip out to Istria, next week…
by Helen | Dec 15, 2016 | Italy, Travel
Bergamo, located west of Milan, in the region of Lombardy, is beautiful. Often overlooked for the more glitzy (and possibly more brash) Milan, it has everything. There is the lower, more modern town (Citta Bassa) – although, as well as your retail therapy kicks, you can still soak up the history of the town. Wide thoroughfares are home to a host of familiar shops and stores – Benetton, Zara, Coin etc – as well as churches, grand residences now converted into boutique style hotels, theatres, museums, elaborate government buildings, and many, many coffee shops, bars and restaurants. Like many Italian towns, it also has a fortified upper town, Citta Alta, reached either by a very pleasant walk uphill or by the easier Funicular, which is great if you want expansive views of Bergamo and way, way beyond, to the snowy peaks further north.
Citta Alta is a walled town in its own rights – more than 4kms of walls, built by the Venetians. A couple of days of leisurely strolling and you’ll be familiar with Piazza Vecchia, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, next to it the Cappella Colleoni, and next to it, The Baptistry. You’ll walk through the impressive entrance to Citta Alta at some point – Porta San Giacomo. You’ll also inevitably walk along the main cobbled thoroughfare – Via Bartolomeo Colleoni, from Piazza Vecchia to the arch which takes you to Piazza della Cittadella and beyond to the next funicular, up to the upper upper part of Bergamo – San Vigilio.
But, you also need to take the time to look up and look around you – because as well as the more obvious beautiful sights, you’ll start to see some real hidden treasures…
Hope you’ll agree that Bergamo is pretty special – and if you’ve not been before, that maybe we’ve inspired you to investigate it, especially as it’s the perfect destination for a weekend break. Previously, we used to catch a later afternoon flight out on a Friday from Manchester and return early evening Sunday. The airport is only about 6kms from the city, so you can really squeeze out every single minute!
by Helen | Dec 7, 2016 | Lifestyle
So, on Monday 5th December 2016, *this* happened. Meaning, it’s now all very real, indeed…
by Helen | Dec 1, 2016 | Lifestyle
So, flights booked. We hope there’s no turning back now. Come the beginning of December, we hope the deal has been sealed. We hope that as well as those UK National Insurance numbers – which you *always* remember – we’ll also have Croatian ID, and the ownership of a Croatian farmhouse. We hope that the electricity and water and gas will have been transferred to us and that we will have a phone line and super-duper broadband all ready to go.
We hope this will be our Christmas present to ourselves and the beginning of a massive adventure…
by Helen | Nov 25, 2016 | Lifestyle
December is going to herald in some big changes! We fly out on 1st December to Bergamo in Northern Italy and pick up a car, which we’ll drive down to Istria. On Dec 2nd we apply for our Croatian Osobni Identifikacijski Broj numbers – ID numbers, similar to our NI numbers in the UK and then on the following Monday, we meet with our vendors and Croatian solicitor to do lots of signing of paperwork. We’re hoping that by the time we return to Didsbury, a week later, we have a new set of these…
by Helen | Jul 19, 2016 | Lifestyle
So, we’d arrived in Istria and hired a car, with the intention of finding the house we’d spotted online. Armed with a map and sat-nav we set off, climbing higher and higher up into the Istrian hills. Although it was July, it was quite cool and a overcast, but we could still see the potential of this part of the world, as hilltop village after hilltop village rolled past us. The roads were wide and cut through fields and meadows – and no traffic jams! Unfortunately, we got hopelessly lost. We just seemed to be driving around in circles as we’d repeatedly pass the same landmarks, but just never catch a glimpse of the house, which we knew from the online details, should be visible from the road. We were just about to give up, when suddenly, there it was, to the right of us. Thank goodness this had been another occasion when, despite the signs, we didn’t give up…
We were able to poke around quite a bit outside and the more we investigated, the more we just knew that this was the house. The village – Pici – was small, but it was clear that lots of renovation work was going on with lots of the properties and we knew that this one would go quickly. The mobile phone number on the painted For Sale sign was different to the one we’d been ringing, so we gave this a go – and it was answered by the brother of the people selling. They were apparently on holiday in the States so not answering calls or emails – and in their absence, he agreed to come over to the house the next day and show us around inside. Giving us a bit more time to explore outside…
There’s a story attached to the dwelling above, which we hope will eventually become part of our story, but more of that in a future blog…
by Helen | Jul 19, 2016 | Lifestyle
Our second trip to The House, this time to view internally, was much less problematic direction-wise, as we were already becoming used to the Istrian roads. What had seemed like a very long journey and an isolated location the previous day, all of a sudden seemed a whole lot more accessible and whilst in a rural location, certainly not isolated. This gave us heart as we had had creeping doubts the evening before, thinking we were potentially going to be cutting ourselves off.
The house we had found had been a family holiday home. It had been extensively structurally renovated, and closer inspection showed it to be in great condition. New roof, new guttering & downpipes, new windows and shutters – although no pool. As yet.
Once inside, we really saw the potential of this gem we had discovered…
We found out that the house had once been the only one in the village with a water supply. Although things have moved on quite considerably, the well is still working – quite a feature, but one we have some exciting plans for. Connected to the room above, is the living room. The living area is very spacious – we could immediately see the potential once cleared of the furniture and decorated in our style. Shuttered windows on facing walls, once opened, flooded the room with sunlight.
The main bedroom is huge – so much scope and potential, and unlike the rooms downstairs, it has high vaulted ceilings with original beams. Like the other rooms, it is a complete blank canvas as is largely undecorated so we can really begin to make our own mark over time. The second bedroom is ripe for conversion – originally used by the children of the family when on holiday, it is packed full of bunk beds and so seems quite small. However, once these are out, we’ll have another spacious room to play around with.
The current bathroom upstairs is very small and so our plan will be to transform the third bedroom into the main bathroom and knock through from the main bedroom into the current bathroom to create an en-suite. This means that when people stay they have exclusive use of the main bathroom. The smallest bedroom currently looks like this…
Under the living room is an area which was used for storage, but we immediately saw its potential as a really cosy second living room. The room where our beautiful Dovre woodburner will eventually be housed.
The current kitchen, although large, is separated from the rest of the living area and so the idea is to go open-plan. We want the living room/well room/kitchen to become a space which is completely used, with no area wasted. It’ll be a structural job and a half but we’re more than ready for this particular challenge…
So, without hopefully giving too much away at this stage, this is what our new life is shaping up to look like…
by Helen | May 23, 2016 | Spain, Travel
Casa 1800 are hotels I’ve had an eye on for some time. With one in Seville and in one Granada, I figured that some way we’d find a way to visit one of them, at least, but I also assumed that price may be prohibitive. So, when we decided to visit The Alhambra again, we investigated Casa 1800. Not only is this particular hotel almost underneath the walls of the beautiful Moorish fort, we also got a night for a really decent price. Booked. There & then.
Located in a historic and fully refurbished 16th-century building that used to be the barracks of the militia, known as “Casa de los Migueletes”, this boutique hotel is in the historic centre of Granada, in the district of Albaicín. It’s in a pedestrianised area, but the hotel sent clear directions to the nearest car park and it was a relatively short distance to walk. Although – we did visit in April so it wasn’t stifling, and we only had an overnight bag. I assume the hotel has a transport service – but if not, be prepared in hotter months and if you have more luggage, for a much slower walk than we did. Initially, it’s quite difficult to find, as the hotel is tucked up and away behind the main pedestrian street, and there are a few twists and turns to navigate, but once you arrive, it is absolute heaven on earth.
Our beautiful, spacious suite – with a bathroom with a bath! – overlooked the internal courtyard, where breakfast is served, and where in late afternoon, complimentary afternoon tea is served. What a fantastic idea, in such gorgeous location.
An utter class act of a hotel. Now to book Seville…
