We arrived at the Pensiune Denisa just outside Mediaş on the evening of Thursday, 16th July all ready to collect our keys on the Friday. The Pensiune was lovely, a little rundown but with several fishing lakes and a really good restaurant. None of the staff on when we got there spoke English but one spoke German and so, over the course of the week, hat meine deutsche sprache verbessern. I really do have to learn Romanian but it’s a comfort, in the meantime, that more than half the Transilvanian population speak German. We had asked for the optional breakfast at €5 each per day but we got up the following morning to a deserted building which didn’t open until eleven o’clock! Thankfully, we hadn't paid for it; it was never mentioned again!
No matter, we went into town, found the earliest opening café and even got a couple of cups of tea. Bonus.
The Hungry One (aka Cockney Geezer in Transylvania - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cockney-geezer-in-Transylvania/795222613923557?fref=ts) phoned the seller of the house to find out when we could collect the keys.
“Oh no, we are going to Cluj today to complete the sale of our flat there.” But it’s already two days after the date you said you would be cleared out.
“So, when then?”
“Tonight or – wait for it – tomorrow.” We have lives too and things to get on with before we have to be back in Bucharest.
“I’ll leave the keys with Willy Schuster.” That’ll thrill Willy, he has plenty other things to do as well.
It was duly done and no, Willy wasn’t best pleased but showed us all the things he needed to do and then left muttering about looking after dogs. Oh God, the dogs! They had left them in the old pig-sty. One penned in and the other chained, yes, chained, up. These are Bichon Frise for God’s sake. But this is exactly how they have been keeping them. We've only ever seen one of them before and she was in the pen then.
I went up to the sty to have a look and they were in an appalling state left in 40C with no food or water. The hungry one immediately phoned round the vets’ numbers we had and was finally put in touch with one who could rescue them. His wife and the owner of the Romanian Retriever Club (which we had seen and clocked for future reference) were there in twenty minutes. We went with them to Ioan’s complex. He is a Rotweiler and Retriever breeder and has beautiful kennels where the dogs are all happy and healthy. He has a lake and a large area for playing and training. The vet – it was his wife who spoke English and came round with Ioan – also arrived immediately and gave the dogs a couple of shots. We visited again before we came back here and the dogs, now renamed Mika and Schumi, were a lot better and ready to be washed and groomed the next day with their neutering coming the next. Poor wee things. Ioan too speaks German so we are able to communicate mostly. We are looking forward to seeing them in the middle of the month.
One job done.
We had arranged already for a structural engineer to survey the house – apparently something you do after you’ve bought the property here. He doesn’t speak English but his son does… Turns up. No son! Help!
Fortunately I had kept in touch with Alisa, the translator who helped at the notary’s. I quickly phoned and was probably very, very unpopular at ten on a Sunday morning but, bless her, she and her husband came straight over to help us out. They were fine with it and were desperate to see the house anyway. There was plenty more work for Alisa that week anyway as we had to visit the police in Mediaş, the mayor in Moşna and all the utility companies with copies of the purchase contract and my passport.
It’s not easy and takes an unconscionably long time – we ended up doing a lot of running around and went to the wrong offices more than once. In the end, we still have the water and electricity contracts to finalise when we get back. The seller’s bills were not paid up to date and he had footered with the gas installation which meant more work and more money – it was cut off because he hadn’t paid and then, when it was turned back on, it was leaking!
All fixed now and he has a surprise when we meet again at the notary’s in October – we have withheld some of the money pending the transfer of land so we will be reimbursed for all our expenses – we’re want to slam him for the dogs too but the cruelty laws on Romania are not strong enough – we’ve left it with our lawyer for the moment.
In among all this, we managed to finally see what it is we’ve bought – apart from the stuff the seller had left behind for somebody to come with a horse and cart to collect. It was all rubbish and the woman was insistent that we were there of an evening for her. We were equally insistent that she came when we were there in the afternoons. Finally she did come when the gas engineers were there and I was appalled to discover that he had charged her 100lei for it all. I know you’re not to give gypsies anything for free but that is ridiculous. Interestingly there was also a pile of stuff the daughter is supposed to be collecting which I offered to the woman – she refused to take any of it. Impressive.
The wee cottage is a kitchen, living room and pantry at the minute. In we waltzed, ready to make a cup of tea. We could put nothing down anywhere. The whole place was, and I emphasise the was, caked thick layers of grease and, yes, filth. We spent three days getting it clean ish – more to do when we get back. We got the cup of tea in the end!
I went round the day before we left and took photos of everywhere from every angle. There’s so much to do that we change our minds about the running order every day. We’re hoping the builder we’ver got the number for will have much more of a plan. It would be nice, too, to the the structural engineers plans to work from but he hasn’t been in touch yet – and he’s so trusting, he’s not going to release them until we’ve paid for them - he has a set of our keys!. We offered Ioan, the dog man, some money up front but he said, “Oh no, we’ll do it all at the end.” See? Doggy people are much nicer.
All in all it was a relatively successful week. We achieved most of what we wanted. And the kitchen is usable. We bought a folding table in Kaufland for the meantime. While I was making some sandwiches, I asked the hungry one to put it up. I heard, “Well, that was reasonable straightforward.” Looked out and there were not one but three tables! Now, that’s handy!
We went to see Willy before we left - he was perfectly fine. They were waiting for a group of German cycling tourists to come and have lunch on a genuine Transilvanian farm. The farm looked fantastic - all spick and span - the sun was shining, the flower garden was colourful. Lavinia's table was beautiful and her food looked fantastic. She had made some lemonade with mint for the lunch and shared with us too. We bought a cheese to keep us going and Willy offered to keep the keys pop over to the house every other day or so to let people know that it is cared for.
We’ll be camping in the house the next time we go up on the 15th August. We have to organise the bathroom this time as well as a bed, fridge and washing machine for the hungry one who is going to be living there to look after the dogs and oversee the building and renovating. I’ll spend a lot of my life driving…
No matter, we went into town, found the earliest opening café and even got a couple of cups of tea. Bonus.
The Hungry One (aka Cockney Geezer in Transylvania - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cockney-geezer-in-Transylvania/795222613923557?fref=ts) phoned the seller of the house to find out when we could collect the keys.
“Oh no, we are going to Cluj today to complete the sale of our flat there.” But it’s already two days after the date you said you would be cleared out.
“So, when then?”
“Tonight or – wait for it – tomorrow.” We have lives too and things to get on with before we have to be back in Bucharest.
“I’ll leave the keys with Willy Schuster.” That’ll thrill Willy, he has plenty other things to do as well.
It was duly done and no, Willy wasn’t best pleased but showed us all the things he needed to do and then left muttering about looking after dogs. Oh God, the dogs! They had left them in the old pig-sty. One penned in and the other chained, yes, chained, up. These are Bichon Frise for God’s sake. But this is exactly how they have been keeping them. We've only ever seen one of them before and she was in the pen then.
I went up to the sty to have a look and they were in an appalling state left in 40C with no food or water. The hungry one immediately phoned round the vets’ numbers we had and was finally put in touch with one who could rescue them. His wife and the owner of the Romanian Retriever Club (which we had seen and clocked for future reference) were there in twenty minutes. We went with them to Ioan’s complex. He is a Rotweiler and Retriever breeder and has beautiful kennels where the dogs are all happy and healthy. He has a lake and a large area for playing and training. The vet – it was his wife who spoke English and came round with Ioan – also arrived immediately and gave the dogs a couple of shots. We visited again before we came back here and the dogs, now renamed Mika and Schumi, were a lot better and ready to be washed and groomed the next day with their neutering coming the next. Poor wee things. Ioan too speaks German so we are able to communicate mostly. We are looking forward to seeing them in the middle of the month.
One job done.
We had arranged already for a structural engineer to survey the house – apparently something you do after you’ve bought the property here. He doesn’t speak English but his son does… Turns up. No son! Help!
Fortunately I had kept in touch with Alisa, the translator who helped at the notary’s. I quickly phoned and was probably very, very unpopular at ten on a Sunday morning but, bless her, she and her husband came straight over to help us out. They were fine with it and were desperate to see the house anyway. There was plenty more work for Alisa that week anyway as we had to visit the police in Mediaş, the mayor in Moşna and all the utility companies with copies of the purchase contract and my passport.
It’s not easy and takes an unconscionably long time – we ended up doing a lot of running around and went to the wrong offices more than once. In the end, we still have the water and electricity contracts to finalise when we get back. The seller’s bills were not paid up to date and he had footered with the gas installation which meant more work and more money – it was cut off because he hadn’t paid and then, when it was turned back on, it was leaking!
All fixed now and he has a surprise when we meet again at the notary’s in October – we have withheld some of the money pending the transfer of land so we will be reimbursed for all our expenses – we’re want to slam him for the dogs too but the cruelty laws on Romania are not strong enough – we’ve left it with our lawyer for the moment.
In among all this, we managed to finally see what it is we’ve bought – apart from the stuff the seller had left behind for somebody to come with a horse and cart to collect. It was all rubbish and the woman was insistent that we were there of an evening for her. We were equally insistent that she came when we were there in the afternoons. Finally she did come when the gas engineers were there and I was appalled to discover that he had charged her 100lei for it all. I know you’re not to give gypsies anything for free but that is ridiculous. Interestingly there was also a pile of stuff the daughter is supposed to be collecting which I offered to the woman – she refused to take any of it. Impressive.
The wee cottage is a kitchen, living room and pantry at the minute. In we waltzed, ready to make a cup of tea. We could put nothing down anywhere. The whole place was, and I emphasise the was, caked thick layers of grease and, yes, filth. We spent three days getting it clean ish – more to do when we get back. We got the cup of tea in the end!
I went round the day before we left and took photos of everywhere from every angle. There’s so much to do that we change our minds about the running order every day. We’re hoping the builder we’ver got the number for will have much more of a plan. It would be nice, too, to the the structural engineers plans to work from but he hasn’t been in touch yet – and he’s so trusting, he’s not going to release them until we’ve paid for them - he has a set of our keys!. We offered Ioan, the dog man, some money up front but he said, “Oh no, we’ll do it all at the end.” See? Doggy people are much nicer.
All in all it was a relatively successful week. We achieved most of what we wanted. And the kitchen is usable. We bought a folding table in Kaufland for the meantime. While I was making some sandwiches, I asked the hungry one to put it up. I heard, “Well, that was reasonable straightforward.” Looked out and there were not one but three tables! Now, that’s handy!
We went to see Willy before we left - he was perfectly fine. They were waiting for a group of German cycling tourists to come and have lunch on a genuine Transilvanian farm. The farm looked fantastic - all spick and span - the sun was shining, the flower garden was colourful. Lavinia's table was beautiful and her food looked fantastic. She had made some lemonade with mint for the lunch and shared with us too. We bought a cheese to keep us going and Willy offered to keep the keys pop over to the house every other day or so to let people know that it is cared for.
We’ll be camping in the house the next time we go up on the 15th August. We have to organise the bathroom this time as well as a bed, fridge and washing machine for the hungry one who is going to be living there to look after the dogs and oversee the building and renovating. I’ll spend a lot of my life driving…
The cottage in use before:
The cottage now:
This is, by no means, the finished article. Baby steps...