Tortosa

We woke up this morning to rain. It was the first time in 14 days of travelling Wanda had got wet and although it wasn’t heavy rain, it looked pretty bleak and black in the mountains.
We had already decided we were going to move today and explore more further down. Ellie had found a house she liked in the arse end of nowhere in the the village of Els Reugars just out Roquettes so that’s where we were heading.
We checked the map and it seemed as though Roquettes was a busy town with lots of shops, supermarkets and laundrettes so because it was raining we thought today would be a good day to do some laundry. The washing bag was only half full but that would give us the chance to wash all of the bedding aswell.
We headed for a supermarket just off the main drag of Roquettes and as we entered the car park there was only 10 cars in it which is unheard of for any supermarkets we have visited so far. We had to wait 20 minutes for the largest washing machine of 18kg but once that was free, we chucked our dirty laundry in and then popped inside the store to get a few things we had run out of. Except for there own brand stuff it was crazy expensive, I wanted some Brie for cheese toasties and it was €1.50 for a triangle, roughly the same price as the UK. In Lidl I can buy a complete circle for the same price and in France I have a selection of circles to choose from.
We just bought the essentials, then sat in the car park and had lunch and a cup of tea while the washing did it’s thing. 50 minutes later everything was clean and dry and we were heading for the house in Els Reugars.
TomTom took us the scenic route down the gravel tracks for about 3 miles which we later found out wasn’t entirely necessary as there is an easier way in and out.
We found the house we liked, nobody was around, so we got out and checked it out.
From the outside it looks more beautiful than it does on the website and the owners have just painted the outside and built a new barbecue area. The house is set in it’s own 5 acres of olive trees and has a mountain backdrop. We both loved it.
Ellie messaged the estate agents and they quickly got back to us firstly saying that we could view the house tomorrow. We had a chat about the pros and cons of owning a house in this area and this house does tick a lot of boxes. Neighbours, but they are not to close. Mountain views, rivers, a town nearby but not to near, trails to go walking and biking, a quiet area.
Then the estate messaged back and said he’d spoken to the owners and they no longer want to sell they would rather rent it out. So that put that to rest…….. or so we thought.
30 minutes later the estate agents messaged back and said the owner would sell and could we view it tomorrow at 4pm. So tomorrow we are viewing a property in Spain.
In between the messaging I think we had convinced ourselves that buying somewhere out here as a holiday home isn’t right for us. Personally I would move out here and seek residency but Ellie doesn’t want to do that and I don’t think a holiday home is a practical use of our savings. So tomorrow we are going to go with an open mind and a list of questions and see what happens.
After looking at the house we headed back to Roquettes to a free airè in the edge of the city, it has all services and we specifically came here to get electric and charge the battery as it was down to below 50% because of the lack of bright sunshine the last 3 days.
We expected to pay for the electric hook and were wondering all the way here, would it be card, or cash or an app but when we got here the electric, like everything else here, is free. We can’t believe it, another free night and this time we’re boosting Wanda’s batteries and saving gas on the water heater and fridge.
After plugging Wanda in we then headed into town down the Viaverde greenway which runs through here and then we picked up the canal path.
Roquettes itself is a thriving town with lots of shops, banks, supermarkets, a cinema and a leisure centre with the river Ebre running right through it’s centre and 2 man made canals running off it. Although it does look a bit dirty from a distance. We then got some emergency cash out of a local bank, paying €6 for the privilege and headed back to Wanda to escape the drizzle that had just started again, although it is still a sweltering 28°c inside and out and feels stormy.
We have all the windows and hatches open and the fans are running but we just seem to be moving warm air around, we’re hoping it will cool down later in the evening.Read more