Yesterday got off to a bad start. Turning into the polígono industrial in Ronda in the early hours of darkness, the kerb jumped out and hit my front nearside wheel! Here’s what happened next.
Early Morning Blues
Blimey! I thought. I’ve nudged kerbs before in the Ciudad Soñada, the streets being somewhat narrow, but this felt different; the drive became lumpy and didn’t feel right.
Rather than stop and risk getting stranded, I struggled on at snail’s pace to my regular petrol station about half a kilometre away. I pulled up and investigated the damage. Omigod! The tyre was in shreds with two gaping holes. It was as flat as the proverbial pancake! There was no point in trying to re-inflate it.
The time was 6.45 am, TWO AND A QUARTER HOURS BEFORE GARAGES AND TYRE CENTRES WOULD OPEN!
Then I remembered that this car, a Peugeot 2008, had a spare tyre, unlike my three previous cars, a SEAT Leon, a Ford Focus and a Mazda RX8.
Out with the jack
It was probably 45 years since I’d had to change a wheel, but, come on, changing a wheel is like riding a bike, isn’t it? You never forget how to do it.
Well, perhaps that’s not quite true, but I managed it in the end. Although, I have to say I shouldn’t really be doing jobs like this at my age, and certainly not in in a temperature of zero degrees Celsius!
Time for a coffee to calm my nerves, before heading to Casa 87, the house I am doing up for a Liverpool couple who contacted me out of the blue, after surfing my website, www.help-me-ronda.com
Casa 87
I sorted out a few things at the house before heading off to Ronda to source some items of furniture from Solidarios en Ronda, the local charity for homeless people, and Pepe Mariscal, the second-hand dealer. I picked up some great stuff from both places, all at good prices.
Time was running out now to go to the tyre centre, so I decided to postpone until today, Saturday (mistake, they’re shut on Saturdays!)
Aussie serendipity
Back to Friday. At Pepe’s I met a couple from Australia. Kati, French, and David, English, were on extended furlough in Ronda, with a view to emigrating here. A much more pleasant encounter than my earlier encounter with the kerb!
Back at Casa 87, I spent the afternoon painting, before heading home to get ready for our dinner date. Rita and I had decided to spend the evening in Ronda tapeando.
De tapeo in Ronda
We got side-tracked by "Ene de Nati", a rather expensive boutique that the missus likes in Calle Remedios. I nipped to a nearby bar for a wee (and a tubo), where I was accosted by a rather stunning lady and her bloke. Liz was Mexican and Bernd was German. They were on holiday here from California, where they live.
After a pleasant interlude I returned to the missus who had managed to run up a sizeable bill for a woollen suit and a long winter overcoat. As we left the shop, we bumped into Lis and Bernd, I introduced Rita and we all went off for a drink together at one of the many bars on that very street.
Sat at a table outside – inside was full - my wife had a good old chinwag in German with Bernd, while Lis and I spoke Spanish and English. All of a sudden it was quite late, so we decided to break up. Bernd even picked up the bill.
They went back to their hotel, and we went in search of some tapas, which had been our original plan. The place we wanted to try out was closing, so we headed for our old favourite, Las Maravillas on Calle La Bola. It was heaving, but our waiter friend, José Luis found us a table for two.
So, we had a delicious light meal to round off the day, before heading home and to bed after a delightfully serendipitous day.
© Joe King
Tags: Casa 87, Ciudad Soñada, de tapeo, Ene de Nati, Ford Focus, Las Maravillas, Mazda RX8, Pepe Mariscal, Peugeot 2008, Ronda, SEAT Leon, Solidarios, tapa,