TdM

This week has had a special significance for TulStig DelMar.

On Wednesday it was 5 years since we bought the apartment.

We had been looking around for another property in Vilanova for some time, and had had a few false starts. Some of the places we looked at were so poorly presented that as soon as we walked through the door we had decided that we weren't interested.

For one place that we both liked, which was directly on the Placa de la Vila ( an attic flat) we got as far as paying the reserve, which should have secured us the property, but it seems there was something going on of which we weren't aware and we missed out. In hindsight that was a good thing as the building had no lift and there were too many stairs up to the apartment.

We had pretty much given up looking when an email came in about what is now TdM. I showed it to Tony and we decided on one last try before giving up, and made an appointment to view.

The estate agent was very pleasant and helpful. Almost as soon as we had seen the place we decided we wanted it. Within days a good price was agreed and on the 20th may 2015 we went to the notary and took over the deeds and got the keys.

Then the work began. Although the place was in very good order we wanted to make a few changes. Luckily a lovely architect friend of ours, Laura, gave us the details of a builder/handyman/electrician who took over the project. The place was painted throughout, new windows and French doors were put in, and the kitchen changed completely.

As I said the estate agent was very helpful and took me round to the offices for each of the utilities to set up accounts in our names.

Finally we started looking at and buying furnishings. We got some online, some locally, and of course some from Ikea.

Once we were happy with the way everything looked we held an open doors day during which several people came for a look round, and join us in a drink and snack.

I set up accounts/adverts on TripAdvisor. Airbnb and Home away, as well as this website and we were open for business.

We originally thought about putting it on the hands of a local agency, but decided we would manage it ourselves.

We toyed around with several names before we settled on TulStig DelMar, thinking this was the most appropriate, as where we live is Casa TulStig, and this new place was near the sea.

And, as they say, the rest is history.