Sevilla for the First Time

Mileage: 262436

The plan was to drive to Sevilla this morning and explore the city. Unfortunately, that didn't happen at all.

Yesterday, we were pleased with the shady roof over our parking spot, but today we cursed it.

What happened?

After breakfast, we had packed our things, the windows were closed, the wheel chocks were put away, and the gas was turned off. We intended to go through the departure checklist - which we went through before leaving the parking or camping area - later when we left the disposal station, a serious mistake as it turned out. Because we had forgotten the roof windows. As we were backing out of our spot, there was a loud crack, and we had torn off the toilet hatch at the shading. If we had gone forward, the cover probably would have just folded down, but going backward, it had no chance.

We had no choice but to temporarily tape the completely destroyed cover together and head to a dealer or a camper workshop. In its current state, it was at least sealed for the time being, at least when we were parked, but during driving, any potential rain would surely seep inside.

In the next larger city, Huelva, there were two small camper workshops, but they had nothing suitable in stock and could only schedule us for repairs in two or three days. So we looked for a slightly bigger company and actually found a promising camper workshop in Sevilla that was listed as a partner by the manufacturer of the roof window.

So we headed to Sevilla. We saw the olive plantations as we drove by. When we found the workshop, it was, of course, lunchtime; until 5:00 PM. So we also had our siesta in the parking lot in front of the workshop. Even if everything should work perfectly now, we probably wouldn’t see anything of Sevilla today.

When the staff arrived just before 5:00 PM for their evening shift, we gave them some time, and shortly after the gates opened again, we were right in. When we asked about roof windows, which were called Claraboyas here, the mechanic immediately suggested that he could sell us one, but he couldn't install it; everything was booked up. We were already familiar with that. He first showed us one that looked like a simple plastic lid, then he had a complete window from one of the big manufacturers out of Italy, but that would have required a complete installation with screws and sealing or gluing. That would have been a half-day job. As we stood there in the warehouse considering our options, our eyes fell on a dusty box that was sitting atop a shelf. That was our roof window!!! In the right size and even with the crystal-clear cover! We helped the mechanic to get the box down and carefully compared the item descriptions again; it fit perfectly, it was just perfect. The price for the part was reasonable for a German export product, but in our situation, we didn’t care. We packed the box and then continued on.

The parking spot for the night looked better in the pictures than in real life. It was more of a driveway for campers and vans. Sure, when everyone picked up their motorhomes during the holidays, there would be space here, but currently, it was quite crowded with all kinds of camping vehicles, and apart from one more, all were unoccupied.

We spent the late afternoon with the repair. We didn't need any sealant or caravan glue. We just needed to pull the bolts from the hinges and loosen the screws of the folding mechanism, then we could remove the broken cover and fit the new one. Luckily - in less than an hour, the replacement was completed.

For the evening, we had picked a neighborhood bar nearby. When we arrived there, unfortunately, the owner could only offer us cold tapas; the warm kitchen was only available on weekends. We accepted the situation, and once again, we were surprised, as the cold tomato soup garnished with egg and bacon, a 'Salmorejo Jamon,' was amazing. A potato salad with tuna and a tuna-potato cream with bread rounded it all off. Since the bar apparently only opened until 8:00 PM during the week, we had just finished eating when the owner started closing the gate but allowed us all the time to finish our drinks in peace.

So we were back at Gary's earlier than expected and spent the evening on the couch.