Friday, August 31, 2012

Comillas

Comillas is a beautiful little coastal town with many important buildings, a bit of history, and some very nice people. We stopped there principally for the Capricho de Gaudi (see next post) but enjoyed walking around the town in the morning, waiting for the Gaudi site to open. In the course of all this, something very good happened. The nice young woman at the TI directed us to an auto repair shop nearly across the road from the Capricho (direction Bilbao), and there the nice owner/manager and his assistant changed the Grey Wanderer's engine oil and filter. It was my first experience with an independent mechanic in Europe and a very good experience. They worked methodically and carefully, like surgeons, one might say. The white tile floor (!) of the garage was so clean, as were all the tools and working areas, you could eat off it. They swept up and mopped up after every job. The assistant washed his hands after every job. The best part, other than just getting it done and letting me watch, was that they charged only 15 euros to do it. (We provided the oil and filter). Students of this blog know that we have shelled out far, far, far more at Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Goteborg and Lisbon, and even at the nice and more reasonable M-B in Galiantip. 
On the trail






Beautiful mansion






In town square








Church off the square

















Tiled house

















Gate to villa designed by Gaudi, with an entrance for people,
one for vehicles, and one for birds

The Grey Wanderer feels much better now

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Out of curiosity, how much was the oil and filter and did they dispose of the old oil?

Mark said...

I bought the oil filter in the US, $10.95. The oil was 112 euros for 10 liters. I assume they disposed of the old oil, responsibly.