The Expat Blog http://www.thexpat.com/blog Real People. Real Spain. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:53:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 en © p.spargo@thexpat.com () p.spargo@thexpat.com() 1440 The Best Blog on Spain Ever p.spargo@thexpat.com No no http://www.thexpat.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg The Expat Blog http://www.thexpat.com/blog 144 144 What a load of bull….!! http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/20/what-a-load-of-bull%e2%80%a6/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/20/what-a-load-of-bull%e2%80%a6/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:42:22 +0000 Judy Webber http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/20/what-a-load-of-bull%e2%80%a6/ What a load of bull….!!The fiesta season is still with us - yes STILL, we are in Spain after all - and bull running through the streets is the fiesta of the moment in Jalón. Victoria, one of my superstar daughters (she has just received 3 A’s for her AS exams), decided to take her younger sister, Lucy, down to see the festivities. Lucy was a little nervous to say the least, but Victoria assured her that all would be ok. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/20/what-a-load-of-bull%e2%80%a6/feed/ Who in where? http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/19/who-in-where/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/19/who-in-where/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:34:12 +0000 Rob Innis http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/19/who-in-where/ La MariLast year: Rod Stewart in Zaragoza, April: Mark Knopfler in Madrid, last night: Chambao in Beniel. Who in where? It all started with the Andalucian Tourist Agency advertisements on Spanish television - Andalucia te quiere (wants you). The ads really do entice you to visit Andalucia with aerial shots of fantastic beaches and luscious green golf courses but what made them for me was the backing music. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/19/who-in-where/feed/ How to deal with HPs http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/18/how-to-deal-with-hps/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/18/how-to-deal-with-hps/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:09:06 +0000 Ken Douglas http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/18/how-to-deal-with-hps/ Can you pick me up?For those expats spending their first year in this wonderful country, I wish you well and hope that you give this so-called ‘brave move’ a real go. It is said that the first two years are the most difficult and anyone with a real desire to return to the good old UK does so in those first 24 months. Returnees cite many reasons for going back: the language barrier, working in the sun, bureaucracy etc. but generally I’m told it boils down to missing friends and family at home. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/18/how-to-deal-with-hps/feed/ You’ve been framed! http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/14/you%e2%80%99ve-been-framed/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/14/you%e2%80%99ve-been-framed/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:15:42 +0000 TJ Miles http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/14/you%e2%80%99ve-been-framed/ TJ completing his workIt’s strange how you learn the important Spanish words that get you through everyday life here. One of the problems of living in Torrevieja for me is that everyone, absolutely everyone, speaks better English than I speak Spanish. When out and about I always ‘speaka da lingo’ as classier holiday makers tend to say, but when I hesitate to remember my ‘palabras’ (words), or am thinking of the correct tense in which to describe a situation to someone, invariably the listener finishes my sentence for me in English. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/14/you%e2%80%99ve-been-framed/feed/ Sweet horchata http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/13/sweet-horchata/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/13/sweet-horchata/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:11:26 +0000 Theresa O’Shea http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/13/sweet-horchata/ Horchata de ChufaWhen it’s so pavement-meltingly hot, you’re always on the look out for a variety of ways to quench your thirst. Endless botellines of icy cold water and all known brands of burp-inducing fizzy stuff aside, non-alcoholic options include Nestea, chilled chocolate milk, cafe con hielo (iced coffee), bottled fruit juice (way too thick and syrupy but great thinned out on ice), granizado (sort of Slush Puppy, usually chemical lemon flavour) -  and, best of all, tiger-nut milk, or horchata de chufa. Horchata for short. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/13/sweet-horchata/feed/ The weekend invasion http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/the-weekend-invasion/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/the-weekend-invasion/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:29:01 +0000 Rob Innis http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/the-weekend-invasion/ Coming to staySpontaneity is just one of the Spanish characteristics which makes them so interesting and fun to be with. Last week we heard a rumour, via my Spanish mother-in-law - who at the advanced age of 83 knows a lot but sometimes some of the details are missing - that we might be getting visitors. This rumour sparked me into full organisational mode. We need to shop, go to the bodega, full-scale cleaning operation, bit of DIY etc I told my Spanish wife in preparation for the family invasion. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/the-weekend-invasion/feed/ Snail Rights http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/snail-rights/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/snail-rights/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:57:00 +0000 Anna Nicholas http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/snail-rights/ Snail RightsNow I may be no gardener but come on chaps, give a snail a break. As British weather totters between humid, cool and wet, those little Brians - remember he of woolly scarf fame in The Magic Roundabout?
- are being persecuted by gardeners up and down the country. Here in Mallorca, garden snails are of great culinary interest and so, should there be an unprecedented outbreak of them in gardens across the island as there has been in the UK, every self respecting Mallorcan would be out in force. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/12/snail-rights/feed/ The BIG things in Tenerife http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/the-big-things-in-tenerife/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/the-big-things-in-tenerife/#comments Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:43:36 +0000 Joe Cawley http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/the-big-things-in-tenerife/ Mount Teide in Tenerife

For all those who don’t know, Joy Liddell is my partner and is currently pursuing a career as a TV presenter. She has started by showing you how to do Mount Teide in Tenerife, as seen below. She needs all the help she can get. If you’re a travel webmaster give her a link. If you’re a Tenerife site owner plug away. If you’re an executive producer of The Travel Channel give her a job… (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/the-big-things-in-tenerife/feed/ Diving with dolphins http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/diving-with-dolphins/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/diving-with-dolphins/#comments Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:40:01 +0000 Debbie Jenkins http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/diving-with-dolphins/ Cabo Cope, AguilasWe’ve been to the port town of Águilas (you pronounce it with the stress on the very first A) a couple of times over the last few years and we’ve always had a wonderful time. Our most recent visits included a spot of diving, some really great food and seeing a dolphin. I’ll tell you more. (more…)

]]> http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/08/diving-with-dolphins/feed/ Travelling time http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/05/travelling-time/ http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/05/travelling-time/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:10:33 +0000 Phil Spires http://www.thexpat.com/blog/2008/08/05/travelling-time/ Sharlston, West Yorkshire“Travel broadens the mind” is a cliché that retains a ring of truth. But perhaps it should be qualified to exclude any form of tourism where the product or the outcome is largely predictable. It may be snobbery on my part, but I don’t believe that the blokes from West Yorkshire I met in a Benidorm bar last weekend had ever left home. (more…)

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