If ever someone tells me Spanish is easy – as a lot of Spaniards do – I think I am going to hit him or her. Spanish is not easy at all. Learning vocabulary is just doing your best, but the fact that Spanish has 3 different ways of the past tense, makes it really, … Read more
What is different In the Netherlands, our lives were a bit more separated than here in Spain. Tom did the shopping. He had to go to Amsterdam on a regular basis. He visited his friends.I visited my friends. Had walks with some of them or lunches together. Over here we have much more activities we … Read more
The way some waiters, shopkeepers, and other on-clients-dependent workers treat their potential customers over here keeps amazing me. The woman sat on the terrace and ordered a drink while asking for the menu. The waiter snapped at her that lunch didn’t start until 1 o’clock. I guess she was hungry so understandably she canceled her … Read more
We like bananas. Plátanos, they are called in Spain. You can find them in every supermarket or fruit and vegetable shop. Which both can be found in abundance in even the smallest village. Most bananas you buy come either from the Canarias or from Central or South America. But the bananas in this picture grow in … Read more
What stayed the same If you move to another place you always take yourself with you. Including your annoyances. In the Netherlands, we had a metal roof and a neighbor with an apple tree. In the fall the birds would pick on the apples which would fall on our metal roof with an enormous bang, … Read more
In the A58 south of our former village stands an old, big tree in between the tracks of the highway. This tree does have space around it, although it is getting tricky by now with the roots spreading out and its big crown. At the beginning of ‘our’ dead-end road, there is also a tree … Read more
In his non-fiction book Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway declared himself an aficionado to label his passion for bullfighting. Death in the Afternoon still is an excellent introduction to this much-criticized venatio (Latin for hunting; a type of entertainment – the killing of animals – exercised in Roman amphitheaters). The poster shown above is a … Read more
For the first time, in august 1991, we went to the USA for a 3-week holiday to California. We traveled in a camper. What impressed us most were the National Parks: Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic Park. Coming back from Lassen we followed Route 1 along the Pacific coast and ended up on a … Read more
On our daily walk today we went from Almuñecar past Cotobro, almost to Marina del Este. A fantastic walk. There were several calas (little beaches surrounded by rocks) that were connected by built paths. Not only beautiful but because of the stony beaches also very good exercise for our ankles. The sun is absolutely amazing … Read more
Several times a week we walk to the village. To shop, drink coffee with friends, or – in my case – go to Spanish class. The first part of the road leads us downhill and near the end, we have an overview of a campground. It’s a quiet place. Lots of tanned, elderly people. It … Read more