Learning Spanish – Some Ideas For Integrating and Enjoying Your Time In Spain
Many immigrants will say they want to learn the language of their adoptive country but will then find a myriad of reasons why they can't: it's difficult, they don't have the time, there's no one to teach them, it's expensive, they're too old / stupid... I know all...
Entierro de la Sardina – Fiestas De Primavera
On the Saturday after Easter we bury a Sardine! For hours before the parade begins families strategically leave elderly relatives in prime locations along the route to secure a good view. Seats can be booked for front row entertainment, or you can wander around to...
Bando de La Huerta & Entierro de la Sardina – Fiestas De Primavera
After the religious celebrations of Easter, Murcians let their hair down with a Spring festival (Fiestas de Primavera). Bando de la Huerta (‘proclamation of the countryside’) on the first Tuesday after Easter is just one of the days of this special week celebrating...
Cartagena Cruise Ships
Arriving in Cartagena by cruise ship you'll be met by two arms creating the bay, making it one of the safest harbours in Spain. For details on the cruise ships entering Cartagena harbour take a look at this site: http://www.apc.es/general/apc13c.asp Ships from around...
Carnaval in the Murcia Region – Águilas, Cartagena, Santiago de la Ribera
Look out for Carnaval in February. Traditionally starting forty days before the onset of Easter, Carnaval is a super time to visit the towns of the region and enjoy dancing, singing, eating and drinking! When does Carnaval start? Usually Carnaval is celebrated during...
Cartagena Tapas Trail – Restaurant Reviews
We hit the Cartagena tapas trail in 2011, eating at eight bars, all in one night! We started with Pastelería Kuss on Calle Carmen, 8. It was supposed to be a surprise of chicken with orange sauce and crunchy sesame, the surprise was it wasn’t crunchy nor orangey! The...
Murcia Tourist Video – Restaurants, Beaches, Towns and Cities…
Our video showing all the wonderful aspects of living in or visiting Murcia on the Costa Cálida. We'd love your feedback, please add comments on youtube! Get the book: Going Native In Murcia
Cartagena Visit by David Billington
Here is an account of David Billington's visit to Cartagena. Much has already been written about Cartagena, but I thought I would like to share these few ideas for anyone who would like to visit some of the basics in this city. I had family on holiday with me, a...
Price Increase Warning!
I wanted to let you know that due to loads of brilliant feedback saying that we're giving way too much value in our City Guides we've decided to increase the price from 99cents (about 77pence) to a whopping $1.99 (£1.50ish). To give you a chance to buy them at the...
Expats Living In Spain: Coping With Home Sickness
No matter how well thought out your move to Murcia may have been there may be times when you feel a touch of home sickness. You may miss your old friends or the speed at which your post arrives, the theatres and shows or the reliable electricity supply. You may even...
Videos of Murcia
We made a tourist promotional video about Murcia to help with sales of our book: Going Native In Murcia and we came across some excellent videos in Spanish by a professional video company. Some are quite majestic and certainly worth a look! And here's our video...
Christmas Past
We’ve spent 6 Christmases in Spain now and each year it gets better. And whilst I’m sure you’re just about getting over your over-indulgences and probably thinking about summer fun already, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the season of goodwill. We’ve been...
Happy Christmas! Feliz Navidad!
Sardinas en Salmuera – THE VERDICT
Well, they're both (my husband and his mother) still alive and they ate lots of them - so I think they liked them! Here's how you serve them: 1. You need fresh "barra" - bread stick - slice it into rounds 2. Cut a juicy garlic clove in half and rub the cut side on...
Murcia City Guide – Kindle Edition – Download Now!
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CITY OF MURCIA! Full of useful tips straight from a British couple who now call this region their home. Let Debbie and Marcus be your guides as they share their love for Murcia City, its people and its surrounds with...
Cartagena City Guide – Kindle Edition – Download Now!
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CITY OF CARTAGENA! Full of useful tips straight from a British couple who now call this region their home. Let Debbie and Marcus be your guides as they share their love for Cartagena, its people and its surrounds with...
Murcian Recipe – Sardinas En Salmuera
So, here's a recipe from the Murcian cookery class. Murcian Recipe – Sardinas En Salmuera Sardines (Sardinas)Salt (Sal)Bread (Pan)Tomatoes (Tomate) Clean the sardines, chop off their heads, chop off their tails and remove the innards. Cover them in salt...
Murcian Cookery Classes
Recently I had the pleasure of 8 matronly Spanish ladies teaching me how to cook - the Murcian way. It started out as a Murcian Cookery class, with a teacher and students (me plus the 8 ladies). It ended up as a mad drive through one way streets, with a car full of...
Murcian Cordiales – Christmas Cakes
Last year we baked the Murcian Christmas specialty of Cordiales. These are the delicious little almond cakes, with angels’ hair filling. They are very simple to make, fun and sticky, taste scrummy and don’t hang around for long in our house. When you see these in the...
Finally, the Going Native In Murcia, Third Edition, is Published!
After four more years of research, investigating, enjoying and eating (!) here in Murcia we've eventually finished the third edition of our popular book, Going Native In Murcia. This one is a whopper, with 3 times as much information plus town maps. I can't believe...
The Unofficial Over 40s Riding Club (and kids can ride too!)
Having always had a burning ambition to be a horsewoman (it's the spurs and whips that caught my attention) I eventually got round to buying my own horse when I hit my forties. Some people would say I was slightly crazy (especially my husband) for buying a rather...
Foreign Language Tourette’s Syndrome
There's only one thing worse than not being able to speak the language when you live in a foreign country, and that's speaking it badly! I have an affliction that I think many language students have at some point: using the wrong word at inappropriate times. If I'm...
Can you help?
Our brand new cancer centre opened its doors to the public on Thursday, 4 November, and we were amazed at the response; we had people queueing at the door an hour before we were due to open and the volunteers were rushed off their feet until an hour after we should...
Murcian Recipe – Zarangollo
Zarangollo is a common dish in the Murcian countryside in Spain. It is frequently served in tapas bars in the area. The dish is a scrambled eggs with courgettes, onion, and occasionally potatoes. All ingredients are sliced very finely, fried in olive oil...
Books About Murcia
Well of course there's our Going Native In Murcia, still the most comprehensive guide to Murcia (well I would say that!), and there are also some others you might like to read if you can find somewhere to buy them: From Geocolor there's Murcia Viva - I can't find a UK...
