Running In Spain
This morning I did a little run, the first one for about 1 month. My excuse has been that it's too hot, but really, I should be used to the heat by now and the last few days have cooled down a little, with a little cloud cover. I'm not really the "right" shape for...
Focus Group need for next edition of Going Native In Murcia
I want to make the 3rd edition of our book Going Native In Murcia the best it can be, and I know to do that I need your help. I'm looking to build a small focus group to help me. Going Native In Murcia is the only English language book about the region, and I want to...
My Top 5 Things To Do In Murcia
Plaza Cardenal Belluga Leave the crowds of balloon sellers, buskers and tourists behind in the beautiful Cathedral square and slip around the corner to one of the city’s oldest bars. Since 1926, Los Zagales, have produced excellent local tapas, including Zarangollo...
A Labour Of Love – Next Edition of “Going Native In Murcia” – I need your help!
Well, it's about time that we updated the Going Native In Murcia book. The last edition was finished in 2006, and a lot has happened since then. Not least of all the airport is still not built! So over the next couple of months we're going to review and revise the...
Meet Radar – The Newest Addition To Our Cat Colony
About 10 days ago we had our neighbours up for dinner for Marcus' birthday, our adoptive mom kept telling me about a new kitten in the village that the baker's son had rescued for me. "It's so beautiful, one black eye and one white eye." She of course used the Murcian...
La Vuelta a Espana (Cycle Race)
If anyone is interested in the big cycle races like The Tour de France, Spain have their own big cycle race, called La Vuelta a Espana. 2010, La Vuelta celebrates its 75th anniversary. The race takes place between 28th August and 19th September. It is normally...
Film Set ‘Extra’
Film Set Extra. By David Billington During March 2010, I saw an advertisement on the website of my local town of Pinoso, asking for ‘Extras’ (Figurantes) to take part in the making of a film which was to be shot in the area surrounding Pinoso. I attended the casting...
MABS Golf Auction Night
Location: Café Golf, San Javier Start Time: 8.00 pm Date: 30 August 2010 * Do you want to clear out any unused golf gear? * Are you looking for a cheap set of clubs? * Looking for a Bargain? * Societies are you looking for prizes for your competitions? Then come along...
3 New Feral Kittens – Update – Week 3
The feral kittens are still a little wild. Two of them will tolerate me touching them accidentally, wait by their bowls for the food and clamber over my lap to play. The third little black one, the only girl, is still very timid and won't let me touch her, though she...
Feral Cats in Spain – Can you tame them?
There are hundreds of feral cats in Spanish towns and villages. Usually they hang around the bins looking for scraps of food and they keep the mice and small creature population under control. These feral cat gangs are un-neutered and produce litters of kittens a...
5 Top Scuba Spots on the Costa Cálida
Scuba diving (or sciving as we call it) on the Costa Cálida is inexpensive, fun and accessible for all. Whether you’re a qualified diver or an enthusiastic snorkeller, the Costa Cálida has some great dive sites. Everything from wrecks, rocks and reefs. You can dive...
Day Out In Águilas & Diving With Dolphins
We'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...
Learn to Horse Ride and Jump in Murcia, Corvera
The riding and jumping school at Corvera Golf, Murcia had its inauguration on 3rd July 2010, with a jumping contest. It was a great evening with some excellent riders, an Olympic standard rider won the 1.3m high round. Here are some photos taken by Marcus Jenkins of...
Murcia / Costa Cálida Beaches – Águilas
There are 28 km of beaches in Águilas. This southwestern city near the Murcian coast has an arid and mountainous landscape, extensive beaches with crystalline cliffs and small, little frequented coves. Tranquil beaches with fine sand, huge cliffs and beautiful coves...
Murcia / Costa Cálida Beaches – Cartagena
The majority of tourist attractions around Cartagena have a maritime theme, perhaps the most obvious example being the submarine from 1888, which is installed at the port end of the main pedestrianised shopping area. There is a naval museum, an under water archaeology...
Murcia / Costa Cálida Beaches – Mazarrón
Not to be confused with the town of Mazarrón, Puerto de Mazarrón is the centre of much of tourism on the south coast and Mediterranean. There are good beaches as you head out of town (North East) and all along the coast towards Águilas – in fact 35km of them (just a...
Horse Riding in Corvera, Murcia with Club Hipica at Corvera Golf
I had riding lessons in my late teens, a long time ago now, and decided to start again now I'm in my 40's a little older. I take lessons at Corvera Club Hipica right near the golf course (Corvera Golf). It's a brand new riding school, they're just getting everything...
Murcia’s Beaches Revealed: Blue Flag Beaches & Hidden Gems on the Costa Cálida
If you want a free handbook covering all the blue flag beaches in Murcia and the Costa Cálida, updated June 2010 (and yearly from then on), all you need to do is sign up for the newsletter on the right hand side or Pay With A Tweet...
Murcia / Costa Cálida Beaches – Mar Menor & La Manga
Costa Cálida is the coast in Murcia (probably the least well known of the costas till recent years).We have the Mediterranean Sea (locally known as the Mar Major) and the Mar Menor (little sea). There are 68 km of beaches give or take a kilometer or two. The Costa...
Buying A Boat In Spain
So, after hearing about our boat driving practical and exams, I'll tell you how we eventually managed to buy a boat. It was much more difficult than we thought it would be. In anticipation of passing our exam first time, which we didn't, we had already started saving...
Boat Driving – Theory (Patrón de Embarcaciones de Recreo – PER)
In 2008 we (my husband and me) did a boat driving practical course on the Mar Menor with Santi from www.colomerescuelanautica.es - we had great fun, got sun burnt and played on a sail boat. Now to get our license to be able to buy and legally drive a boat we needed...
Sierra Espuña
Sierra Espuna In May, we had elderly relatives on holiday with us and decided to try a day out to the Sierra Espuña National Park in Murcia. The Sierra Espuña is a vast mountain range and National Park, with many walking trails, view points and places of interest to...
Boat Driving Course on the Mar Menor
Now me and Marcus (my husband) came up with a great idea in 2008 - let's learn to drive a boat. It can't be that hard, all sorts of idiots are allowed to drive boats, you just have to sit and watch at the Mar Menor on a sunny day to see how many idiots are out there!...
San Javier Jazz 2009 & 2010
San Javier Jazz Festival 2009 Well we were a bit more savvy in 2009 and called up and ordered an abonos. This is like a season ticket and gets you into the vast majority of the gigs at a reduced price. You buy the abono and get seats assigned, where you sit for each...
San Javier Jazz
San Javier Jazz Festival We've lived in Spain for 5 years now, and up till 2008 had managed to miss the San Javier jazz festival entirely - probably due to the local newspaper's crazy plan of telling you what happened yesterday (and how great it was) rather than...
