Fire!!!

Fire - something that plagues all of us in these hot conditions at this time of year.  You only have to hear a distant helicopter and we are sniffing the air and checking the horizon for signs of fire.  Its actually quite a scary thing and something the Spanish dont seem to get too hot under the collar about.

Usually there is a ban on lighting a fire between May and October - although strong rumour has it that it is in fact illegal to light any kind of fire (apart from in the house in a fire place) at any time of year unless you have a "fire" licence.  That seems like a good idea to me but there again, like so many of the laws here, its only the foreigners that adhere to the laws.  The Spanish just light their fires at night - and keep them smoky rather than firey!!

It just occurred to me the other day when I smelt a faint whiff of smoke, that we had not seen any fires around our way all year.  I have hardly heard the helicopters going over either which is good.  I wonder if the extremely wet (and rather elongated) winter that we had has made fire less of a problem!  It doesnt seem likely though does it?  After all its tinder box dry here now - very little green apart from the citrus trees and I am sure that it would only take one cigarette butt carelessly thrown to start everything off.

Last year we had several fires quite close and one very, very close but the bomberos (fire fighters) were with us very quickly.  I actually spoke to the operator in English because its not something you want to get wrong when giving directions!!! She asked me how close the closest house was to the fire - obviously to ascertain if a helicopter was viable.  The house (not ours I hasten to add) was very close indeed so they only sent road vehicles and no air support.

Where we used to live - near Maqueda (closer to Malaga city) we had a fire just down the track from us that lasted all afternoon and night.  The bomberos left at about 9am and were back before lunch because it re-ignited.  It was disgusting because it was paints and paint related chemicals.  It came very close to our house in that instance.  But again the whole thing was dealt with very efficiently.

I think if you live in a country that is plagued by bush/forest fires - they do develop a very clear method of dealing with it.  As I say - this year has been great and I personally have only seen the helicopter once the whole summer!  Amazing.

Eating out!!

Okay - once again long time no blog - I blame the "visitors" of the previous blog.  Too much fun and not enough seriousness!!! Sounds great eh?

Up until the family arrived we had had quite a quiet summer, deeming it too hot and too much effort to go out much but when you have visitors its go, go, go.  So we went!!!

Because there are so many restaurants and cafes available its hard to know sometimes where to go.  We ended up trying three very different places in the evenings and before the family left yesterday I did a "Restaurant Review" with them.  Below is the result (please bear in mind that this is the opinion of six individuals and quite clearly is not an "authentic" review).  These are average scores from all six of us, out of 10.

El Fogon - Alhaurin el Grande - Gerald Brennan Street.

Food - 5.5 (Starters were good - main course was what let the score down)
Ambience - 3 (bear in mind we were sat outside and its a busy street - inside for during the winter looks delightful)
Service - 7.5 (lovely waitress)

Dinner at Max Beach - Calahonda

Max Beach - Calahonda

Food - 8.5 (good international cuisine with some local flavour)

Ambience - 8 (the atmosphere was what we went there for)

Service - 7 (efficient but not exactly friendly)

Finca La Mota - Alhaurin el Grande 

Food - 8 (good international cuisine)

Ambience - 7.5 (Arrived as sun setting then as it got dark lanterns were placed on tables - nice)

Service - 8.5 (nice and efficient)

The general opinion of the the visitors was that Max Beach was the favourite for a party atmosphere but Finca La Mota was a nice place for a quieter meal.  The service was good in all three restaurants which counts for a lot especially at this time of year when all are busy.

As I say - this is just a bit of fun between the 6 of us but we have all eaten in some pretty good places in our time so we tried to make it an "informed" study.

We would eat in all of them again!!

Visitors!!

One thing we can all be sure of when we move to Spain or anywhere where there is sun, and that is visitors from back home!! This week sees the arrival of Derek's family - son Steve, daughter-in-law Ruth and granddaughters Sophie and Lucy.

Overlooking Fuengirola from Mija

Amazingly enough due to such matters as ash clouds and horses, new houses and babies, (none of this ours I hasten to add - just the varying reasons for the non-event of visitors this year!) this will be our first visitors of the year so we are quite excited!! (The excitement has worn a bit thin today however, whilst doing the clean-a-thon - my goodness it doesnt take the dust long does it?)  However, this is the time of year when everyone is having visitors - school holidays make sure of that.

We spend several weeks before hand discussing what we will do, what we will see, where we will eat etc etc.  You see its our excuse for a holiday too!  Ok we live in the sun and to people in our home countries that means we are constantly on holiday ............... HAH!! I wish.  In reality unless you are over here retired then no its not a constant holiday.  In fact its just that little bit harder in a way, than living back "there" and going to the J O B!  So we leap upon visitors with great expectations.

However, all these plans can sometimes go awry as visitors tend to come out here to RELAX - novel concept I know! They tell me that its nice to go to a few places and especially to eat out in the evenings but to actually race around all day seeing this and that is not what they came for.

Steve - hmmm!

I have made this mistake before - planning carefully and chivvying everyone along to be ready to leave until I was asked sooooooooooo politely but very firmly if I could stop organising and just leave everyone to laze by the pool because thats what they came for!!

So now I treat all arrivals with caution waiting to see what the visitors want to do and if they are "up" for things - then so are we.  And if pool and sleeping and reading is what they came for then that's fine too!! Its their holiday after all!

(I still have my list to hand though - Malaga Feria, Marbella, beach, lakes and then plenty of eateries to add to the evenings.)

Watch this space for photos and updates of the "visitors"!!

Have a Heart Foundation

I went to visit our local English Speaking radio Station on Friday, Heart FM to catch up with Pat and learn more about the "Have a Heart Foundation" which she and Lee set up in Alhaurin el Grande last year.

I asked Pat what made her decide to set it up and she quite rightly said that we have so many animal charities in the area (which Heart FM support massively) but she felt that humans too needed some support.  Now I have to agree, Derek and I do a lot to support the local animal charities and always have but apart from buying the odd draw ticket etc, we haven't been involved very much with other charities.

Before the charity was even set up Lee and Pat got involved with Alhaurin Auctions to raise 2000 Euros for mentally and physically challenged children in the Alhaurin el Grande area.  Such was the success of that venture that they decided to start the foundation and make sure it was registered and legalised so that contributors knew where their money was going!

Having helped the children they were then approached about a 64 year old gentleman who had fallen behind with his rent.  His fridge had broken and he had no funds to replace it and with that he started to lose his self-respect and fell into a decline.  He was only 6 weeks behind with his rent but his landlady was elderly and so her daughter took over and decided that this was a good time to "get tough".  Its so easy to kick someone when they are down!!  With the help of "Have a Heart" and the radio station a fridge was found, food parcels were made up and delivered, clothing and other necessities have also been donated.  Now a new ground floor apartment has been found for him at a lower rent.  Arthur needs an operation to his eyes and it is uncertain whether or not he will regain full sight so a ground floor apartment is great for him.  Best of all he now has people who visit him and CHAT and care and with that he has regained his self respect and is caring for himself again.

Sometimes charity is not about money.  In fact money is not always appropriate - but caring is!  It also needs people in the right places to just "direct" the flow of goodwill to where its needed.  With Arthur, this is what Pat and Lee have done.  They have this fabulous tool in the form of a radio station and they have used that to get the word out.  Their followers only needed to know and then they rallied round and problem sorted.

So what I say is we all need to "have a heart" sometimes and think about not just what we can give but what we can do!!!  Pat says she gets cans of food dropped off at the radio station for Arthur's food parcels and I know that when I do my weekly shop there will be a couple of things go in the trolley for Arthur from now on.  Together we CAN make a difference - it may sound a bit trite but nevertheless its true.  The purpose of this blog is the way I can get the word out.  Words are my "weapon of choice" so perhaps those of you reading this would pass the blog site address on to others.  Going forward I am sure Pat can always use good ideas and able bodies to help with future projects.  We have offered our services and I am sure there are plenty of you out there who will do the same!

For people not in the area - some of you not even in Spain - there is a "donate" button on the radio station website (link under "interesting links" on the right hand side of this blog).

Pat and Lee are also hoping for a good turn out at the Ska & Reggae Festival at Los Arcos on 28th August and the raised funds will be going to the Have a Heart Foundation.  I will be there and I hope YOU will too!

Last but not least - for those of you who like to be sure that they are donating to and supporting a legitimate charity this is the official number of the Charity G93023513 Have a Heart founded on 22/09/2009.

Obviously if you have questions you can contact Pat Jay directly through the radio station.

Snoozing and reading in the shade is for WIMPS!!

I know, I know – another weather orientated blog but read on because it is and it isn’t – if you get my drift!!

Technicolour Sun - Courtesy of NASA

Now here we all are in Spain trying very hard NOT to moan about the heat. Yes the weather is just as much a topic of conversation here as it is in the UK and probably in most parts of the world. The last couple of days the temperatures have been getting silly with no respite after the sun goes down because there has been no breeze whatsoever.

But isnt it sad that we tend to wish our lives away saying "oh I cant wait for September". I think our biggest problem as expat Brits in a Southern European country in the height of summer is that we try to continue as normal. We are not used to flopping out for the afternoon and keeping cool as possible.

Heavens NO!!!! We must build that wall, prune those trees, wash that car and sweep those terraces – stiff upper lip and all that jazz. Snoozing and reading in the shade is for WIMPS!!! We Brits are not comfortable with that sensible approach to coping with summer in a hot country.

When I was in Abu Dhabi I used to start work in the morning at 7am and finish at 2pm and that was in air-conditioned offices all the year round. It was like having 2 days in one - great. But you see even with air-conditioning people are "conditioned" to that siesta time and we Brits are "conditioned" to that 9-5 work routine - when will we change?

Of course there are many people here who don’t have air-conditioning. We only have AC in the bedrooms for instance (I am not nice if I don’t get a good nights sleep). We don’t really want it in the rest of the house as it would mean keeping the doors closed and we would hate that. (Mind you we wouldn’t have said no to bit of AC during the last couple of days!!)

For me now I have the best of both worlds because I am self-employed and my main occupation is with my internet marketing business, I can start early when its cool and feel that by 2pm I have done enough so its pool and shade for me! And then I am happy to do some more at about 7pm when its slightly cooler. Flexibility is the key!!

I think its maybe a case of allowing ourselves to go with the flow more. We need to get over our mental conditioning (puns are ALWAYS intended by the way!) lighten up and relax!

ITS SUMMER after all and traditionally a holiday time - so chill, relax and Enjoy!!!

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Malaga Feria

Here we are in the height of summer - long hot days (a bit of emphasis on the "hot") and at the summit of "hotness" just over a week of feria madness!!! hmmmm!

A feria (for those of you outside of Spain) is basically a fair. But to call it a fair in the English sense diminishes it too far - a fullblown Spanish feria is nothing like an English Country fair.

Where to start? Well obviously for our region the Malaga feria has to be the best. Many would disagree with me preferring their own local town feria but for me the Malaga feria has all the excitement and style that the others promise but never quite deliver.

Its a game of "two halves". The daytime part is spent in Malaga City centre where bars do a roaring trade and shops shut after the morning trade. Many businesses close for the entire period both in the city and in the surrounding areas. If you want to get something done during Malaga Feria week (!) good luck!!

The daytime part is great fun. How is it that so many Spanish can stand cheek by jowel, drink copious amounts of alcohol and not fight? I am sorry to say that in the UK this would be a nightmare for the police - and for over a week ........aghhhhhh! There are temporary bars set up on the side of pedestrian walkways and stalls selling little tipple cups to hang round your neck just in case you get withdrawal symptoms between one bar and the next! There is food also available on these stalls and everyone is laughing.
Yes thats right L A U G H I N G - a novel concept isnt it? (Thats another thing we tend to forget how to do!)

We walked around the old town area around the Cathedral and Plaza de la Constitucion  and every street you look down is just a sea of heads and you wonder how you going to get down the street but as long as you aren't in too much of a rush - and really who is going to be rushing in this heat - the masses move to accommodate two more trying to reach a bar and you might get you feet trodden on a bit but hey........... its part of the "fun".

Drinks are fun too - hollowed out melons with a lethal fruity alcoholic beverage inside and a ............ straw ...... to add that touch of innocence ... DONT BE FOOLED.  Jugs of margaritas, sangria and beer are also passed around with abandon!!

Early evening - 6-7pm sees the fizzling out of the in town part of the day and a mass exodus occurs.  Buses travel constantly back and forth 24 hours a day from Malaga town centre to the official Feria ground on the outskirts of town.  Here the action starts very slowly and really starts going around midnight.  Literally hundreds of bars have been erected for the week.  Very wide avenues with bars and eateries on either side.  You could go there every day for the duration and not get round half of them.  You could eat Paella 10 times and it would always be a bit different.  And then there is the fair itself with all its rides, candyfloss and noise - thats the bit we do have in the UK!  But from our point of view - fairs are ten a penny, its the party atmosphere that we go for and if anyone can party its the Spanish!

It shouldn't be missed - in fact we'll see you there!!

Dont forget parking in the centre of Malaga is bad at the best of times, during Feria its a nightmare.  We take the bus or train - cheap and easy!  Another point that I have to make - if Bullfighting is your thing then there are bullfights throughout the feria week.  (However, dont expect to see us there!!)

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