Espanoholic, addicted to all things Spanish

Well I'm very excited today as I have booked to go on a bit of an adventure in Barcelona in November.  I've been learning Spanish for about 4 years now and although I am at a pretty good level in terms of grammar and understanding what is said to me, I still struggle with speaking the language.  I think this is all down to the lack of opportunities which I have to practice it.  I've done a bit with 'intercambios' using Skype but it was such a pain getting cut off constantly that I've pretty much given up.

So I've decided to give the studying in Spain option a whirl!  Unfortuntately because of work commitments I can only go for a week but I am going to stay with a Spanish family, leaving the hubby at home (eek, bit nervous!)  I'm hoping that immersing myself completely in the language, even if only for a week, will make me that little bit more fluent.

The school itself is Don Quijote and I'm just hoping that the class isn't full of 18 year olds on their year out, but we will see!

Can't wait to see more of Barcelona as well, I've been before for a few days and saw lots of the sights, Sagrada Familia, Bocaria market, las ramblas, la pedrera etc etc but am hoping to have a bit more of a chilled look round this time.

Will update as to how it goes!

Hasta luego

Well here I am, totally new to this blogging lark but thought I would give it a go!  I have recently purchased the Eye on Spain series 'Spain Uncut' along with the bonus edition which covered blogging which inspired me to give this a try.

As this is my first post I thought I would tell you all a little bit about me and my dreams.  I currently live in the UK with my husband but we dream of owning a holiday home in Spain and perhaps moving there eventually.  We've spent the last few years researching which areas we would prefer and having visited a good variety of places, coastal and inland, very Spanish and very English, we have come to the conclusion that the Costa del Sol is where we would like to look.

So why the Costa del Sol?  It just seems to tick so many boxes, i.e.

·        Airport which is easy to fly to from the UK

·        A good mix of Spanish and English - yes there a lot of English people on the coast, but the 'real' Spain is there if you look just beneath the surface

·        Easy to get to many places of interest, Ronda, Sevilla, Cordaba, Granada and of course Malaga.

·        Friendly people

·        Hubby can get a pint (Important, we have been to several areas of Spain where it is totally impossible to get a pint, only small glasses - yes I know the Spanish don't drink pints, but need to keep the hubby happy!  Incidentally in some regions if you ask for 'una jarra' or 'un tanque' you can get something resembling a pint.)

·        Lots of sunshine!

·        More holiday rental potential to pay for the mortgage

So, we are busy saving up for the deposit and legal fees and in the meantime trying to gather as much information as possible about how to avoid the pitfalls which other Brits buying in Spain have encountered. 

!Hasta la proxima!