___________________________________
Vol 3 Edition 8 March 2003
Costa Blanca Netguide Newsletter
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com
This newsletter is only sent to subscribers
You are currently subscribed as:
------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
Welcome to this edition of the newsletter.
We have received reports that some of our subscribers
have missed the last 2 editions of the email version of the
newsletter. We are still investigating what caused this failure
but we have initially split our mailings into smaller batches
over a few days to hopefully prevent further problems.
Suzanna's article this month mentions the Spanish tradition
of buying drinks on your Birthday. It is "different" to what
you would expect in the UK, to say the least and leaves
you much lighter in the pocket.
We are extremely busy here in the office preparing for
a major update to the site......coming soon. Don't
worry, our subscribers will be the first to know of
the plans that we have.
Until next month
Robin
Editor - Costa Blanca Netguide.
editor@costablanca-netguide.com
------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS:
1) Birthday Celebrations - for the younger Spaniard
2) New Businesses on the Guide
3) Costa Blanca Resources
4) Sticker/Screensaver Information
5) 2003 Publishing dates
6) Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
------------------------------------------------------------
Direct Car Rentals in ALICANTE - VALENCIA
MURCIA and MALAGA airports
http://www.rentspain.com
Our Non-agent status allows us the freedom to offer the very
best prices on the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol
Currently featuring Free Additional Drivers,
Baby Seats and Roofracks
TEL +34 96 649 1472
http://www.rentspain.com/
bookings@rentspain.com
------------------------------------------------------------
1) Hello [FIRSTNAME],
Hello again.
Well we are very busy here at the Costa
Blanca Net Guide with the view of expanding the directory
on the Net Guide to help you find a variety of businesses
that will be of use to you. If there are any particular
types of business you would like to see and need the help
of let us know and we will see what we can do.
Since I last wrote our son celebrated his 5th birthday
with the help of 20 of his friends. We have often said
that the Spanish are the noisiest race and they certainly
proved it! His birthday actually fell midweek so he
celebrated at school on the day by taking a cake in for
their mid morning break. It is also tradition in Spain
that you give your friends a small gift on your birthday
(usually sweeties). Once you are old enough it then
changes to buying everyone a drink and that goes for your
Saint's day too! That weekend he had a party at the house
and so it was another birthday cake and another gift to
give everyone. They do reciprocate with a gift for the
birthday boy at the party too. The food children expect
at birthday parties here is slightly different ...more
olives, serrano and salami to jellies and ice cream.
He is quite proud as he is the eldest in the class.
Although the school year begins in September the intake
is from the January. Children in Spain can start school
in the year they turn 3 although this is not obligatory
until the age of 4. There are 30 children in our son's
year which are split into two classes. The school hours
varies through the year. In September the day starts at
9am and finishes at 1pm. From October through to the end
of May it starts at 9 until 12 and then 3 until 5. Our
son actually stays for "comedor" (school lunches) which
means he is there from 9 until 5. School lunches are 3,05
Euros per day if you pay for the month in advance and
3,95 Euros if you pay for the day. We are given the menu
for the term which shows the 3 courses they are given
each day along with the calorific, protein and calcium
values for each meal. June is the same hours as September
and then they start the summer holidays from July. It's a
long time but really too hot for them to attend. In our
village there are activities organized for the children
during July. Last year our son went to an arts and crafts
class each morning for the princely sum of 12,00 Euros
for the whole month. He came home at the end with a huge
folder of all his works of art which he had completed.
This year he wants to go on the swimming course.
At school at the moment they are preparing for "Carneval"
which takes place at the end of this week. It is
something that is celebrated in quite a few places around
Europe and its basically a fancy dress day. The children
get dressed up and parade around the streets, bars and
discos have fancy dress competitions and so on. All the
toy shops at the moment are filled with every imaginable
costume. I've been handed a few pieces of material to sew
together for the event!
The children here don't have half term holidays as in UK.
Here the holidays are made up of the various fiesta dates
both local and National. If a fiesta date falls on a
Thursday then most people are given the Friday off as a
"puente" (bridge) to make it a long weekend. Obviously
this year there are not enough "puentes" so the local
schools have given the children last Friday off to bring
the number of days off up to the quota. This coincided
with my husband and I going down to Alicante for him to
see a specialist doctor so we decided to make a day of
it. We drove down and stopped at Alicante castle
(Castillo de Santa Barbara). We haven't been there in
some years but at least ths time we knew where to go! The
reason for the exclamation mark I will explain. The last
time we went was with my parents. We arrived in Alicante
on the National road from the North and you can see the
castle high above you. However the entrance is not clear.
So we decided to park the car on the opposite side of the
road and call a taxi and ask to be taken to the castle
and so save time in hunting for the entrance. We duly
found a taxi and we got in and with my limited Spanish at
the time asked for "el castillo". Well as seems to be the
want of all taxi drivers he sped away at breakneck speed.
We were driving what seemed to be away from the castle
but this guy obviously knew where he was going! After a
mile or so with the castle disappearing in the background
and us hanging on for dear life (my husband was very
white sitting up in the front seat) I again asked if we
were going to the castle. The taxi driver then looked
surprised and said "Oh THE castle not Hotel Castle" Well,
having got this clear he then did practically a handbrake
turn in front of the oncoming traffic and raced back
towards the way we came. The worst but the most amusing
part of the story is that when he finally pulled up at
the entrance of the tunnel which you walk through to the
lift was exactly opposite our car parked on the other
side of the road! Needless to say as it was really his
fault he only charged us a few pesetas which we gladly
paid just to get out of the taxi!
So as I said earlier this time we knew where to go. We
parked the car on the front overlooking the Postiguet
beach which is immaculately clean and witnessed people
swimming in the sea...don't they know its February? There
is also a new Tourist Information office and Red Cross
office situated right on the front. We then took the
footbridge over the road and straight to the entrance of
the tunnel. You walk through this 205 metre long tunnel
to the lift, excavated into the rock which then takes you
up 144 metres into the middle of the castle. You can also
access the castle by a back road which climbs through
pine woods on the northern flank. The cost is 2,40Euros
each to use the lift. The weather was beautiful with
clear blue skies and the temperature was about 60
degrees. The scenery was quite spectacular with snow
capped mountains in the background still there from the
recent cold spell. The views over the whole of Alicante
were great with the bullring quite close to the West and
the beach in full view on the East. Since June 1998 the
Santa Barbara Castle has also been an unbeatable location
for a magnificent sculpture collection assembled by
Eduardo Capa. The collection is distributed around the
different outbuildings of the castle and in the open air.
After we had a bite to eat in the centre of Alicante we
then went in search of the specialist doctor my husband
had an appointment with. He has private medical insurance
which is quite reasonably priced here. I also gave birth
to our son covered by our medical insurance but I will
tell you that another time. The insurance company we use
operates similarly to most here. You are given a brochure
of all the doctors which accept your particular company
and you then choose your GP closest or most preferable to
you. Most of them are English speaking which is
reassuring for medical needs. On each visit you "pay"
with cheques you buy additionally from your insurance
agent. They cost approximately 6,00 Euros for 5 cheques.
If the doctor wishes for you to have treatment or
consultation with a specialist you then require
permission from the insurance main office. This is quite
straight forward and once received you can then make the
appointment with the said specialist. Not all the
specialists speak English or limited so you may require
some help but obviously we can manage. Anyway we got on
fine as with all our medical visits here both privately
and state.
OK thats all for this month see you soon,
Researched and Written by Suzanna
info.es@costablanca-netguide.com
if you know someone who may benefit from any of
the articles in this newsletter please feel free to pass it
on.
PLEASE NOTE: These articles are for personal use only and
may not be posted on any website, newsgroup or bulletin
board. If you wish to use any of our articles for commercial
purposes please contact us articles@costablanca-netguide.com
------------------------------------------------------------
2) New Businesses on the Guide
i) Apartment in Torrevieja
A lovely apartment to let overlooking the salt lakes of
Torrevieja. It is fully equipped and sleeps four. The apartment
comprises of 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and lounge with
cable TV. There is also a communal swimming pool. It is
situated close to all amenities - restaurants, shops, bars and
the bus stop. The beaches are just 10 minutes away by car or
local transport.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/listings/297.html
ii) Prince Spanish Property Consultants
Prince Property Consultants are specialists in the sales of
property market, both new and re-sale and have 20 years
experience in this field. They have a vast selection of villas,
apartments, plots of land and commercial premises from Calpe
to Gandia and beyond. Moraira and Javea are their most
popularly sought sunshine resorts, but they also have fincas,
(Spanish farmhouses) in outlying areas of the northern Costa
Blanca, for development and reformation, recently added to
their portfolio.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/listings/298.html
iii) Villa Rental in Spain
If you're looking to rent your dream villa in Spain, look no
further. This site is devoted to a company with over 20 years
of experience in providing villa and property rental in Spain.
Whether you desire a villa, bungalow or an apartment, we can
help you.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/listings/299.html
------------------------------------------------------------
3) Costa Blanca Resources
Books:-
i) Duende: a Journey in Search of Flamenco
Not by any means a conventional travel book about Spain,
it could just as easily be located under 'Rock 'n Roll'.
At times quite gripping, this is an honest account told simply
and effectively of Jason Webster's quest to capture the
romance of Spain through Flamenco. What he discovers is
something very different, much darker, more real. It raises
the contradiction between the protagonists as cultural guardians
and their often marginalised economic existence. More 'Down
and Out in Paris and London' than Bill Bryson and Michael
Palin, recommended for rebellious teenagers and independent
travellers who seek to understand a little about a country and
it's people.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/d_jsf.html
ii) Michelin Red Guide: Espana and Portugal 2003
A guide for all travellers and motorists providing detailed
information on places to eat and stay in Spain and Portugal.
Also included are street plans of major towns and cities,
practical tourist information and recommended places of
interest.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/mgsp.html
------------------------------------------------------------
4) Sticker Information
We have available our Costa Blanca Netguide car or shop
window stickers that we will send out to you free of charge.
Just email stickers@costablanca-netguide.com with your name
and postal address and how many you require (3 Max) and
we'll post them out to you anywhere in Europe at no cost.
Screensaver Information
Version 1 of the Costa Blanca Screensaver can be downloaded
at http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/screensaver.html.
The Free version has a few limitations but gives you a good
idea of what you can expect from the Full version which is
priced at 7 EUROS
------------------------------------------------------------
5) 2003 Approximate Publishing Dates
April 7th |May 12th | June 9th | July 7th | August 4th
September 8th | October 6th | November 10th
December 8th
------------------------------------------------------------
6) SUBSCRIBE INFORMATION
To subscribe to this newsletter please either sign-up at our
website
www.costablanca-netguide.com/subscribe.html
OR
Send an email with subscribe as the subject line and your
first and last name on separate lines in the message body
to: subscribe@costablanca-netguide.com
UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION
To unsubscribe at any time please send an email with
unsubscribe as the subject to:
unsubscribe@costablanca-netguide.com
******PLEASE NOTE******
The request to unsubscribe must come from the same email
address you used to sign up which we currently have on file
as: -
------------------------------------------------------------