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Vol 3 Edition 10 May 2003
Costa Blanca Netguide Newsletter
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com
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Hi [FIRSTNAME],
Welcome to the May edition of the newsletter.
This month sees Suzanna on a trip to Mundomar, near
Benidorm with a coachload of 4 and 5 year olds for the day.
We'd like to say "Good Luck" to one of the businesses who
have been on the Costa Blanca Net Guide Directory for a
while - Chunky Funky Jewellery. Originally they were
situated in a very old building in Jalon opposite the
Rastro. Part of the same building was a restaurant which
many years ago Suzanna actually waitressed in.
Some time ago a developer decided to pull the building
down and rebuild a parade of new locales.
Chunky Funky obviously had to relocate and found new small
premises along the same road.
For a while Adrian and wife Sylvia were there and built up a
good clientele. Well finally the locales are finished and
Adrian and Sylvia were offered a locale in the very position
they started off with only brand new and much larger. They
moved back to their original site and in fact Adrian reckons
he's standing in the same spot as before!! They now have a
purpose built workshop above the shop and have taken on
staff to help with the larger premises. Chunky Funky also
have a website coming soon so you will be able to buy
original silver jewellery on line. So all is going well and
as we said before, Good Luck to them both.
The new address is
Centro Comercial "La Teulera", Avenida Rey Juan Carlos I,
61-63 Local 7, Jalon. Tel: 966 480 859.
Until next time
Robin
Editor - Costa Blanca Netguide.
editor@costablanca-netguide.com
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CONTENTS:
1) Trip to Mundomar
2) A Telefonica Special!
3) Site Updates
4) New Businesses on the Guide
5) Spain Resources
6) Sticker/Screensaver Information
7) 2003 Publishing dates
8) Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
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1) Hello [FIRSTNAME],
As I said in the last newsletter I was off on a
school trip to Mundomar. We went with a coach load of 4 and
5 year olds and it turned out to be a great day. It's good
fun listening to the comments of this age group as I'm sure
you are aware. The little girl in front of me had never been
on a coach before and was so excited about it. Another one
whose mother is Spanish and father English was surprised to
see a McDonald's on route and duly announced to her friends
that there was a McDonald's in England too! When we arrived
we actually sat the children down to eat their 'almuerzo'
(mid morning snack) before we entered the park. Our guide
for the day was waiting for us inside the gates and firstly
told the children the do's and don'ts of the park. He was
very charming and had the children well under his
supervision. He guided us from one section to the next with
constant commentary aimed at the children giving them lots
of facts and figures they really appreciated and of course
answering their questions along the way. After about an hour
he left us with the children playing in the large children's
playground whilst the adults had a coffee at the open air
cafe which overlooks the playground. We then joined him at
the dolphinarium along with the other school parties. He
then gave a talk all about the dolphins getting volunteers
from the audience and finally a Q & A section. It was then
time to go to the Sea Lion area. We first watched the sea
lion show which was good fun and again informative and after
the general audience had left the guide again gave a more
educational talk to the school parties. It was then time for
a well deserved lunch. We had taken packed lunches which we
ate in the picnic areas but there is a snack bar and self
service restaurant which looked lovely. The children again
headed for the playground to let off steam. After lunch we
then went to see the actual dolphin show. The dolphinarium
is situated at the highest point of Mundomar and the seating
area overlooks the pool and the whole of the Benidorm area
beyond so the view is fantastic. The music is funky and the
children were absolutely enthralled with the whole thing.
The final show we saw was the parrot show which uses
volunteers so the older children from other schools were in
their element.
Although the name of the park "Mundomar" suggests sea world
there are lots of different animals to see from birds of all
types to lizards, bats and prairie dogs. Our final stop was
the souvenir shop which did have some lovely bits and
pieces, the typical t-shirts and products with the Mundomar
logo to ceramics, glassware and postcards. Lots to choose
from and I didn't think too overpriced. To exit the park you
have to go through the shop and on the other side are photos
of the visitors that are taken throughout the day. We found
one of us and decided we liked it so at 4 Euros we got a
good momento of the day. It certainly was a very full day
and the children were a lot quieter on the return journey!
In my opinion it was well worth the visit certainly with a
school party. Without a school party it would probably take
about half a day and right next door is the water park
"Aqualandia". That is open from mid May I believe. I found
all the staff really helpful, the park itself is very clean
and tidy and the animals are obviously well cared for.
To find out more and book tickets in advance visit their
website at www.mundomar.es It's a good site with lots of
information, prices, timetables and beautiful pictures so go
take a look.
Researched and Written by Suzanna
info.es@costablanca-netguide.com
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2) A Telefonica Special!
Just a quick last story about Telefonica. We have some
friends who have recently moved here and decided to have a
land line put in to their new home. The new home in question
is on an urbanisation which is still in the midst of being
built. They telephoned Telefonica to order the said
telephone and line. Telefonica does actually have an English
speaking department now which is very useful to newcomers
who do not speak Spanish. After numerous phone calls and
extracting a job number from Telefonica still no telephone
engineer appeared. Barry was now getting quite exasperated
having waited over 2 weeks. Finally an engineer appeared
looked around the plot and announced that he couldn't find
the box or cables so disappeared again. Barry and his
neighbour took it upon themselves to search for the said box
and cables and bingo they found some. He again phoned
Telefonica and told them of his discovery. Again an engineer
arrived and scratched his head the cables that Barry had
found he said didn't connect to the house. He was about to
leave when they telephoned me in a panic (from their mobile)
to come and translate. Well I jumped in the car and hacked
over there and caught the engineer just as he was about to
leave in his van. After a quick discussion and an
explanation of the situation we directed him to the foreman
of the site who presumably knew the plans of the place. To
cut a long story short Barry ended up to his knees in mud
helping the guy sort the cables out and finally connecting
the phone up. However that is not the end of the story. They
were duly given a number and they telephoned me to tell me
the good news and could I phone them back to check it. There
was obviously a fault on the line somewhere though and the
connection couldn't be made. I phoned Telefonica a few times
over the next few days to try and hurry the situation along.
They were then told it was trouble with the exchange and the
number they had been given was incorrect. Middle of May was
when they could expect the line! A few days later however
Pam was walking past the phone and for fun picked the phone
up to listen. Imagine her surprise when she heard a dialing
tone! It had been connected and the phone number was
correct. They are now fully functioning but the amusing
point is they daren't tell the neighbours..some of them have
been waiting over a year for a line! I suppose the moral of
the story is learn to speak Spanish so you can communicate
with the engineers and don't be afraid to get your hands
dirty helping him. It's all good fun and part of the joy of
living here...I promise.
Researched and Written by Suzanna
info.es@costablanca-netguide.com
[FIRSTNAME], 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
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3) Site Updates
There is a now a newsletter archive page for you
to catch up with any back issues you may have missed.
You can access and read them on-line at
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/newsarchive.html
Coming shortly to the site is a full resource area
that will feature Books, Videos, CD's and Maps
for the Costa Blanca & Spain including guides
on taking the plunge to emigrate plus what to expect when
you arrive.
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4) New Businesses on the Guide
i) The Jewel in the Heart of the Jalón Valley La Joya
(The Jewel)
A once in a lifetime opportunity to own prime, riverfront
property in the much sought after Jalón Valley.
Three cottages, two swimming pools and a large Dome Hall.
This property would be ideal for a variety of purposes,
some of which are: Art studio, dance studio, country B & B,
tourist holiday homes, horse riding school, field school,
holistic healing centre, yoga, tai chi, martial arts and
much more. The property is exceptional for a variety
of reasons which we have listed below. By virtue of the
antiquity of two of the houses (400 yrs old), there are
4 legal buildings totalling 370m˛ on 10 000m˛ of land. In
this area the permitted maximum construction
is usually 2% of land surface, in this case would be 200m˛.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/listings/300.html
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ii) Linked Bungalow, Urbanisation Villotel, Moraira.
This bungalow is situated in a superb location just 5 minutes
from European Blue Flag beaches in the elegant resort of
Moraira.Inside the bungalow comprises of 3 double bedrooms
plus double sleeping facilities in the lounge giving
accommodation of up to 8 people, lounge, modern kitchen
and bathroom. Outside is an elevated terrace which leads
from the lounge plus a further small terrace from one bedroom
with lovely views. The property is set within established
gardens with further terraced areas and a private parking bay.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/listings/301.html
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5) Spain Resources
i) Mediterranean Spain: Costa Del Sol and Blanca
by Robin Brandon
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/books/ms_cds_b.html
ii) Eating and Drinking in Spain
by Andy Herbach, Michael Dillon
A Spanish menu reader and restaurant guide covering the whole
of Spain. It seeks to help the reader find their way around a
menu written in Spanish, and also suggests places in which to
eat throughout the country. There is advice on dining
etiquette, along with a Spanish pronunciation guide.
http://www.costablanca-netguide.com/bac/books/ead_is.html
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6) 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
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7) 2003 Approximate Publishing Dates
June 9th | July 7th | August 4th
September 8th | October 6th | November 10th
December 8th
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