Tivoli World is back!

The weather this weekend has been just perfect. It's wasn't too hot or too cold...it was just right. We made a picnic, headed for Benalmadena, had the picnic on the beach then went to Tivoli World (childrens amusement park) in the afternoon.

It was actually quite hot on the beach with loads of people sunbathing. I was surprised to see so many Spanish there absorbing the rays, normally it's just the English! But it really was such a glorious day. Anyway, we had our picninc and headed off to Tivoli World.

When I was a child growing up in Gibraltar, Tivoli World was such an exciting place to go to, what with all the rides and entertainment. I have always had fond memories of the place...until we took the kids there just over there for the first time a year ago. It was absolutely awful. There were the same old rides from when I was a child, just a lot more rusty and "abandoned" looking. The whole place was a total disappointment. We left vowing never to return.

Shortly after that visit, Arenal 2000, a huge property developer on the coast, bought the park and promised to invest some money in it. We'd heard some positive comments from people who had been to the park since Arenal took over so we decided to give it another chance today.

It was great! What a transformation. Although some of the rides have just been "tarted up", the whole place had a great feeling, looked really well maintained and even boasted some new rides. The kids had a great time. It's definitely "work-in-progress" there but they are certainly going in the right direction. There are still some rides there which were there 30 years ago but I would definitely recommend you take the kids when you're in the area again.

Check out the official website for more information.

Welcome back Tivoli World...you have been missed.

It's hard being an estate egent

We talk to a lot of agents down here on the Costa del Sol (I'm not an agent myself by any means!). It's interesting how after the past year or so many of them have began to crack.

2 or 3 years ago a lot of agents were making a lot of money when there was a real boom down here. Investors flocked to buy property by the bucket load hoping to sell after a couple of years and make a handsome profit. But like any investment there's always a risk!

Here we are 2 years later with so many properties for sale on the market, some with very high prices, with too many agents around and just not enough buyers. Agents are having a hard time. It was easy to sell a property 2 or 3 years ago, now they really have to work hard for their money and chase every lead.

So where are all the buyers? Bulgaria, Morocco, Croatia, etc. There are still bargains to be had in other countries but they will all suffer the same fate. In 2 or 3 years time there will be hundreds of investrors trying to sell their off plans in Bulgaria, for example, which is years behind Spain in terms of infrastrucutre, network of agents, etc. I wouldn't want to be an investor in Bulgaria myself now!

So, although times are hard for agents in Spain now (and no, I don't feel sorry for them as I think many have been too greedy for too long) I think inevitably Spain is still the destination most people would rather buy a property in, the infrastructure is all in place, so the buyers will come back...just give it a couple of years.

Investors...sit tight!

The rain in Spain falls mainly everywhere

Wow, it's been raining for three days (yes that's bad here!) but it's been practically torrential rain. When it rains it rains. It's "carnaval" here in Manilva this weekend (carnaval is just another excuse for a party) but most of it was cancelled because of the weather. Back in the UK events like these would never have been cancelled because of rain!!

Yesterday at 8 in the evening there was supposed to be a childrens' fancy dress competition (carnaval thing). We dressed the girls up as a devil and a bat (the only costumes we had) threw them in the car, drove in the rain to the event only to find it cancelled...maybe we should have checked with the neighbours first. Everyone seemed to know it was cancelled when we told them! Oh well, we'll know for next time.

Selwo Park in trouble

It seems that the huge nature park, Selwo Park, near Estepona, is in big trouble financially. If you haven't been to this park then you're really missing out. There are over 2000 animals there spread over a massive area.

There is even a safari truck that takes you to different parts of the park. This place is really impressive. It's not cheap to go in but it's really worth it. So much to see and so open.

They have been really struggling with visitor numbers and now they are looking to convert part of the site to allow for new luxury housing developments to be built which will help support the park. In my opinion, it's quite sad that this is what is going to become of the park.

I suggest if you haven't been yet then check it out before it becomes a building site.

You MUST learn Spanish

At the moment it's "carnaval" here and to celebrate, all the kids at the school had to go dressed as a bee today. The Spanish really make a big effort with the costumes. We've known for a couple of weeks now about toady and the need for the bee costumes, so I was amazed that some people (yes English) turned up to the school with their children dressed in normal clothes.

I actually felt very sorry for these kids as they stood out like a sore thumb. I assume as the teachers do not speak English the English parents probably didn't understand the need for the costumes and what exactly is was all about. We are always truly amazaed how many English seem to make little or no effort to learn Spanish, even when it clearly impacts on their childrens' life at school.

It is hard to learn a language but if you have kids, plan to live in Spain and you plan to send them to a Spanish school then you MUST learn the language or else you will miss out on so much and at the end of the day it's the children that will suffer the most.

So, start putting in the effort if you haven't started already and start learning Spanish....for the sake of the kids.

The sun is shining again

I know you're not going to feel sorry for us, but we've not had the best start to the year weather-wise. We've had a lot of rain, it's been very windy and actually quite cold too. But I think the worst may now be over.

Today was glorious. Brilliant bright sunshine, no wind, warm temperature. Absolultely wonderful. We even took the kids to play on the beach after school as it was so warm. I know that in a couple of month's time it's going to start to get very hot and we're going to wish it was cold again! We are British after all so we're allowed to moan about the weather...

A very quiet Andalucia Day

Yesterday was Andalucia Day here in the south of Spain. To be honest, I thought in true Spanish tradition they would have been a real day of it with fiestas etc. But no. Quite the contrary really. It was exceptionally quiet. There were barely any activities organised, the streets and roads were deserted and it seems everyone just stayed at home relaxing!

Maybe it's because that's what the Spanish do so well in Andalucia...relax. When we lived in England we lead quite fast-paced lives (not quite London commuter fast though) and it has really taken some time to slow down to the "preferred" pace in the South of Spain. I still get irritable in supermarkets and banks where the pace is sometimes approaches that where you could be certified dead. I think I still need to work on relaxing a somewhat more.

And why are most bank holidays in the middle of the week? Must slow down....