Tomorrow I head off to the(hopefully) sunny Costa del Sol. As I did in summer, I will be staying in Fuengirola and next week will be back studying at Colegio Maravillas . Just a one week intensive course (20 hours) from 19th until 23rd December - if it anything like summer then it should be very enjoyable.
I will update this thread as the week progresses.
Regards
Robbieroy

Saturday 17th December
Well, two days in to my holiday adn the weather has been great. The 18 degrees centigrade temperature bodes well for those heading to Andalucia for a winter break. However, rain is expected early next week.
Andalucia has had a shortage of rain like many other parts of Spain and reports say that there are enough water reserves for 10 months. The will put measures into place when the supply reaches 6 months. In the interim, sporting installations and schools are prohibited from using water between 8.00 pm and 8.00 am.
Went through to Benalmádena yesterday to sign up for my Spanish classes next week. It was nice to see the administration and teaching staff again. Everything was ready to be signed etc.
Benalmádena looks pretty with some nice floral arches bearing poncetia (that red Chritmas flower).
As I walked through the streets at 10.00 in the morning, flamenco music was being piped through loudspeakers and by 12.00 it had changed to villancicos (traditional Christmas music). ALl this gave the place a nice "feel"
Robbieroy

Monday 19th Dec
The weather continues to be very good. At the weekend I played quite a lot of tennis and on Saturday night we went to a Christams party at the tennis club. Last night I took a walk around Fuengirola looking at the Xmas lights. I will post a new thread on this with pictures when I return to Scotland.

At the school, I have been placed in the Superior class. There are five of us in the class - 2 Russians, 1 Hungarian, 1 Japonese and myself.
In the grammar clas were did some work from the DELE (Intermediate). The DELE is the Spanish exam for foreigners to obtain a qualification in Spainish.
In the converstion class were were also using DELE materials and had to talk about situation, presented as cartoons. This is a feature of the oral part of the exam.
The weather was less good today, quite cold and cloudy.
The activities for the week include a Xmas Party on Tuesday where everybody brings a plate of something typical of their own counry, I wonder if I should take some haggis? - Might be difficult to buy it here!
Also, the is a film night - Goya is been screened, there is tennis on Thursday and a drinks reception on Friday.

Tuesday 20th Dec
Party night tonight!
In the grammar class this morning we continued working through expressions, grammar and vocabulary from the DELE Intermediate Exam. It was mostly straightforward.
In the conversation class, whe had to choose between two given themes, were given ten minutes ten minutes to prepare an outline and then TALK NON-STOP IN SPANISH on our chosen topic - FOR TEN MINUTES. This was nerve-wraking, but we all more or less got through.
The weather continues to be cloudy and quite cold (8 degrees Celciau) during the day. What a change to the brilliant weather of last week.
For the party, I have decided to bring smoked salmon, shortbread and a bottle of Scotch - I can´t think of anything more Scottish than that!

Rob

Sounds like you are having a great time in Spain as always. The classes sound difficult but interesting. The activities sound like a lot of fun. Haggis would have been a bit too much.

The lights and decorations in Malaga, Benalmadena and Fuengirola are always very colorful. I can't wait to get to Fuengirola on Tuesday. My friends arrived there on Sunday and are having a great time. I will give you a call on the morning of the 29th to see when we can meet up.

Good luck with the classes and the tennis tournament.

Feliz Navidad....

Art

Hi Art
The good news for you is that the weather has pick up and we have nice blue skies this morning. I have been taking photos of the Xmas lights, but my camera seems to be going on the blink ' I thing that there is a problem with the memory card.
You might do me a favour when you are in Malaga nad get some photos of the lights there.
Look forward to the mini Madridman get together on the 29th. Have a great Xmas and a safe journey.
------------------------------------------------
On the tennis side, I have managed to play every day since I arrived, although yeaterday was a bit windy. During the night, it was stong enough to blow the umbrella in the patio into the small pool.

The party last night was good. There were about 30 people made up of students and staff. Lots of beer and sangria of course and a great selection Russian, Danish, Swedish and Scottish food.
It started at 8pm and I left about 11pm to catch the train through to Fuengirola.

In the afternoon, I took a trip to Marbell and walked around the casco antiguo (the old part of the town). Here are some images:

Here are some more photos taken in the old part of Marbella:










Well yesterday was one of the WORST days ever. I did not go to classes yesterday because....
After breakfast I went for a smoke in the kitchen. I did not go outside because it was very windy and things were being blown around. I did open the interior doors of the kitchen - these lead onto the patio.
I went upstairs to get changed and to leave for classes. When I came down, I noticed that the exterior doors between kitchen and patio were open...... I thought that this was strange...
I wen back inside and to my horror found that some items were missing from their usual position on the steps leading to the bedrooms.
What was missing...
my wallet with credit cards, bank cards and money (lots of it). Also my bumbag, and my digital camera and my mobile phone. Can you imaging the feeling in my stomach?
Well it transpired that during the ten minutes that I was upstairs, someone have forced the ourside doors (wreakers), had come in through the kitchen and stolen the items. J&der!

Well, the rest of the day was taken up cancelling my bank cards and mobile, telephoning the police to make a report and then going down to the comisaria to sign the report. All this took me until 4.00pm.
So right now, I am really p%ssed off!.

On the plus side, my Scottish bank was able to transfer some money for me to keep me going.
To be continued.....

Rob

So sorry to hear about the burglary. I just read in today's Sur in English an article about the robbing of houses on the Coast with their owners inside. Only objects of value that could be easily transported were stolen... money, wallets, jewels, camaras etc.

I hope the rest of your holiday goes well and that you do well in the tennis tournament. I got your message and I will meet you on Thursday morning.

Have a very Merry Christmas.....

Art

Saturday 24th December
Thanks Arturo. All this has really been a pain in the neck, and whats more, the rain arrived this morning!!!
I went back to school on Friday morning and we spent a lot of time in the grammer class doing grammer, vocabulary and expression questions from the DELE Superior exam. I found this fairly straight forward. In the conversation class we had again to talk unprepared for 5 minutes each on a choice of two topics - pretty nerve-wracking stuff, but great for your confidence. We also listened to some Spanish Xmas Carols or Villancicos. We finished early and the put on a Xmas party with a great selection of jamon, chorrizo, cheese, bread, black pudding (morcilla, bread and so own. The most outstanding thing was some home made olove oil which one of the teachers brought in -OUTSTANDING.
Well, tomorrow is a big day and four of us are off to the MArbella Club for lunch (not cheap) - fortunately this was paid for before the events of Thursday.
RR

Tuesday 27th Dec
The Marbella Club was outstanding for Xmas lunch. We arrived at 1.30 for a 2.00pm start and were presented with free glasses of champagne in the bar.
The lunch menu was great:
Consommé Escoffier with 1866 Cognac
Urta (fish)with tomato and basil and lobster ravioli
Traditional Turkey stuffed with Chateau potatoes and served with Parsnips and other vegetables
Christmas Pudding with hot brandy butter and
Coffee with christmas sweets and nougats.
The wine was of course free and there was plenty of it:
White wine - Jean Leon Petit Chardonnay - Penedés
Red wine - López Cristobál Crianza Ribera del Duero
There were opera singers who wandered around the dining room sining both Spanish and English Christmas Carols.
All very enjoyable and we left about 4.30 pm.

Yesterday, we had our first doubles match in the Club del Sol tournament and won quite easily against two Germans.
No match today.

I am in San Pedro de Alcántera at the moment as I have taken a freind through for an appointment. The small streets in the old part of the town are quite pretty.

Here are some photos I took using my PDA:

In the old town of San Pedro:









And here is part of the beach front at San Pedro:


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