1) Hemingway's "Fiesta" also know as "The Sun Also Rises" is my favorite fiesta de San Fermin story.

2) This is not a travel book, but rather a philosophy story "Monseignor Quijote" by Graham Greene, based loosely on the Don Quijote story.

3) There is a lot of good travel material on the internet: tripadvisor.com is my favorite for hotel reviews.

To anyone still following this thread,

I just got through reading "Spanish Lesssons: Beginning a New Life in Spain" by Derek Lambert, and I really enjoyed it. I thought a lot about the MadridMan while reading it. I really liked the writers sense of humor.

The story is about an English journalist, his wife and son, who decide to by a home inland from the coast, near Valencia and Denia. The majority of the story is about the challenges he has in hiring people to take care of many of his new homes problems. The good thing is, many of the problems are solved with a little patience.

If the MadridMan hasn't read it, and if he can obtain it, I would like to recommend it to him.

Gazpacho: As Mrs. Dweller and I are considering a second home in Spain or somewhere else outside the US I think that I will pick up a copy of the book. It does not matter if one buys a new house or used there are always a certain number of things that must be repaired. If Spanish contractors are anything like their American counterparts, good luck in getting them to come back and make the adjustments.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Desert Dweller,

About a week ago I finished "Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalusia" by Chris Stewart that is a very similar story to "Spanish Lessons". Both of these stories deal with the problems encountered when buying a house in Spain. "Driving Over Lemons" is a little less dated being published in 1999.

What I've really learned by reading both books, is that Brits are a rather hearty breed. I'm not sure I would have handled some of the situations with such grace. In both books, thier patience really paid off and they ended up in a very nice situation.