Move to Vinuela?

[Moving Soon]

In his dreams, Silver!

[toddcl]

They say that there are 3,000 words that are very similar in both English and Spanish and also that Spanish is not English with an 'o' on the end.

Having listened to all those learn Spanish in 'six weeks' tapes and then making our locals roll with laughter, I have learnt to learn Spanish on the hoof. They partially liked my wife saying anos instead of años, a slight mistake but when youR asking if their baby is uno anos you could quite easily upset someone.

I have worked out that a mixture of using the local words, facial expression and slapping an occasional ‘o’ on the end has got me through so far. However I have promised myself that I will attend weekly Spanish lessons once we finally sell our stately pile in the UK.

[Moving Soon]

I recall my OH asking a Spanish speaking friend what the tubing was called for putting a new extractor fan in the kitchen, in preparation for a trip to the builders' merchants. We thought he was having us on when he said "tubo escapio", it sounded like something from Channel 9, but no, it really is!

There was also an entertaining episode in the builders' merchants when he went to buy an elbow joint, could not find what it was called in the dictionary, tried what he thought was the Spanish word for elbow, and after much gesticulating and pointing to the relevant body part, blank looks from the guy behind the counter who eventually cottoned on and said "Ah, elbow". I can just imagine him going home to his wife at the end of the day and saying, we had a right one in today ...

[katy]

I saw a man in a paint shop doing brush painting motions and then pretending to take off his shirt and shouting off! off!...he wanted quitapinturas

[Moving Soon]

Katy, that made me laugh out loud!

Once when I was staying in Greece we had a frog got into our apartment. I was trying to tell the owner about it to get rid of it and for some unaccountable reason I didn't know the Greek for frog, you should have seen me hopping about going ribbit, ribbit. Not one of my finer moments!

[toddcl]

It's just like one big game of 'Give us a Clue'.

[toddcl]

I'm alright with 'uno kilo' but fractions are a problem.
It was OK except A kilo of prawns takes some eating but I now just point at a lettuce and say uno.

[Moving Soon]

As lettuce is lechuga (I think!) would it not be more correct to say "una lechuga"?

I'm fine with buying food and ordering in restaurants (you can see I have my priorities right, my OH says I'm constantly planning what to have for my next meal), it's when I get beyond that I struggle.

I have got round the problem of buying DIY items sometimes by going to Eroski and browsing the shelves until I find what I want (I cope a lot better with understanding written Spanish than I do speaking it) rather than wasting the time of some poor shop assistant, but by doing that I'm paying over the odds for it, I know. I did manage to find quitapinturas all by myself but I don't think I made as good a job of following the instructions when I stripped all the old varnish off my front doors. I ended up bringing some good old Nitromors over from the UK thus contravening all sorts of safety regulations, I suppose.

[toddcl]

Don't mention bringing items from the UK.
I put a fuse box / consumer unit in my hand luggage and caused a right commotion when it went through the scanner.

[Shukran]

I'll never forget trying to order soup one lunchtime in Amsterdam. We couldn't speak the language so I flapped my bent arms up and down and made a clucking noise. The waiter seemed to understand what we wanted. A few minutes later he came back with some kind of consomme with a raw egg floating on the top. Didn't have the heart to tell him.

[Moving Soon]

Getting back to something loosely connected to the original thread, I read in the online edition of Sur in English today about a new road to be constructed to link Malaga with the Axarquia and the western part of Granada province. No doubt that will mean more despoilation of the countryside and new developments springing up close to it.

[toddcl]

Have you got the web address for online edition of Sur in English ?

[costakid]

www.surinenglish.com

[Moving Soon]

Amazingly enough, it's www.surinenglish.com

[costakid]

you were to slow

[Moving Soon]

Story of my life!!!

Todd, there is also www.costadelsolnews.es but I don't think this week's edition says anything about the new road.

[toddcl]

Thanks for those Both of you.

[Grouser]

Here is a link to the actual article:
http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=9572
Makes interesting but somewhat depressing reading does it not. Well found Moving Soon.

[toddcl]

Bang goes another area of natural Beauty and History.

I wonder if the chosen few have purchased the choice plots along the route?

[gavilan]

driving through El Boquete the other day I noticed 'they' had taken away the notice which said that this old railway line is/was part of the long distance walking path GR7 ... and what about access to the famous cave there?

also for some memories of men who worked on this railway see www.sur-in-english.com ‘The Last Train to Nostalgia’ May 26 2005

if you are interested ... walk it soon ... especially good in early spring when the saffron crocus and the wild iris, et al, are in bloom ...