Tag Archives: Spain

Spain

Learning to drive in Spain

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We went and completed the driver theory exam for a second time last week. The test location and the process were identical to the first time we wrote the exam.

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Ministerio del interior Centro de Exanenes

We entered the testing room and wrote a paper exam with completely different questions than the last one. Some of the questions were on motorcycles, traffic statistics, and illegal drug use. We completed the English version of the 30 question exam and returned home to await our results. Two days later we received notification that we both passed the exam and could move on to the practical training.

In Spain, it is mandatory to take driver training through a government recognized driving school. We signed up with a local driving school called “Autoescuela Pausa” which is walking distance from our home.

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Ray and Shelley in front of the Autoescuela Pausa

There are  few things that make driving a challenge in Spain. There are no English instructors and all lessons are conducted in Spanish. The final exam testing is also completely in Spanish and you are not permitted to have an interpreter present during the exam. The road system here is very different from Canada. The traffic lights, signage, and intersections are dissimilar to what we are accustomed to.  Finally, the majority of vehicles in Spain have standard transmissions, there are very few automatic transmissions. The issue here is If the driver’s exam is done while driving an automatic transmission then you are only licensed to drive an automatic. In order to rent vehicles and have the flexibility, we are both taking our exam with a standard transmission vehicle.

On Tuesday we went for our first driving lesson. Our vehicle was a smaller compact car with standard transmission.

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The driving school training car

Our instructor’s name was Oscar and he could not speak any English. He was very good at explaining things using hand language and clear Spanish. He was very helpful and had lots of patience with us.

Ray was the first to drive while Shelley sat in the back seat waiting her turn. Oscar would give directions in Spanish.

Here is a very small list of some of the Spanish driving words:

  • Gire a la izquierda  (Turn left)
  • Gira a la derecha (Turn right)
  • tome la segunda a la derecha (take the second right)
  • tome la segunda a la izquierdo en la rotonda (take second on the left in the roundabout)
  • perada (stop)
  • Tranquilo ( calm or relax)
  • Espere (wait)
  • Mas rapido (faster)
  • Mas dispacio (slow down)
  • Empuje el embrague (push the clutch in)
  • Suelta el embrague (let out the clutch)
  • Cambiar a tercera marcha (change to third gear)

This is only a very small portion of the language we need to learn before taking our practical drivers exam.

We headed on to the roadway and drove through the streets of Alicante. After about 45 minutes we stopped and switched seats. Shelley has never driven a standard before and Oscar was very good at explaining the gear shift and clutch process.

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Shelley and Oscar reviewing the standard shift and clutch process before heading onto the road.

Shelley drove around the city and did very well navigating the clutch and standard shift.  After about 45 minutes we headed back to the driving school and finished for the day. It was a nice pace and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We are looking forward to more driving and getting the driving test completed.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

 

Spain

Sci-Fy in the Castle

We went with Brad and Louise to the Santa Barbara Castle to see a Sci-Fy display, which featured memorabilia of different Sci-Fy movies. We walked up the steep trail to the Castle which takes approximately 45 minutes.

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Trail up the mountain towards the Santa Barbara Castle

When we arrived at the Castle, stopped to admire the beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea.

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View of the Mediterranean Sea from the Santa Barbara Castle.

The display was held in an original area of the Castle which had a smaller entrance door.  We had to duck when we entered the room in order to get through the doorway.

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Brad and Ray at the entrance to the Sci-Fy display area

We are a big fan of certain Sci-Fy movies including the Matrix, Terminator, and Back to the Future. When we went inside we saw an exhibit of original movie props of some of the classic Sci-Fy movies.

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Exhibits of Sci-Fy movie props in Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante

Some of the displays were movies that were unknown to us, while others were of our favorites.

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back to the Future memorabilia

The Back to the Future Flux Capacitor and if you look close you can see someone from the future.

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Flux Capacitor from Back to the future

We walked through the rooms looking at the unique and different props on display. Some of the props were very large and lifelike, while others were small.

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Props from Iron Man movie
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Prop from RoboCop movie
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Props and script from the movie “Blade Runner”
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Motorcycle used in the SyFy movie “I Robot”
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Movie props from “I Robot”

We came across props from some of our favorite movies including  “The Matrix”, and “The Terminator”.

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Head plug from the Movie “the Matrix”

 

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The Terminator Movie props

There were several smaller props from the Terminator movie.

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Terminator skull
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Some movie props with Shelley in the mirror

The Sci-Fy exhibit was very interesting and there were some very neat items on display. We enjoyed the free exhibit and walked around for about 45 minutes looking at all the props and reading about the movies.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

 

Spain

Back to School, Learning Spanish

We have registered for night school to improve our Spanish. We started our classes last week. The “Centre de Formacio de Persones Adultes” is an adult school specifically for foreigners trying to learn Spanish or complete other educational classes.

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We attend twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10 pm.

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Ray and Shelley going back to school to learn Spanish.

The location of the school is also excellent for us. We are able to take the public transit system to the mall which is very close to the school.

The school is fairly large and contains a coffee shop, library, and a beautiful outside courtyard.

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The interior of the school is modern and nicely decorated which makes it a joy to go to school.

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Hallway in the adult school
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Modern art on display in the school hallways

Our class is conducted entirely in Spanish and our teacher has a very good sense of humour. He keeps the class interesting and fun. We are thoroughly enjoying the classes.

“Adiós y que tengas un buen día”

 

Spain

Animal Museum in Ronda

We went to a museum in Ronda called “Museo de Caza” which translates to the Hunting Museum. We thought it looked interesting so we went to see it. Once we entered inside the museum we were greeted with a large stuffed grizzly bear.

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A stuffed Grizzly Bear at the Museo de Caza in Ronda

We paid our two euros each and began exploring the different rooms which displayed an enormous amount of stuffed animals.

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One of the rooms in the Museo de Caza in Ronda

As we walked through the museum we came across more and more stuffed animals. There were animals from all over the world and displayed beside the animals were plaques identifying their origin and where they were killed.

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Plaque displaying the area where the animals were killed.

We came across tigers and lions in one of the rooms and an alligator in another room.

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Lion on display in Museo de Caza in Ronda
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Large cat in Museo de Caza .in Ronda
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Shelley with an alligator on display at Museo de Caza.

The animals on displays were all over the walls and there was very little free space in the Museum. It was a bit unsettling being in the rooms with so many dead animals displayed as trophies. There were some areas where we needed to watch our heads in order not to bump into an animal on display.

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Some of the animals on displayed that were on the wall causing a low overhead when walking.

Walking through the different rooms we came across animals from all different areas of the world. We came across monkeys, gazelles and wild boars from Africa.

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Monkeys, wild boars, and other African animals on display
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Wild boar in Museo de Caza in Ronda

There were water buffalo and other African animals, some which I have never seen before.

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There was a pair of  Elephant tusk that was on display which was enormous. The plaque indicated that the tusk were obtained prior to the ban on ivory.

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African Elephant Tusk on display at Museo de Caza in Ronda

We even saw animals that were from North America and Canada in particular.

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Brown Bear that was killed in Canada
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Black bears and assorted gazelles on display. Note the elephant foot used as a table on the right.

There were walls full of mounted skulls with horns displayed from all over the world.

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Horns and skulls mounted and displayed in Museo de Caza

They had every imaginable type of animal displayed including waterfowl, groundhogs, and birds.

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Waterfowl on display at the Museo de Caza

The museum was full of animals from around the world. It was hard to imagine that such a collection of animals were on display in the small mountaintop town of Ronda Spain.

“Adios y que tiene un gran dia”

Spain

Taking a Spanish cooking Class

We decided to take a cooking class and learn how to make some traditional Spanish meals. We headed to one of our favorite traditional Spanish restaurants called “Taberna Iberica.” Our Chef Francesca was very friendly and greeted us with a kiss on each cheek. She spoke only Spanish and the entire cooking demonstration was in Spanish. We entered the small galley kitchen which is used for the entire restaurant.

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Mike, Louise, Brad, Liz and Ray in the galley kitchen
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Galley kitchen

She demonstrated the techniques and processes for the making of several traditional meals. The first meal we began making was Paella with chicken. She began by chopping up a half chicken which included the bones.

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Chicken being chopped up by our Chef Francesca

Chef Francesca then demonstrated how to cook the chicken and make the paella. The process involved olive oil, water, peppers, a few spices and very easy to make.

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Chicken paella being made
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Shelley mixing up the magic

We then began another Spanish dish “tortilla de potatas” which is a breakfast meal. The process was surprisingly easy and simple to make. It used potatoes, olive oil, and eggs with a few spices.  The tortilla de potatas was made using a frying pan.

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Chef Francesca making Tortilla de Potatas with Brad watching in the background.

The final dish we made was a seafood paella. The process was somewhat different with a few changes. One of the differences was the boiling of fish pieces in water then removing the fish and using the water to make the rice. We then added some cuttlefish and prawns.

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cuttlefish used in the seafood paella
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Prawns used in the seafood paella
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Seafood paella

Once the three dishes were finished we took them upstairs to our table.

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Ray taking the paella to the restaurant table, Liz watching in the background
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Our table with the paella and tortilla de potatas

We sat down at our table to enjoy the paellas and Tortilla. There was also red and white wine, freshly baked bread and water. We enjoyed the food and ate until we were all full and content.

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The remains of the paella
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the remains of the tortilla de potatas

We were relaxing and enjoying ourselves when they owner presented us with an after dinner drink.

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After dinner, Spanish drink being poured

We toasted the Chef and enjoyed the after dinner drink, before heading out.

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Ray toasting the after dinner drink with Brad and company

As we were leaving the restaurant, Chef Francesca came and gave us a Spanish kiss on each cheek and made us feel like we were family. It was an amazing feeling to be so welcomed into a restaurant. It was more like a family meal than a restaurant.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”