Monday, March 18, 2024

Calliope's Musings on Spain

A gastronomic delight

Taste more than 50 dishes from Spain and all over the world when the village of Montejaque launches its bilingual (Spanish/English) Cookbook and Village Guide on 10 August

Hauling ass… or, what I’m willing to do for publicity!

The printer jokingly suggested I travel by donkey to collect the first print run of the cookbook. So, wearing the traditional costume of 200 years ago, I rode sixteen kilometres over the mountains from Montejaque to Ronda. Now that is one sore ass ... and my bum is hurting, too

Spacious three-bedroom holiday home for rent… ideal for couples?

We, along with most of our foreign friends in our Spanish mountain village, are owners of holiday homes that we rent out to walkers, bird-watchers, and sun-worshippers. And we enjoy comparing notes on the habits of our renters...

A backward glance

After four lessons to learn the ‘sevillana’ dance, I think I have finally mastered the steps. I’d been muddling my paso with my pasada, and turning right when I should have been turning left

Cooking up a storm?

For the past three months Carolyn Emmett has been co-ordinating the design and production of a cookbook and guide for the village of Montejaque

Rio Carnival? It came close…

Six brawny men (three dressed as women and one in a chicken suit) won the jug-throwing contest - this was Carnaval day in Montejaque

My knickers are not wet!

Up the hill and down the dale, I walked the rocky mountain trail; I saw the plains... I’ve got the pains to prove it.

The latest diet

In our Spanish mountain village, the new name for successful weight loss is ‘cryptosporidiosis’. In three weeks, I’ve lost 5kg. and gone down two dress sizes

Ernest Hemingway’s ¡Olé!

Admire the skill of the matadors or deplore the cruelty to the bulls; a first visit to a bullfight can bring out both of these emotions

¡Buen provecho!

The foreign residents of Montejaque give the Spanish locals a ‘taste of the world'

An Elephant no more

A new broom is sweeping clean at the soon-to-be-renamed Hotel Montejaque (formerly El Elefante Amarillo), located in the village square of this pretty pueblo blanco

The Michelin man in drag

I am wearing seven layers of clothing; I feel fat and uncomfortable; my hands are freezing

Joseph Heller is right – It’s Catch 22!

And IKEA is a four-letter word

Never a cross word

This week’s clues and answers had so much meaning to me that I decided the compiler must be someone I know

Remember when…

South Africa to southern Spain: A moving experience for Calliope

Gypsy Rose Lee has to strip again

I am SO excited about moving to our little mountain village in Spain at the end of March

A gold shower?

With all the walls in place, Calliope was able to make interior design decisions at the new house

Back to the drawing board

A compromise was reached. Now everyone can sunbathe naked

Spanish property: A profit on paper

‘Recession’ should be a four-letter word; will we ever profit from our Spanish property investments?

What’s in a name?

Big Basura Day and interior design decisions for Montejaque's Carolyn Emmett

A woman’s prerogative

“We should enlarge that upstairs window and install French doors, to match all the other windows on the second floor.” The builder opened it up to accommodate the change. “That looks dreadful. It’s only a foot above the top of the front door. Put it back the way it was.”

It’s all in the translation

Por favor, una horca,” I ask the señora in the hardware store. She looks horrified. I make digging motions to indicate I need a garden fork. She looks relieved, and says there are none in stock. On looking up the Spanish for ‘horca’, I discover I’d asked for a gallows

Our renovations perturbed the locals

Why did we remove the brown and blue mosaic tiles and paint the wall ‘magnolia’ instead?

The rain in Spain …

Carolyn Emmett wonders if she'd bought a dream house or a nightmare

The Calendar Girls coming to Andalucia?

Find your favourite recipes and get ready to get your kit off! Calliope is coming to town!

The Anniversary Gift

It’s our 26th wedding anniversary. “What would you like: flowers, chocolates, jewellery?” “How about we buy a house in Spain,” he said.

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