Christmas Playground

An activity playground/tent will be open to children up to 12yrs of age in Lloret until 4th Jan. The location is Pere Torrent the cost is €4 with lunch included. This is a very good idea as there are loads of things to keep the kids occupied, last year there were more than 100 kids a day.

The parents could do a bit of shopping while the kids are playing, but there will also be a bar at the side for the adults while waiting for the kids....seems to me like there could be be quite a few visitors!

Smoking ban in Spain

The Health Minister has confirmed that Spain is to introduce an extended smoking ban next year, when, from and as yet to be confirmed date, ‘No Smoking’ signs will be seen in all closed public places. The legislation which has been in place since 2006 currently permits the smaller bars and restaurants to choose whether to allow smoking on the premises or not; if they do allow it, they must provide a separate closed-off area for smokers.

That option will no longer exist once the changes are brought in, but Minister Trinidad Jiménez has confirmed however that the stricter measures will not extend to open air premises, such as restaurant terraces and bull rings, where smoking will still be permitted.

Europa Press reports that the Minister said in a radio interview with Rac1 on Monday that the government’s decision is fundamentally based on protecting health, and said she believes that Spain is ‘culturally prepared’ for stricter measures to be adopted. There was no indication from the Minister on exactly when during 2010 the extended ban will be implemented, although she did comment that negotiations are in their final phase, with a large amount of support for the move amongst politicians.

The planned changes have however been criticised by the hostelry sector, where it’s feared that profits will see a sharp drop and many businesses may be forced to close.

The English Bookshop

Since the close of 'The Book Cupboard' at the end of October in Lloret de Mar, the owner Kevin has been searching for new premises. There is now good news as he has found a suitable place which he is hoping to renovate and open in March and will be named Busco Books.


At the moment you can still buy your books online or at the monthly market in Lloret at Placa Pere Torrent (the carousel square)
The new website BuscoBooks.com will keep you upto date on progress and gives the exact location of the new shop. These premises are more spacious with 3 floors so there will be many more books to choose from.
If anyone out there has any books which you no longer need I'm sure Kevin would appreciate it if you would drop them into the shop either to sell or part exchange...or if you really want them out of the way just give them to him as he will have a lot more shelf space to fill!

The Sky at Night!

The hot summer is now over and Christmas is almost here but the weather is still very good with hardly any rain so far. As the clouds start to roll in during the cooler winter evenings these are the beautiful views we can see almost every night from our balcony. These are completely untouched photos, with no colour enhancing at all, every night is different!

Lloret de Mar Events

An exhibition of classic cars is taking place in Lloret tomorrow. This is not the usual show of cars we see with the monthly market as more cars are entered.
Participants will be showing their cars in the town square, visiting the Pinya Rose gardens in Blanes and also having lunch at the El Trull restaurant, where the prizes for the best will be awarded.
The meeting is due to start in town at 10am, if you don't catch them in Lloret you may see them out and about on the roads.
Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but lets hope its not too bad!

Lloret de Mar Events

This week-end has been medieval time again in Lloret de Mar. The main shopping streets are filled with all kinds of stalls. The floor is scattered with straw to give the town a medieval look, and thousands of people are trying to fight their way around!
The old bike in the photo above drew lots of attention.

This event always takes place over 2 days at this time of year, and is very popular with the tourist's and locals. Many people arrive by the excursion coaches from other places along the coast.

The Best Hotel in Spain.

The award for the best hotel in Spain has believe it or not gone to the Hotel Anabel here in Lloret de Mar! (Visit their website)
Thomas Cook in conjunction with Neckermann have given the award to the Anabel based on surveys filled in by their clients, the majority of which come from Britain, Germany, Holland and Belgium.

The Anabel is a hotel which caters for families and couples ... they do not take bookings from
the groups of students and sports teams which we seem to see too much of in Lloret these days.
The owners claim that because of this the hotel is not always as full as they would like, but they prefer to give full commitment to family tourism and believe this is the correct route to follow in order to benefit both the hotel and its customers.
The Anabel first opened in 1970 and will celebrate its 40th anniversary next May 2010.

Lets hope that other hotels in town who take in all the rowdy groups take note of this, after all what is best for everyone, to be the known as the best hotel in Spain or the worst? As I'm sure that's the way some of the others are going!

Free Tour of Girona !

Girona can now be viewed with Google street view. For new users of this application this means you can go to Google maps and take a virtual tour by using your mouse to guide you in whatever direction has been covered by the cameras.
Once in Google Maps, type in 'Girona Spain' and zoom into the streets, then with your mouse drag the little orange man (see him in the top left of the map) onto your selected street and the map then turns into photo clear images of the street. You then click on the arrows to take your tour!
At the moment its not possible to see the old quarter as the streets are too narrow for the cars which carry the cameras. These will be done at a later date, usually done by cameras mounted on bikes.

Street view started in the U.S in May 2007, then last year the Spanish cities of Madrid, Seville and Barcelona were added.

Lloret de Mar Weather

Now that the clocks have gone back one hour and we are seeing the nights drawing in the weather does seem to be much cooler, especially when the sun goes down. Snow has been falling in Andorra (good news for the skiers!) and we have had some heavy spells of rain in Lloret but not too prolonged.
These photos were taken last Thursday evening, after a fine clear sunny day the clouds started to roll in then we had a thunderstorm, but the next morning we were back to normal with the sun!

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Costa Brava Rally

It looks as though its going to be a fine week - end for the Costa Brava rally. There are a few clouds about this morning and it does feel quite cool in the shade, but I think this will be ideal driving conditions out on the Cost Brava roads.
Here's a few photos of the cars which were preparing for the start near the Olympic Hotel this morning.

Spanish Mobile Phone Switch-Off

All Spanish 'pay as you go' mobile phones which have not been registered by Sunday will be permanently disconnected. The deadline is set at midnight on Sunday, after which the phone number and any unused credit will be lost forever.

The full story along with the reason behind this can be read on the Typically Spanish site.

Costa Brava Rally

Its time for the Costa Brava Rally again !
This will be the 57th rally and its taking place in Lloret during this week-end 6th & 7th November. Three championships are up for grabs, these are the National, Catalan and European.
The base for the rally drivers and cars is near the Olympic Park Hotel and the podium is, as usual on the sea front near the Town Hall.

Lloret de Mar Weather

Clear sky or cloudy on the whole, except in the Pyrenees, especially the north side, where the sky will remain very cloudy until noon and between medium and very cloudy during the afternoon. Temperatures will be 20º and a slightly cooler 18º tomorrow.

Tomorrow during the morning, clouds will increase and the sky will be quite overcast. This forecast is taken from El Punt

Sangria Recipe.

Many variations of sangria have been made and even the most basic recipe is never the same, all bars and restraunts have their own version. Some versions of the drink even being served warm, which would be very similar to the hot mulled punch served at Christmas time in many homes.
Experts agree that Sangria is best when left to infuse for a few hours in the fridge, preferably overnight if possible. Many bars and restraunts tend to use their cheap house wine, but a better quality drink will result from using the best ingredients.
The fruit also plays a large part in the flavour, and if making your own its best to experiment with various fruits. For an unusual twist try using cranberrys, melon, peach, pear or grapefruit and mango. Here is a good fruity recipe for your party, but you can swap the red wine for a white wine (even try sparkling wine) and change the fruits according to your taste.

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups (26 fl. oz) dry red wine

• 1/3 cup (3 oz) sugar

• 1/3 cup brandy

• 1/3 cup Cointreau

• 1/3 lemon-flavored vodka

• 1 small lemon, sliced crosswise

• 1 small orange, sliced crosswise

• 1 small lime, sliced crosswise

• 1 medium pear, diced

• 2 medium peach, peeled, pitted and sliced

• 2 cups (8 oz) sliced strawberries

• 1 bottle carbonated lemon-lime soda

Preparation

In a sangria pitcher, combine all ingredients except the strawberries and soda.

Chill in the refrigerator overnight. Immediately before serving, stir the strawberries and lemon-lime soda. Pour into chilled glasses and serve.

More art from Lloret de Mar

Going back to October 5th I published some photo's from the painting competition held here in Lloret. All very good as I'm sure you'll agree!

As you wander around Lloret though, its a shame to see that just about every blank wall is covered in graffiti. Some is just messy scribble which spoils the look of the town. I often wonder what some holiday makers must think when they are walking round and come across this mess!

I must say though that some of the street artist's work is very good and quite colourful. The examples shown here are in the El Reiral district, its almost like taking a walk around an art gallery!

Even then this is just a few shots of the best. Much of this long stretch is still covered in the same mess as the rest of the town. Maybe its time for a massive clean-up?

Lloret de Mar Events

Last week-end there were activities for all the family in Lloret, the main one was an organised bike ride all round the town. All you had to do was to turn up with your own bicycle and then the riders had the freedom to ride the course with the police stopping traffic while the bikes passed by. Even little toddlers were riding along side their parents. At the end of the ride near the beach in Lloret drinks, butifarra and tomato bread was given out to all those who took part.

Other activities were abseiling down the cliffs, bouncy castles and the long slide (see above) which went from the cliff tops down to the beach.

English Bookshop in Lloret

I recently called into the English Book Cupboard in Lloret looking for some possible info about Lloret back in the days when tourism was just starting here, and was very surprised at the vast amount and variety of books for sale. Kevin the owner was very helpful but told me that the shop is sadly closing at the end of this month. The shop can currently be found in the small street directly behind the church, hopefully he will be relocating to new premises in the new year.

The Book Cupboard has its own website which gives all details of opening times etc,
and Kevin also explains how he hopes to continue making books available to readers by other means during the time the shop is closed, e.g. the monthly Sunday market in Lloret (held every 2nd Sunday of the month) To keep up to date of Kevins plans you can visit his site where you will find the latest news and also a link for his email address.

Lloret de Mar Events

Paintings from the 'Rapid Painting Contest' are now on show in the town. Here you can see four from the exhibition. The top painting won 1st prize of €1000. The 2nd prize of €800 went to the artist of the painting below.

Thanks to Angie for the photos.

Lloret Pathway Closed

The rocky pathway which leads to the bronze statue Dona Marina has now been closed for several days owing to a rock slide blocking the way. This occurred last week-end, and its not known how long the path will be closed. The rocks have been covered with wire mesh and work is now been carried out to repair the damage.

Thanks To All Readers!

Many thanks to all readers of this blog for making it reach into the top best 100 blogs in Spain. I was notified this morning, so I have placed the award in the side column. The same award has also be given to 2 of my other blogs...Makes it all worthwhile !

• Photos From Spain

• Lloret Holiday Guide
  

Cheapest Apartment in Cataluña.!

The owners of a duplex apartment in Terrassa (nr Barcelona) are sadly having to raffle off their apartment as they can no longer afford the mortgage, and have failed to find a buyer in these hard times. Fancy your chances ?

Tickets only cost €10 each ! Read more here.

Tourists Day in Lloret.

As it was a nice day in Lloret yesterday we decided to have a walk over to Santa Clotilde gardens, also it was free entrance owing to it been the annual Day of Tourists ! We expected it to be really busy, but were quite surprised how quiet it was. There were still free deckchairs where you can sit and read or just gaze out to the sea, unusual for a Sunday morning!

Lloret de Mar - Tourism Day

This coming week-end Lloret de Mar celebrates World Tourism Day, giving locals and visitors free entry to the Maritime Museum and Santa Clotilde Gardens. More details of this week-ends events can be found in the town hall, tourist centres and hotels. A fireworks display will also take place on Sunday evening.

Lloret de Mar Promenade

During the coming months work will be starting on the promenade in Lloret to improve the flow of traffic and to give more priority to pedestrians. The work will include more parking for motorbikes and bicycles. Also planned are bays for loading and unloading for the sea front businesses.

Lloret de Mar Weather

The rain has finally come to Lloret !

We were kept awake most of last night by the raging thunderstorm which started round about midnight. Then slowly but surely the clouds passed over, and the sun was again shining this morning so we had a walk down to Fenals beach at about 11am.
Quite a few people were there making the most of the sun, but the red flags were flying so that means going in the sea is not allowed owing to the massive waves. Looking down towards Blanes the clouds were starting to build up again and also out at sea there were flashes of lightening every few minutes, so the storm was heading back our way and time for us to head back home! We just made it as the rain came down again, it didnt last though its now 1.45pm and the sun is shining again, with a nice temperature of 23º !!

Photos from Fenals beach today.....

Lloret de Mar Events

A 'fast painting' competition is to be held next Sunday 20th September. The idea is that you must create a painting of a scene somewhere in Lloret starting at 8am on Sunday morning. You then have until 1.30pm to submit your artwork at the Passeig Verdaguer for judging later in the day. The prizes are €600 for the 3rd, €800 for the 2nd and a very nice €1000 for the 1st.

Lloret de Mar Shopping

This summer many stores in the El Reiral area have been doing special promotions in order to try attract more customers. These offers are being given on the last Wednesday of each month. During this time offers to be found are Menus of the day for €5, low energy light bulbs at half price, pairs of shoes which normally sell for €25 being sold for €10. Hairdressers have also been doing cheaper haircuts but are soon fully booked up well in advance. Other shops taking part are butchers, opticians, and many more small local shops.
These promotions started 5 months ago since which, traders have said they have seen increased sales. Originally 45 stores signed up to take part, this has now rose to 55 and its said by the organisers it will carry on for quite a while yet!

Lloret de Mar Fires

While forest fires are still raging in other parts of the world, Lloret de Mar on the other hand has not suffered any serious fires this summer. We did hear about a fire which started on the urbanisation Roca Grossa, but luckily this was quickly dealt with.
At this time Lloret is at a risk level of 1, which is classed as low to medium. However, people should still be on their guard especially as the ground is so dry after the extremely hot, dry summer.
Anyone seeing a fire should report it immediately by calling the emergency services on 112.

The photo above shows one of the planes refilling its tanks with sea water to deal with one of the serious forest fires back in the 90s here in Lloret.