Blogs from Huelva, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

A wee compilation of photos from two visits to Las Marismas de Odiel just outside Huelva. The first was with a few colleagues from the ringing programme at Doñana on Spain's National Day. The second was tbis week when I cycled there from Mazagon. The marshes are tidal and comprise mudflats, salt marsh and a commercial salt production operation. There is also a very nice visitor centre. ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Es un milagro, c'est un miracle, un jour sans problèmes, où tout ce passe bien, même plus tôt bien. Ce matin en moins de 10 minutes, j'avais récupéré ma voiture, 300m de distance. Incroyable. Je ne reviendrais pas sur les 3 heures d'avant hier. Dans le ¼ heure suivant je suis aux arènes, et encore un miracle une place pour la voiture. De l'extérieur le style est magnifique, dommage que je ne puisse les visiter, il y a trop long à attendre. Même mieux voir une corrida, la prochaine est le 8 juillet. Pour les toréadors Séville c'est la consécration. Je vais même me permettre, après accord, de rentrer dans une boutique, toute proche des arènes, spécialisée dans la vente d'équipement, de matériel pour toréadors, matadors. Chaussures, cravates, épées, muletas,etc. Surprenant. Je trouve ... read more

Our day in Ayamonte. We spent the morning trying to figure out how we would be able to get out of town the next day. We had reservations for a place in Portugal that we needed to get to on Saturday. So the first stop was the reception office for the condo we are staying at. We found out where to leave the keys in the morning (no small task with one person speaking Spanish and one person speaking English). Then she tried to help us with the bus schedule. Her information said that the bus did not stop in Ayamonte on Saturday, only Monday-Friday. Now what?!?! Next stop was to be the tourist office. They would be able to help us find a way out of town--IF they speak a little bit of English. Since ... read more

I hear this phrase all the time and I love it. To me, it basically epitomizes the Spanish culture. Translated into English, it means 'nothing happens", but that's not the meaning of it in Spanish. If you bump into someone and say "I'm so sorry!!!!", a Spaniard will respond with "no pasa nada." If you are late to class and are apologizing profusely, the professor will say "no pasa nada." If you stumble over your words and get embarrassed (side note: embarazada does not mean embarrassed, it means pregnant), or if you don't understand what the other person is saying: "no pasa nada." It basically means, "don't worry about it...you have nothing to be sorry/embarrassed/etc. about...nothing happened." The Spanish have that attitude about most things, which is why I love it. You have nothing to ... read more

We had a Puente last weekend, which means like a long weekend. Friday was "Dia del Trabajo" aka work day. So it was a National holiday and everyone had the day off. A teacher from Cecilia's school was going to Huelva because her fiance went to school there. So we got a ride with them Thursday evening after school. The ride was about 3 hours and of course it was all windy and crazy, so I wasn't feeling so hot. But we finally got to Punta Umbria, which is like a peninsula in Huelva. They drove us to our hotel, the Pato Amarillo (yellow duck), and then went to their hotel. Ours was decent, we had a very big balcony that looked over the pool/courtyard and out to the ocean. It was a great view. Friday ... read more