It isn't often that the ideas in a book have the power to change the way you think about the world, but for me this book did just that. I found myself looking at long held beliefs with a very critical eye when I had finished reading this short (182 pages), succinct and very readable book.

I think that some Hablemos Groups are more successful than others. Fortunately our Group, Number 12, is one of the successful ones and, during recent weeks we have acquired a few Members from another Group.

I am so often aware that when I hear people talking about England or the English they really mean Britain, and the people who hail from the United Kingdom. In fact England is only one country in a union of four former Kingdoms, each with their own proud traditions and languages. Over many centuries the language and culture of one of them, England, has become dominant but that does not mean that the languages and the historical pride of Ireland, Scotland and Wales have disappeard

It started off as Trish's 60^th birthday celebration to fulfill a long held ambition, to abseil in the Barranco del Infierno. It did not take much encouragement for four friends to join her, and so we booked a guided expedition with Tururac. None of us had been abseiling before, and we did not know what to expect. Neither did Tururac in taking us, though they did not seem concerned that we were all aged 60 or over, and the eldest, Sheila, was 72 years old.

Kong je Fat Choy! – Congratulations and Be Prosperous!

February 7th 2008 marked the start of the lunar year, and the Chinese Year of the Rat.

The Rat year is the first of the 12-year cycle in the Chinese zodiac and represents new beginnings. Each year in the cycle is symbolised by a different animal. In the same way that a zodiac sign in the western horoscope is supposed to say something about your future and your character, so the Chinese animal year you were born in gives you certain characteristics.

When a plastic bag enters the ocean it becomes a harmful piece of litter. Many marine animals mistake plastic bags for food and swallow them, with painful and often fatal consequences.

Trying to obtain, or indeed renew your residencia in Denia has become an almost impossible task. Because of long queues outside the Police Documentation Office the authorities decided to introduce an appointment system. Here is how it works (as of November 1^st 2008).

Poor capitalism! It is blamed for every ill and injustice in the world, and the leading capitalist nation, the United States of America, is hated by nations and reviled by individuals (many of whom should know better), throughout the world.

In July, I entertained XAD readers with a description of the circus known as “primary elections” in the U.S. This month, I’m back to further confuse you with an explanation of how we count the votes in our presidential elections. The system is not quite as crazy as it sounds. It was designed with great care by our Founding Fathers when they wrote our Constitution. Unfortunately, after 220 years, the “Law of Unintended Consequences” is taking its toll. The Electoral College system is now widely criticized as anachronistic and unfair.

It has always struck me as curious that the chosen hot beverage of most of Europe is coffee, while that of the UK is tea. We drink around 165 million cups of tea per day (and that does not include the millions of Brits who live overseas). Tea is drunk any time of day, sometimes all day. There is a 1920's song which goes:

Guy (or Guido) Fawkes was a real person of Italian origin who was born in England in the year 1570 during a very unsettled period in English history. As almost everyone knows, Henry VIII of England (1509- 1547) married 6 times, and when he wanted to divorce his first queen, Catherine of Aragon, he broke with the catholic church and as a consequence of this event, the country gradually converted to Protestantism.

The geography of the Aegean Sea creates ideal conditions for yachting. The coastline is rugged and deeply indented with numerous bays and coves. The sea is dotted with islands of all sizes which are only one or two hours’ sailing time apart and are also blessed with sheltered anchorages. Thus there are many different places for visiting yachtsmen to drop anchor and go ashore.

About 1800 years ago, when Denia was called Dianium and Bodrum (Turkey) was called Halicarnassus, a traveller from the Marina Alta to the Turkish Carian Coast might have travelled by sea. He would have taken passage on any of the many vessels which plied the Roman Empire’s Mediterranean trade routes. The ships would have stayed close to shore because in those days sailors had to see the land to know where they were.

There are three well-known English legends which have been popularised by film and television: Saint George and the Dragon; King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Robin Hood and his Merry men.