Spanish housing market: a good time to buy in Andalusia? http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2008/10/spanis... As I am looking to buy a house in the Andalusian Alpujarras I'm curious how the global economical crisis is affecting the real estate prices in this neck of the woods.
Type "Spanish housing market" into any old search engine and you'll get millions of results. Google gives you over 11.100.000 results, Yahoo! yields a whopping 22.100.000. Apparently, I'm not the only one who's curious.
So I figured I'd ask someone in the know and who better than real estate agent Mike Harbourne, though, as he stated himself, "Never trust a real estate agent!"
Finding a shoemaker in La Alpujarra http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2008/12/findin... As these things always happen, all my shoes broke down at the same time. First I shuffled along on my broken walking boots, with the soles flapping around my ankles. After nearly sliding down a ravine (well, down a slightly steep hill with a lot of trees) I decided enough was enough: either I'd have to get my old boots fixed somehow or I'd have to find some new ones.
Liz's Real EaZy Cable Scarf for Cosy Winter Afternoons http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2008/12/lizs-r... Christmas may be behind us but winter's not over by a long shot out here in the mountains! Which means nice cosy afternoons by the fire and I was looking for a nice pattern for a scarf I wanted to knit for my mum. Something with cables, but also something I could knit without too many markers and difficult twists&turns. Or light for that matter, because we run on solar energy here way up in La Alpujarra and when there's no sun, like today, there's not a lot of energy either!
After scouring the web, i found lots and lots of lovely patterns I hope to try, one day, but I couldn't find a nice 'n easy cable scarf. So here's my own: Liz's EAZY Cable Scarf for Cosy Winter Afternoons by the Fire.
Living with Solar Energy http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2008/12/living... For two weeks now we've lived solely on solar energy. It feels great, because we're so eco-friendly, not harming anyone, etc. However, there are some down sides to solar energy. A lot of appliances are simply Verboten. No toasters, no hairdryers, no electric heaters. They take up so much energy that they suck it all up and leave you stranded in the dark.
Also, when there's no sun, you're stuck. We've had two rainy days and then our energy was totally depleted. So there we were, sitting around with candles and the no-energy-alarm going off for two days. (it's two little beeps. All the time. If you stop and listen they'll drive you insane.)
Restaurant La Almazara Orgiva http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2009/01/restau... In the middle of Orgiva is a garden filled with orange trees. When the weather's fine you can sit under a tree and enjoy a beer (beerfans: they serve Erdinger Weissbier!) and some of the finest pizza in La Alpujarra.
Of late, the weather gods have not been kind to me in La Alpujarra: today the mountains were so foggy I could barely see three meters in front of me. Which made driving tricky. And it was raining. Now I know folks out here are overjoyed when it rains, but I'm not Alpujarrena enough (by a long shot) to be happy when it drizzles. Yes, I know, the trees, the land needs water, yadayada, but I'd rather see sunny blue skies and sit outside basking in the sun.
Hotel Morisca Granada - Yay! (if you can find it幡) http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2009/01/hotel-... What a difference a hotel makes! After our previous stay in Granada we didn't get what al the fuss was about. A rather drab, grubby and depressing city where all the houses appear to be for sale and most businesses seemed to be cosing down. Not somewhere we'd go again in a hurry. Then again, it is rather convenient, at a distance of exactly an hour from our doorstep and there are Rebajas at El Corte Ingles幡.
La Ventana Piedra - Trevelez http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2009/01/la-ven... I won! Finally, I ordered better food than my husband! Even in January, Trevelez s teemng wth buses, filled with elderly Spaniards, touring La Alpujarra and terrbly interested in ham. La Ventana Piedra is a relatively cute place, not too big, lots of wood and a lovely view of the valley and the river. The food is very cheap and great value for money. I had the sopa de ajo tostado, which I loved, and my husband envied, and then the lamb chops and Crema Catalana for desert. Which was about as homemade as McDonald's apple pie, but really nice nonetheless. Hubby had the ensalada mita for starters, which was a bit of a disaster, with kiwi (but why?) and canned beet (YIKES!) . Don't go there. We watched someone being served the tropical salad, which looked like something you wear on a hat. But shouldn't. With pineapple and grapes. Blegh.
Long term rental in Andalusia: 5 doﾃつｴs and donﾃつｴts http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2009/05/long-t... Weﾃつｴve been living in different longterm rentals for the past few years and weﾃつｴve picked up a few useful tidbits. Everything you need to find the perfect place to rent long term!
1) Donﾃつｴt rent anything that is connected to or really close to the ownerﾃつｴs own dwelling. Even if they are the nicest people on the planet, there are bound to be things that will strain your relationship. A barking dog, domestic rows, misubnderstandings: weﾃつｴve had it all. In one of the houses we rented, the owner would go off on weekends and leave behind her dog, which would howl its way throught the night. When I brought it up she merely smiled. I guess there wasnﾃつｴt much she could do about it, but it was very annoying nonetheless. Somehow it would have been easier if the dog had belonged to someone else, someone we werenﾃつｴt paying quite a bit of money to.
2) Check, check and check again what is included in your rental price. First place we rented was lovely, but none of the utilities were included, so we had to find a truckload of wood to help us throught the winter and pay extra for gas, and water, etc.
Long term rental in Andalusia: 5 doﾃつｴs and donﾃつｴts http://www.movingtoandalusia.com/2009/05/long-t... Weﾃつｴve been living in different longterm rentals for the past few years and weﾃつｴve picked up a few useful tidbits. Everything you need to find the perfect place to rent long term!
1) Donﾃつｴt rent anything that is connected to or really close to the ownerﾃつｴs own dwelling. Even if they are the nicest people on the planet, there are bound to be things that will strain your relationship. A barking dog, domestic rows, misubnderstandings: weﾃつｴve had it all. In one of the houses we rented, the owner would go off on weekends and leave behind her dog, which would howl its way throught the night. When I brought it up she merely smiled. I guess there wasnﾃつｴt much she could do about it, but it was very annoying nonetheless. Somehow it would have been easier if the dog had belonged to someone else, someone we werenﾃつｴt paying quite a bit of money to.
2) Check, check and check again what is included in your rental price. First place we rented was lovely, but none of the utilities were included, so we had to find a truckload of wood to help us throught the winter and pay extra for gas, and water, etc.
