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199 Blog results found for 'Grumpy'
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 18th Jan 2015
Three things that don't mix, and certainly don't bode well for a future of problem-free vision : A foreign country of residence; less than 20/20 vision, and condition of Pathological laziness.
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 3rd Aug 2014
Close observers of the news in Spain will be aware that the country's first privately owned Airport launched in 2008.
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 21st Apr 2014
I know what you are thinking, and you are correct : Yes, usually I am a cheerful and happy-go-lucky chappy and usually let things ride over me, but this week I seem to have had my fill of things ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 8th Apr 2014
Most level headed individuals would not so much as consider asking a Vegetarian for advice on how to prepare the perfect barbeque, so why on earth would a [celebate] Catholic Priest assume the right to lecture the Spanish ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 19th Dec 2013
It is probably abundantly clear to even the terminally short of wit that I am not an accountant. Nor am I a tax expert, a professional gambler, or a mole working within the Spanish Central Government ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 8th Dec 2013
This past weekend I had the misfortune to be stuck in an airport lounge for a couple of hours en-route to a business meeting somewhere, with nothing but one of those God-forsaken glossy “Spanish Lifestyle” Magazines for ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 8th Nov 2013
Even the most basic of students of the English language will be familiar with the idiom "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime" ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 12th Oct 2013
Why in the name of Satan’s underpants does Spain need so many Politicians in order to make a mess of things, when half the amount could make the same mess, but at least with half the cost ? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 5th Oct 2013
Despite being a student of English Literature, I can still recall one of the best pieces of advice that I was ever given ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 16th Sep 2013
The sale of annual calendars to raise money for various charities is nothing new ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 29th Aug 2013
When I was ‘nobbut a nipper I used to love reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Parables and Aesop’s Fables and the like ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 22th Aug 2013
A couple of years back my Mother popped over to Spain for one of her regular visits / inspection trips ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 15th Aug 2013
The Tie-Dyed, Beard festooned activists at Greenpeace have done it again ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 8th Aug 2013
Ok, so my blog’s title is clearly lying, but now I have your attention why not read why I wouldn’t be too surprised if this may actually be headline news in the not too distant future.... ? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 28th Jul 2013
Let’s face it : The Spanish Government are selfish Bastards ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 6th Jul 2013
It might not come any great surprise, but I have never been spotted on the red carpet with Jean Paul Gaultier. Nor have I exchanged Christmas cards with Posh Spice, and I dare say that I am not in Gok Wan’s i-Phone ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 29th Jun 2013
“Exodus : Movement of Jah People” : Wise words indeed spoken by the great prophet, Sir Robert of Marley ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 17th Jun 2013
I think it was Sir Isaac Newton who famously concluded in his detailed study on the Spanish Toll-Road system, that two opposing forces meant that any private operator of the country’s highways were destined for ruin ... more
By The Equalizer - Wed 5th Jun 2013
A little over a week ago the The Instituto de Estudios Turisticos (National Institute of Tourism) reported how Expenditure by Foreign Visitors was up for the month of April ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 30th May 2013
Which sad, friendless nobody actually decided that the EU would be a good idea ? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 19th May 2013
A report in Saturday's edition of the Telegraph – titled ”
Costa Del Crime: Marbella is 'synonymous with villainy' “ has only exacerbated the largely unfounded stereotype that 50% of all Expat Brits are on the run from some ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 12th May 2013
“I was thirty, and before me stood a portentous and menacing new decade...” ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 5th May 2013
Since having a couple of ankle-biters, I get the opportunity to travel - for pleasure at least – about as often as a French Soldier sees front-line action ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 28th Apr 2013
There are few certainties in both the British and Spanish media ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 21st Apr 2013
This is a first for me.
After reading the news earlier today – specifically regarding the latest antics of Ryanair – I am fuming. ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 14th Apr 2013
My inability to converse freely and easily in Castilian – let alone Valenciano – can only be described as being legendary amongst the locals in my Valley.
At Best ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 3rd Apr 2013
I was looking over one of the Gazillions of expat forums there are on the net the other night ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 24th Mar 2013
There are few Guiris living in Spain who don't the Golden Rule : Don't talk about the Franco years ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 15th Mar 2013
Over the course of the last 6 months I have been fortunate / unfortunate enough to have travelled abroad on business, where I have had to pitch various projects to Engineers in Germany, Hungary, Greece, Ireland, Kuala Lumpur ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 6th Mar 2013
... No it probably Isn’t even a word, but I can’t be bothered to check my thesaurus ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 1st Mar 2013
And before anyone gets all defensive with me, note the ironic use of the speech marks ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 23rd Feb 2013
When I moved to Spain my reasons for doing so were very few, and very simple : ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 14th Feb 2013
Looking back, I think that the first time I ever became aware of the very existence of a country called Spain was during the Football World Cup of 1982 ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 7th Feb 2013
The line, as most film lovers will know, was spoken by Morpheus in "The Matrix" as he tried to make Neo understand that nothing was actually as it seemed.
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 31st Jan 2013
It is some years since I last worked in a predominantly Spanish office, and with native Spanish colleagues, however there are some things you never forget ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 15th Jan 2013
About 6 Months ago I drank too much wine one Friday night and ranted off a quick blog titled " Smoke, Lies and Bullshit ". Basically, in a moment of alcohol fuelled belligerence I was questioning why so many in public ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 7th Jan 2013
Over the course of the last 3 weeks somebody in Government, high up in their Ivory Tower and with their heads lodged firmly up their well-fed arses, has yet again taken the decision to continue with the infamous "Spanish ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 18th Dec 2012
Almost every user of almost every social network, it seems, loves a conspiracy theory ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 30th Nov 2012
I normally pride myself on having in excess of sub-normal intelligence, however this week I had one of those moments where you finally see a connection between two situations or circumstances. One of those things that is ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 13th Nov 2012
There are many things in life that I am pretty bad at, and quite possibly as many things again that I aspire to be at best average at ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 7th Nov 2012
What is going on in the world at the moment that has caused "Charities" to polarise into 2 totally different entities ? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 1st Nov 2012
Banking : I look back with dewey-eyed nostalgia to a time when communicating with my Bank of choice was so much easier than it is today ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 26th Oct 2012
I was overjoyed yesterday to find that my diet of crappy British TV had plummeted to new depths ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 18th Oct 2012
Ok, so there we have it - two of my blogging pet hates in just the one headline : A blog containing a "Top Ten" list and yet another blog about "blogging" ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 11th Oct 2012
As much as I enjoy Blogging and reading other blogs, there is one particular genre that really swings on my rope ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 5th Oct 2012
Let me explain, before any of my many detractors shoot me down in flames and remind me that I am spouting unfounded crap again :
The Spanish (in my opinion at least ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 30th Sep 2012
And no, this isn´t about to lead to the punch line of a joke ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 25th Sep 2012
If there was such as thing as a “Fantasy” league table for shitty weeks, this last one would be way up there ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 21st Sep 2012
After having spent a miserable week in some sterile and generic hotel in a quaint olde Englishe fishing village called Leicester (UK), on some painful training course, I have been reminded of a number of things that I had ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 16th Sep 2012
Following the end of this year's holiday season Spain's Dirección General de Tráfico - or DGT for short - got busy congratulating themselves that there had been "just" 262 fatalities on the country's roads in the months of ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 11th Sep 2012
When I was growing up, like most people of the non-ASBO generation, I was taught the importance of saying please and thankyou ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 26th Aug 2012
I’ve just realised that the 31st of August is Tumbit’s 3rd Birthday ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 10th Aug 2012
Over recent years we have become used to seeing our TV screens, magazines and newspapers - even advertising billboards - full of the grinning faces of the many victorious Spanish sportsmen ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 7th Aug 2012
News from Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) released over recent days has demonstrated two disturbing things ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 27th Jul 2012
When I were a nipper, growing up in a cardboard box underneath the railway bridge on the outskirts of town etc... there were many things that annoyed me intensely – more often than not “old” people (Which, as a seven year ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 19th Jul 2012
I’m sorry, but after a recent trip to a British supermarket, I am struggling to comprehend what, if anything, is so “Super” about them ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 12th Jul 2012
”The head is engaged”; “The final countdown”; “Friday the 13th”.... the potential cliche’s are too numerous to mention, and would quite possibly make a News of the World Journalist choke on his Woodbines ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 29th Jun 2012
Following this week's news I fully intend to get my application in early for my chosen vocation in my next life ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 20th Jun 2012
I consider myself a pretty normal / average kind of person, and on balance I’m guessing that there must be quite a few of us out there.... ( ? ) ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 13th Jun 2012
It is only after staying with my Mum in the UK for these past few weeks that I have realised just how difficult we as Expats have it when it comes to actually conversing with the native Spanish ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 24th May 2012
For reasons I won’t go into here, I had to fly to the UK a couple of weeks ago, and then fly back home to Spain barely 12 hours later ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 9th May 2012
Every Village throughout the world has it’s idiot, that is a fact that has been undisputed for generations ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 9th May 2012
Love them or hate them, it seems that everybody has an opinion about Facebook ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 3rd May 2012
I was looking back on my childhood the other week with dewey-eyed nostalgia, and was thinking how much old folk have changed over recent decades.
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 26th Apr 2012
Before anyone accuses me of prejudice or discrimination they should first of all understand that I have taken 4 flights to and from Spanish airports in the space of last two weeks. Likewise I have dropped off and collected ... more
By Jo Green - Sat 21st Apr 2012
Perhaps it is because there are so many similarities between the Spanish and British cultures, it is when there are slight differences that they are all the more obvious ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 19th Apr 2012
As somebody who has skilfully managed to avoid marriage for the whole of my adult life to date, I feel no shame, irony or hypocrisy in smugly doling out marital advice to others, who in most cases, never even ask me for my ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 12th Apr 2012
I have been involved in the thick of some pretty violent and frightening gang warfare taking place on my own doorstep over the course of these last few weeks ... more
By Jo Green - Mon 9th Apr 2012
It only seems two minutes since I was last 6 months pregnant, and here I am once again, 5 years down the line ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 6th Apr 2012
It is just over one year since Alicante's El Altet Airport celebrated the opening of its 20 Million Euro new terminal building, which I blogged about when catching one of the first commercial flights from the airport open to ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 29th Mar 2012
Way back before I moved to Spain, and when I was earning a half-decent salary and with little else to spend it on, I was the member of gym. The Gym was part of chain and was seemingly more popular with middle aged women who ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 22th Mar 2012
When Mrs Grumpy and I first moved to Spain 7 years back, little did we imagine that we would end up living with a hyperactive chainsaw ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 14th Mar 2012
Yes, I know – yet another stereotype and sweeping generalisation from Mr Grumpy... however, the paradox that is Spanish eating habits has been intriguing me for a while now ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 8th Mar 2012
Shameful as it is to admit, after living in Spain for almost 8 years I have never once made a trip to Valencia – the regional capital ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 1st Mar 2012
No, that's not a typo - I did mean Cat theft (with a " t ") ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 18th Feb 2012
I was stopped by the local Police last week and given a very stern telling off for walking my Dog, Lenny*, in the field behind my House whilst off the lead ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 16th Feb 2012
I am quite possibly the last person in the world, let alone Spain, to cast criticism over the way in which most Expats speak – especially when I am just as guilty of the said crime which drives me mad : ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 10th Feb 2012
At this precise moment in time I have two laptops : a 'Good one' and a 'Crap one' ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 2th Feb 2012
Today’s news states that this coming weekend is likely to be the coldest weather that Spain has seen in 7 years, and it started me thinking about the first disastrous winter that I spent as an expat in Spain.
We arrived ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 26th Jan 2012
The eternal Spanish Car-Parking question loomed large once again this week : Do I park ‘nose in’ and risk having my passenger and driver doors scraped by some obese shopper who doesn’t have enough space to squeeze into their ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 19th Jan 2012
The high number of 'Spanglish' relationships going on here in Spain has been intriguing me for a while ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 13th Jan 2012
I had this really great idea for a blog a few weeks back. All lofty high-brow stuff that would need loads of research and take ages to write and make me look really knowledgeable and stuff ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 6th Jan 2012
If there is one thing that fills me with dread, as it did when we lived in the UK, it is the yearly pilgrimage to spend a full day at a shopping-centre which shall not be named ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 1st Jan 2012
This we decided to spend that pointless and depressing period between Christmas day and New year’s day in the UK. The week where there are no schools, hardly anyone works and very little gets done ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 26th Dec 2011
If there is one thing that is guaranteed to start me feeling nostalgic at Christmas it’s the music ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 23rd Dec 2011
Last year I blogged about the Horrors of Attending Expat Christmas ‘Fayres’ and, after 12 months of reflection, I have to admit that I stand by every word ... more
By Jo Green - Fri 23rd Dec 2011
Thursday was the last day of school before the Christmas break for my daughter ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 16th Dec 2011
There are few things guaranteed to scramble your sanity and make you lose all sense of rational reasoning quite as much as being trapped in a vehicle with four year old whilst on a lengthy car journey ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 9th Dec 2011
Any expat who has lived in Spain for more than a few months has more often than not already got their head around the whole 'two surnames' thing. In short, that the first surname comes from the father, the second from the ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 2th Dec 2011
After living here in Spain for as long as I have, the things that I miss about living in the UK get fewer and fewer. Infact, there are no material possessions or consumables that I can think of that I simply can't live ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 25th Nov 2011
Expecting a Spaniard to be sentimental towards animals is like expecting a German to have a sense of humour ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 18th Nov 2011
If there was one thing that would set aside a Brit from a Spaniard more than anything else it would probably be their attitude to queuing ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 11th Nov 2011
A quintessential Spanish tradition in our valley is the weekly Rastro ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 4th Nov 2011
I started to write a blog this morning but stopped dead in my tracks when I realised that today's blog would be number 100 ! ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 27th Oct 2011
I live in the campo, about equally distant from a small village of about 500 residents, and a larger village of about 2000 residents.
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 20th Oct 2011
I was on my way to my Spanish language class the other night. The course, which is kindly funded by my local Ayuntamiento for the benefit of foreign residents, is held in the local village school, and as I live in the campo ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 14th Oct 2011
Living in Spain inevitably means that a lot of time is spent outside - especially during the summer months, and as such watching any TV at, let alone British TV, is a rarity ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 6th Oct 2011
I badly needed to renew some UK documentation, and so with my parents coming over for a few days last week, I decided to seize the moment and do it there and then, giving me the opportunity to send the information back with ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 29th Sep 2011
Now is not the time or place for me to bore you with all the details of how I came to end up in Spain (although if you really must know you can read the whole sorry episode by clicking HERE). However, it seems a good enough ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 22th Sep 2011
In fact, moments of panic happen for me so infrequently that I can probably categorise the three different circumstances that they would ever usually happen under for ease of reference : ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 16th Sep 2011
I was going to call this Blog entry "White Lines : Don't do it", but wasn't too sure if anyone would get the 1980's music reference ? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 8th Sep 2011
I am not, never have been, never claimed to have been and never will be an expert on business marketing. But I do like to think that I have a reasonable amount of common sense and business experience to know when something ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 1st Sep 2011
Why is it that all the D-List celebrity, perma-tanned orange chavs from the UK decide to grace us expats in Spain with their presence whenever they go abroad for one of their many holidays ? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 25th Aug 2011
I was watching Karl Pilkington on SKY TV's 'An Idiot Abroad' last night, which is based around the subject of the seven wonders of the modern world. The programme discussed what the best attractions in world were considered ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 19th Aug 2011
As much as I love living in Spain and the Spanish, it winds me up that not one of them could organise a prayer in a Mosque.
And this observation of mine was demonstrated with staggering (in)efficiency at the yearly ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 31st Jul 2011
Let's get one thing straight : In Spain ham (And any other Pig by-product) is NOT meat ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 25th Jul 2011
The Spanish Postal Service, or 'Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos' to give it it's full name (although everybody just calls it 'Correos') is massive. It has offered an (almost) daily service across the whole of ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 15th Jul 2011
One of my most favourite things about life here in Spain is the total lack of, and complete disdain of 'Political Correctness' ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 8th Jul 2011
I usually try and make it a personal rule never to read, let alone buy any 'Expat Book' that promises that it is full of 'many amusing anecdotes' or that it is 'highly informative'.
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 1st Jul 2011
I was reading in El Pais the other day that the 'Nariz Oro' award for Spain's top sommelier had been awarded to a Woman for the third consecutive year, and I have to admit that the news staggered me ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 24th Jun 2011
The Ayatolla and I have been quite fortunate in our move to Spain, in that the vast majority of our visitors have always been thoughtful and respectful and have never really taken advantage of the 'free holiday' in any way ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 17th Jun 2011
If there is one lesson I have learned from my many years living here in Spain it would be this : Under no circumstances stare, and instead act with total passivity and nonchalance in the presence of the 'Spanish Mullet' ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 10th Jun 2011
The teenagers, otherwise known as 'da massiv' in my village are an odd bunch. Like many teeneagers in the UK, they seem to wish to completely turn their backs on their own culture and instead make a ham-fisted attempt at ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 27th May 2011
I was reading somewhere the other day that birth rate in Spain was appalingly low when compared to other European countries ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 19th May 2011
Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few weeks, nobody can fail to be aware of the fact that this coming weekend is election weekend ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 14th May 2011
The last time I was back in the UK and staying at my parents for a week, I was surprised to hear one day that my Mother had planned to visit a '1940's weekend' in one of the villages closeby ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 6th May 2011
Where I was born and bred, if I had gone into a pub and asked for a Schooner of sweet sherry, I would have been lucky to have escaped the establishment without having received a sound thrashing ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 29th Apr 2011
The whole of my daughter's life has, to date, been Spanish. Spain for her is 'the norm'. Most of her friends, schoolmates and teachers are Spanish and she talks and sings to herself in Valenciano - she speaks English as ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 22th Apr 2011
I think I mentioned in a previous blog about the misery of gardening in Spain
- I hate every second of it, and having a 2000 sq mt plot of knee-high weeds and trees, means that whenever it is either A) Rainy or B) Sunny, ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 15th Apr 2011
... or at least as far as the British media would have you believe ?
... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 8th Apr 2011
I know of many people back in the UK who are friends of the sitcom ‘Benidorm’, and, in my experience, many of them seem to be split into two distinct camps : ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 1st Apr 2011
There is no use denying it, every expat who has ever lived in Spain has done it ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 24th Mar 2011
Along with other specially invited dignitaries and respected members of the press, I arrived at Alicante’s El Altet airport to see the new airport terminal for myself, and also to take a commemorative flight back to the UK ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 18th Mar 2011
If you are waiting for the punch line you're going to be disappointed ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 11th Mar 2011
1.) Shop in LIDL - Why does shopping at the likes of Aldi, LIDL or Netto have such a social stigma attached to it in the UK ? People seem ashamed to admit that they shop there. To be fair, in the UK there are other ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 4th Mar 2011
Further to one of my previous blogs alienating me against quite a large demographic of those living on the Costas (click here to read my thoughts on Golf in Spain), I have decided that I am quite missing the hate mail, and ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 25th Feb 2011
The other week I offered to help a Spanish friend out who had managed to pick up a bit of work translating a menu at a local Spanish restaurant. She was fluent in English, but just needed a bit of help of anglicising the ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 18th Feb 2011
Growing up on a farm in the People’s Republic of Yorkshire back in the ‘80’s, my education to food was somewhat retarded ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 11th Feb 2011
If I pick up another expat newspaper or magazine, or log onto another expat website here in Spain and see yet another 'discount card' on offer I refuse to be held responsible for my actions ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 4th Feb 2011
I want to propose a study to further my theory that most of the Spanish hibernate for the winter ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 28th Jan 2011
I'm an Englishman. And one that likes his own personal space at that, so it is usually only begrudgingly when I kiss a Spaniard on both cheeks whenever I meet them (the Spanish ladies that it - and ones that I know too. I'm ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 21st Jan 2011
Following on from my problems in attempting to spend some of my hard earned cash a couple of months ago (click to read "Everything but the bathroom sink"), my well-intentioned attempts to single-handedly rescue the ailing ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 14th Jan 2011
Every blue-kneed brit taking their yearly pilgrimage to sample the delights of one of Spain's chosen tourist resorts knows that the word for 'Beer' is 'Cerveza'. What they may not know is that there are dozens of ways in ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 7th Jan 2011
Please click here to read Part 1 of 'My Merry, Festive, Yuletide Expat Diary ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 28th Dec 2010
For the sixth year running we decided to spend Christmas at home in Spain. I'm not Christmassy at the best of times, but traveling back to the UK to spend Christmas fills me with terror, and after seeing the recent problems ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 23rd Dec 2010
Sometimes it gives me the Thrup'ny bits when I'm speaking to friends and family back in the UK and they express complete and utter surprise when I tell them that the weather over here in Spain is anything other than ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 17th Dec 2010
I hate gardening with a passion. I did when I lived in the UK, and I especially do now that I live in Spain ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 10th Dec 2010
Now that the Mrs & I have served our probation here in Spain, it finally seems that we have sloughed off our 'Guiri status' (or at least as much as an expat ever can) and have started to make inroads in being accepted into ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 3rd Dec 2010
To say that I didn’t really enjoy Christmas would be an understatement – or at least I didn’t before I became a parent. Back in the days before we relocated to Spain and spawned our offspring I would tut whenever the Mrs ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 28th Nov 2010
Like most people, when I first moved to Spain to live, I continued to live and behave as a tourist for a while, and it wasn't until I started work and had been living here for a good few months that I started to feel that I ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 19th Nov 2010
I have lived in the same village for the last 6 and a bit years – a very small, inland village with just (Officially at least) 952 Inhabitants and just under 500 (legally recognised) homes ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 12th Nov 2010
I was chatting with friends a couple of weeks ago and one topic of conversation came up that seemed to keep us talking throughout the evening. If you could send yourself a letter from the future, back to the weeks before you ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 5th Nov 2010
Before I go any further I should perhaps point out that I am not what you may call a ‘Tecchie’. I am confident that I can master my DVD player, I can even send text messages (not bad for a 37 year old), and admittedly I ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 29th Oct 2010
I have always been puzzled by the number of different security forces / armies / police forces / whatever... in Spain ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 14th Oct 2010
Perhaps the differences between Spanish and British culture are more apparent in a Bar or Coffee shop than in any other situation and anywhere else in the world ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 6th Oct 2010
I think that it was Bob Hope who said that 'A game of Golf spoils a good walk'. I know I'm paraphrasing, and to be honest with you I can't really be bothered to spend literally seconds browsing Google to confirm whether I'm ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 24th Sep 2010
Do you see what I did there ? - I took the name of a popular cookery reality TV programme and cleverly used a play on words - with recourse to a pun - to make it into the title of my recent blog ?..... No...? ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 18th Sep 2010
If there is one thing that life has taught me it’s this - to be grateful for my calm and patient demeanour and my sunny disposition ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 27th Aug 2010
I have never been a ‘techno geek’ – I just don’t have the understanding, the patience or the intelligence to deal with it. I had never even touched a computer until I was 28 Years old (8 years ago!) and was taught Latin at ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 23rd Aug 2010
The glut of sickly-sweet travel brochures and holiday programmes always seem to want to show the centrepiece of many a Spanish fiesta as being the giant communal paella, lovingly cooked by a team of smiling cooks adorned in ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 16th Aug 2010
Our local fiestas take place over the first two weeks of August every year. Always the same – this has been the case over at least the last 30 years – maybe even more. I suppose what I am getting at is this – that they don’t ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 8th Aug 2010
There seem to be hundreds of well-meaning travel websites and holiday guides out there who paint a rosy picture of the idyllic Spanish fiesta, but in all my years in Spain I have never once come across this stereotype – if ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 30th Jul 2010
Ok, if you have read at least one or two of my previous blogs you will be well aware that I am a terminal victim in the advanced stages of stereotype-itis and that I love to generalise. I can't help it, and to be honest I'm ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 22th Jul 2010
After almost 6 years in Spain, I have made no formal attempt to learn the language. I say ‘formal’ because I had studied a language ( German ) in the past and knew that I had a pretty good memory, and started of being pretty ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 16th Jul 2010
Much has already been written about the eating habits of the Spanish - significantly how they can make a quick snack seemingly last all afternoon, how they will go out to eat for dinner when most of us brits are tucked up in ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 7th Jul 2010
A couple of months back the Mrs and I made one of our few pilgrimages back to the UK to take our daughter to see the grandparents. Naturally, we took advantage of having the babysitting service to hand and had a rare night ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 24th Jun 2010
I don't consider myself a massive football fan, but I do like to jump on the bandwagon for games that actually 'mean something' like Cup finals, European games and of course, the world cup ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 14th Jun 2010
If you scour the various on-line forums, or read the countless free expat newspapers over here in Spain - even listen in on the hundreds of conversations going on in the bars up and down the Costa's and inland, sooner or ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 4th Jun 2010
I never thought that hiring a car could be so stressful or so complicated ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 24th May 2010
Click here to read How NOT to buy a house and move to Spain – Part 1 ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 13th May 2010
Like many expats, I still take an interest in UK Politics – especially with regards to a change of government or key politicians, as these matters inevitably have an effect on things like the currency exchange rate, or my ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 29th Apr 2010
There is no subject or procedure that I could ever stand up and claim to be experienced or an expert in. That said, there are countless subjects and procedures that I am fully experienced and proficient in how not to do. It ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 8th Apr 2010
Barely a week seems to go by without the British press (or Spanish for matter) reporting some case of corruption amongst public figures. For the British in particular, Spanish corruption is something of a stereotype – but is ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 18th Mar 2010
You would have thought that in this day and age, that choosing, buying and keeping a mobile phone would be pretty straightforward – anywhere in the world ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 5th Mar 2010
Shopping of any description (or at least as the non-Spanish would understand it) is always difficult in Spain. As with so many aspects of the lifestyle here, on the surface it can often seem idyllic, but when you look below ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 24th Feb 2010
Anybody who has read 2 of my earlier blogs on the subject of Ryanair will know the extent of my hatred of the airline and the standards of so-called ‘customer care’ that they offer ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 14th Feb 2010
Over the past few months I have blogging about just a few of the many and diverse languages spoken within Spain – ranging from the widely spoken “Co-official languages” to the lesser spoken and “protected” languages. Some, ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 31st Jan 2010
The Region of Castile y Leon is the largest of the Spanish Autonomous Regions (with a population of 2.5 million) and, as it's name suggests it is also home to the Offical language of Spain - Castilian ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 15th Jan 2010
After writing a number of blogs on Spanish Regional Languages, I realised that I hadn’t actually paid any attention to the largest Region of Spain – Andalusia ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 7th Jan 2010
After researching some of the better known and more widely understood Spanish regional languages, such as Catalan and Valenciano, my intrigue was piqued by reading about some of the quirkier ones like Basque. I decided to ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 24th Dec 2009
I was chatting with friends in the local bar the other week when we were joined by one of the Village elders. A Nice old guy, very chatty in his broad dialect and always curious to get to know more about us “Guiris” , so he ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 15th Dec 2009
Having just spent the last weekend in Barcelona made me realise exactly how much regional languages play an important part of everyday life in Spain. In my neck of the woods, Valencian is obviously spoken and understood, but ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 26th Nov 2009
Further to my recent Blog on Spanish Regional Languages, my ignorance prompted me to take a closer look and find out about the history, background and meaning behind some of the major regional languages spoken in Spain. The ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 17th Nov 2009
If there is one thing in life guaranteed to make me laugh more than watching a fat woman chasing a parasol down a beach on a windy day – it's driving on Spanish roads. Or, more to the point, watching how other road users ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 15th Nov 2009
In writing my recent blog "Spanish Regional Languages – For or Against ?" I realised that I was completely ignorant of most of the languages of Spain, and like most of the English I simply stuck my head in the sand whenever ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 2th Nov 2009
Speaking as little Castellano as I do, it should probably come as no surprise to anybody that regional languages frustrate me. It seems to me to sometimes be a conspiracy between the native Spanish to raise the bar to ensure ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Mon 26th Oct 2009
I don’t expect a bowing and scraping sycophant to serve me whenever I enter a shop or some other business in order to part with my hard earned cash - nor do I expect gushing gratitude from the owner of the business, or his ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Wed 14th Oct 2009
I have always considered myself to be fluent in the language. Unfortunately I (and those that I converse with) are a little unsure of which language it is that I am supposed to be fluent in ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 3rd Oct 2009
It seems that flying economy now means that you waive all rights to be treated with courtesy and to expect a decent standard of cutomer service. Nor should you expect that you should be able to take any luggage or even sit ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Fri 11th Sep 2009
I already held a currency exchange account with a different broker, but for whatever reason, I had taken the decision to place my business with a broker who had a better understanding of my circumstances. My old account with ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 30th Aug 2009
A couple of years back, in my wilder and more Niave days, I sufferred a completely avoidable nightmare when undertaking a currency exchange ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 20th Aug 2009
In nearly every line of business throughout the world there is a high standard of regulation to prevent mis-representation and false advertising. Why is it, I wonder, that the airline Industry (With one particular Irish ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sat 8th Aug 2009
Anybody who has been living in Spain for more than a few weeks will know that Telefonica is a dirty word. Even my Spanish friends know that they are a fantastic example of how not to run a company and how to alienate your ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 6th Aug 2009
Ask any of the armchair experts propping up the bars around Spain for their advice on anything concerning British TV and how to get it, and I'll bet you will be bombarded with a multitude of varying Information. The problem ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Sun 2th Aug 2009
Anybody over the age of 25 will doubtlessly be able to look back at their childhood with dewey eyed nostalgia - to a time when a ball and a cardboard box held more interest than a game boy.
Growing up in the 70's, a game ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 23rd Jul 2009
George Orwell famously wrote “ Every man is equal - but some are more equal than others… “ in his book Animal Farm. Scholars say that this quote, and indeed the book as a whole, is an allegory referring to Communism. At ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Thu 16th Jul 2009
If I had the energy and inclination to look up on Google who it was that first quoted the phrase " Only two things in life are certain - Death and Taxes..." then I would do so, but unfortunately I have just returned from my ... more
By Mr Grumpy - Tue 7th Jul 2009
It is pretty well documented throughout the world by now, that the majority of developed Nations are in the middle of a downturn in the economy. Governments and other enterprises are having to evolve and adapt in order to ... more