Camping Tarifa
We are camping in Tarifa tomorrow, Tarifa has much warmer night time temperatures than around the lakes at Malaga so decided last minute to switch locations.
The nice thing about camping in Tarifa is the large number of camping sites right along the coast there. Even if you have to travel a few km past Tarifa you will find campsites both beach and moutain side. We really had a good experience last year at Torre de la Pena 11, this is moutainside which meant we didn’t have excited kite surfers keeping us awake in the wee hours and the underpass was just a couple of minutes walk and took us straight to the beach. It was spotless inside the shower block and the supermarket/shop had all those bit and pieces that you would need.
Going with another family, time out that is much needed and I’m already a happy camper and I’m not even there yet…..children are SO excited too. Even if you think you would rather slit your wrists than spend a night in a tent, see how enthusiastic your children get over the idea and you won’t be able to stop yourself giving it a go. We have tried holidays in far flung places, city hols, long week-ends away here in Spain, but the holiday my children enjoy more than any other….is a night away in a tent!
A credit crunch holiday that makes everyone smile…..
Multiple orgasm
I’m not being rude, really I’m not…that’s what I had to ask for today at the Nars make-up counter for a new blusher I wanted to try.
It is called the multiple as it is oil free and good for the eyes, lips and cheeks and the colour is called orgasm. There were a few blushes as I asked for it and they were all make up free…..
Anyway, colour is really fab, it is the best selling blusher by Nars, and although I was previously a fan of Mac creme blushers, this check mates it. Colour lasts for ages and there is a slight shimmer which makes you look really healthy.
The price made me hiccup though…..order Nars blushers from the UK or the USA if you can, much cheaper than here in Spain.
Nars make-up counter can be found in the department store El Corte Ingles in Puerto Banus.
5 euros off international food in El Corte Ingles
Went to the hypercor at El Corte Ingles, Puerto Banus today to buy some summer clothes for my son…great value shorts and t-shirts for boys from 6-16 years. No queues, air conditioned, lovely.
After I had gone through the check out I was given a voucher for 5 euros off the International Food section, if I spend over 20 euros. This section is now quite large so if you can’t do without your UK food, can’t be bothered to drive to Fuengirola or Gibraltar and aren’t near Supersol….then may be worth a look.
We are off camping on Thursday and I have been trying to get the gas from all the local shops. Nada. My optimistic theory is that the Spanish wouldn’t think of going camping yet, but my husband’s theory is that actually they have sold out because all the Spanish are going camping at the same time at us. You can’t pre-book a pitch at the lakes at Malaga so I’ll let you know who was right.
Hayfever help
Over the last couple of weeks my daughter and friends have started to suffer symptoms of hayfever. If you need some hayfever help there are sprays and antihistimamines that you can buy.
For something a little more natural try this to help those itchy eyes. Soak two circular cotton wool pads in milk and close your eyes and leave them on the eyelids. It is very soothing.
At the first sign of the scratchy throat and runny nose reach for that old fashioned lozenger called a “zube.” I’ve never seen them in Spain but I buy them in the UK for around 25p a packet and you can also order them online. They really dampen down all my allergic symptoms and it means I rarely have to reach for any antihistamine.
Earth hour
Did you join in?
sfdfkIdo bog fif b fgfidfdf
You can tell that I did and I am, as the only electricity on is this pc, I can’t see the keyboard and typing is really very diccocuil.
Clocks go forward this week-end
Remember the clocks go forward one hour this week-end, March 28th 2010 at 1am. If you have problems remembering if they go back or forward, remember in Spring they Spring forward……..
Mayor of Marbella closes the Nasdaq
Last night the Mayor of Marbella rang the bell to signal the close of business for Nasdaq. Nobody has opened up to say how much the cost of the public relations trip has cost.
I’ve searched the news items in the UK and I can’t find anything. I scanned the New York times for news of the trip and her speech and again have drawn a blank.
How about spending some marketing money instead on a daily weather report for Marbella in the tabloid newspapers in the UK instead. Show people how great ( usually!) the weather here in Marbella is and then maybe more people will come over for holidays and for that permanent move. In my experience, people really don’t understand just how fantastic the winters are in Southern Spain and how you can’t but fail to appreciate those blue skies day after day after you have experienced, rain and fog and grey, day after day in the UK.
No, I’m not looking out of my window, I’m in denial………
Fat children, whose fault is it?
There is a lot of discussion in the papers about Jamie Oliver’s trip to the States and how the general feeling is that he is losing a battle trying to convert the folk there to eat healthily and change the eating patterns inside the educational system.
It got me thinking, fat children, whose fault is it?
People seem to mostly blame the food industry. David Letterman says that you can’t lose weight unless you get medication and that so long as there is high fat food and high carbs available in the supermarkets, we may as well all but give up on healthy eating.
I’m no genius but I know that a bag of crisps isn’t good for me. I know that fizzy drinks are full of empty calories. I also know that apart from the school lunch, what my children consume is mostly my responsiblity. They don’t go shopping, they eat what I give them and what I fill my cupboards with, so surely if they get fat, that isn’t the food industry’s fault, it is mine.
Children come in all shapes and sizes, we are largely a product of our genetic make up and some of us will have slower metabolic rates than others. My youngest puts on weight much faster than her siblings, she’s by no means a skinny lass but if I let her drink fizzy drinks, snack on crisps and chocolates and eat croissants each day she would be enormous. So we try to educate her, teach her that those foods she would love to eat all of the time, she can have just some of the time. One day she’ll leave home and her food choices will be hers but at least whilst she lives at home I can try to give her the healthiest body that I can, the least fat around her organs that I can, whilst still allowing those treats now and then. When the fat starts to creep up, we just increase the amount of exercise that we do. Walking, cycling, on the scooter, dancing on the kitchen floor, joining a tennis group and in the summer daily swimming.
So I know there will be people that disagree with me, but for now, I still feel that fat children are the responsiblity of their parents. Yes there are fast food chains, yes the supermarkets are innundated with biscuits, crisps and cakes of each and every flavour. However what we put in our trolley is our choice and it should be a choice that we as parents take seriously.
Sailing school
Head to sailing school at Elviria. Learn to handle sailing and boats with engines up to 6 metres long with a power of up to 54CV.
12 hours of tuition for 289 euros at the Don Carlos Hotel. From what I gather these courses are aimed at children but check as I may have got that wrong!
More information on (0034) 625710280
Scuba Diving lessons
Sorry, I keep going on about the Don Carlos hotel, but fair play to them, they have some really good sporting activities going on, great location, so they deserve the plug.
Scuba diving lessons of 15 hours for 399 euros. More information on 625710280.