# Exploring Spain



## andyjenks (Apr 26, 2009)

Hello Forum...I have enjoyed reading all the great info on this site for sometime now but this is my first post. I always dreamed of going abroad to live but got caught up in the daily grind. This could be my quarter life crisis but I think I will always regret it if I didn't try. I will not need to work right away...I just need to explore and find the town that I would like to call home next. Everything about Spain appeals to me...my question to you all is...are there any interesting towns outside of the major cities that I see on the map or special routes that you might take if you were roaming around Spain. Barcelona looked like the most expensive city when I compare housing prices. I'm sorry if my questions seem unorganized but I am so excited for the next chapter in my life and could ask you all questions all day. Thanks in advance for any info.


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## TaniaL (Apr 27, 2009)

Having just spent a short time in Barcelona I can highly recommend it to get an idea of Spanish life. Wonderful vibrant city. With their programs to encourage foreign students it is also very youthful city. This was my second visit to Spain and it is somewhere I will always want to go back to again and again. Good luck with your future adventures.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

You´l always wonder if you dont do it! I was the same and I´m so glad I´m here. However, work is something that is hard to come by, and thats an understatement, so providing you´re aware of that and have enough funds to see you through then go for it. As for areas?? Well a lot depends on what you want. Barçelona is expensive as is Marbella. Inbetween the two gets cheaper. If you go inland it gets cheaper still, but it also gets colder and a little less populated and modern maybe?

When we were planning our move, we needed to be near a good airport, we wanted to be near, but not on the coast and Ideally we wanted to be near Marbella. So we got "googlearth" and plotted a line from Malaga to Marbella and then came over and looked at some of the towns on that route, for various reasons we eventually "landed" on Alhaurin de la Torre, which fitted the bill for our needs. There were other towns/places nearby, but most of them had too many minuses for us

Jo


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

Cool hairdo Jojo - you look like a cross between Debbie Harry and one of the Thompson Twins - lol


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

SunnySpain said:


> Cool hairdo Jojo - you look like a cross between Debbie Harry and one of the Thompson Twins - lol



Thanks Dave... I think?? 

jo xxx


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## andyjenks (Apr 26, 2009)

jojo said:


> You´l always wonder if you dont do it! I was the same and I´m so glad I´m here. However, work is something that is hard to come by, and thats an understatement, so providing you´re aware of that and have enough funds to see you through then go for it. As for areas?? Well a lot depends on what you want. Barçelona is expensive as is Marbella. Inbetween the two gets cheaper. If you go inland it gets cheaper still, but it also gets colder and a little less populated and modern maybe?
> 
> When we were planning our move, we needed to be near a good airport, we wanted to be near, but not on the coast and Ideally we wanted to be near Marbella. So we got "googlearth" and plotted a line from Malaga to Marbella and then came over and looked at some of the towns on that route, for various reasons we eventually "landed" on Alhaurin de la Torre, which fitted the bill for our needs. There were other towns/places nearby, but most of them had too many minuses for us
> 
> Jo



thanks for the reply jojo...i looked at google maps and found the area that you are writing from...how long would it take for you to make a trip to barcelona...i would like to get an idea of travel time between some of the bigger cities...thanks again


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

andyjenks said:


> thanks for the reply jojo...i looked at google maps and found the area that you are writing from...how long would it take for you to make a trip to barcelona...i would like to get an idea of travel time between some of the bigger cities...thanks again


I would say about 5 - 6 hours???????? possibly more?? Its not close!

Jo xxx


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## Buenosdiaspet (Feb 13, 2009)

Spain is certainly a big country! And often distances and expected road travel times bear little relation, due to wide variation in terrain and road qualities. Google Earth is great for plotting such things out - but the one thing I found when planning trips using it, it obviously flattens the gradient which is confusing. So that amazingly cheap villa turns out to be on top of a precipice etc... But it's still an incredibly useful tool that enables you to make the most of your time actually in Spain searching,

BDP


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Málaga - BCN - 10 hours MINIMUM 

Mappy - Road Guide or Michelin group: Tires, car tire maker, guide michelin, michelin map and sustainable mobility will give distances. 

If I were only travelling and had say 3 months here are a list of towns I'd "do": 
Barcelona, Valencia, Altea/Benidorm, Alicante, Granada, Córdoba, Seville, Málaga, Salamanca, Toledo, Cuenca, Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña, San Sebastian, Bilbao and, of course, Madrid 

I can think of many others (without even mentiong the Canaries/Balearics) but this should give you an idea. 

Alsa has a great bus pass www.alsa.es whilst RENFE trains are excellent value if booked in advance.


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## andyjenks (Apr 26, 2009)

SteveHall said:


> Málaga - BCN - 10 hours MINIMUM
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Tallulah (Feb 16, 2009)

SteveHall said:


> If I were only travelling and had say 3 months here are a list of towns I'd "do":
> Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña,



Steve Hall "doing" Galicia. God help us.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

If you are clever I think you can do all these by train Renfe If not then www.alsa.es will definitely get you everywhere. 

Alsa has a great pass Kilométrico that gives unlimited travel for x weeks or months. Tremendous value and a great way to meet some "interesting" people. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together"
"I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Sra. Roca pies
And we walked off to look for Barcelona

"Paqui," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Madrid
"Marbella seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Murcia
I've gone to look for Barcelona

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the caras
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "Be careful his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

"Paqui, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the Málaga Turnpike
They've all gone to look for Barcelona
All gone to look for Barcelona
All gone to look for Barcelona


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

SteveHall said:


> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together"
> "I've got some real estate here in my bag"
> ...


OMG!!! I think I´m "All gone to look for Mercadona" LOL

Jo xxxxx


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

My_Name_is_Tallulah said:


> Steve Hall "doing" Galicia. God help us.


Gee but it's great to be back home
Home is where I want to be.
I've been on the road so long my friend,
And if you came along
I know you couldn't disagree.


It's the same old story
Everywhere I go,
I get slandered,
Libeled,
I hear words I never heard
In the Bible
And I'm on step ahead of the shoe shine
Two steps away from the county line
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied,
Satisfied.


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## Tallulah (Feb 16, 2009)

SteveHall said:


> Gee but it's great to be back home
> Home is where I want to be.
> I've been on the road so long my friend,
> And if you came along
> ...


Here...I've chucked a couple of euros in your hat. Now get yourself a shave and a bite to eat!!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Steve, you´re having a simon and garfunkel day arent you !!!

Jo xxxx


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

jojo said:


> Steve, you´re having a simon and garfunkel day arent you !!!
> 
> Jo xxxx


No, 

I'm just a poor boy 
though my story's seldom told 

I have squandered my 
resistance for a pocketful 
of mumbles 

such are promises: 
All lies and jest still a 
man hears what he wants 
to hear 
and disregards the rest 
mh -- mh. 

When I left my home and family 
I was no more than a boy 
in the company of strangers 
in the quiet of a railway station 

running scared. 
Laying low 
seeking out the poorer 
quarters where the ragged 
people go 
looking for the places 
only they would know. 

Lie-la-lie 
... 
[Más Letras en es.mp3lyrics.org/JTvB]

Asking only workman's wages I 
come looking for a job 

but I get no offers 

just a come-on from the whores 
on Seventh Avenue. 
I do declare 
there were times when I was so lonesome 
I took some comfort there 
oh la la 
la la 
la la. 

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes 
and wishing I was gone 
going home 
where the New York City 
winters aren't bleeding me 

leading me going home 
mh -- mh. 

In the clearing stands a 
boxer and a fighter by 
his trade 

and he carries the 
reminders of ev'ry glove 
that laid him down 
or cut him till he cried 
out in his anger an his 
shame: 
I am leaving, I am leaving! 
but the fighter still remains 
mh -- mh.


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