# Living in Spain



## Liana12433 (Jul 1, 2015)

Hi,
I have been in Spain over 6 weeks now and thus far have had no problems whatso ever.
I live South of Burgos in the Castille de Lyon region. The company that I work for have been fantastic as have the employees.
I got my residencia nd my health card without any problems.
I am taking my driving test here as my licence is not valid here my UK one has been lost and is an old one and have bot lived there for over 10 years, In went to Madrid for this had an 20 hour intensive theory course and a booklet and an on line theory test with the 30 questions and there are about 900 questions which rotate around, thus far need to keep practising. Hopefully sit this in October back in Madrid.
The local shops have great food and so fresh. 
My wife joins me with the kids in December looking forward to that.
I have seen or heard any negativity seen lots of drinking here but no violence or aggresion and the kids are generally very polite. 
Yes Aranda de Duero is a small town but a very pleasant place to live.
I have raised some of these points as I have seen them brought up on various threads.
I saw a Brit in the supermarket but think generally there are not too many foreigners around here.
They have a unique type of lamb here only local here and it is a young one which is extremely delicious but looking forward to branching out onto some of the wonderful sea foods at the Simply supermarket.
Would love to wander around a small local market but there seems to be none here.
My two penny worth.


----------



## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Aranda! Wow! My husband's grandmother is from the region. They have some good food and excellent wine there in town. Have you tried sopa castellana yet? I really like it. 

I wish I could remember the name of the bar I like that has really good pinchos. It's got a stairway down into their bodega which patrons of the bar are free to visit. 

If you're looking to try seafood, Aranda should be fine. However, if you've got two days off and you're keen on taking a trip, head up north to the Basque or Cantabrian coast. Sure, the toll road is wicked expensive but you can easily avoid it (for example, Aranda to Santoña: https://www.google.es/maps/dir/Aran...df5!2m2!1d-3.4561456!2d43.4448965!2m1!2b1!3e0). My husband and I take this route when we're headed to "el pueblo". 

I'm glad to hear things are going well for you in Aranda! I couldn't live there - it's too dry for me - but I must admit it's a nice little city.


----------



## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

If the missus likes spas, be sure to check out the Hotel Burgo de Osma: Castilla Termal Burgo de Osma 4*. - Castilla Termal Hoteles Their circuito de contrastes is gorgeous! (Circuito de Contrastes San Baudelio - Circuito de Contrastes - Balnearios - Castilla Termal Hoteles) 

Even if you don't go to the spa, Burgo de Osma is worth a visit in my opinion.


----------



## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Cañon del rio lobos is worth a visit, we stayed somewhere near there about 10 years ago. Maybe El Burgo de Osma, remember having a good meal at an asador with a huge open fire, but can't remember the details.

Oh and it gets pretty cold in winter there.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Liana12433 said:


> Would love to wander around a *small local market* but there seems to be none here.
> My two penny worth.


try here:
Mercadillo de Aranda de Duero


----------



## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

*Licence*



Liana12433 said:


> Hi,
> I have been in Spain over 6 weeks now and thus far have had no problems whatso ever.
> I live South of Burgos in the Castille de Lyon region. The company that I work for have been fantastic as have the employees.
> I got my residencia nd my health card without any problems.
> ...


I enjoyed your thread and my two penny worth is that I too am doing the driving test and frankly 'drives' me bonkers. My licence is from Mexico where I drove for over twenty five years without an accident, but has no validity here. Most other Latin countries' licence is fine, but mine, no.
I started the course in mid June and still wearily ploughing through it. It is a really sneaky exam which reminds me of reading comprehensions during my schooldays. Also it lumps motor bikes and cars together as if the two went hand in hand and I am supposed to learn all the different speed limits and when can one use the arcen and when one can't and my reaction to one kind of drug and to yet another, or how much alcohol is the max for a truck driver or for un turismo. It was written by a pedant.
Good luck with the exam.


----------



## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Justina said:


> I enjoyed your thread and my two penny worth is that I too am doing the driving test and frankly 'drives' me bonkers. My licence is from Mexico where I drove for over twenty five years without an accident, but has no validity here. Most other Latin countries' licence is fine, but mine, no.
> I started the course in mid June and still wearily ploughing through it. It is a really sneaky exam which reminds me of reading comprehensions during my schooldays. Also it lumps motor bikes and cars together as if the two went hand in hand and I am supposed to learn all the different speed limits and when can one use the arcen and when one can't and my reaction to one kind of drug and to yet another, or how much alcohol is the max for a truck driver or for un turismo. It was written by a pedant.
> Good luck with the exam.


Ahhhahahahahaha, and then there are the pictures that go with the questions. 
I failed my first time because of an "escape libre." The picture was a motorcycle with a "bubble" around it. I had no idea what an escape libre was so I picked the answer that had to do with safety. For all I knew, it was some kind of restraint which you could easily get free from in case of emergency.

An escape libre is a perforated exhaust pipe. Don't forget that.


----------



## Liana12433 (Jul 1, 2015)

Thanks for the input, Yes Aranda is a quaint little town with a lot of history not unlike any other across Europe. Good wines and food. Yes when my wife gets here we will go up North it sounds a nice place green and rainy not unlike the UK.
The Duero river valley is famous for its wines and the local Jambon is great as well.
My driving test is being done with the Lara driving school in Madrid and my book is in English and they told me and another guy doing this that the exam for the theory in English they have only translated so many of the questions.
Yes it is odd that you have to know about motor bikes but you can drive one with a class B licence up to 125 cc I believe so guess it is relevant. There are some odd translation errors and just have to remember them. I am averaing 1 to 2 wrong from the 30 questions. For me the worry is the test not that in particular but the examiner only speaks Spanish so have to understand the words like left right etc some learned but the rest to think about. Thanks for the tips once again.


----------

