What the critics say
“A warm and intelligent account of expat life in Spain filled with humorous anecdotes” Daily Telegraph Expat
“Anna once again manages to make me want to give up my life in London and set up shop on a Spanish island” Live Your Life e-zine
“Endearing, funny…” Real Travel magazine
LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 2010
On the Trail of World Records with Norris McWhirter
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Early yesterday morning as I puffed up the winding, country road to Fornalutx, a nearby mountain village, I heard a toot toot from a battered old car coming down the hill. ‘Get a move on, lazy bones!’ a man grinned from the window. I shot a glance, long enough to clock it was Llorenç, a local tradesman. Running past the...
A big thank you to all of you who have left cheery messages on the site after receiving my latest newsletter. I am ashamed that it has taken me so long to send it but I always seem to have something more pressing to do…er hem, do you ever use a similar excuse? Today I whizzed off to see Dr...
Some people are natural linguists. Others, sadly, are not. When Mike Bloomberg, mayor of New York, addressed his citizens via a television broadcast on the eve of hurricane Irene, he also attempted to reassure the city’s large Hispanic community with some choice Spanish phrases.
With an endearingly deadpan delivery worthy of Mr Bean, the mayor unleashed what can only be described...
When the Duchess of Alba, one of Spain’s wealthiest women, announced last month that she would be marrying her civil servant boyfriend of three years, Alfonso Diez, a snort of cynical laughter erupted from many quarters.
Let’s face it, why would a 61 year-old presentable male be interested in an 85 year-old pensioner with a rictus smile and taut facial skin...
Oh the excitement. As I walked into my local café, the owner grabbed my arm and thrust a Mallorcan newspaper into my hands. He pointed urgently at one of the headlines. Actors Tom Hanks, Halle -or “Hayay” according to my Mallorcan chums –Berry, Jim Broadbent and Susan Sarandon, would all soon be jetting off to the island for the making...
It’s been a long time coming but after years of patiently enduring the sight of tourists strolling through its streets in a state of undress, Barcelona’s city council has issued a ban on exposing the flesh.
Residents and local businesses in the historic Catalan Capital have grown increasingly irate with holidaymakers who stray from the beaches in wholly inappropriate clothing and...
Many moons ago I was idly chatting with Ignacio Vasallo, director of the Spanish tourist office, about the possibility of holding a massive Spanish street event in London. A year later, he made it a reality and created A Taste of Spain in Regent Street, a huge annual event which incorporates Spanish culture, food and entertainment. He’s even replicated the...
Out of the blue, the tiny, traditional village of Juzcar, a pueblo blanco in the Genel Valley in Andalucía has found sudden fame as Sony’s chosen venue for hosting the world premiere of The Smurfs 3D. But becoming the blue-eyed boy of the valley has come at a price. To satisfy the forthcoming invasion of tiny smurfs, known as pitufos...
Having braved the hordes at Gatwick passport control and security -during which my hand luggage was searched to within an inch of its over-packed life-I hopped onto a bar stool in the departures lounge and reached for a glass of cool Chablis. It was then that a piercing alarm reverberated through the terminal, followed by an announcement that we should...
The other day a local Majorcan bank manager told me that the town’s notary had been twiddling his thumbs of late. With few buying property despite the drop in house prices his role as marriage broker between vendor and purchaser with all the Spanish officialdom that that entails had been severely diminished. Instead he had found himself having to witness...
Thank you for popping by my website. Aside from giving you the latest news about my four Mallorca book titles, A Lizard in my Luggage, Cat on a Hot Tiled Roof, Goats from a Small Island and this year’s Donkeys on my Doorstep, I shall be uploading my regular columns in Telegraph Expat and also other miscellaneous articles.
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Hasta pronto!
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