British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)
-   Spain (https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/)
-   -   10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/10-things-you-missing-out-if-you-dont-live-spain-821407/)

Lynn R Jan 13th 2014 12:39 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by cricketman (Post 11076144)
Not everywhere in Spain has skips

We have plastic bins here in Oviedo. The dustbin men put them out at 8pm and then take them away again at 11pm every day

Your post reminded me - most of the town centre bins here have been replaced by metal ones that are under the ground - they rise up mechanically to allow them to be emptied. Much more hygienic than the old style bins.

andyrich666 Jan 13th 2014 1:44 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 
No.2 Best thing ever, shame I cant get up in the mornings, yesterday was worst I have stayed in the longest.

No.3 is how I have lived for 10+ years, firemans pole to my desk ! has pro's and con's, I went to Valencia to meet some people at the weekend and only way to park was to double park.

No.9 Is also me, however when in UK I was always crucified for wearing shades all the time, am I in disguise ? am I on drugs ? Have I got a hangover ? People tell me I am rude ! Im a wannabe drug dealer or wannabe gangster :(

Dick Dasterdly Jan 13th 2014 5:12 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by Lynn R (Post 11076149)
Your post reminded me - most of the town centre bins here have been replaced by metal ones that are under the ground - they rise up mechanically to allow them to be emptied. Much more hygienic than the old style bins.

Whilst out here in the Campo rubbish collection is left to tramps, dogs and good nature.

Daily rubbish collections out here,..... You must be joking.

The Basura trucks do visit occasionally but rarely just after the Valencian weekenders have been out foolishly stuffing the bins full with garden rubbish leaving other people to simply dump their rubbish in the general vicinity, which now seems to have become a regular habit.

Lynn R Jan 13th 2014 5:23 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by Dick Dasterdly (Post 11076432)
Whilst out here in the Campo rubbish collection is left to tramps, dogs and good nature.

Daily rubbish collections out here,..... You must be joking.

The Basura trucks do visit occasionally but rarely just after the Valencian weekenders have been out foolishly stuffing the bins full with garden rubbish leaving other people to simply dump their rubbish in the general vicinity, which now seems to have become a regular habit.

Where the old style bins are still in existence, we do get scruffy/lazy people dumping stuff right next to them, even ordinary rubbish bags, you'd think as they've got that far they could be bothered to open the lid and put them in, but no. Old furniture and other stuff too, even though there's been a free phone number for years where you can ask the Council to come and take it away (at no charge), plus now the new online service I mentioned in another thread. It's not the services that are lacking, here at least, it's a section of the population that just doesn't seem to care what the street, the area or the whole town looks like, if it isn't right outside their own front door they just don't bother.

Our Ayuntamiento have recently had a squad of the unemployed people taken on under the Plan de Empleo going around clearing rubbish from the roadsides and open land around town, it looks so much better but no doubt will soon be a mess again.

We've had poster campaign after campaign, but I keep saying at public meetings that only fining people will make a difference (or if they haven't got any money, make them do community service going around picking up litter).

However, I don't think you are ever likely to find the same standard/frequency of services in rural areas as you do in urban ones, when you are weighing up the pros and cons of living in the countryside, that's one of the cons.

amideislas Jan 13th 2014 5:33 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by cricketman (Post 11076001)
Good coffee, where?

In all my time in London, I found one place that served good coffee, which had Portuguese owned.

The coffee in places like Costa, Cafe Nero, Starbucks etc is terrible

1, 3 and 5 are very uncommon in the UK. You dont need a car in London, but the city isnt compact like a Spanish city, it can take nearly 2 hours to get from one side to the other, and that is on public transport

Coffee is like art or wine. Different tastes will find different variations more appealing than others. Is latte macciato better than expresso? Was Dalí better than Miró?

Naturally, whatever suits your taste (or more likely, whatever you're used to or perhaps more likely, whatever is NOT made in a country you don't like) is the only thing worthy of your posh, refined palette. Everything else is crap.

agoreira Jan 13th 2014 6:13 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 11076468)
Coffee is like art or wine. Different tastes will find different variations more appealing than others. Is latte macciato better than expresso? Was Dalí better than Miró?

Naturally, whatever suits your taste (or more likely, whatever you're used to or perhaps more likely, whatever is NOT made in a country you don't like) is the only thing worthy of your posh, refined palette. Everything else is crap.

I must confess to not being a big coffee fan at all, but Spanish coffee tastes very much like any other coffee I've had. I can never understand the big fuss, tbh. I see you quoting CM slagging off a few, I must confess to never having been in any of them, but are they that bad. I just looked, Starbuck's have over 70 branches in Spain and I'm guessing they all make a profit or they would have closed. So how come that the Spanish with their refined taste manage to drink gallons of the shite that Starbuck's is accused of selling. Are they all wrong and CM is correct? Wouldn't be the first time he's been right and everyone else wrong. :rofl: I think they sell more coffee around the world than anyone, perhaps the whole world is wrong.

la mancha Jan 13th 2014 6:53 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 
There is a big myth about Spanish coffee. In a small town in Castilla-La Mancha where I lived, the owner of the bar I frequented for coffee always used to ask me where I could get coffee as good as his in London for a euro. So I used to smile because a Spaniard is never wrong and I let him think he was right. He was comparing a small town of 10,000 with prices in London. Now I am back in London more frequently I have got time to see things as they are. In the suburbs I can get a nice coffee in a café or a baker’s for a pound or one-fifty. It comes in a cup/mug double the size of that which I drank in Spain and is hot. I recently went into a privately run coffee shop (English owned) in Notting Hill for a coffee and piece of organic carrot cake. The bill was 2.95. I could choose from a range of coffee and different types of milk and sugar, all in the most pleasant surroundings. In Camden recently, I went into a coffee shop and had a nice large coffee for 1.50, with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Next door to a local library in London there is a small café where I can get tea for 1.20. They serve it on a tray with a silver teapot, with extra milk also in a silver jug, white and brown sugar. There is enough tea in the pot for two cups, and that is for one person. In a village bar in Cuenca province, I was served a small whisky glass of hot water with a Twinnings teabag floating in it. On pulling it out by the string, I was left with a luke-warm glass of tea that was finished in three gulps. All for a euro. I find this repeated in many other Spanish places. The glass is normal, I know, but the price for what you get is not comparable with what one can get elsewhere.
I have tasted vile coffee in towns and villages in Spain that wouldn’t be allowed in other countries. Of course many will say that in Madrid or Barcelona the coffee is excellent, and I agree, also in some of the villages I have been in they have been excellent, but the story spread about that all Spanish coffee is good and cheap and the coffee you get in the UK is second class is not true.
While I’m on here, a while back on this thread someone said that London isn’t compact as a Spanish city and it takes two hours to cross it on public transport. Considering that London is two and a half times the size of Madrid, twelve times the size of Valencia and fifteen times the size of Barcelona, it isn’t surprising, is it.

Dick Dasterdly Jan 13th 2014 7:24 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by la mancha (Post 11076641)
There is a big myth about Spanish coffee. In a small town in Castilla-La Mancha where I lived, the owner of the bar I frequented for coffee always used to ask me where I could get coffee as good as his in London for a euro. So I used to smile because a Spaniard is never wrong and I let him think he was right. He was comparing a small town of 10,000 with prices in London. Now I am back in London more frequently I have got time to see things as they are. In the suburbs I can get a nice coffee in a café or a baker’s for a pound or one-fifty. It comes in a cup/mug double the size of that which I drank in Spain and is hot. I recently went into a privately run coffee shop (English owned) in Notting Hill for a coffee and piece of organic carrot cake. The bill was 2.95. I could choose from a range of coffee and different types of milk and sugar, all in the most pleasant surroundings. In Camden recently, I went into a coffee shop and had a nice large coffee for 1.50, with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Next door to a local library in London there is a small café where I can get tea for 1.20. They serve it on a tray with a silver teapot, with extra milk also in a silver jug, white and brown sugar. There is enough tea in the pot for two cups, and that is for one person. In a village bar in Cuenca province, I was served a small whisky glass of hot water with a Twinnings teabag floating in it. On pulling it out by the string, I was left with a luke-warm glass of tea that was finished in three gulps. All for a euro. I find this repeated in many other Spanish places. The glass is normal, I know, but the price for what you get is not comparable with what one can get elsewhere.
I have tasted vile coffee in towns and villages in Spain that wouldn’t be allowed in other countries. Of course many will say that in Madrid or Barcelona the coffee is excellent, and I agree, also in some of the villages I have been in they have been excellent, but the story spread about that all Spanish coffee is good and cheap and the coffee you get in the UK is second class is not true.
While I’m on here, a while back on this thread someone said that London isn’t compact as a Spanish city and it takes two hours to cross it on public transport. Considering that London is two and a half times the size of Madrid, twelve times the size of Valencia and fifteen times the size of Barcelona, it isn’t surprising, is it.

:goodpost:
You make several good points which many choose to ignore.

Dick Dasterdly Jan 13th 2014 7:38 pm

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by Lynn R (Post 11076450)
Where the old style bins are still in existence, we do get scruffy/lazy people dumping stuff right next to them, even ordinary rubbish bags, you'd think as they've got that far they could be bothered to open the lid and put them in, but no. Old furniture and other stuff too, even though there's been a free phone number for years where you can ask the Council to come and take it away (at no charge), plus now the new online service I mentioned in another thread. It's not the services that are lacking, here at least, it's a section of the population that just doesn't seem to care what the street, the area or the whole town looks like, if it isn't right outside their own front door they just don't bother.

Our Ayuntamiento have recently had a squad of the unemployed people taken on under the Plan de Empleo going around clearing rubbish from the roadsides and open land around town, it looks so much better but no doubt will soon be a mess again.

We've had poster campaign after campaign, but I keep saying at public meetings that only fining people will make a difference (or if they haven't got any money, make them do community service going around picking up litter).

However, I don't think you are ever likely to find the same standard/frequency of services in rural areas as you do in urban ones, when you are weighing up the pros and cons of living in the countryside, that's one of the cons.

Agree with most of that Lynn.

We have some wonderful countryside around here with lots of lovely walking areas and it's such a shame to find a truck load of builders waste dumped down some remote country lane or the amount of stuff that's simply thrown out of car windows and ended up spread across the nearby campo.

I'm hoping to form my own clean-up squad next week to deal with some of the areas close to my place, but as you say it isn't a once and for all answer.
Maybe heavy fines would help as seems to be making quite a difference in the UK, but most of all it would be nice to see folk take a greater pride in their own districts as well as trying to educate the younger generation to better standards in this respect.

cricketman Jan 14th 2014 7:13 am

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by la mancha (Post 11076641)
There is a big myth about Spanish coffee. In a small town in Castilla-La Mancha where I lived, the owner of the bar I frequented for coffee always used to ask me where I could get coffee as good as his in London for a euro. So I used to smile because a Spaniard is never wrong and I let him think he was right. .

Of course he was right

I'm not sure whether you are more ignorant or arrogant, probably both

You can get Greggs sausage rolls very cheaply in the UK I believe. They will go nicely with your coffee ;)

amideislas Jan 14th 2014 8:17 am

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by cricketman (Post 11077430)
Of course he was right

I'm not sure whether you are more ignorant or arrogant, probably both

You can get Greggs sausage rolls very cheaply in the UK I believe. They will go nicely with your coffee ;)

When all else fails, just tell 'em they're ignorant and arrogant (as if your arrogance doesn't show). That'll clear things up. :blink:

crookesey Jan 14th 2014 8:36 am

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 11077473)
When all else fails, just tell 'em they're ignorant and arrogant (as if your arrogance doesn't show). That'll clear things up. :blink:

When I wander down to my favoured beach bar I generally order an Americano, sometimes with a Soberano, I know that I'm not drinking the best brandy in the world and am certain that Americano experts would say similar about my coffee. However I couldn't care a donkey's toss, an expert on everything Spanish will probably call me ignorant and arrogant, well he should know, being an expert on the latter. :rofl:

me me Jan 14th 2014 8:42 am

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 11077473)
When all else fails, just tell 'em they're ignorant and arrogant (as if your arrogance doesn't show). That'll clear things up. :blink:

And a one eyed, racist, biggoted strawperson, on board the outrage bus on the way to badassville.:lol:

steviedeluxe Jan 14th 2014 8:48 am

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

In the suburbs I can get a nice coffee in a café or a baker’s for a pound or one-fifty. It comes in a cup/mug double the size of that which I drank in Spain and is hot.
All down to quantity versus quality I see! I can barely taste the coffee in a starbucks offering - and the price is so high I'm damned if I'm going to pay even more for an extra shot so I can taste the stuff. But yes, if you're after a large vaguely milky drink, then Starbucks or a UK bakers will do fine. Hot? I'm always asked whether I want warm or room-temperature milk in my cafe con leche.

cricketman Jan 14th 2014 9:02 am

Re: 10 things you are missing out on if you don't live in Spain!
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 11077473)
When all else fails, just tell 'em they're ignorant and arrogant (as if your arrogance doesn't show). That'll clear things up. :blink:

I couldnt be arsed to say anything constructive

Its like trying to tell someone that fish fingers arent the definition of high cuisine

Although I do love a fish finger sandwich


All times are GMT. The time now is 8:11 am.

Powered by vBulletin: ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.