Even owning a dream house is not all bliss. The process and the time of waiting sometimes can get into your nerves, especially if you have budget constraints. Sometimes, you are in a middle of owning your house and something went wrong. This is indeed a very discouraging experience yet after getting all the necessary legal papers with your name on it and your paid house the feeling is just incomparable.

I remembered the first time I set foot in Spain after booking a last minute holiday in my компютри втора употребаagencia de viajes. I was just all “ahhs” and “ohhs”. I then set a side a thought in my mind to settle down in Spain. This was twenty long years ago. Then two years ago I rented a villa here in Costa del Sol. It was a two years of trial if indeed I would fit the lifestyle and the world in this place. I rented a self catering villa and started a little wine bar that I alone run and manage the place. My husband and I are both language teachers and at the same time a regular employee of a university in Britain.

Now, we are both retirees and decided to return to our honeymoon place-Spain. Ending up in Costa del Sol was a long process of hopping from one costa to another. We enjoyed everything in Spain every summer vacation or any holidays for the next twenty years. From the food, sites, wine, people, museums, parks, sports, bullfighting…everything under the sun of Spain. We made friends along the way. Our three children who are now both married and now working and living in Britain enjoy their vacations with us.

Actually, we have choices of either staying in Costa Brava, Costa Dorada, Costa de la Luz, or Costa del Sol. Even though, each place is a heaven to stay still we opted to live here in Costa del Sol. We knew so many patrons who are constant visitors of this place. We just love to wait for them during vacations. Our home is not just a home but a business center for us old couple. The running of the business is a therapy for us couple.

The weather is perfect for us old couple. The place is safe with dependable medical team. Costa del Sol is a serene place to stay for people like us. I thank heaven for giving us the opportunity to be able to travel abroad and see places. Our job gives us the opportunity to land in a perfect heavenly place like Costa del Sol Spain.

ALTHOUGH the one-week spring break hasn’t officially started for all elementary, high school and college students here in Spain, the season of spring has actually begun the day this predominantly Roman Catholic country marked Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. In 2008, spring thus becomes a triple celebration – Lent or the celebration of our redemption by Jesus Christ, spring itself which means blossoming of beautiful flowers of various colors all over Spain and Valentines Day which fell last February 14.

Even though spring has not started yet, there were at least two celebrities that I’ve spotted here, me being an ordinary English-language teacher from Salamanca. I was at the gym here in the Universidad de Salamanca during the first week after New Year when I saw a concert by Juliette Lewis and the Licks. They were promoting the movie Vantage Point, a Hollywood production which was shot entirely in Salamanca. Juliette Lewis and the Licks weren’t actually part of the artists contributing to the movie’s soundtrack but they were paid to promote the movie here in Spain by doing concerts. Right now, they are in Madrid for the premiere of the film here with stellar cast consisting of Dennis Quaid (yes, he’s the same dude who was Meg Ryan’s former wife and who almost killed his baby twins by wrongly administering pediatric drugs), Lost’s Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver. Juliette is into that angst-alternative thing, not as loud as emo’s Paramore though, but not as soft as Avril Lavigne or Evanescence either. But I like her more as an actress and I could not forget her role as a child driven with fear in Cape Fear opposite Robert de Niro. Given her musical abilities though, I admire her new talent.

Just last weekend, I went to Palma de Mallorca because I was also teaching English as a second language there and guess who I ran into. It was Marion Raven, that Norwegian girl from M2M. I ran into her on the beach of Palma Nova. She wasn’t topless though as what the paparazzi had photographed English actress Siena Miller. But what I would like to point out is there are lots of Norwegian tourists who drop by Palma de Mallorca at any given day of the year and especially right now during springtime. So what are you waiting for? Come and spend your spring break here in Spain.

WITHOUT doubt, Spain is truly a haven for tourists. Different people have different choices on where to live. For example, if you are a firefighter from London who has just retired by you still are 40 years old and you just got married to a lovely Spanish wife from Salamanca, then you may want to settle down somewhere near the Costa del Sol area where everything that you see is the sea. I remember this scene from the movie The Bourne Supremacy where Jason Bourne and his wife settled down somewhere in Goa with a commanding view of the coast. Everything is so serene and surreal. Costa del Sol is the Goa of Europe. The 365 days of the year are definitely like living in paradise.

Also, there are lots of nudist beaches in Costa del Sol so once in a while; you may want to go to these beaches for your unending honeymoon. Just don’t go out alone in nudist beaches because these are not usually patrolled by the Guardia Civil or by the resort lifeguards for privacy is the key in a nudist beach. But if what you like is hip urban adventure, then go to Valencia. Valencia is gearing up for the biggest real estate and tourist development for the next two years for the two major activities lined up in 2008 and 2009 – the Spanish Grand Prix of the Formula One this August and the premier sailing race in the world, America’s Cup, which will have a Valencia leg by 2009. If what you like is that endless warm summer feeling, then go to Barcelona and enjoy all the bull riding and rodeo stunts. These bull riding activities are year round and every night is barn dance night. Who knows, you’ll meet your soul mate in one of these barn dances? It’s just like a house music party infused with Western-style music and dancing.

If you are the more religious kind, then you better go to the mountains of Garabandal. There is a shrine there dedicated to the Virgin Mary because of an apparition some decades back. Although the apparition itself has not yet been officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, the phenomenon of the people flocking there is overwhelming.

But despite Spain being a predominantly Roman Catholic country, there are tons of gay expats here coming from northern Europe in such countries as Holland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Because of a burgeoning gay population and to boost the tourism industry even more, the liberal government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has proposed before the Spanish parliament legislation of same-sex marriage. This is a complete turnaround of official Spanish policy wherein 500 years ago conquered the world and proclaimed essential Christian values such as the sanctity of man and wife in marriage. So whether you’re a conservative or a liberated individual, there is always something for you here in Spain.