Tuesday, August 28, 2012

July 28th, Bedar Fiesta!

All Spanish towns hold Fiestas at different times of the year. Usually they are to celebrate a religious figure and they usually last for sometimes as long as 3 or 4 days. The Bedar one is a relatively new Fiesta and no one seems to know what it is held for....but it is one hell of a party!

This is a video I put together of the recent one using still pictures, video, music & voice over it really doesn't do it justice!!







Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Spanish driving license update

After studying the 254 page driving manual, I sat for the theory part of the license exam.  There were thirty multiple-choice questions and you cannot miss more than  10% and pass the test.  Most first time takers do not do so.  I consider myself fortunate in only missing 2 questions. So I passed.  I had a number of moped and motorcycle questions of which I was not certain of the answers.  So I might have missed a few of those.

To pass the driving portion of the test, you must practice on a car from your driving school and use it for the evaluation.  None of the driving schools within a 50 mile radius of here, have automatic cars.  They are not considered macho enough for Spaniards.  As you know, our Hyundai is automatic.  So last Monday, I rented a bottom of the line 5-speed shift car to practice with for a few days.  Cliff, who is an excellent driver in both shift and automatic cars and those with right hand or left hand drive, drove the rental to a semi-deserted warehouse area for me to practice.  First, I just shifted the gears with the clutch without the engine on.  Soon I started to drive it and to our amazement, actually drove it reasonably well.  I did not stall it or do any herky-jerky movements.  I was so confident that I drove it back towards home including on the expressway.  I did pull over to where we had left our car so that Cliff could drive the rental up the hill and the winding one-lane roads to our house.  The next morning I drove the shift car by myself up and down the hills and to the center of a nearby town.  Again, I drove it home without incident.  Hopefully, this practice will stand me in good stead when I take the driving lessons at the auto school and on the exam.

This Sunday we are having an open house and invited friends and acquaintances to join us.