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The Bernina Express tourist train trek through the Alps is: “one of the most scenic train rides in Europe, or for that matter, the world.” … train guru Mark Smith, The Man In Seat 61 “…an incredible excursion … very tough to beat” … Everett Potter, Forbes “Is this the most spectacular railway journey in…
Or, more specifically, how a Spain driving license can be acquired by an American, non-EU expat like me. I have the temporary license now and anticipate receipt of the permanent Permiso de conducción Reino de España by summer’s end. I’m here to offer juicy details. WHY BOTHER, IF MADRID HAS GREAT TRANSIT? (♦) To explore…
Bad news. (Or good news, if you think Americans ought to live within broadcast range of Fox News, and want expats like me to suffer.) My second visa renewal was significantly tougher than the first in 2017. I had to visit three extranjerías four times before I even knew what steps to take, had to…
A regretful update, 4/9/2021: rec.redara.es seems to have firmly closed this door for submission of visa docs, if it was ever open to expats in the first place. Citizens and companies only. Sorry. As for the information on getting a digital certificate: I believe and hope that it still holds true. My cert still works…
2024 Update: Please see a more recent post on the Spain-USA tax treaty. Must we? Didn’t we Yankees endow earthly civilization with the Big Mac, Love Boat re-runs, the Chia Pet? Isn’t it enough that we grace Spanish soil with our Stetson-crowned, Buckaroo-booted presence? Must we submit to the indignity of expat taxation, too? I’m…
Madrid’s heart — her epicenter, undisputed city nucleus — is the plaza at Puerta del Sol. Couriers once traveled Europe to deliver the world’s news here at the Casa de Correos. A sidewalk plaque marks the plaza as the nation’s kilometer zero. City addresses begin here, as do measurements for Spain’s grid of radial roads.…
Lucky ol’ me meets many people in Madrid: moved-to-the-big-city Spaniards from Extremadura, Andalucia, Asturias; EU-wandering Erasmus students; watchful-eye-on-Brexit Brits; young Auxiliares de Conversación, often from the States; expats for hauls long and short, from Australia, China, Bulgaria, hither, yon, beyond. They talk to me. (The fools!) Some chats are guarded, surface-y. Others far less so.…
5,300 years ago, this doomed man ate a last meal on the mountain glaciers of today’s Northern Italy. He may have struggled to grasp food. He was right-handed, ate despite a fresh, deep gash that reached to the bone of that hand, perhaps sustained in a brawl in the valley. He might have climbed the…
Two years in Spain! I roam Madrid in my geezerly way, drift obliviously into the photo frames of selfie-snapping newlyweds, scour farmacia shelves for good ol’ American Geritol. Locals chat with me, especially when I suffer senior moments in big metro stations. I notice stuff, despite dotage, post these occasional comminiqués. HEALTH CARE ¡Muy bien…
A quick update, 7/8/2021: I I switched to GrapheneOS a couple of months ago, only swap the SIM card into an older, LineageOS-powered smartphone when I need to use Google services. Vodafone knows where I am. My cellular service provider knows now, yesterday, tomorrow, whenever or wherever my smartphone-with-a-Vodafone-SIM is turned on, unless I swaddle…