"Home is where the heart is!" Pauldelabar's Profile

Travel. It's good for you !

The main picture is of Nerja. This is where I now live since December 2005 and work on the Costa del Sol in Spain. Far away from my old home, Halesowen (Link), in England.

Me, myself, I.

A big hello to all who land on my home page. I have always loved travelling, so it was natural that I worked for the railways for 26 years!
My first travel over seas was to the Isle of Man. Then I got the desire to visit another country propper, and thus, I looked through the holiday brochures and booked a holiday to Malgrat on the Costa Brava/Dorada in Spain. I enjoyed that so much that I went to the exact same hotel in the same resort one year later.

This really got me hooked on Spain, and as such, I have been back to Spain ever since although to different locations.
Benidorm, I thought was a bit over commercialised but fine for me THEN in my tender years.

A great gap in travel abroad then followed as the girlfriend at that time would not fly or sail, so many breaks within England and Wales ensued.
When I quit the railways and went to work at my other passion, that of running a pub, I got the oportunity to travel abroad again and went to Alicante. Very different to Benidorm although being just down the coast.

After this a fact finding tour to the Costa del Sol was organised with the idea of purchasing a bar there. There were four of us in the enterprise and one just hated Spain.
Things transpired that just two of us absolutely fell in love with Nerja, and we visited regularly as a break from our new chosen profession of house renovation, or property development on a small scale.

We have made many friends in Nerja and when the oportunity to move there AND own a bar came up, it was too good to miss. So there you are. This is now the present day and I am at the stage where the house in England is sold subject to contract and I shall be heading for Spain within a month.
The rest is to be seen.

Most pages are now complete with hyperlink shortcuts.

Many of my locations have current REAL TIME' local weather links, so that you can see what the weather of that place is RIGHT NOW !

My next planned travel is to: Nerja - December 2005 ONE WAY !
I am going to run my own bar!.

VISIT NERJA
I specialise in useful, (hopefully), info. on Spain in general and here featuring Nerja (Link) on the Costa del Sol.

There's a travelogue to help you locate Nerja at base of my Nerja page.
Link: Where is Nerja and why should I go there ?

Shhhhhh. Don't tell everyone but there are around 900 places that you can get a drink in Nerja.
That's one hell of a pub crawl. See my Nerja nightlife (Link) section.
However that does include the hotels and cafes as well as the bars.
That's still not bad for a villiage though !

As I have lived in Nerja, if you have any question, however small, about Nerja, you may always :-

(1) For non members: Email me at - Pauldelabar@vtmail.com (Link)

(2) For VT Members: Post it in the Nerja (Link) forum. Checked regularly.

(3) Also for members. You can leave me a message or question at the bottom of this page.
In all of the above, I'll get back to you.

NOT A VT MEMBER ? SO WHY NOT JOIN ? (Link) - IT'S FREE!

An Interesting online tool !Here is a useful little FREE language translation tool :- worldlingo_translator (Link) . Have a play with various languages.

Ferrocarrils Generalitat Valenciana.

Benidorm Station.

This pic. is of Benidorm station FGV , (See my Benidorm (Link) pages for more FGV), with the air conditioned diesel railcars to the left which run down to Alicante or, in the other direction, up to Denia. Note the 'Limon Express' in the background; (Yes, I did spell 'Limon' correctly. - Means Lemon), which is a charter trip train that runs to Denia and back; and very little to do with Lemons. The trains carriages used to be coloured Yellow at one time

If you would like to see more Spanish railway pictures, just click on the following Link: Spanish railway pictures

Overseas places visited :- .....Click on light blue text for Link

Nerja (Costa del Sol) [Top 5 writer this location]

Frigiliana (Costa del Sol)

Torrox (Costa del Sol)

Totalán (Inland from Costa del Sol)

Málaga (Costa del Sol)

Granada (Andalucia)

Malgrat_de_Mar (Costa Brava / Dorada)

Calella (Costa Dorada)

Lloret de Mar (Costa Brava)

Blanes (Costa Brava)

San_Feliu_de_Guixols (Costa Brava)

Tossa de Mar (Costa Brava)

Alicante (Costa Blanca)

Santa_Pola (Costa Blanca)

Sella (Inland from Costa Blanca)

Elche (Inland from Costa Blanca)

Benidorm (Costa packet SORRY Blanca)

Douglas (Isle of Man)

Port_Erin (Isle of Man)

Peel (Isle of Man)

Dublin (Eire - Southern Ireland)

For my travels in mainland UK see below

View from the Balcon de Europa

Playa Calahonda

A view of one of the many little beaches of Nerja in Spain. This is of Calahonda beach with its little bar. Photo taken from the Balcon, as stated in the caption. You have to be careful when taking photos. It's a long drop to the rocks below.

Travels in mainland Britain:-....Click on light blue text for Link.

Blackpool (Lancashire)

Bournemouth

West_Looe (Cornwall)

Gosport (Hants nr Portsmouth)

Torquay (Devon)

Newquay (Cornwall)

Newgale (Pembroke - camping)

Malvern (Worcestershire)

Alveley (Severn Valley)

Highley (Severn Valley)

Arley (Severn Valley)

Rock (Shropshire)

Stourbridge (West Midlands)

Llangollen (Wales)

Halesowen (West Midlands)

Wem (North Shropshire)

Inside Durty Nellys bar, Spain.

Durty Nellys

A picture of Bronwyn, co - bar partner of Durty Nellys Irish bar in Nerja nightlife (Link), Costa del Sol. Although Bronwyn is a Welsh name, Bron happens to be Irish.
Here is a bar where you will receive a fantastic welcome whether you are Irish or not.
If you go along to this bar, mention to Lolly or Bron that you have seen their bar on VT, as I've shown both Lol and Bron the sites at an Internet Cafe last time I was there (I almost said Home?).

Things I like :-

Dining out (At every opportunity)
Sci Fi on TV (I find it relaxing to get away from events of the day)
Drawing on computer (This 'Paint' program is great) My bar pictures (Link)
Signwriting (Relaxing and lucrative)
Wine and Beer (Say no more)
Steam trains (Very photogenic) my railway pictures (Link)
Sunshine (I hate grey days)
Any music by Clannad (Any Irish music)
Any music by Abba
Old architecture (Castles, anything old)
Cooking (I 'gotta eat !)
60's and classical music (Not opera)
Living in Nerja (Link) (Which I will shortly do)

Things I hate :-

Fish (I am allergic - I think if a can of beans came out of the sea I'd be ill !)
Soggy shoes
Arguments (Gives me a headache listening to other peoples disputes)
Pain (mine and other peoples)
Going to the dentists (I hate needles)
Going to the doctors (If I had something fatal I think I would rather not know)
People behaving badly (Makes the English appear bad abroad collectively)
Rain soaking through my clothes (Not nice!)
Aniseed drinks (Got drunk on it once - never again!)

The magical Isle of Man.

Peel castle

If you look at my Isle of Man pages you will find a wonderful holiday location whether it be Douglas, Peel or Port Erin.

For none UK visitors to these pages, the Isle of Man is in the Irish sea about 3 hours sailing from Liverpool in England and half way to Dublin in Irleland.

A relaxing holiday full of history. Whether that be castles, olden forms of transport or the ways we used to live; you will find it here in the Isle of Man.

My Favourites:

Soft drinks - Dandelion & Burdock, Pepsi (not Coke).
Alcholic drinks - Various Lagers / Good Wines.
Colour - Cool Blue.
Foods - Beuf Borgignon, Roast Beef, All desserts.
T.V. - Sci Fi., Travel, History, Comedy.
Animals - Dogs, Cats, Horses.
Countries - Spain, Wales.
Hobbies - Computer, Trains, Making things.
Gardens - Formal, Walled.
Buildings - Classical style, Ruins.
Books - Dune Trilogy.

Llangollen in winter

Steam and snow

One of my favourite places in GB is Llangollen. Whether in winter or summer, it makes no difference. The scenery is stunning. This is of the Llangollen steam railway which runs from Llangollen to Carog.

I have a Llangollen page with a bit more on it. To go there click the Link Llangollen (The Railway).

There are also more railway pictures on my railway pictures (Link)

Memory, from Cats - This song really gets to me.

Midnight. Not a sound from the Pavement
Has the moon lost her memory
She is smiling alone.
In the lamplight the withered leaves collect at my feet.
And the wind, begins to moan.

Memory. All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days,
I was beautiful then.
I remember the time I knew what happiness was,
Let the memory live again.

Every street lamp seems to beat a fatalistic warning.
Some one mutters; and a street lamp gutters
and soon it will be morning.

Daylight. I must wait for the sunrise.
I must think of a new life.
And I mustn't give in
When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too
And a new day; will begin.

Burnt out ends of smoky days
the stale cold smell of morning.
The street lamp dies; another night is over
Another day is dawning.

Touch me
It's so easy to leave me.
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun.
If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is,
Look a new day, has begun.
Words by Andrew Lloyd Weber

Nerja at Christmas time.

Calle Diputacion, Nerja. December 2004

Feliz Navidad ! (Merry Christmas)

This is looking down Calle Diputacion in its Christmas clothes, 2004. The street decorative lights really brighten the town up and are missed at the end of the festive season when they are taken down.

I must include this cocktail that someone said just suits me:

The SAINT PAUL
Ingredients:
1 part Gin
1 part White Rum
Fill with Bitter Lemon
2-4 Ice Cubes
1 dash Angostura bitters

Mixing instructions:
Take a tall glass, put a few ice cubes on top of each other. Pour the Gin and the Rum in the glass, Fill the glass with bitter lemon. Leave some of the ice over the surface, so that you can pour the angostura on top of it.
It should leave a rather nice track of red down the ice cubes.

I LUUUV Sci Fi !!!

The last ship from Mars

Sci Fi gives me much pleasure. From Edgar Rice Buroughs of 1917 vintage to todays Star Gate.

This is a picture from my recent holiday on Mars.
I wish !!!

It's such a shame that 'Enterprise' has come to an end with no plans to create anything further. This means that no current Star Trek series will be around for the 40th year of Star Trek celebration in 2006.

A quote from Star Trek so suits Virtual Tourist:....

'To boldly go where no one's gone before'.

You may like to have a look at my fanciful version of
A brief trip around the galaxy year 2366 (Link)

Some things I think should be and arn't ! (This IS meant light hearted)

Cream filled doughnuts should have a warning - 'Caution! Eat carefully'.

Why don't they print the use by date on the egg shell instead of the box?

If Peanut packets state 'Warning may contain nuts'! So? You bought 'em!

If life, they say, begins at 40, what the hell were you doing before?

I'm told that Hearing dogs for the deaf can pick up phones when they ring.
OK, then what?

If the fastest creature on 4 legs is a Jaguar, is the fastest on 2 legs the person being chased by it?

If Spain can paint its road markings in English, why can't Wales do the same?

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Intro Updated May 23, 2007
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Comments (31)

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aussirose Mar 29, 2011 at 4:21 PM

Hi Paul. We will be in Torremolinos on 24 Sep. I have posted a meet there. Would love to meet up! Cheers, Ann :o)
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Jandar Jul 14, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Great site Paul. Really well done. I've seen a lot of information that we will find useful. Thanks. Jandar
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laura64 Jun 3, 2008 at 1:58 AM

thanks paul have been looking for details on bus service for ages.me @mate coming to nerja sunday my best place.but it is her first so i do hope she loves it as much as i do. thanks again. laura
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keida84 Dec 30, 2006 at 6:16 PM

Paul a very happy New Year's wish for you. I hope Nerja is living up to its potential. Warmest regards, Kat
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BerniShand Dec 27, 2006 at 8:50 PM

Hi Paul, hope its going great out there, and that you had a brilliant Christmas and Birthday, take care XX
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mapakettle Apr 16, 2006 at 5:50 AM

Hey Paul, where have you been? You're missed on VT. Pa
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olja1234 Dec 28, 2005 at 12:11 PM

Happy Birthday and Happy New Year!!!
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babettu Dec 28, 2005 at 11:27 AM

Happy Birthday to you ! ! ! ! greetings from Malta
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lina112 Dec 28, 2005 at 10:07 AM

Birthday greetings from Alhaurín de la Torre, have a sweet day and happy new year. Lina
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hmoitta Dec 28, 2005 at 9:50 AM

Birthday greetings from Brasil !