PHOTOS:
BEST OF JANUARY 2010
January light is bright and clean of any humidity
thereby making for very sharp focus photos.
After sorting through the photos taken
in January 2010 - these gems were keepers. |

SPAIN LOVES ST.
ANTHONY'S DAY
Under cloudy skies, this years Cabalgata dels Tres Tombs fiesta,
also known as St Anthony's Day was filled with beautiful horses and
funny ponies pulling all types of buggies and wagons. I captured
these photos in the port of Javea. |

INTERVIEW
WITH GOLF INSTRUCTOR: MICHEL MONNARD
Life in Spain is full of golf. If you are involved
in golf, then Spain is your paradise. I recently met Michel Monnard,
a golf instructor from Capdepera, Mallorca at the Golf School Michel
Monnard, who shared with me some of his handy golfing instructional
tips - and a very funny golf story. |
CO-OPERATION
CAN SPARK THE SPIRIT
For many women over 50, they forget about the flame of their youth
and the vibrancy of what good health can bring to their lives. It
takes persuasive people like author Nina Bagnall to reignite that
spark. In her book,
Looking Good Feeling Great Ladies 50 And Over, Nina offers a
selection of suggestions and helpful tips to inspire, motivate and
assist women to revitalize that ember! |
INCREDIBLE
HEALING POWERS OF SPANISH PLANTS
Long before the
commercial cosmetic industry turned the process of looking and
feeling great into a mega-confusion of products and propaganda, the
Iberians were turning to Mother Nature for their beauty and health
creations. For thousands of years, the Spanish have known about the
incredible healing powers of their regional plants. |
PET
LOVERS BOLD BLACK SKIES IN SUPPORT OF ABANDONED ANIMALS
September 26, 2009 - British expats and other
animal lovers turned up under somber skies at Benicolet airstrip to
support P.E.P.A - a charity that cares about Mother Nature's furry
creatures. It was a fun day of fish n' chips, microlights, and doggy
shows. |
ROSY
FLAMINGOS RETURN TO CALPE
Our feathered friends, the
Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus
ruber roseus) are back. For thousands of years, these
flamingos have made the Salinas de Calpe (the
flooded salt flats) their resting and feeding sanctuary on their
migration to Africa for the winter. |
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR * VICTORIA
TWEAD
British property-preneur Victoria Twead switched
from flipping real estate investments to flipping book pages. She
sold up and moved to a mountain village in Spain and wrote a book
about it. Victoria shares with us her insights on self-education and
self-discipline. |
EXTRAORDINARY SPANISH CANARIAN-STYLE
MANOR HOUSE & WINE ESTATE
* La Palma, the beautiful Spanish Canary Island that
was made famous by rock star Madonna, is home to Shakespeare
Estates. Villa Valencia is the Canarian-style manor house of this
estate and the finest
home in the entire Canary Islands. |
SPANISH BIRDS OF PREY
UP CLOSE
Did you know that Spain is believed to be home to more than 20
different species of birds of prey many of which are rare? I was
lucky and got in close to some amazing rescue birds, looking healthy and happy, tame and beautiful.
Their feathers, colors, faces - all wonderful. Enjoy the slideshow
and computer desktop wallpaper gift! |
COMICAL CHARACTERS AT SPANISH FLEE
MARKETS
Spain is full of flee markets - or "rastros" and they showcase a
wide range of articles for sale from antiques to just junk. While
searching through the stuff on sale, it is fun to observe the
gypsies who are the kings of these markets :)
|
SUMMER FUN IN THE
SPANISH SUN
Summer has officially come to the coast of Spain. Every beach,
including Javea beach in Alicante is full of bright colors and skin!
Water and waves plus the smell of tanning oils mix to create the
magic that summer in Spain :) Enjoy the slideshow! |
Traditional Alicante Coastal Home
What is a typical Alicante coastal homes? It is a unique style of
architecture that has a round tower as part of its living
construction. As you can see, this villa has two towers flanked on
either side of the main structure. |
Macro-Magic - The
Spanish Dragonfly
Did you know that there are currently 77 species (27 damselflies; 50
dragonflies; 35 genera) of "las libélulas" recorded in mainland
Spain, including the Balearic Islands?
|
|
QUEEN
CACTUS * The Nicest of the Night Bloomers
These majestic
miracles are truly gifts from Mother Nature! On the Costa Blanca of
Spain, we are fortunate to have the right climate to encourage the
Queen Cactus. Enjoy these Macro-Magic photos and Time-Laps videos in
tribute to the Queen of the Night! |
|
Living the
Spanish Lifestyle Featured on Exotic Lives TV Show
Thanks to Matter of Fact Media Inc,
a TV
production company
out of
Toronto - we were given the chance to tell our Spanish love story. We found the TV crew to be a lot of fun and creative
and we really enjoyed making the show, which they called Exotic
Lives. |
|
WATER SPOUTS VISIT
SPANISH COAST
Two things that we love to see on a hot Spanish summer day are
rolling black clouds and water spouts. These big funnels pick up the
sea water and travel around for a bit - then disappear, usually to
dump their watery cloud on us!
|
|
SEVILLA is Spanish for
Seville and a Great Summer Escape City
The sensational city of Seville is the perfect place to escape to in
the summers in Spain. Why? |
SPANISH SAN JUAN FIESTA
San Juan is always a great fiesta in June. Spain is full of mad
party action! Spain is really a great place to live and holiday and
especially fun for kids! It is much better than Disneyland!!! Enjoy the
show ;) |
The
Beautiful Words To Valencia Anthem Sung in English
I was lucky to discover that this
anthem was quite popular with some famous singers in the 1920's and
50's. Finally, the words of this great song have come to life on
SpainLifestyle.com! |
|
SPANISH VILLAGE LIFE
ON THE COAST!
Affordable, Fun and Totally Redesigned Town House - right in the middle of the
top beach areas of Moraira, Moraig and Javea,
yet in the heart of Benitachell, a real Spanish village that enjoys its Fiestas! |
|
MACRO-MAGIC
- The Spanish Butterfly
This year on the Costa Blanca where I
live, we have been bombarded with butterflies. They are not the
easiest creatures to photography, but luckily for me, they do like
to eat! I never realized funny their wee faces were before the
macro-lens! |
|
Tribute to Moraira in the Morning - A Spanish Seaside EscapePhotos
in this presentation were taken very early on a spring morning
offering a unique lighting theme. |
|
MACRO-MAGIC
* Busy as a Spanish Honey Bee
With the magic of
the macro-lens, we can see a Spanish honey bee - hard at work! |
|
MACRO-MAGIC
* The Spanish Snail
Magically, through the lens of macro-photography, we all can really
enjoy Mother Nature's creatures.
|
|
MORAIG
- The Lost River of the Phoenicians Now A Divers Playground
At the bottom of my street is a seafront cave called MORAIG. It is
the entrance to the largest subterranean river in the Iberian
peninsula.
|
|
My
Yoga Class in Spain
Here on the Costa Blanca,
Spanish life includes a fix of fun "dru" yoga with local
teacher, Trudi van Dorp. She is also a member of the
Cumbre del Sol community and enjoys seascapes daily!
Enjoy the workout! |
|

FUN with PHOTOSHOP * Passion Flower Gone Crazy
Here in Spain, we enjoy the exotic blooms of the
Passion Flower. It's a crazy flower full of joy
and fun! Enjoy the Show**
|
|
ALICANTE
WINS STARTER POSITION FOR NEXT THREE VOLVO OCEAN RACES
An agreement was signed recently by the head of the
Valencian Regional Government, Francisco Camps, and the competition
organisers in Boston (USA). This agreement also establishes that
race headquarters will be based permanently in the city of Alicante,
as of next June. |
|
MACRO-MAGIC
* Darocas Desktop Art
The Smallest
Snail Sleeps Inside a Ruby Rose
Right Click & Set
As Background on your PC! |
|
Seraph_the_Sailboat_Said_GoodBye_to_Spain
Never has a
sailboat been so loved as Seraph. Once Seraph sailed the Spanish
waters enjoying the seaside views and sunshine cresting on her bow.
Story includes
VIDEO |
|
SpainLifestyle.com
is reporting from the Costa Blanca - Espańa.
Get to know our slice of coastal paradise in this tribute video of
photographs taken over the past few years!
|
|
MACRO-MAGIC
* Are
you crazy for Geckos?
Meet our little gecko friends who live in our Spanish garden!
|
|
MACRO-MAGIC * Desktop Art
* Spanish Grasshopper Eyes An Ant
This
Spanish grasshopper was posing on our Strelitzia nicolai, or
White Bird of Paradise plant. He was just waiting to get his picture
taken.
Only after the photo session, did we realize that he had a little
visitor! |