2 comments about Live & Work in Spain & Portugal, 3rd (Live and Work).

1. When I started looking for a place in the sun I found this book very helpful. It provides a bird's eye view of life and work in the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the kind of book to start with before you make a decision and then start focusing on the country of your choice. It is concise and to the point.



2. This is a very good book for someone who wants to have an overview of what it will be like to live and work in Spain and Portugal. Once you have opted for a country then you may want something more focused and comprehensive on the country of your choice, in my case Holtom's Working and living: Portugal. But this book is excellent for a first read and more. Though covering both countries, it still manages to address many important issues, like schools and education; health; and others. Very good for a short stay, still useful for settling in. Glad I bought it.

1 comments about Time Out Mallorca: And Menorca (Time Out Guides).

1. Recently went to Croatia for a 12 day trip around Istria and the southern part of the country. Was using the Time Out as main source of information and was thoroughly disappointed by level of detail, generic nature of recommendations, missed locations (Trogir not even mentioned and this is a UNESCO World Heritage site!) and even mistakes (the map of Istria has incorrect placement of towns!). In Dubrovnik, someone lent me a short Lonely Planet city guide which was significantly more informative, had descriptions of less major (but still interesting) sites not disclosed in Time Out and provided several suggestions for walking tours. Bottom line, this Time Out guide may be acceptable for certain areas (Split, Hvar and maybe Dubrovnik) if you are going for a long weekend at a maximum, but forget it if spending more than a few days in any city or thinking of going to a less touristy area (although Istria is quite popular and this guide does a very poor job concerning the region). I have used Time Out guides numerous times for specific cities and believe they generally do a terrific job; however, it is apparent that the same quality does not transcend to country guides.

3 comments about One Room in a Castle: Letters from Spain, France & Greece.

1. This is a travel book in more ways than one. Connelly provides interesting stories of her travels in Spain, France, and Greece (and a little at-home time in Canada). She also opens up her own life and experiences, sharing her observations, insecurities, and pleasures, along with short fiction and poetry along the way. Connelly's approach to travel writing reminds me of my favorite Mary Morris travel books and I've given it as a gift to friends who also enjoyed Morris's books.



2. Karen Connelly does a wonderful job of recreating the experiences and thoughts she had while on her journeys through France, Greece and Spain. One Room In A Castle is a textured, rich account of the cultures in which Karen Connelly connected. Although I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting these countries, I truly felt, as I read the poetry and prose, a love for the land, people and experience which compelled the writing in the first place. Travel Literature, at it's best, is absolutely captivating, taking the reader to the core of the experience. Karen Connelly does this in ONE ROOM IN A CASTLE. I highly recommend the text to anyone interested in Travel Literature.



3. This is like opening a treasure and discovering all the beauty of the world around us, and the worlds within us. Karen shoots from the heart, she gives us her thoughts, her stories, her people. It's not a travel book, not a rough guide to anywhere, it's a search. Karen is searching for herself, discovering herself, discovering all the parts of herself as she travels. We are all of us, many things to many people, but we all need to learn how to be happy in our own skin, and Karen is definitely searching. Sure she goes to Greece, France and Spain and paints us accurate pictures of the places and people she encounters, but the bigger search is within herself.

No comments about Karen Brown's Spain: Charming Inns & Itineraries 2004 (Karen Brown Guides/Distro Line).

1 comments about Fodor's See It Portugal, 1st Edition (Fodor's See It).

1. I hated this guide book. It's layout was horrendous. I had to keep flipping back and forth. It was a pain to use and I would never buy it again!

3 comments about The Rough Guides' Ibiza Directions 1 (Rough Guide Directions).

1. This book is for Club Kids. If you are not a Club Kid, buy the Eyewitness book that also covers Minorca and Maellorca. That book is for a wider audience.
   
   While I'm sure this volume will help all the clubbers out there find the "Iberian Beat" it was NOT specific about other things-- like beaches or restaurants! I read it cover-to-cover before arriving on Ibiza, yet it was awfully difficult to get the lay of the land.
   
   If you care about DJs more than navigation or advice, try this book. Otherwise, pick another one!



2. This comprehensive guide, illustrated with beautiful color photos, will take you to other parts of Ibiza that other visitors can't even dream of. And the accurate restaurant and hotel recommendations can't be beat!



3. This book is a good comprehensive guide to the island of Ibiza. It covers just about everything, backgound info, restaurants, beaches, clubs/bars, shopping. I'm not sure why the other reviewer called this a "clubbers book", I think they must have meant a different book. There is info on clubs, which is a large part of the island's draw for many people. However, it is by no means the majority of info in the book. It also covers the island of Formentara, which is a definite must-do day trip. I would have liked a better island map, although driving around is fairly easy as the roads are pretty well marked with directional signs. Definitely a good purchase, I took the book with me everyday.

1 comments about Hammond International: Madrid (Hammond International (Folded Maps)).

1. This folds open into a huge map with lots of detail. Has an insert map of the Metro (subway system) plus includes all the Metro stops on the big detailed map also so it is easy to find the stops. It also has maps of the area around Madrid and a regional map for the Madrid area.
   
   If you have not been to Madrid before, I highly recommend that you have a good map like this one. It is made with very good quality paper and we folded it over & over in many different ways without it falling apart. We were very glad that we ordered this map from Amazon before we left. We studied it before our trip to get a feel for where things were and that really helped a lot when we got there.

2 comments about Living and Working in Spain: How to Prepare for a Successful Stay, Be It Short, Long-Term or Forever (Living & Working Abroad).

1. I ended up selling this book after having skimmed through it. It's very wordy and not so easy to get around in. Probably a good reference book.



2. I came across this book yesterday in a library and spent some time reading its most relevant chapters. I was very amused by the fantasies made up all along these chapters by its imaginative author.

   Here are some (non 100% literal) excerpts from the book: "Robbery is widespread in Spain", "Spaniards usually live in blocks of apartments but if you decide to occupy a loft in one of them you should always check the roof, as you're likely to get soaked with the leaks", "If you want to build a house, you'll have to hire a foreign builder in order to get the house built to basic European standards", "The postal system is so inefficient that you'll have to rent a P.O. Box or have your mail sent to Gibraltar", "If you go to a Post Office you'll have to spend a very long time queuing, first to buy the stamps and then to send the letter", "Finding a telephone booth is almost impossible, let alone a working one, so your best bet is to find a good hotel, where you'll have to tip the receptionist", "Lying is part of the Spanish way of life", "It will take some time until the Spanish public services are brought up to what's common in `the rest of Europe'",...

   I found these last two statements particularly hilarious, coming as they do from a Briton. After reading this book, anyone who has never been to Spain or knows little about the country, say an average American, should expect to find a land raided by sombrero-wearing bandits on the back of their donkeys.

   As it happens, I was born in Spain and, in all, have spent over 30 years there, so I might be quite partial, myself. But nothing depicted in this book seems to have any resemblance with real facts. Most of all, I fail to understand why the publisher has decided to have such a misinformed/biased individual write this "How To" book.

   The one aspect where Spain does lag behind its Western European counterparts is the labour market. But, in spite of the title of the book, no information whatsoever is given on this important matter. And, if you're serious about living in Spain, your source of income should definitely be your first concern, as you'll find a high level of unemployment and low nominal salaries, especially compared to what's usual in Anglo-Saxon countries. Nevertheless, if you are a native English-speaker and are willing to work as a language teacher, few countries offer as many possibilities as Spain. I personally met a 19 year old Irish girl who, with no secondary education or previous working experience, was making 1800 Euro a month, just teaching to the executive staff of a few local companies. Agriculture and the catering industry are also a constant source of lower-paid jobs.

   Other than that, you should take the precautions you would normally take in your own country, under the assurance that things such as general public services, the health system, children's education, criminality, the banking system, transport, telephone, or the performance of helpdesks and consumer-facing staff are very well above the current British standards. In fact, at 19,100 USD, the Spanish per-capita GDP is now 85% that of Britain, with some regions in the north surpassing the British average and standing on top of the poorest British regions. Looking at the Italian and Irish examples, and considering the growth differential of the last decade, one could assume that this gap will close in the coming years.

   That said, of course, one should still expect the problems and inconveniences any foreigner faces when moving to a different country, especially if their command of Spanish is not good.

   As a summary, I would advice to stay away from this book and spend your money somewhere else. In the preceding paragraphs you have already found more factual information than you will in its 185 pages. While xenophobic nationalists are always a species to be avoided, they're probably at their worst when they try to sell you "information" about one of the countries they despise.

No comments about Costa Blanca Mountain Walks: East (Cicerone International Walking).

No comments about Berlitz Guide Spain (Berlitz Pocket Guides).