'Culture is not your friend'
Living in Granada, with its attendant places of interest, I’ve never had much time for the throngs of visitors who flock to its world...
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- Jul 18, 2016
- 2 min
Orkney, Where History Lives
Saint Magnus cathedral set a tone for my visit to the Orkneys. There was an absence of that grandeur one feels in more traditional larger...
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- Jul 15, 2016
- 3 min
To the ends of the Earth
Every inch forward I moved from the Cromarty Firth took me further north than I’ve ever been before in my life. John O’Groats was one of...
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- Jul 14, 2016
- 1 min
Photographs - Scotland trip
Photos of my Scotland trip - Glasgow, Skye, Orkney, Inverness, Moffat are available at my Facebook art page. Click here to see them.
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- Jul 14, 2016
- 2 min
Skye - Reflections
It was with great anticipation that I steered my car over the Skye road bridge and into Kyleakin. The last time I’d visited I’d been a...
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- Jul 13, 2016
- 2 min
Over the Sea to Skye
Barely a week has passed since I left Cádiz and I’ve had precious little time to process the events of my Spanish travels. After spending...
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- Jul 5, 2016
- 4 min
Notes for the Discerning Traveller in Spain
desplazarse por español 1. On long bus journeys avoid sitting in a front seat where you have a full view of the driver. I sat in the...
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- Jul 4, 2016
- 3 min
El Fin
scroll down for English Me sentí mal por Sevilla. Hay tanto a apreciar en la ciudad, además de la estupenda catedral, pero simplemente no...
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- Jul 3, 2016
- 4 min
Los Locos de Sevilla
Scroll down for English El tamaño no lo es todo. Excepto, tal vez cuando se trata de catedrales. El tamaño es más o menos de punto con...
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- Jul 2, 2016
- 2 min
Cáceres
Scroll down for English Eso, fue Cáceres. Es una ciudad relativamente pequeña, pero está lleno de cosas interesantes y me gustó mucho....
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- Jul 2, 2016
- 1 min
Photographs
Photographs of the tour can be viewed in full at The Art of Derek Dohren Facebook page.
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- Jun 30, 2016
- 4 min
Viajando hacia el sur
Scroll down for English El viaje de autobús de ayer de Oviedo a Salamanca era una prueba de resistencia para decir lo menos. Puntuado por...
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- Jun 29, 2016
- 1 min
Oviedo
desplazarse a español I didn’t see the best of Oviedo. I was exhausted when I arrived so decided to use my time here to recharge the...
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- Jun 28, 2016
- 4 min
Bilbao y Pais Vasco, adios
desplazarse a español I don’t know what will happen to me in the future but I hope to cross paths once more with Pais Vasco. Bilbao was a...
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- Jun 26, 2016
- 3 min
San Sebastian
desplazarse a español I’m in a country within a country. There is a clear feeling of having crossed a border into another realm even...
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- Jun 25, 2016
- 1 min
Photos part 1
More images can be seen at my Facebook page - The Art of Derek Dohren
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- Jun 25, 2016
- 4 min
Day 5: Tarragona to San Sebastian
desplazarse a español I’ve become one of those annoying people on trains. No, not the type who yells into his mobile phone for 45...
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- Jun 24, 2016
- 1 min
Tarragona
desplazarse a español I checked into the wrong hotel by mistake yet the receptionist booked me in, having seemingly confirmed my booking...
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- Jun 23, 2016
- 5 min
Valencia
desplazarse a español At the charismatic yet slightly menacing Mestalla stadium I can’t imagine there are many better ways for the first...
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- Jun 22, 2016
- 3 min
Cartagena a Valencia: "A game of two halves, Jeff."
“Un juego de dos mitades, Jeff.” (referencia a futbol Inglés) desplazarse a español So that was Cartagena then. I’m left with mixed...
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- Jun 21, 2016
- 5 min
Granada a Cartagena: The Importance of Language Learning
la importancia del aprendizaje de idiomas desplazarse a español One of our teachers at school, Mr O’leary, loved to tell us how his...
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- Jun 19, 2016
- 2 min
Time to recharge - Tiempo de recarga
desplazarse a español It's been a while. I see my last blog entry goes back a few years. It's time to blow away the cobwebs and get...
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- Aug 14, 2013
- 4 min
Robots are Rubbish, and other stuff.
As the ice caps melt, sea levels rise, and much of the planet's flaura and fauna hurtle towards extinction it seems only the relentless...
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- Jul 9, 2012
- 1 min
1,114 and counting
Tonight, in a bar in La Zubia, I shall impart my 1,114th English class. That means that in little under two and a half years I have...
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- Apr 4, 2012
- 9 min
Barcelona
an extract from my forthcoming book, 'The Cats of the River Darro' Dead? Dead at fifty? I can't believe it. It's not fair! Why's it not...
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- Dec 17, 2011
- 3 min
Time Machine
If you could have a shot in a time machine, what year would you travel to and where would you go? It's a question I sometimes ask my...
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- Nov 17, 2011
- 4 min
The Girl Who Is Isabel
I used to teach a girl named Isabel. One day, shortly after we'd finished our series of classes, she got onto my bus but it turned out...
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- Oct 11, 2011
- 4 min
Reel Around the Fountain
One of my pivotal reference points of the 1980s is The Smiths' song Reel Around the Fountain. That's what was playing in the car when we...
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- Aug 14, 2011
- 1 min
The Cats of the River Darro
The cats of the River Darro see From ancient banks that lie The passing of humanity Alhambra’s glassy eye Politicos in corrupted deals...
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- Aug 13, 2011
- 1 min
The Cats of the River Darro
The cats of the River Darro see From ancient banks that lie The passing of humanity Alhambra’s glassy eye Politicos in corrupted deals...
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- Aug 9, 2011
- 5 min
The Year of the Rabbit
Ok, so this is my idea, right. You know the way everyone’s getting really fat? Are they? Yes you know, in general, people are getting...
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- Jul 23, 2011
- 2 min
Waiting for the Spring
July’s a horrible month in Granada. The sun beats down mercilessly from dawn til dusk and if you happen to allow yourself to get caught...
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- Jul 1, 2011
- 3 min
Happy New Half Year
The wheel of change has spun once more for me here in Granada and as usual I’m left trying to make some sense of passing events. It’s not...
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- Jun 14, 2011
- 2 min
The Executive's Speech
I recently watched the Oscar winning The King’s Speech. For a story with such a thin plot, little or no action, and grating upper class...
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- Jun 2, 2011
- 2 min
Wonderful Life
Have you ever seen the classic Jimmy Stewart movie It’s a Wonderful Life? No, you haven’t? Oh, ok then. Well, anyway, Stewart plays a...
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- May 31, 2011
- 4 min
Driving Golf Balls Over Lemon Trees
The moment she saw the tiny plot of land Persephone loved it and I knew immediately we had found our new home. We flew back to England...
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- May 26, 2011
- 2 min
Where the streets are paved with gold
It’s odd. I now have more luggage carrying capacity than I have actual luggage. My meagre worldly possessions consist of, amongst other...
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- May 20, 2011
- 2 min
50 Not Out
On the face of it things are pretty grim. I’ve turned 50, am divorced, homeless, jobless and bankrupt and find myself living in a foreign...
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- May 17, 2011
- 2 min
La Cukaracha
Cockroaches can live for ages after their heads have been cut off. They only die because they eventually starve. They can also survive...
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- May 16, 2011
- 3 min
Azerbaijan 1 Europe 0
I plugged the telly in and watched the Eurovision Song Contest last Saturday night. It’s only occurred to me in the days since to wonder...
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- May 10, 2011
- 4 min
Slaying Dragons
‘Teenagers’; a word to strike fear into the heart of most EFL teachers, most certainly this one. Now, I admit, there’s a huge difference...
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- Apr 9, 2011
- 5 min
Gaia
Stardust. The beginning and the end. Of you and me. Being something. Flung with absoluteness. Outwards. Stardust. Exploding outwards....
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- Apr 9, 2011
- 2 min
a grain of sand on a beach
A grain of sand on a beach. A beach on a coastline, with many other beaches. The coastline of a nation, spreading many miles in all...
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- Oct 14, 2010
- 1 min
October 14th Mostly
The suicide of ecstasy a pool ball on the floor in a bottle, craves a fantasy no harm to have one more dignity is lost amidst the macho...
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- Oct 8, 2010
- 2 min
The bars of La Zubia
According to wikipedia there are 67 bars in La Zubia. Not bad for a town with a population of 17,000. That means there is a bar for...
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- Oct 6, 2010
- 1 min
October 6th - One Day in the Tense Present
at once I see it now in the trees of my woods but my wings refuse to fly and still you hang around my neck a necktie that will strangle...
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- Sep 27, 2010
- 1 min
The Granada Insider
Site update: the Granada Insider Articles is a new page containing links to articles I've written for the monthly magazine here in Granada.
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- Sep 21, 2010
- 1 min
Intercambio
I was taken to task by one of my intercambio partners last week over the British person's over-use of his/her pleases and thank yous....
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- Aug 30, 2010
- 3 min
Andalucian Life
As the 7th month of my arrival arrives and duly passes I thought it a good time to post some reflections: Top thirteen things about...
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