EasyJet Summer Giveaway

Summer madness is here again and easyjet has started it with a bang! Grab your summer seats to sunny climes. Easyjet are literally giving away 6 million seats from as little as £23.99 inc. taxes for travel between 18 May until 30 September 2011. Don't miss out on this opportunity - book your seats today!

Nerja Town Hall provides tourist information pack via bluetooth technology.

Nerja Town Hall has just initiated a new and interesting project that provides tourists and the general public with an ingenious way of accessing important town and tourist information at any time of day using any mobile device equipped with bluetooth technology. The information on offer is free to download and consists of a special package of audio guides and information packs that can be downloaded onto one's mobile phone, iPad or other portable device. The information remains installed on the device and can be accessed by the user as often as necessary. The package includes information on various walking itineraries around the town together with audio and graphic information, places of interest, important telephone numbers and a map of the town. The package can be downloaded at the information desk in the tourist office - or even from outside when the office is closed. At the tourist office there are instructions on how to download and install.

Late offer on the villa for September and October

Special late offer for the villa from 28 September - 15 October 2010 - now available for 395 euros/week. Book for the full 2 weeks and we'll include hotel vouchers valid for two nights/person for a four person booking (8 vouchers), and three vouchers valid for three nights/person for a two person booking (6 vouchers). The vouchers give you smashingly reduced rates at a very wide choice of city hotels and rural inns throughout Andalucia. A great opportunity to get out and see more of Andalucia while you are here! Enquiries can be made through the website.

Cheap Flight Sales from bmibaby

Came across this one by accident today: bmibaby now have a special offer on flights until 6 March 2011 to 34 European destinations from 9 UK airports. For September and October you can also get flights from just £19,95! It includes some taxes and charges. Watch out for any extra charges before making your booking.

Con artists from "the gas company"

I see in the newspapers and magazines that there are people in Nerja who are still being conned by "the gas company." Now people, listen up. Someone will come knocking on your door unannounced claiming to be from "the gas company" and that they have come to do the compulsory check on the gas instalation in your house. –RING RING- Alarm bells should be clanging here! Always beware of unsolicited visits from anyone to your home, and yes, that includes emails into your inbox from Mustafa Alfa Makamba who desperately needs your help to get $US55 million out of the country.

These guys are conmen, OK? Pure and simple. They will try to trick you with their smooth talk, come into your home and pretend to service your gas lines and system. Once finished, they may claim to have carried out additional work, such as repair a cracked gas line or dysfunctional regulator and then hit you with a heart-breaking bill justifying all their extremely hard work and meticulous eye for detail. Some people have been conned of 400 euros or more after falling for their enchanting fairytales and fables. Bear in mind that although the con is based on a "fake gas service",  the ever greater danger is that once in the home of an elderly lady living on her own, for example,  they may be tempted by the circumstances to take more than just 400 euros.

Now listen up good! The law says that you must carry out a revision of your gas installation every five years but only with the company of your choice and only after you have made an appointment with them first, either by paying them a personal visit or by making the appointment by telephone. The service costs 50 euros and includes a free replacement rubber gas line. Of course, any extra servicing requirements encountered by the serviceman will be discussed before carrying out the work. In Nerja there are two companies legally certified to carry out this work. They are:

Garcia y Hijos (Repsol - orange bottles)

Calle Prolongacion Antonio Millon

Edificio Penafiel

Nerja

Tel. 952 524 195

Servigas (Cepsa – silver bottles)

Calle Ruperto Anduez 13

Nerja

Tel. 952 521 593

Septic tank vent filter

Hurrah! I finally found a way of resolving one really important issue I was having with the septic tank which was giving off a smell through the vent, naturally. Although the vent is a necessary component for the proper functioning of the system, I didn't think that having to put up with the smell was either normal or acceptable. Besides, guests were making discreet little comments so I was quite embarrassed and compelled to solving the problem no matter what. Even though I had been to many different suppliers and bought different septic tank products, consulted with civil engineers, consulted with a septic tank cleaning company, discussed the problem with the builder and the architect - I even got the manufacturer of the tank to travel 266 kms from Sevilla to come and have a look at it - not one of them could tell me how to get rid of the smell. Not one of the morons had the intuition to think of the matter at hand and come up with a solution. They all said that the smell is a normal consequence of the working of the system and that one would always get some smell; one could never achieve a complete "no smeller". Yes ok, fair enough, bla bla bla bla bla. But think outside of the box God damnit! Damn all of you mindless robots to burning hell!!  Ok, the smell in itself may be considered a technical normality, but not on my patio!! And you call yourselves professionals with suitable qualifications, training and with years of experience in the field? What a joke.

So I thought to myself, this is not normal. This can't be normal. I can't be the only person inflicted with this problem. Surely, there must be hundreds, thousands even, of other people with septic tanks suffering under similar circumstances all over Frigiliana, Spain or even the entire world!! Subsequently, I managed to convince myself that I am not a stupid, mindless cretinous idiot and that I do have a normally functioning brain capable of thought, reason and common sense. So, knowing nothing of the subject, I got on the internet and started to investigate and soon discovered with ecstatic joy that there was indeed a beautiful and undiscovered world of people with septic tank vent smelling problems and, what was even more joyous, I discovered yet another and even more beautiful world of people who actually dedicate their working lives to solving the problems of the other people from the "septic tank vent smelling problems" world. Absolutely amazing. I am still in a state of petrified shock.

So I investigated this new world and enlightened myself to the truths and the lies, the facts and the misconceptions, the intelligent human beings in this world who have a brain and know how to use it to the best of their God given ability and the stupid, mindless cretinous idiots who don't. Amazingly, I discovered that there is a thing called a septic tank vent filter specifically designed for filtering the odours that emanate from the vent. The only problem was that the cheapest one I could find on the internet was for $US56 + postage. Incredibly, there were others for $US265!! and had the latest advancements in septic tank odour technology, materials and design!! OMG!! I thought, these Yanks take their septic tank odour problems more seriously than a prenuptial agreement! Crikey! God bless their materialistic, capitalistic and marketing-driven little hearts.

Daunted by the exorbitant prices and unable to find a vent filter cheaply and quickly, I thought, "Golly! Jumping junipers! Ah thank ah'll sit ma pertty liddle butt down raght over here like this and ah'll jus,.. well,... well, with these here hands and these here tools, ah thank ah'll jus make one maself." And that's exactly what I did, costing me about 12 euros. And it works a treat.

Frigiliana Festival of Three Cultures

This emblematic festival is back again for a fifth year, and it just keeps getting bigger and better! The festival starts on Thursday 26 August and ends on Sunday 29 August 2010 and attempts to showcase Frigiliana, giving an insight into its historical past, culture and people within the context of the three religions or "cultures", namely the Arabs, Jews and Christians who all lived together at one time in this quaint little village. 

The festival offers a wide variety of entertainment for all ages. The organisers have created an interesting programme of high profile music acts, lectures and workshops on issues of the three cultures, expositions, gastronomic events and a sampling of the cuisine through a specially organised gastronomic route known as Ruta de la Tapa or "food crawl" in selected bars throughout the village. On the agenda also are musical parades, juggling, fakir, belly dancing, childrens' activities encompassing traditional games, story telling, childrens' theatre and puppet shows. There is also a "three cultures" market with individual market stalls where one may find many different and original products.


For more information (Spanish only), visit the website of the Frigiliana Festival of Three Cultures:  http://www.festivalfrigiliana3culturas.net

Special Autumn Offer

frigilianaholidayrentals.com is now offering a fantastic opportunity for guests to the villa to go on a short break and explore a little more of Andalucía while on holiday in Spain.

For bookings of two or three weeks made for two people between 1 September – 31 December 2010 and booked through the website, we will include up to two hotel vouchers (1 voucher valid per night for two people) which will entitle you to choose from a very wide variety of hotels in Andalucía, in both rural and city locations at hugely discounted rates. For bookings of four people, we will include four hotel vouchers.

Take advantage of this great opportunity to take off for a few days to explore Granada. Visit the famous Alhambra Palace and the fascinating Albaicín, the Moorish quarter of Granada, dating from the 13th century and positioned on the hill facing the Alhambra. Or spend two romantic nights in Sevilla, the capital of Andalucía, where you can visit the Seville Cathedral, La Giralda, Real Alcázar, Plaza de España, Archivo de Las Indias, La Torre de Oro and many more!

There are also many pretty and interesting rural locations and natural parks worth exploring. The Grazalema area in the province of Cádiz, the countryside around Ronda, not to mention Ronda itself, the Doñana national park, Las Alpujarras in Granada are just a few well worth exploring.

Not only that, if you refer a friend who books with us, we will give you a 10% discount on your villa booking.

So take advantage of this unique opportunity to venture out for a few days to see a bit more of what the Costa del Sol, inland Andalucía and its fascinating cities and counrtyside have to offer. Please enquire for more details.