Well, I have done another map (my country ) with Local Search box ( search inside the map, then center and zoom).
http://gmaps.zxq.net/spain.html
It's very easy to change the code ;for another country. Only change Latitude-Longitude: map.setCenter(new GLatLng(40.50,-3.00), 6)
And you can use the web desktop applet to have direct access.

microsoft VE (labels) for roads/street names, in Spain is no very god