I received a message from our forum asking if I would post a request for help finding Madeleine McCann, abducted in the Algarve recently. This is obviously genuine and who knows, perhaps somehow this can help. Full information and numbers to call are available via this article here at sky news.
It’s been a while since the last Notes from Spain podcast, and Marina and I have spent the last few days in Andalusia remedying that, preparing some great podcasts for the coming weeks. First up is a real Notes from Spain chat in the style of the very first podcasts – and it’s hot off the press, recorded half an hour ago beneath the palms in a warm lively plaza in the heart of old Cadiz. We have also uploaded photos, and Cadiz tapas bar and hotel recommendations.
Yours,
El niño de Oxford 😉
South of Watford has filled an important gap in Wikipedia, providing an interesting history lesson.
Rod wonders why he feels more at home in Spain than at home in the UK.
The Guardian takes us from Ajo to Zamora.
Our sponsors, holidaysinspain.com are running a photo competition via Flickr with big hotel discounts for entrants and winners.
Dan needs help planning the perfect 30 day trip to Spain in the forums.
Amy reminds me of the terrible nervous tension one feels when on the verge of leaving everything behind for a new life in Spain. Pop over and wish her luck!
Question: do you find the weekly link round-up interesting/useful?
OOh, NFS has made it onto the Guardian Abroad lists, so if anyone has a minute to click on the box below (or follow this link) and and say something about NFS over there (“Review this blog”), that would be great!
Now this is much much more like it! Enough of all those strange-looking seafood tapas, give me a good old croqueta any day! Croquetas are made of a thick bechamel usually containing flecks of serrano ham (though chicken, fish and meat croquetas are also common), coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. They are a meal in themselves (if you eat enough of them of course), and though they are rarely handed over for free with drinks, a plate of half a dozen will cost around 7 to 10 euros in restaurants and bars.
Like many Spanish dishes, the croqueta was born out of necessity, when Spain was suffering one of many periods of hunger and resourceful cooks had to invent good food from very basic raw materials. So, here we have flour, milk, breadcrumbs, scraps of ham, and little else, all put together to wonderful effect. Stuck on a desert island with only one choice of Spanish tapas, the Croqueta would get my vote every time… which tapas would you pick?
First of all, many many apologies for the delay in answering the questions posted here on the site some time ago. We have decided that the best way to answer these questions, and get feedback from others, is to post them, along with our answers where possible, in the forums. If the format works, we’ll try it again on a regular basis. So, here are the questions, with links to the answers. Please do join in in the forums if you can help!
Brandon – I’m in my early twenties and planning to move to Spain within a year. I’d like to know what to expect as far as what people my age (22, college age, generally) do when they go out. I imagine it may not be a whole lot different from what people my age around the world do, but is there any of those "only in Spain†things that we talk about so often here? What’s a typical night out for a Madrid college student or twenty-something? Answers here
Can’t help it, I’m a sucker for clouds, and for desolate landscapes for that matter too, so this month’s NFS Flickr Group pic of the month award goes to Nodriman (Germán) with this stunning photo of an old military barracks near the sea, a few kilometers north of the city of Ciutadella in Menorca.
Menorca is a place I have yet to visit, and I suggest you take a minute to have a look at Nodriman’s other Menorca photos – mouthwatering stuff – have you ever seen sea that colour before?
This post is dedicated to my mother, Lou, who died on April 11th 2007 aged 63, and is pictured above in Codoba’s Mezquita, a place in Spain she dearly loved. My mother spent most or our childhood telling my sisters and I things like ‘How could you be bored on a day like this?’, ‘Get outside and enjoy all the beautiful things in the garden!’, and ‘stop moping, life’s too short!’ Every time a beautiful landscape was lit by a warm evening glow she would exclaim ‘Look at that wonderful light!’, so that now I can’t go anywhere at the beginning or end of the day without looking at how the changing angle of the sun causes everything it falls upon to change for the better. I know some people feel uncomfortable with posts like this, but it is simply to pass on these messages – never be bored on beautiful days, always look at the light, and, if in doubt, ‘just get out and do something!’ – a favourite piece of advice that worked pretty well for me, and, in case you’re wondering, has everything to do with Notes from Spain.
Luckily she is survived by a Ducati-driving inspiration of a father who rode a motorbike 2000 km across India with me last year and doubtless has many more such journeys ahead. Where next, Dad?
I just wanted to say a big front-page thank you to everyone who made it to Madrid last weekend for the Great Madrid Escape. 30 adventurous individuals from all over the world (as far afield as Sydney and L.A.!) were in town and, despite never having met, got on tremendously well.
Marina and I have never organised anything like this before and we were nervous all weekend that people might not enjoy the places we took them to. But of course everyone was in a buoyant holiday mood, the food and wine was up to scratch, and energy reserves were summoned by those who made it through to daily post 3 a.m. finishes.
Many people remarked that this would never have happened 5, even 10 years ago… the idea of 30 strangers who met ‘on-line’ getting together and meeting in person would, until recently, have just appeared plain wierd. But that is perhaps testament to how the net is changing the world. Geographically disparate people with shared interests get to know each other well enough on line to know that getting together in reality is going to be absolutely fine.
So, saludos to all of those brave enough to follow Marina and I around the restaurants, bars, and Metro stops of Madrid for the weekend. Thank goodness none of us had anything of value picked from our pockets, and hurray for the sunny weather. There will definitely be more of the same in the future, thanks again to everyone, and watch this space!
If so then forum-user Ozgur would love to meet up!
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 