Author: Ben

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notes

Join the Notes from Spain Flickr Group

In a response to a question on how to post photos in our new forum, I have set up a Flickr group for Notes from Spain. This is a place to share your images of Spain with us and the rest of the web, so do please join in and add some images to the group. I’ll post the best picture (in my humble opinion -or maybe I’ll work out a way we can all vote) at the end of every month here on the blog, perhaps we can even get a competition for the best ever going later on in the year.

You will need a flickr account, which is free and easy to sign up for.

This also provides a great way of adding photos to your posts in the ‘Your Notes from Spain‘ section of the forum, that we really hope you’ll use to tell us about your experiences of Spain.

P.S. Resident ex-pats welcome too!

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notes

Amateur India Traveler Interview

Thanks to Chris at the Amateur Traveler podcast for deeming me interviewable! You can hear me talking to him about the India trip in last Sunday’s episode here. AT is a great podcast with travel news and views from around the world.

Hopefully the next Notes from Spain will be out tomorrow, sorry for the wait! Meanwhile we’ve uploaded a new Notes in Spanish podcast en español, claro.

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Film Spain Books

El Lobo

  Eduardo Noriega stars in this gripping true-story film about a police informant that infiltrates ETA and helps the police achieve one of their most important historical attacks on the group’s internal structure. Action packed, moving, passionate, (with the obligatory doses of highly-charged sex that few Spanish films go without…) Highly recommended if you like a bit of historical political intrigue.
Pick up a copy at:
Amazon.com (USA)
 
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Cuisine from Spain Podcast Spanish Food and Drink

Cuisine from Spain – New Podcast no. 1 – Pantumaca and Olive Oil


[Download MP3]

Welcome to the first podcast from Cuisine from Spain. In this edition we talk about olive oil, we taste different types (Arbequino, Hojiblanca and Picual) and also prepare Pantumaca, which is a very simple and delicious recipe.

Pantumaca’s ingredients are:

Rustic bread (white flour and rye)

2 garlic cloves

2 or 3 very ripe tomatos

Extra virgin olive oil

Cut a garlic clove in half and rub the open side against the toasted bread, then do the same with one of the tomatoes, until some of the pulp and juices have soaked in. Then drizzle on the olive oil. This can also be eaten with other ingredients on top such as Manchego cheese, Iberico ham or smoked Salmon.

Olive oil and traveling:

On the roads of Southern Spain, mainly Andalucia, Castilla la Mancha and Extremadura, you get endless rolling hills full of olive trees. If you like the idea, I would recommend either visiting Jaen province (which is said to have as many olive trees as the whole of Italy) or Cordoba. Another great way to enjoy the olive tree fields is taking the fast train (AVE – http://www.renfe.es/ave) from Madrid down to Cordoba or Seville during the day time, it has breathtaking views!

Related forum topic: Is extra-virgen olive oil too expensive for everyday use?

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notes

Welcome to New York Times readers!

Notes from Spain received a small mention today in the New York Times ‘Spring Travel’ magazine (also on-line, see ‘Pod Potatoes’ half-way down this page).

If you have just checked out Notes from Spain for the first time as a result, then welcome! You can find a list of previous episodes here, or ask any questions you like about podcasting or Spain in our forum.

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notes

Our new Cuisine podcast is out …

There’s a brand new Spanish cuisine podcast from Marina over at our sister site cuisinefromspain.com.

And don’t forget to join the all new Notes from Spain community forum (read about it in the post below!) 🙂

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notes

New! The Notes from Spain Forum

We thought it was about time to start a Notes from Spain community forum, to share all our (and your!) thoughts and questions on Spain. The idea is to make a wealth of information easy to find, searchable, and above all, open to input from all you other ‘Spainophiles’ out there on the net.

We really hope you’ll use it to put questions on Spain to us and the community, to share YOUR travel notes from Spain, to comment on Marina’s cuisine, and praticar tu español!

Head on over and check it out, and don’t forget to pop in from time to time to see what’s going on! (Remember to register in order to post and reply.)

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Film Spain Books

The Motorcycle Diaries

Not directly about Spain, but certainly in Spanish and more than worthy of a mention here. The Motorcycle Diaries is the wonderful tale of the transformation of Ernest Guevara, the young, ambitious doctor specialising in Leprosy, into the inimitable Che of Cuban fame. Crossing South America from bottom to top on a classic Norton motorcycle with his friend, Alberto Granado, the scenes of social injustice he witnesses effect profound changes on his character.

This is a deeply inspiring film (you’ll either feel like changing the world, or traveling it on a motorbike by the end), with fine acting from the two protagonists, and stellar appearances from the stunning South American landscapes.

Pick up a copy at:
Amazon.co.uk (Europe) / Amazon.com (USA)

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notes

Books on Spain is back

We have finally got round to a complete overhaul of booksonspain.com – about time too!

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notes

A favour: anyone read my book?

Having paid 30 bucks to get my book, Errant in Iberia, listed on Amazon.com, it would be really useful for it to have a review. I could take the sneaky route and write one myself under a pseudonym, but I think that would be kind of dishonest… So, if any of you have actually read it, would you mind taking 2 minutes to add a quick review to the amazon.com site? Click here to get to the page.

Many many thanks in advance, Ben