Hmmm… that sounds like a title from a book… Anyway, we are on holiday on a small island near Ibiza, surrounded by white sandy beaches and swimming pool seas… Tomorrow we head for 5 days in the UK, from where we hope to upload the latest podcast (back in English again this time), and our whereabouts now will be fully revealed!
Right, back to the beach! Hasta luego!
By popular demand… Marina and Ben bring you a Notes from Spain podcast in Spanish. For all you non-Spanish speakers out there, don’t worry, we’ll be back in English again next time (in about ten days, when we’re back from our holidays…)
Show notes:
It’s very common for anyone who lives in Madrid and has enough money to have a house up in the hills to the north of Madrid, in the ‘Sierra’. Madrileños will always talk about ‘mi pueblo’, the village they usually retreat to at weekends. In the case of my in-laws, the exodus is more permanent in summer, when they move up there for the 3 hottest months of the year. Sierra temperatures are a few degrees cooler and the air is fresher.
When I first met my wife I found it hard to spend whole days up in the ‘pueblo’ – the constant barrage of high speed Spanish was exhausting, a headache-inducing, non-stop, high-level listening exam. But that was long ago, and long before I accepted the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” line of thought… So, once again, I’m joining the hoardes that take to the hills every weekend. Hasta luego!
P.S. (a lo mejor grabamos un podcast en español este fin de… )
31 Million tourists in Spain between January and July this year. No prizes for guessing what the country’s major industry is then… I wonder how that compares to France?
The photo at the top of the page is of a Moorish castle on the Almerian coast, in the Cabo de Gata National Park – one of the dryest, wildest, stoniest, most scorpion-infested and beautiful parts of the coast of Spain.
Show notes:
The podcasts are going to be carrying on, hopefull at a rate of about three or four per month minimum, but I’ve had positive responses to the idea of vidcasts (or vcasts or video casts – just what are they called?) So now my thoughts are, what to put in a vid cast? I was thinking of short snippets on aspects of Spanish life, not me in front of a camera with a microphone, but something visually impressive – which makes me wonder where the video comes in when a stills camera does that so well already? So, beyond a few thoughts of my own, I’d love to hear from anyone with ideas of what a Notes from Spain vidcast should consist of, and if you have any requests for the podcasts or the blog while we’re at it, then all are really welcome!
Leave comments on this post or email me if you prefer. And thanks in advance for any input!
Could it be true? Apparently showers are expected right about now in Madrid. I haven’t seen it rain properly (more than a few drops on about two occasions) for around 9 months. Sometimes it seems like it will never rain again.
And yet not once have we been told to ration our water. The council continues to wash the streets at night with thousands of litres of water, golf courses and sierra house owners keep pouring water onto their grass… even London has had to drop its water pressure this summer to avoid loosing too much precious water to leaks… But no one seems worried here. The resevoirs keep going down, more golf courses keep opening up (65 new ones are planned in Valenica by 2015, and this is a region threatened in the long term by desertification!)
Well, let’s see if it manages to rain – I hope so, it always makes me feel nostalgic for those rainy days in the UK…
Back after a trip to the Uk, wondering if video-casting might be a potentially interesting addition to the Notes From Spain set up… The podcasts will continue no matter what, but it’s only a matter of time until it’s just as feasible to download video as it is audio. So would anyone be interested in seeing the occasional bit of video footage of all things Spanish? I’m thinking outloud, but comments are welcome if you have any ideas… How to do it anyway? Must start investigating….
Today’s podcast comes from one of Madrid’s most curious attractions, the Teleferico…
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 