Head over to the Notes from Spain forum to take part in the latest NFS photo quiz. There are 10 photos from all over Spain, can you name the location and answer the questions?
The photo above is from question 7: It’s the interior wall of a bar, which is located in the Spanish city in the photo. Can you name the city and the river? Good luck!
Frank Gehry has done it again, this time for La Rioja, building a 42 million euro Bilbao Guggenheim look-a-like for Spanish wine producer Marques de Riscal.
Vast purple and silver titanium wings shield the interior from the sun, hiding a 5 star hotel and wine spa (apparently you bathe in the stuff that gave you the hangover that sent you to the spa in the first place…) At anywhere between 300 and 1200 Euros a room, most of us will have to be content with seeing the complex from outside, or, that failing, on low quality youtube videos. So what do you think, a blot on the landscape, or genius contrast of old Spain and the new? More info over at Expatica.com.
Just a quick reminder that all of the Notes in Spanish podcasts are now over at NotesinSpanish.com. There’s a new advanced Spanish podcast out today, and the second intermediate Spanish podcast will follow hot on its heels tomorrow. ¡Hasta pronto!
It’s been a busy few weeks at NFS, not only have we moved all the Spanish podcasts over to Notes in Spanish.com, but we have finally launched the Notes in Spanish Intermediate Podcast! We have big plans for this new site, including great new features like the Spanish Phrase of the Week. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Whenever we make a Cuisine from Spain podcast I’m curious about whether the ingredients we use can be found elsewhere. One of our listeners, Jacqui Aitken, has come to the rescue of anyone living in London… (which has given me an idea…)
“During the podcast you asked whether people could get a hold of fresh pimientos del padron where they were in the world. I am sure you probably have had lots of replies but in London I have been able to buy them at a couple of stalls in Borough Market including Brindisa, and at J Garcia on Portobello Road. They do come sealed in plastic bags and are not cheap, but nice for a treat in between visits to Spain. I also have them often at La Rueda on Clapham High Street, the people who run it are from A Coruna so I guess it is their signature dish.”
Arturo Pérez-Reverte‘s famous series of books comes to the big screen in Spain. My sister-in-law’s verdict: a bit convoluted and not always easy to know what is going on… Oh well, if you like slightly confusing historical masterpieces, here’s one to watch out for!
Pérez-Reverte is however a fine author who loves tangling with Spain’s complicated historical past. If you want to check out one of his novels in translation, The Fencing Master, a tale of political intrigue and wonderful sword fights in 19th Century Madrid, is a great place to start.
While a few Spain bloggers have been kind enough to contribute to our Top 5 series, you lot have come up with some excellent alternatives in our forum competition. The brief was easy, just produce a Top 5 list connected in any way to Spain. And the winner is… Steve W with this excellent list:
Top 5 “only in Spain” moments:
1. Nine people in a hire car, bumping down a track to a beach bar at 4am.
2. Fireworks and marching bands at 8am for 7 days in a row.
3. 72 people injured in a bull running. “Same time tomorrow chaps?”
4. Kalimotxo – red wine and coke.
5. Brandy for breakfast before work.
It sums up all the madness, disregard for health and safety, and general predisposition to having a good time that we love so much about this country. What would you add to this list?
Thanks go to all the other excellent entries, in no particular order (and I hope I have you all!):
Top Five best mistakes made by my Spanish students, by Barca
Top Five strange but true vignettes of Spanish life, by Barca
Top Five best times of the year, by Greytop
Top Five Significant Spaniards, by Marbella
Top Five Things a Spaniard would never say, by Marbella
Top Five Podcasts from Spain, by Valenciason
Top Five Tourist Activities in Spain, by Valenciason
Thanks to all of you. Steve W wins a Notes from Spain T-Shirt… but will have to be patient as they are still in the design phase!
See you in the forum…
We have decided to launch the NFS Newsletter so that you can keep abreast of what’s new at Notes from Spain! We hope to publish this once a month, and include news about the site, highlights from the month gone by and the month ahead, and hopefully there will be a monthly competition in the pipeline!
The first newsletter will be out at the beginning of September, and will include great news about changes to the Notes in Spanish podcast (all good, don’t worry!)
To subscribe, just enter your e-mail address in the form at the bottom of the left-hand column of this page. Your details will be kept totally private, and you can unsubscribe at any time. And if you have any ideas about what you’d like to see in the NFS newsletter, let us know below!
For those of you that remember the India trip I did in February, I have a photo feature on Lonely Planet – it’s on the front page today, but if its gone by the time you see this, then there is also a direct link. Did you ever hear the podcast?
This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of the best independent travel blogs on the web. Check out some of this week’s headlines from other travel blogs in the network:
The Land of King Krak (Travel Blogs)
London: Mad for the Soccer Wives (Shortcut)
Fog City Survival Kit (Womantraveler)
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 