Blogs from Spain, Europe - page 1094

From Cordoba we caught another fast train to Madrid where we stayed for 5 days. The fast train really is the way to go; although relatively expensive it took just under 2 hours to cover the 420 kilometres. From the main train station it was then only 2 short metro rides to our hotel, which was reasonably well located near the centre of the main shopping streets, and not far from a number of the major sights of the city. Madrid had less appeal to us compared to other parts of Spain and other cities in Europe. It was big and dirty and very, very crowded. We didn’t feel very safe walking around. The pedestrianised shopping streets that ran from the Grand Via (one of the major roads through the city) to the Plaza del Sol, ... read more

Ik ben nu toch al een maand in Granada en uiteindelijk ben ik erin geslaagd om op het snelle internet van de univ te geraken. Hopelijk heb ik binnenkort (voordat ik terugkeer naar België) ook snel en stabiel internet op mijn kot. Deze blog zal ik gebruiken om gemakkelijk iedereen mee te delen wat er hier allemaal gebeurt in Granada. Gewoon simpelweg dit adres in je favorieten zetten : www.travelblog.org/bloggers/viegie. Ik denk dat ge u hier ook ergens kunt inschrijven op mijn blog. Zo krijgt ge een mailtje wanneer ik iets nieuw op mijn blog heb gezet. Mijn foto's zijn te bewonderen op: picasaweb.google.be/VieGielicious. Als er nieuwe op staan laat ik wel iets weten via mijn blog. Voilà, nu gaan jullie waarschijnlijk iets meer van mij horen! ... read more

Ola Bo & Dud, We’re back in Spain - and staying just outside of a most unusual town, El Rocio. We were told about ‘horse town’ but the description didn’t do it justice. We’ve just never seen anything like it and never imagined that such a place could exist outside a 1950’s Wild West film. All the houses, bars and shops have hitching posts outside for horses. There are no roads or pavements - it’s all sand - so no paths, road markings or signage. When taking the car into the town, it’s a case of ‘chicken’ when you come to a cross roads. Thankfully there were very few cars but there were lots of horses with riders, wagons being pulled by horses and a mule train!!!! I find crossing roads difficult at the best of ... read more

Looks like I’m due for an update. Things have been pretty, well, relaxed as usual. It was nice to come back to my casita here in Segovia after a whirlwind trip to Greece. In Segovia I’ve just been going to school, and talking, talking, talking as much as I can. I’ve met a lot of Spaniards with whom I spend a lot of time chatting in cafés and going out to the bars. Of course I spend time with Iñigo when he comes here or I go to Madrid. At this point I feel like the language is really clicking: I’m using more complex structures, picking up vocabulary, and thinking in Spanish rather than translating. Last weekend I went to La Granja with my program. It’s a little town not far from Segovia that is renowned ... read more

I figured it was about time I contributed an entry about Spanish Cuisine. Im sure some of you know that the food here is quite famous for it´s....well savouryness (is that a word?) and variety. The quality and quantity changes a lot depending on where you are in Spain. For example, in the South being as how there is a lot of ocean, there is quite a bit of seafood. Fried Calamaris (squid) Merluza (hake) Mejillones (clams) the Andaluzes have it all. If you go to Sevilla, Granada or Cadíz make sure to try the Jeréz (sherry, it comes from that region) and the Manzanilla (a delicious light wine). In the Basque country there are some of the finest chefs in the country. This accounts for the fact that the majority of world famous Spanish chefs ... read more