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Ben and Marina sit in Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente discussing Easter celebrations, life in the UK, and Fiestas in Madrid.

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:

Ashland Oregon’s Shakespeare Festival (Amateur Traveler Podcast)
So Close, Yet So Far: Let Me Pass Through CDG, S’il Vous Plait (Travel Blogs)
The Burma Road (TravelBlogger.net)
Amsterdam: Happy Birthday Rembrandt (Shortcut)
Cuisine from Spain – Garlic Prawns (Notes from Spain)
Nevada Petroglyph Tours (Triptock)
From a Remote Location of the Southern Hemisphere (Jet Set Lara)
The 1906 San Francisco Quake, Virtually (Womantraveler)
Yankee Stadium primer (NewYorkology)

El Mundo has a great photo feature on Easter celebrations in Spain. Makes you realise just how bizarre the Spanish are sometimes!

What is the most beautiful word in the Spanish language? That is the question being asked by the Escuela de Escritores (Writer’s School) this month, and so far they’ve got some pretty top level answers. Jose Bono, the Minister of Defense, chose ‘madre’ (a very Spanish response), and President ZP went for ‘generosidad’, because ‘generosity is the word that makes us most human. Being human means giving in order to receive.’

You too can participate, but make sure you head over to the forum afterwards and tell us which words you plumped for.

I’ve managed to get the books and films transferred over to this site at last (thanks to a few days off in the UK). Click here to see the selection. It will grow as the months go by, but we’d love to know if you have any recommendations. Head over to the forum and tell us about your favourite books and films on Spain.

Well, a trip to the local supermarket soon showed us just what you guys are up against when it comes to quick tapas fixes over here in the UK. ‘Microwave Chorizo Balls’? They didn’t look too appealing. Over three pounds sterling for a few stuffed olives? Well, at least they threw in a tiny earthenware dish for free.

Unperturbed we decided to buy a fish, sea bass, to recreate Marina’s recent podcast for my family. Trying to explain how to open it out, so that we could cook it on its back, drew a look of baffled bewilderment from the lady at the fish counter. ‘Just gut it’, we said. Then she lopped off the head, sacrilege in a Spanish supermarket, but understandable in squeamish Britain I suppose.

Still, for an ex-pat back home for a few days, there are wonderous things to be found in the local Waitrose. Thai green curry, Indian korma, good old British sausages. The Spanish selection may not have been up to much, but you can’t beat a British supermarket when it comes to oven-ready world cuisine.

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Ingredients (A tapa for 4)

350 gr. of prawns
4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1/2 small chilli sliced in little rings
10 table spoons olive oil

Gambas al ajillo – Garlic Prawns

Preparation

For fresh prawns, peel carefully so they don’t break. With frozen prawns, defrost thoroughly before cooking.

Put the oil in a small earthenware dish (e.g. 6″ diameter) or a small frying pan (TIP – the oil should cover the prawns, so it is better to use a small frying pan – then you don’t need to use so much oil).

Once the oil is smoking, add the garlic slices and wait until they start to brown, then add the chilli rings and the prawns. As the oil is very hot, they cook pretty quickly so turn them round and remove the frying pan from the heat. This process should not take more than 1 minute, especially if you are using an earthenware dish, which keeps the heat for a long time (meaning that they continue to cook for a while after you remove the dish from the heat). Cover them with a plate till you reach the table and serve immediately.

Navajas – Razor Shells

The latest tactic to avoid deaths on the roads this Easter is direct, to say the least. A TV ad. shows an operator in a cubicle phoning random numbers and asking the person on the other end if they are planning to use the car this Easter. ‘And do you think you are going to die on the road?’ she goes on to ask…

105 people did die in 88 accidents over the same period last year, and with over 15 million journeys expected over the next 10 days, the government isn’t optimistic.

So is it safe to drive on the roads in Spain? The answer is yes, but if you are of a nervous disposition, try to avoid night driving, bank holidays and weekends… better still, take the train.

Notes from Spain 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…

New Orleans to Host French Quarter Festival (TripTock)
Chocoholics by the Bay (Woman Traveler)
Episode 36 – Egypt (Amateur Traveler Podcast)
Bergamo, a City of Surprises (Travel Blogs)
Copenhagen: Madonna plays where? (Shortcut)
The view from historic Olana in Hudson River Valley (NewYorkology)