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Ben and Marina take a trip to the wonderful Alpujarra mountains south of Granada. We talk to Arpi and Fred Shively – check out Arpi’s blog Andalucid, and Fred’s photos on Flickr.

The image above (large version) is of the view from the track up to the O Sel Ling Buddhist retreat. For more photos that accompany this podcast, click here.

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Lessons learned living in Spain… and questions for you: What did you last learn? What was the motivation? What did it lead to?

Answers below or in the show’s forum post!

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Retro-casting from our terrace, Ben talks about honesty in bars, gypsies, knickers factories, and the future of tourism in Spain.

Relevant links:

• BBC news on the closure of the Delphi car parts plant in Cadiz
• The closure of the knickers factory in Ronda (La Fabrica de las Bragas) harks back to the wonderful Jamon Jamon
• La costa española es un lugar ideal para venir a morir: Houellebecq on the death of tourism in Spain, in El Pais
• Discuss the last point, on the future of tourism in Spain, in our forum

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Ryan from catavino.net (best Spanish wine info on the net!) thought we might like to spend a day wandering around a vinyard and tasting wine… he was right!

Check out the podcast, and if you would like to visit the abbey and vinyard, full details are available at the Abadia Retuerta website (they also have a wine blog!) Check out more of our photos from the trip here, and view the map below to find out where to locate Sardon del Duero (the vinyard is just to the east of Sardon on the main road – click on the blue marker and use the controls to enlarge). Cheers!

View Larger Map

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Marina and I traveled down to Cordoba in May to check out the famous Patios and Rejas competition, when courtyards and windows all over the city are decorated with incredible floral displays.

Further info:

More photos from our trip (flowers galore!) over at Flickr.

Want to make your own salmorejo? Check out our salmorejo recipe and podcast.

We stayed at the simple, and highly recommendable Hotel Marisa and ate and drank wonderful things at Bar Santos, at Magistral Gonzalez Francés 3.

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Ben and Marina chat to Jamie about an interesting way of spending a few months in Spain.

You can read about Jamie’s time in Madrid and subsequent travels on his blog. The organisations he mentions in the podcast are: Twin Work and Volunteer Abroad – the organisation in the UK that helped Jamie find the family placement, and RCI – their sister organisation in Spain – who helped enormously during the ups and downs.

You can talk about this episode, and ask Jamie questions, in this thread in the forum.

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The image above perfectly sums up the horse fair in Jerez: proud men on beautiful horses, huge barrels of Fino wine, and attractive Andalusian women in wild Sevillanas dresses…

Listen to the podcast, see all the photos in Flickr and check out the short video below…

The Feria de Caballos in Jerez (map) takes place every year at the beginning of May. We found details of exact dates at Andalucia.org
. You can also see a Spanish video blog from the event here.

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It’s been a while since the last Notes from Spain podcast, and Marina and I have spent the last few days in Andalusia remedying that, preparing some great podcasts for the coming weeks. First up is a real Notes from Spain chat in the style of the very first podcasts – and it’s hot off the press, recorded half an hour ago beneath the palms in a warm lively plaza in the heart of old Cadiz. We have also uploaded photos, and Cadiz tapas bar and hotel recommendations.

Yours,

El niño de Oxford

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Recovering from just one day at Las Fallas this year means that is has taken me nearly 5 days to get this podcast, video, photos etc together. I highly recommend listening to the podcast before you watch the video below, but that may be just a personal preference – I always find it better to let audio work on the imagination before seeing the real thing!

Bits and bobs:

More Fallas photos can be found in our Flickr set

31 dogs go missing (Spanish article) in Las Fallas, scared out of their wits by endless explosions!

Spartan edge has some more great photos and a video of a buning Falla.

Wikipedia has more on the history of the event.

Come and join the discussion in our forum!

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Ben and Marina talk to Scott and Sheryl who gave up everything for a year on the road, and have just spent two months in Andalusia. To follow them as they continue on their adventures check out the great posts and podcasts at ayearineurope.com, and Scott’s photos on Flickr. The image above comes from Scott’s La Cartuja Flickr set, taken at the semi-abandoned Seville Expo site we discuss on the podcast. Would you consider giving up everything to make a trip like this? Let us know in the forum or comments below…

Scott also came up with an entry for our 500 things competition (keep the entries coming in!):

La Mesquita in the Morning

Experiencing one of the jewels of Mudejar Andalucia is something you’ll never forget. Make your way to Cordoba and visit La Mesquita first thing in the morning, right at opening time. As you walk through the courtyard you are teased by the bricked up Moorish arches that were originally open to the interior. When you enter through the tall wooden doors, and once your eyes adjust to the darkness, you’ll see what makes this place so breathtaking. Stretching seemingly into infinity is a forest of columns, connected by graceful white and red arches and dimly lit by hanging chandeliers. Wander through the streams of morning light, splashing pools of color onto the marble floor. If you’re lucky, you’ll pass through a wisp of orange incense in the air. Inside La Mesquita, you are transported to another time where you experience a special piece of ancient Spain. It is magic.

Photos above © Scott Andress