Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

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!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

Richard Morley comes to Spain on a regular basis to victimise Spaniards, as he and his fellow anglos subject them to 8 days of non-stop English conversation. In return he gets full 4 star bed and board in some of the nicest parts of Spain. In the podcast Richard explains how the whole thing works, and how it has changed his relationship with Spain. For more information check out his article on the whole experience, and head over to sign up at the Pueblo Ingles website.

Talk to Richard about his experiences in the NFS Forum…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

Every year on January 17th, people bring their pets to be blessed on the Calle de Hortaleza in Madrid. Despite my slight reticence about Madrid’s fiesta scene in the second half of the podcast (click play podcast above), this was a fascinating event. Castizo is the word Marina used – very traditional in a Madrid kind of a way – below is some video from this morning to prove it:

(direct youtube link)

There are plenty more photos from the Fiesta on the NFS Flickr Page.

UPDATE:

A Spanish friend of Marina’s said “This really does make Spain look a bit behind the times, imagine what the same video would look like in Black and White!” Well, it had to be done… Read the rest of this entry »

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

Ben and Marina visit a stunning area of natural parkland full of waterfalls, just off the road from Madrid to Barcelona (Road map here).

More photos over at Flickr

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

A wander through the back streets of Barcelona. Who needs Gaudi?

So much of the city was left unpodcasted, and I am really keen to return. The city cast a spell on me this time, and I think it was because we didn’t once think about doing anything really touristy (no Sagrada Familia for example). Being a good tourist can be so exhausting – Florence nearly killed me when I tried! – but just wandering around the back streets of any unfamiliar city is one of the greatest joys on earth.

To see all the fantastic Barcelona recommendations sent in by you lot, click here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

Despite all appearances no alcohol was consumed before the making of this podcast. It just felt great to have come to some good decisions today about how Notes from Spain and Notes in Spanish are going to continue wonderfully into the future!

Photo: Marina on an unfortunately graffitied swing in the park. Discuss the podcast below or in the forum.

Lonely Planet have just published a compilation I put together of the four podcasts we have made this year from Galicia. If you want to be reminded of all the best sounds from that wonderful province in the North West, you can download it via their site (title: Spanish Sounds).

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Download MP3]

A quiet night in Siguenza, a very quiet town at the top of which sits an even quieter Parador. Today’s podcast comes from a field just below the Parador, an ancient castle first built by the Romans, with a view across the rolling Manchegan plains. Details of the Great Madrid Escape (everyone welcome!) can be found here. And Marina wanted me to point out that this podcast is not sponsored by the Parador chain, even if we do go on about them a lot! The photo is of the Parador/castle on the top of the hill.

Addition – Here’s a short vid taken from the spot where we made the podcast: