…is up to you, only up to you, and not up to anyone else. Look after yourself, do things you like, love yourself (and other people will love you more as a result)

…means being peaceful

..is about stopping a lot

…is about realising all the reasons you already have to be happy

…is about giving up ideas about things you don’t have or aren’t doing that you are convinced will make you happier when you are already actually quite happy as it is

…is about giving more to get more

…is living in the present, not the past, not the future

…is about positivity

…is getting out and about

…is getting unstuck

…is moving, but not striving

…is just relaxing and not trying too hard

…is saying, OK, why not, that should be interesting

…is letting go

…is realising all crises are impermanent (and so is everything else)

…is listening to the birds, or the wind in the trees

…is walking up a new hill

…is giving the person you are with all your attention

…is thinking I was writing this post on another secret ‘in the works’ blog project of mine, then suddenly realising I am writing the draft post here on Notesfromspain.com by mistake instead, and deciding to publish it here anyway. I’ll add a pretty photo to the top too, of the super-happy guy who skates around the statue of the devil in the Retiro park. Hopefully the photo or the words will make someone happier. Maybe I’ll explain all the points one by one on my new secret blogging project if anyone is interested. Or here. There are no mistakes after all! Un abrazo, Ben

What makes YOU happy?

One from my photo archives – Cadiz old town is one of the most intriguing places in Spain, it transports you to different eras at every turn. Go and see it some time!

Over at Notes in Spanish: More Photos, and Fun Spanish Food and Snacks Vocab

And a gentle trot down the track brings him to the magnificent Playa de Cuevas del Mar. Lucky Cow.

Hola!

Three years ago I wrote, or spoke, a follow up to my book Errant In Iberia. It’s an audiobook, that I sold on this site for a while. I’ve decided to open it up again, this time for free download. If you listen, do leave a comment and let me know what you think of it. I haven’t actually listened to it again since recording it, and many things have changed since then – perhaps it’s time I wrote or spoke another sequel!

This post contains the original “Madrid Confessions” download files and bonuses.

Step 1: Download The Audio

Download your “Madrid Confessions” Audiobook in the format you prefer:

Version to use with iPods/iPhone (includes chapters bookmarks):

Enhanced Audio with Chapters

Normal mp3 version for use with other players:

Standard MP3

(Right-click on the links ’save link as/save target as/download link’ to download the audio to your desktop. Once on your desktop you can listen to the audio on your computer or pass it to your mp3 player or iPod.)

Step 2: Get the Bonuses

Bonus 1: ‘Marina Confiesa’

For the Spanish learners and aficionados amongst you, Marina and I also recorded a special short Spanish podcast, ‘Marina Confiesa’, in which Marina revealed her own confessions!

To download this special Spanish audio, use this link:

Marina Confiesa MP3

To get the transcript, use this link:

Marina Confiesa PDF

(Right-click on the links ’save link as/save target as/download link’ to download the audio/transcript to your desktop. Once on your desktop you can listen to the audio on your computer or pass it to your mp3 player or iPod.)

And if you don’t know it yet, there’s lots more real Spanish audio like this at Notes in Spanish!

Madrid Confessions – Photos

Here are some photos that go with the narrative of The Madrid Confessions…

First of all, the pink flat from chapter 2, here as it was when in the hands of the previous owners…

… what we did to it soon after purchase!

Here is the bottom of the plaza near the Bernabeu stadium (seen behind) where the horrible scenes nearly occured in Chapter 6:

And here is a view of the run-down bullring near Toledo where the ‘Hemmingway’ events took place (with the bar at the top of the stands at the back):

Below is me with my Royal Enfield in India (Chapter 7). The organisers of the ride insisted we wore this protective motorcross body armour, which is a very sensible idea given the terrain and driving conditions in India, but made us look ridiculous compared to the local riders who went around in flip-flops!

And an example of the meditative, mesmerizing landscapes we rode past:

There’s more on that trip in my Enduro India podcast.

One more podcast you may enjoy is ‘The Institute of Cold‘ – it’s another story from recent years here in Madrid that could well have been a chapter in ‘The Madrid Confessions’. (This story was read from a script, unlike The Madrid Confessions).

Saludos from Madrid,

Ben

From woodland near Arriondas… though almost any pathway in Asturias will turn up beautiful things like this at this time of year.

Definitely not in Kansas anymore: A pathway along the Noguera Ribagorzana river, which separates Aragon and Catalunya in northern Spain, has no guardrails and no wire banister to hang on to. A single small sign at the trailhead tells hikers to watch their step, highlighting the difference between between Spain and places like the United States when it comes to ideas of personal responsibility.

See a new stunning image like this everyday at Mike Randolph’s Photo Blog (Head over and scroll down for previous entries!)

Photo – Madrid’s Retiro Park

It’s still unseasonably sunny here – I mean it’s sunny every day, hardly a cloud in the sky – no snow this year. That was one of the things that most impressed me about Madrid when I first moved here 13 years ago, opening the curtains in the morning (or the shutters, to be more precise), and seeing bright blue skies, rather than the grey gloom I’d been used to for 3 years of London winters previously.

You can read about that big move in Errant in Iberia, and get ready for your own forays into Spain with our Spanish learning conversations!

If you are a Spain books lover and have read Errant already, then check out our list of favourites, and an interesting new venture, books4spain.com – good reviews on great Spain books.

Lago Ercina, The Higher of the Covadonga Lakes.

Playa de Cuevas del Mar (Map)

Asturias is still as green and majestic as ever (as if it would have changed!) Where else in the world can you leave such a stunning coastline and in under an hour be high up in mountains so impressive that they even look down on other slightly smaller mountain ranges below! Thank goodness it rains so much in Asturias, to keep it all so deep green, and to keep the developers at bay!

We stayed at the extremely nice, exceptionally friendly La Rondita. And it didn’t rain once!

Then we went upstairs and found dirty, stained carptets.

This is odd. Spanish people, in general do not like carpet. Trying to rent a house with carpet in Madrid is practically insane. The chances of getting the rental agreement signed are near impossible!

In a cold country carpet is nice, it keeps your feet warm in winter, but in a climate like Madrid’s that tops out regularly at 35-40ºC in summer? Carpet? Madness.

And a stained carpet to boot!

The funny thing is that the owners had just repainted the whole house and re-varnished the parquet downstairs.

“Do you think they’ll change the carpet?” we asked the agent.

“I doubt it,” she said, “they’ve just spent a fortune painting and redoing the floor in the salon.”

That’s like going on a date in filthy clothes, and saying, ‘it’s OK, I just washed my hair’ – chances of success = zero.

There’s one house that’s never going to go off the market.

(Reminds me of trying to rent a flat in Spain years ago, and being attacked by a savage Siamese cat – another flat that probably never got rented! Full story in Errant in Iberia!)