http://www.notesfromspain.com Podcasts and comment on travel, tapas, learning Spanish and living in Spain, plus a lively forum and beautiful Spain photos. Fri, 09 May 2008 12:05:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The above photo is of our patio interior, a glorified light-shaft present in the middle of just about every flat block in Spain, where light and air enter the back end of the neighbours' apartments, and all sorts of interesting things float out again: sounds, smells, arguments... We've heard wild ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/05/08/patio-interiores-the-neighbours-inside-out/ Many thanks to everyone who submitted a photo to the Notes from Spain Flickr Group in April (keep them coming in May!) April's winner is Jan, with Kids at the Sherry, above. Jan explains: "It was taken at the Feria del Vino Fino last weekend [in El Puerto de Santa Maria, ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/05/07/nfs-flickr-group-photo-kids-at-the-sherry/ Why does no one wear shorts in the street? Will Carme Chacón, the new Defense minister, change the lot of Spanish women forever? Is there a housing crisis in Spain? And is Marina going to have to get the police onto the neighbours? Listen and find out! iTunes users: subscribe directly ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/05/05/when-spanish-women-wax-notes-from-spain-podcast-70/ From Wikipedia: "El Caminito del Rey (English: The King's pathway) is a walkway or via ferrata, now fallen into disrepair, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain. The name is often shortened to El Camino del Rey." Sounds innocent enough. Now ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/05/02/el-camino-del-rey-when-walking-unadulterated-madness/ For all those super sharp-shooting Spanish speakers amongst you, check out the new round of Advanced Podcasts at our sister-site Notes in Spanish. The latest episode is about the potential hypocrisy of boycotting the Olympics: head on over and have a listen!ShareThis http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/05/01/spanish-podcast-fans-new-advanced-ready/ The local government in the Autonomous Region of Valencia has come up with a bright idea: immigrants should be made to sign a contract promising to follow Spanish customs and principles ("las leyes, los principios y las costumbres españolas y valencianas"). Only two problems: no one has actually bothered to ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/30/valencia-immigrants-sign-social-contract/ This was an important subject of debate in the forum last week. The general consensus was that although it is easy to set up a new life in Spain when you are young, free and single, it is an extremely risky proposition if you are married, mortgaged, and have kids. In ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/28/can-families-move-to-spain-and-survive/ Here are two great photos from two great friends of mine. First up is a photo taken this week by Ryan Opaz of Spains' greatest wine website, catavino.net. It shows the crazed Castellers in his home town Terrassa, scaling new heights to celebrate St. Jordi, a Catalan fiesta similar to St ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/25/spanish-fiesta-season-is-starting/ This is a podcast in two parts. The first part says 'hi' from our balcony here in Madrid, and I fill you in a bit on what we have planned for the coming months. The second part is a true story about the death of a friend, Paul, pictured standing next ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/24/the-institute-of-cold-notes-from-spain-podcast-69/ Things have been quiet here on the blog since last Wednesday, when 20 Notes from Spain forum members from all over the world turned up in Madrid to celebrate our second Great Madrid Escape weekend. The idea is quite shocking: people who usually only ever communicate over the internet all actually ... http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/22/gme-o8-re-cap-and-what-next/