Easter in Almeria

Although Spain is officially a lay country, Easter (or “Semana Santa”) is the legal holyday after Christmas and before Summer. This year, Easter will begin this friday and it’ll end at April 8th. Yeah, I will have a week to relax!

Next Sunday, I’ll go to Garrucha in Almeria with four more friends until Wednesday; and Thursday I’m going to travel to La Horcajada in Avila, the village where my mothers was born.

Andalucia’s map. Almeria is at the east

Almeria’s at east of the famous Andalucia. Almeria is the most arid zone in all Spain, even it has a desert! It’s called “Desierto de Tabernas” and in the 60’s an american west village was built to film western movies, but not just any movies: “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” were filmed in thath village now transformed in a lil’theme park called “Minihollywood”. The landscape’s simply socking.

Minihollywood

Performance in Minihollywood

Moreover, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, “Lawrence of Arabia” and a lunar landscape of “2001: Space Oddyssey” were partially filmed in Almeria.

One of the called “Wild Beachs” of Almeria

Happy Holidays!

The Peugeot 307 which five heros will travel 600Km

Madrid at the New York Times one more time.

hahaha, but this time it’s so funny. The author has made a little dictionary of spanish words. It’s recommended to see:

Guay (gwhy) Cool.

Cojonudo (ko-ho-NOO-doh) Better than cool.

Me mola (may MO-la) Love it!

Alucino (ah-lu-THEE-no) Can’t believe it!

Paso (PAH-so) Couldn’t care less.

Juerguista (hwer-GHEE-stah) Party animal.

Cutre (KOO-tray) Seedy, lacking class. Sometimes used affectionately, as in, “Sometimes the most cutre places serve the best tapas.”

Ligar (lee-GAR) To pick up someone.

Hortera (or-TER-ah) Flashy, tacky, kitschy.

Fashion (FASH-yohn) Trendy, obsessed with the latest. Used as an adjective, not necessarily related to clothing, as in, “The people who hang out in Chueca are really fashion.”

Gente guapa (HEN-tay GWA-pah) Beautiful people.

Pijo (PEE-ho) A posh and conservative type, as in, “That party at the golf club was crawling with pijos.”

Link: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/travel/tmagazine/03place.opener.13.t.html

But I have to say that the Washington Post is more accurate than New York Times talking about Spain.

Clouds over Madrid Arena

Saturday dinner at Furama

Last saturday, I was having supper with a friend in a asiatic restaurant near my home. That was the second time that we were in the restaurant Furama, located in an old s.XIX train station converted in a mall.

The cuisine is a fusion of some Asian cuisines like japanese, chinese or vietnamite cuisine. But the best of the restaurante is the zen decoration, the ambient is so relaxed, the light is faint and the predominant colors are black and red. Moreover, the restaurant is made in three floors: the hall is in the first floor and you have to take a crystal elevator to go to the second floor (bathrooms) or the dinning room.

If you have a girlfriend and you go to Madrid, take a dinner in this restaurant and that night you will have an insured “polvo”

Furama restaurant. Principe Pio Station.

Madrid’s Skyline

Via de las Dos Castilla. Pozuelo

Electric sockets

I gonna talk about the electric standards in Spain. Spain, as all the countries of the continental Europe, use the standard voltage of 220v. European sockets are formed by two round pins. Those pins are more separated than pins of the american standard (used also in some contries of Asia). But bigger separation imply bigger sockets. In the image, you can see a rounded pin iPod charger. The adaptation make an ugly charger, with a bigger socket than the body charger width. Horrible.

Today is a nice day

What wonderful day! The weather is warm, about 18º (64.4 F), and the sky is so blue. There is a proverd that say: “from Madrid to the sky”. Surely, someone created it one day like this.
But that’s a pitty, I was studying during all the morning in the faculty and I could not approach it.

Well, I gonna take a cup of spanish coffe. In other moment I’ll tell you about the characteristics of the coffe in spain (by the way, I love coffe!).

Hasta pronto!

M-40, a motorway that is around Madrid. Near Pozuelo. Returning home.

Official Opening

Hello everybody! I’m Victor, a young spaniard. This blog borns due to a necessity, the necessity to improve my mediocre english skill. I will talk about life in Madrid and It could be an interesting way for you to know the spanish culture: Food, customs, cars, details, etc etc…

To do this blog more enjoyable, I want to post a lot of pictures that I will take with my mobile phone. I’m not in the habit of taking photos in the street, but I will try to make an effort (yeah I’m a bit lazy hehe).

See you soon!

PS: Corrections are welcome.

Palacio de Cristal, Parque del Retiro

Under Construction

This blog is still under construction. I’m doing tests and customizing the skin.

See you!

My neighbourhood at autumn dusk.