Spain Archives - Page 10 of 10

A Sunday Walk in Madrid

January 27, 2018November 21, 2011 by Tom Bartel

Madrid, first of all, is a great walking city. If you are staying anywhere near the Puerta del Sol. you’ll perhaps first notice that Madrid got smart several years ago and banned all car traffic in the Puerta itself as well as all streets leading out of it for a distance of several blocks. Usually the only vehicle you’ll ever have to contend with is the occasional taxi that has received dispensation to come into the center to drop passengers at the hotels.

Spaniards love to walk. They do it all the time, but particularly in the early evenings and Sundays when they habitually dar un paseo with their girlfriends, or their extended families, or whomever. They don’t necessarily have any destination in mind, except perhaps a restaurant or bar. They just like to walk.

Castellano According to Kristin Henning

April 2, 2013August 23, 2011 by Tom Bartel

Kris: “How do you say ‘piss’?” Tom: “You could say ‘hacer un pis’ but the polite way is ‘orinar’.” Kris: “Wait. How do you say ‘pray’?” Tom: “That’s ‘orar’.” Kris: … Read more

On Journalism and Bullfights in Madrid

January 9, 2015August 23, 2011 by Tom Bartel

Madrileños, unlike most denizens of big cities, are genuinely friendly and eager to talk about their city, Spain, and almost anything else you want to discuss. Our first night here, we had a discussion about journalism and its position as a profession in Spanish society over beers and a plate of olives at an outdoor cafe in the Plaza Mayor with a young man named José Angel. José Angel’s girlfriend is a journalist and he’s a carpenter, so he allowed as there was some friction with her parents over his “station” in life. I assured him that their positions would probably be reversed if he came to the United States and he’d be welcome to visit us anytime the in-laws got to be too much.