EmpanadaRica

Hola rostro pálido. ¿Ya no estás gamba? Hoy te pillo por aquí un rato si esto no se desconecta misteriosamente , que todo puede ser, porque lleva un día... En fin, paciencia.
Y no, no me he puesto a estudiar en serio, eso sí, tengo los libros aquí, a mi lado ¡Qué bonitos son!

You are not the only person who says Paris changes them, and I feel the same way. I think that for most people Paris is a better place to go to than Madrid, but I am partial to Madrid--possibly because I speak Spanish. It seems like a working-class Paris to me. I think it is more comfortable to be middle class in Madrid. in Paris, like New York that way, going out and having a good time costs some money. In Spain, la dolce vita is a little more accessable.

People in Madrid have a gruff big-city exterior ( more than in Paris or Amsterdam),
but seem professional and even warm.
BTW The Prado is for visitors, but its collection says much about the people and their
history, and the strange royal family that collected the stuff. Bosch, the oddest Reubens,Goya's dark era,Bruegel at his "boschiest". other artists equally morboso.
depicting St Bernard recieving a squirt of milk from a statue of the virgin, not one but two Saturns devouring his son,..... Addams family-escue.

Hola rostro pálido. ¿Pudiste soportar las ganas de ir a la playa? Aquí también hace calor (seguro que más que ahí ), ya es raro porque a partir del 15 de agosto cambia el tiempo, pero este año no ha cambiado todavía. Bueno, el tiempo está loco
Ayer muy bien, fuimos a andar y luego de aquí para allá en coche. Hoy me quedo en casita, a ver si me pongo a estudiar ya un poco en serio
Pues nada, a ver si te veo un ratito por aquí. No trabajes mucho

Madrid also has another major art museum that is not well know but it is major. It's called
Thyssen Bornemeza. It's a truly international gallery. The Prado has the strangest morboso
art in the work under one roof in the world.
I would recommend walking around the Plaza Santa Ana and the dozens of winding streets around it. La Plaza Mayor. The beautiful Calle Arenal. Walking up narrow Calle Fuencarral can be surprizing when as you come upon the Glorieta de Bilbao, The Palace, Gran Via, **The Zarzuela Theater, El Retiro. ***menu del día(three-course meal with a bottle of wine for
11 euros)--all over town., much more. I love that place
It's worthwhile to pay attention to details in Paris. What a treasure for the world!

The photo in my picture file is in Paris. I think it's a little corner of the opera house (Garier Palace).
There seems to have been a lot of construction in Barcelona from the 1950's and 60's.
As in many cities that emperienced a boom in those years a kind of blandness prevails int he appearance of the place. This is much less so in Madrid where vast segments of the inner city are pre-war.

Hola, rostro pálido . Ayer no te pude contestar mucho en el post, tenía que irme. Ahora he entrado por poco tiempo, me voy de excursión dentro de un ratito, primero me voy a andar por los caminos de por aquí y luego cogeremos el coche y a ver dónde vamos. Voy a ver un poco los mensajes nuevos.
¡Que tengas un buen día!

I never heard the Jan Kees theory. I suppose it's possible. You know we are also known
as (or used to be known as) Knickerbockers. Knockerbocker Avenune is a major
thoroughfare in Buckwick which is park of Brooklyn. The horrible road that leads to airpor is
THe Van Wyck Expressway, I could go on. Dutch names are all over the place.

Laura, I prefer Madrid because it's more cultural. It's true that Madid lacks the
amazing architecture of Gaudi and his contemporaries, and the word Barcelona
is much more musical that Madrid. Nevertheless I think Madrid has more character.
A lot was lost when Spain adapted the Euro. Previously Spain seemed to be a less conventional
place. Now there is a sense of conforming to European standards. That's part of Europe's
social evolution though. So, there's no turning back.
Madrid is open really late. It's more economical that most large cities. THere's great art, and
its a wonderful place to explore.

I have traveled a lot around the world. I love travel, and spend all my spare change trying to explore new places. I have been to England, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland...... I was in Denmark on a tour with a music group in 1984, and remember how pretty I thought the countryside was. Recently (in the past 5 or so years) I have made an online friend with another hobbyist photographer who lives outside of Copenhagen. So in 2005 I spent a week there, drove the countryside, visited my friend, etc. Great fun!! Have you traveled much? Why do you want to learn to speak Spanish?

My friend is Peruvian, but lives in New York. She was visiting family in July and I met up with them in Lima. I didn't have the chance to get to Machu Pichu ... maybe on my next visit....... Where in Holland do you live?

My friend has one of those situations that may very well not end up for the better. I will know more later tomorrow... I have NOT been studying Spanish for very long. I started 20 years ago in college, but didn't learn much and stopped trying. I have recently made some good friends with people from Latin America and have been to visit them (was in Uruguay and Peru this summer!) and want to be able to speak Spanish with them. So I started working on it last October. But I'm trying to teach myself and that is difficult. I read okay .. I write so-so .. but my speaking is not so good, and my listening/understanding is awful. I'll get there .. but I have to keep working at it! I was in Denmark in 2005 (and also in 1984) and LOVE the sound of the Scandinavian languages. I know that the Netherlands (thus Dutch) aren't part of Scandinavia, but I think that the sound of the language is similar to my untrained ear. Yes, I DO think that it's fun to find myself progressing with the Spanish!