Learn some Spanish!!! (¡Aprénde castellano!)
by mollymoo0oo0
Why not learn something new and enhance your travel experience, by making an effort to learn something and communicate in Spanish/castellano?
It is possible to get by in Madrid with English... but I really think your experience will be far, far richer if you have a basic grasp of some key vocabulary and an idea of how to defend yourself.
I´ve lived here for a year and half, teach English, and have only started Spanish classes this month (thanks to my crazy workload and irregular timetable). However, I like to talk and meet people, learn about different cultures and so have managed to learn a decent level of Spanish by generally chatting to anyone and everyone. So it´s a bit like ´street Spanish´, refined with some feedback from my students when I explain certain English terminology with them.
I also started out by attending intercambios - informal meetups with people of different countries to ´exchange´ languages :) (try www.meetup.com and search for SPANISH in Madrid or whichever town you are in).
Despite being generally very helpful and communicative, I guarantee you will get a greater response from locals (in this case los madrileños) if you make a real effort to communicate with any Spanish that you can.
I also recommend you check out an audio course by Michel Thomas (which I used to get myself started)... http://www.michelthomas.com/
and have a look at www.donquijote.com .... where you can learn, and also connect with other learners and/or Spanish people to converse (email, MSN messenger, etc)
Good Luck and Enjoy the Journey!! ¡¡Suerte!! ¡¡Buen Viaje!!
STANDING IN LINE...
by markeveleigh
It has been said that a lone Englishman will ‘form an orderly queue of one’ but the Madrileños have taken queuing to the level of a national sport. Perhaps its something to do with the weather but even in the depths of winter a good Madrileño would much prefer to queue for an hour in the snow to buy a lottery ticket from his favourite vendor than to buy instantly across the street. In their queuing, as in all things, they invariably behave with perfect formality and respect but it can appear to an outsider that every person in the city has a personal queue quota to fulfil. Anyone who falls short on this obligation can make his way to the Church of Jesus de Medinacelli on the first Friday of each month where hundreds of his fellows spend up to four hours waiting to light a candle. (On any other day they could enter immediately).
USEFUL LINGO:
Hello / goodbye - Buenas días / adiós
Please / thank you - Por favor / gracias
Yes / no - Si / no
Excuse me, are you the last?: ¿Perdóneme, es usted el último?
Ow, you’re standing on my toes!; ¡Aieee, me estas aplastando los dedos!
PREPARE
by parsix
Be smart and have a good breakfast. If you don't have time before you go out, you can always get a bite in the local restaurant.
Hot chocolate and a mix bocata is the choice for most. Be prepare to pay the price for a bite in the sky.
Free Map of Madrid
by SirRichard
A good way to get a free good map of Madrid is to ask for it at the information desk of the "El Corte Ingles" Department Stores. It's a rather good map, detailed, with 3D drawings of the monuments, Metro plan, tourist info...
The nearest stores to Puerta del Sol are in Preciados Street (the one from Sol to Callao) and in Carmen Street, near Callao Square.
Nighttime drinking and tapas
by Venturingnow about Anywhere
In all of Spain, and mostly in Madrid, people come out in the late night to drink and eat tapas (finger-food type snacks that include fried calamari, fries, cheese balls, sesame sticks, and jamon) while talking and dancing the night away on the streets and alleys around the city. You won't miss them, just go and look.
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View from the terrace at night.
bears at madrid zoo
scale model at Temple de Debod
That's me, on my first visit to the Retiro
