Travel Spain: Madrid a place to visit for everyone

Madrid is Spain's capital city and is a very vibrant and diverse city. The history of Spain and the warm culture is evident at every street corner. We will highlight some great locations to visit and also talk about the Spanish capital's food and nightlife.

Museums

Madrid has two globally prominent art museums in the centre of the city. El Museo del Prado (The Prado) is truly spectacular, with arguably the best collection of Spanish art in the world. The art includes a wide range of artists from the 12th - 19th century. This is definitely worth a lengthy visit.

Reina Sofia, named after Queen Sofia of Spain, is a great testimony to modern art in Spain. It was founded in the name of the reigning Queen in 1992. It holds a wonderful collection of art by Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso and so much more. The closest staion is Atocha and it is definietly worth another lengthy visit.

Parks

The City is certainly not all about museums, for those who love gardens and outdoor life, there are parks. The most famous and prominent is the central park of Parque Retiro. Here ther are tree-lined paths, cafes, bars, a large lakes, ornaments and nice gardens. Given Madrid attractive dry climate, this can be a great place to relax.

 

Retiro Park, courtesy of wikipedia buy author Jkiang

 

Areas

There are many great areas to go out in Madrid. In the area aorund Banco De Espana, there are some upmarket bars. One of these bars is Ramses bar, they have great interior design and are quite an experience. If bars in the day is your interest, why not finish a lovely walk in park with a quick champagne in Ritz Garden Bar. For shopping, Gran Via, Sol and in particular the El Corte Ingles (Department Store Spanish Chain) may be of great interest.

Above: Plaza Mayor with thanks to Wikipedia from author Sebastian Dubiel


For Plaza and sitting out in large square, Plaza Mayor and Plaza Santa Ana are very popular.

Food

All the same food is extremely important in Spain and a night of tapas is most common. La Latina, Chueca, Plaza Santa Ana all possess speciality tapas bars. Be sure to try Bacalao (Cod), Gambas Ajillo (Garlic Prawns), Jamon Iberico (Ham of the highest quality), Lomo Iberico (Pork Tenderloin in a type of Ham/Chrorizo format) and much more. Madrid is a city where wondering around can lead to you stumbling on a great find.

Learning Spanish Language: Spain, Argentina and the rest of Latin America

One question that many people ask when they are about to learn Spanish, is where should I learn Spanish?

Firstly, we must dispel the concept that if you learn Spanish in one country you will not be understood elsewhere. Generally, if you gain a good level of Spanish you will understand all types of Spanish, bar the occasional regional slang word. Therefore, this question has no right or wrong answer, as there are positives and negatives within each country, region and city. You should choose the place that suits your personal needs, why do you need Spanish and where will you use it?

Nevertheless, there are certain centres in the Spanish speaking world that are popular.  

Spain

For Europeans, Spain is the most popular destination. If it is the case you need Spanish language in order to operate in Spain, the Spanish spoken in Spain will be most useful. It is possible to draw a distinction between Latin America and Spain, due to geography. Some slang will only be used in Spain and some words have a different meaning in Spain compared to Latin America. Spanish cities have numerous excellent Spanish Language Schools. Generally speaking you will be perfectly understood in Latin America, but don’t use the verb ‘coger’ outside of Spain. Things to be aware of in Spain are that the national language is from Castile (Castilian) and some other provinces speak another language as their first language. This can be confusing for Spanish Language learning, if you hear languages that are similar to Spanish. Also, the accent in some provinces is hard to understand, but this is an issue in most large countries.

Argentina

Argentina is hugely popular and has many great language schools in its major cities; Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Mendoza have numerous schools. The standard of education in Argentina is high, so people in general will use good grammar in speaking and writing. The country has a wonderful culture. However, you should be aware that the Porteno Spanish (in Eastern Argentina and Uruguay) has an unusual pronunciation, which is somewhat unique. Argentines also use ‘vos’ for you instead of ‘tu’, which again is unique to Argentina and Uruguay. Nevertheless, Argentinean Spanish is understood all over the Spanish speaking world and these issues should not be deterrents, just something to be aware of.

 

Summary  

We have selected two major countries which are popular with people learning Spanish. However, the majority of Spanish speaking countries offer language schools and each have their advantages and disadvantages. Just choose the place that you would like to visit and the type of Spanish that you will use the most. There is no correct place to learn the language, just ensure you choose the place that is relevant to yourself and will be interesting and enjoyable for your visit.