Hello from Madrid! This month Madrid is playing host to hundreds of life-sized cows, hand-painted in different styles by local artists, which will then be auctioned off for charity. Cow Parade started almost a decade ago in Zurich, where the idea became a phenomenon. A huge public exhibition of art, of almost 800 sculptures, was displayed in the streets. Since then more than 50 cities have taken part in the project, including Chicago, New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, Buenos Aries, Athens,...
Sliced Octopus with red pepper spices? That must be Pulpo a la Gallega Meeting up near our school last Monday with friend, the simple question was: where do we go for dinner? It is Monday night, not all restaurants are open and what we saw did not have much ambiance. Then all of a sudden it hit me, we should try again this Galician tapas restaurant called Maceires. It had been quite a few years since my last visit but it is quite nearby the school. The calle de las Huertas was cold and all the...
Hola a todos! How are you today? First of all, please let me introduce myself. I am a student of Babylon Idiomas, I am from Beijing, China. And, my name is Mia (Yes, in Spanish that means ‘mine’, didn’t see that coming when my English name was given). I am currently living and studying Spanish in Valencia, I love this city! Furthermore, I love my student life here! I have been here for 6 weeks now. I know it’s not a very long time, but I feel like I enjoy myself...
Wat is Valencia toch een heerlijke stad om te wonen! Je kan hier in januari gewoon een biertje drinken in het zonnetje zonder jas!! Nu de “rebajas” (uitverkoop) is begonnen is het extra druk in de stad en dus extra gezellig. De winkels doen duidelijk hun best om zoveel mogelijk klanten te lokken, kortingen van 75% is heel normaal en de Valencianen lopen dan ook met tassen vol over straat. Ik hou persoonlijk niet zo van winkelen, maar ik denk dat ik deze week toch nog maar even de stad in...
Hej alla modetokiga, Om du ännu inte har upptäckt en av Europas bästa shoppingstäder måste du snabbt ta dig till Spaniens huvudstad Madrid. Här vimlar det av bra shoppinggator med butiker i alla kategorier. För oss vanliga dödliga men som älsar att ha det allra senaste på oss kommer här ett alldeles utomordentligt tips: Skoaffären Zapatería Gredos som ligger på gatan Montera 12 bara 100 meter från Plaza del Sol. Här hittar du tusentals stövlar, pumps, sandaler etc av...
Babylon Idiomas uses Prisma Spanish language books I remember when I was a Spanish language student how frustrating it could be when a teacher went from page 132 on Monday to page 40 on Tuesday. Were we not making any progress? Was the teacher not prepared? I want my learning to be ordered and neatly go from step 1 to step 2! Of course, my nordic genes got the better of me here and I should have focused on what I was learning and not on the book page numbers. What I did not see at first was...
Tibidabo in the snow I’m writing this, shivering from the cold in my office…in Barcelona. What is not right in this picture? Did I not move to Spain almost seven years ago to escape from the cold? Is this idea in my head about sunny, warm Spain all marketing? The short answer is yes and no. Yes, because Spain has a much more varied climate than the image of sun & sea portrayed outside of the country and no, because most of Spain has a lot more sunshine and higher temperatures...
I’ve always loved learning new languages but I never thought that one day, I would set up a Spanish language school. Yet, here we are. Last year (2008) we welcomed almost 2000 students to our four Spanish language schools in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia) and we were voted “Best Spanish Language School” by the readers of Language Travel Magazine. On top of this, we also received accreditiation from Instituto Cervantes. It has been a rollercoaster six years...
Yes, the crisis may have hit the world economy but it is difficult to tell from all the gifts that an average Spanish child receives these days. The main event still is the Día de los Reyes (day of the three Kings) which is celebrated on the 6th of January. In every town of Spain, you’ll find a parade of medievally dressed Kings (in Spanish called Melchor, Gaspar y Baltasar) who’ve come to town to present the children with sweets and gifts. The parade is held on the evening of...
