Hi I will be traveling to Madrid alone this winter as a college student, anyone have any interesting stories on the culture, adjusting,language barrier, culture shock food-things done different from our country-Please share anything i would love to know because it does help me!! Thanks

Just saw your request, hope this isn't too late. When you are in Spain, I highly recommend trying a bocadilla of boquerones con pimienta. It is an absolute taste treat. the best one I had in Madrid was at a cafe opposite the Atocha train station, right by the entrance to the Metro station.

Don't be afraid of squid in its own ink. Very nice tapa. Also, the garlic shrimp dishes that you will find in the little bars are outstanding. Eat lots of tapas. Have fun.

As embarassing as it is to admit, my husband and I got the kilo to lbs ratio wrong and ended up eating A LOT of ham sandwiches on our trip around Spain! Luckily, the ham was very good. All the tapas we tried in Madrid were great - so is the Madrid flea market. The Prado was free one afernoon a week, which is nice on a budget.

Miguel, <BR> <BR>Another thought: Don't miss the Ham Museum in Madrid. It's actually a deli but it's an interesting exerience.

Hi Miguel <BR> <BR>I can't add much more than what the others have said except to suggest that you go to: <BR> <BR>www.madridman.com <BR> <BR>which is a site run by a self confessed Madrid lover. There is a large resource of information on this site about Madrid as well as a Board similar to this one except it is devoted entirely to things about Madrid and Spain. <BR> <BR>Whatever happens, enjoy your time in Spain and Madrid. <BR> <BR>David <BR>

Since you asked for stories, here are two silly true stories: <BR> <BR>When I went to Spain long long ago, I knew a fair amount of French and Italian, but VERY little Spanish, and my travel companion knew none. One day some friendly person tried to make conversation with us, and I tried, with great difficulty, to have a nice chat. However, to explain what a hard time I was having, I tried to tell him that I had only studied Spanish for one year. But I forgot all about the tilda and its effect on the pronunciation of the second letter in the word for "year" in Spanish. So what I actually said was that I had studied Spanish for one ass. He was nice enough not to laugh at me. <BR> <BR>At least I was having a problem with a foreign language, not with my own. On this same trip, my friend and I signed up for a day tour of some city. Lunch was included. It was seafood paella, full of squid, octopus, and other more familiar sea critters. A loud, ignorant (unfortunately American) woman on the tour was bragging that she knew the ingredients in the paella. She announced loudly "These are testacles. The Spanish people love to eat octopus testacles!" What baffles me to this day was why my friend and I were the only people who got the giggles hearing her. <BR>