Mathematics of Meet Dave

Meet Dave is a 2008 comedy set in New York City. It features a spaceship in the form of a human, played by Eddie Murphy. It cost $55m to make and grossed $50m at the box office.

It has some great NYC locations: including the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, Times Square on the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and the 15-acre Sheep Meadow, Central Park.

Some great quotes from the movie:

"Wow. That's impressive love for the Bee Gees, man".
"Welcome to Old Navy".

Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar

In Gibraltar, there are regular scheduled flights only to the UK and Spain. The airport is only 500m from the city centre.  The main road from Spain, known as Winston Churchill Avenue, intersects the airport runway and has to be closed when a plane takes off or lands.

North of Gibraltar is the Spanish town of La Linea de la Concepcion, in the province of Cadiz in Andalucia. Its name derives from the linea that separates Spain and Gibraltar.

Campo de Gibraltar ("Countryside of Gibraltar") is a name for the region of Cadiz (not to be confused with Gibraltar) which includes La Linea de la Concepcion, Algeciras and Los Barrios.

How Big is Madrid - in relation to other European cities?

Madrid is the third largest European city, after London and Berlin. It lies on the Manzanares River. In fact, the city was founded by the Moors as a citadel overlooking the Manzanares. Its source is the Sierra de Guadarrama in the Sistema Central. The Community of Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities (regions) of Spain. It is the home of Autonoma University (the nearest tube stop is Cantoblanco on the C-4 line).

El Escorial

El Escorial is an historical residence of the King of Spain, 45km northwest of Madrid, combining monastery and royal palace in one.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site as well as being one of the Spanish royal sites (sitos reales).

Travel Spanish

ida - trip, journey
ida y vuelta - outgoing and return
vuelta abierta - open return
consulta sin fecha - query without date
llegada - arrival (f)
salida - exit (f)

fecha de salida - outgoing date
fecha de regreso - return date
plaza - places
viajeros - passengers

horarios y precios - timetables and prices
compra de billetes - purchase of tickets
cambios - changes
anulaciones - cancellations

ayuda - help, assistance

NIF - Spanish National Insurance number; Numero de Identifiacion Fiscal
PVP - Precio de Venta al Publico - RRP

alojiamento - accommodation
desayuno - breakfast
estancia - stay (f)
entradas - entrance
cama - bed
cuna - cradle
limpiadoras - cleaning
cajoneras - drawers
muy buen - very good
totalmente - totally
descanso - n. rest
sabor - nm. taste
aseos - toilet
en cada habitacion - in each room
ayuntamiento - town hall

un lugar - a place
encanto - charm
Calle - street, e.g. Calle Salvador Dali
cercano - close
aeropuerto mas cercano - closest airport
a la izquierda - on the left
a la derecha - on the right
todo seguido - straight ahead (seh-GEE-do)
coger - catch e.g. coger el autobus
cualquier parada - any stop

en coche - by car
toma la salida - take the exit
ubicacion - location

anticipio - advance (deposit)
anular reservas - cancel reservations
IVA - tax e.g IVA incluido
localizacion - location e.g. mapa de localizacion
en pleno centro - right in the centre