La Rambla and Maremagnum via Rambla de Mar and Montjuic

La Rambla is a 1.2km tree-lined street that goes down from Placa de Catalunya (its Catalan name, with Plaza being used instead in Spanish) to Port Vell and then extends into Rambla de Mar, a walkway that ends in the Maremagnum shopping complex and its various eateries.

Port Vell was built/modernised as part of an urban renewal program prior to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics was held at Montjuic, famous for its castle built in 1640 where the flag of Catalonia (La Senyera) flies high. Montjuic Castle is the oldest attraction in Montjuic. In 1641 it was the site of a battle during the Catalan Revolt.

The pattern of La Senyera also features in the Coat of Arms of Spain.

Another attraction on Montjuic hill is the Communications Tower built by Santiago Calatrava (one of the turning points of his career), who also designed a lot of edifices in Valencia.

Famous Literary Prizes

The most famous literary prize of all is the Booker Prize, now known as the Man Booker Prize, following sponsorship from Man Investments. But there are many other literary prizes worthy of note:

• Guardian First Book Award: Publishers enter their nominations (since discontinued)
• Nobel Prize in Literature
• Franz Kafka Prize (presentation is held in Prague for the winner)

For specific genres, such as science fiction there are specific awards.

• Hugo Award: annual award for the best science-fiction/fantasy works (named after Hugo Gernsback)

For non-fiction, there are also prizes:

• Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. The winner is announced in November. It's motto: "All the best stories are true". How is it evaluated? Criteria includes: originality, quality of writing and the ability to communicate the subject to a wide audience.The Chair of the judges is Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal (who himself has written a number of non-fiction books, such as "Cosmic Coincidences" by Bantam, and "Our Cosmic Habitat" by Princeton University Press).

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