Travelling to Andalucia - La Mancha

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amheuwr
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Travelling to Andalucia - La Mancha

Postby amheuwr » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:15 pm

We have decided to do something different for our trip down to the Cadiz region in October. We are flying to Madrid and are going to drive down stopping once on the way down. Have never been to inland Spain before. We were thinking of possibly visiting Manzanares, in the Castilla la Mancha province. We have sent off some emails to a couple of hotels, a Parador and a smaller hotel a bit further down called Casa Palacio in Santa Cruz de Modela. Has anyone ever used either of these hotels or able to recommend any others in that sort of area? Don't want it to be more than two and half hours from Madrid.

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kevin77
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Postby kevin77 » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:43 pm

I would advise against staying anywhere in Castilla la Mancha - its sooo boring! It will send you mad, whoever would write a novel about the place !Ciudad Real might be OK for a night, but I would suggest putting your foot down and getting to Cordoba if you can. 3 + hours? Better still take the train from Atocha.

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Curiosity

Postby amheuwr » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:32 pm

Thanks for the advice but we want to see what Cervantes actually had to write about. My wife in particular who has studied Spanish and aforementioned author would like to have a nose.
We had considered the train as it looks truly amazing on paper, especially the super fast one (186mph) with the money back guarantee if you are more than 5 minutes late. Maybe we will do that once we are living in Spain. There is so much to do and see.

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Postby kevin77 » Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:06 pm

She has actually studied Cervantes?
Didnt it put her off Spain for good?

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Postby silver » Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:51 am

kevin77
She has actually studied Cervantes?
Didnt it put her off Spain for good?
What are you talking about???
No muerdes la mano que te da de comer.

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Postby Beachcomber » Sat Sep 03, 2005 9:19 am

kevin77 wrote:She has actually studied Cervantes?
Didnt it put her off Spain for good?
Perhaps your vilification of the work of Cervantes explains your constant denigration of all things Spanish.

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Postby Bert Selby » Sat Sep 03, 2005 9:48 am

Fogrget Manzanares Parador is is a modern 70's construction but the Parador at nearby Almagro is a beautifully restored old convent. The village square is worth a visit also.

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kevin77
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Postby kevin77 » Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:33 am

Perhaps your vilification of the work of Cervantes explains your constant denigration of all things Spanish.
?? I just think he is overrated, not that I got past chapter one of his masterpiece before falling asleep. I wouldnt put him up there with Shakey or Charles D. Of course some people adopt Cervantes because he has a type of snob appeal, they think it bestows some sort of intellectual status on themselves. Not very relevant to the modern day Spaniard - every Cervantes day he is hailed as the greatest writer in the world ever! Without question!

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Postby Nikvin » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:09 pm

If Cervantes has no relevance to modern day spaniards, how come shakespeare does?

And why did Shakespeare - or indeed whoever wrote the works attributed to him- resort to plagiarism for his most famous work: Romeo and Juliet. Of course, copyright laws weren't around back then, and it may have been deemed an honour even, to be copied so openly!

And plagiarism of a Spanish play, too!

La Celestina , attributed to Fernando de Rojas, originally known as La Comedia de Calixto y Melibea.first published, in 1499, some 65yrs before
Shakespeare birth!, and some 96 yrs before he wrote Romeo and Juliet.

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kevin77
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Postby kevin77 » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:32 pm

Well, im glad you told me that.
Now im going to watch the match - something relevant to the modern Englishman.

spanish hopes

Postby spanish hopes » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:55 pm

Antiphanes, a Greek playwright, 388-311BC) mentions a team game, known as Pheninda
It is believed that this GREEK game is possibly the one from which our soccer evolved.

So not so modern and not so English.

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Postby citymike » Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:11 pm

spanish hopes wrote:
Antiphanes, a Greek playwright, 388-311BC) mentions a team game, known as Pheninda
It is believed that this GREEK game is possibly the one from which our soccer evolved.

So not so modern and not so English.
Just because some Greeks, Romans, or Chinese were kicking a ball around a few centuries ago does not mean that our football evolved from that. It's far more likely that the game evolved from the village competitions in which some object that could be kicked had to be carried to some point and the person holding the object at that time was the winner.

As the English do we applied rules on which the modern game is still very much based which makes it very English and still rather modern.

By the way, most of the Spanish I know thinks Cervantes is boring for the first part and then OK for the second part but they wouldn't recommend reading it.

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Postby kevin77 » Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:04 pm

By the way, most of the Spanish I know thinks Cervantes is boring for the first part and then OK for the second part but they wouldn't recommend reading it.
Don Quixote is a book that you dont read to enjoy, you buy it and hold it in your lap and flip through it - its a status symbol. Its telling those around you on the bus 'im clever - I read Cervantes and know what the story is about' the rest of you get back to Marca or Hola magazine. Just buy a copy, put it on your shelf beside the Frank Skinner autobiography, but dont read it - its a waste of two weeks of your life.

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cervantes

Postby angel » Tue Sep 06, 2005 10:13 am

I have just finished the book and found it a delightful book to read. Much easier than Shakespear and certainly Sancho is a typical "camposino" if ever there was one.

I dont see how you can comment on a book that you did not persevere with past the first chapter!

With regards to the initial question, if you are visiting La Mancha then have a look at this web site as it gives you the Don Quijote routes to follow around the province with the part of the book that was probably set there too.
www.donquijotedelamancha2005.com/ruta2005.php

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Postby kevin77 » Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:57 pm

Well Angel, sorry I never finished the book. I have tried to get the story- even watching a couple of movies, one featuring Bob Hoskins as Sancho...zzzzzz. The best film I saw was of the attempt to film the story in Almeria by the bloke from Python, aborted due to freak weather conditions. Is Don Quixote the best Spanish literature on offer?

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Postby katy » Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:53 am

They say it is the most frequently bought book in Spain but the least read. I had to study it for A level and it brought tears to my eyes (trying to keep them open!) His exemplary novels are fairly good though.

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Postby jpinks » Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:48 am

Don Quixote is a marvellous book, but it is a product of it's time, and the modern reader rarely understand what it is trying to convey. I wish I could read it in the original language, the translations probably have trouble with some of the expressions used.
Slainte,
JohnP.

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quijote

Postby angel » Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:46 am

I read the recent translation by Edith Grossman which was excellent and very easy to read. My partner however, who is Spanich speaking, read the original version and has not got very far as it is hard going in the old Spanish.

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Postby jpinks » Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:12 pm

I read the Putnam translation, which is said to be good too, but I envy your partners ability to tackle it in the original.
Slainte,
JohnP.

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kevin77
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Postby kevin77 » Sun Sep 18, 2005 12:24 am

Obviously lots to do in Andalucia!


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