Great "I Need Spain" promotional videos from the Spanish Tourism Board. Love them all.

Saludos, MadridMan

I lived in Madrid for 3 1/2 years when I was a kid from 7 to 11 years old , so it had a big effect on me . When I lived here I wanted to be a bulfighter , and if we had styed on im sure I would have went to a escula taurina .
I returned 18 years later with my wife for a long weekend , and in that time we managed to squeeze in as much of the memories I had of Madrid , the restaurants , retiro , corrida , Batan to see the bulls , etc etc.
After that trip we returned a couple of times a year , and eventually moved over for a year in 2007 , only to return to Scotland when my wife was pregnant with our 1st child .
We still come over on vacation , and would love to move over more permanently one day

Spain is everything under the sun was a popular tourism slogan of the 1980's and 1990's, indeed I always think about it, moving there at least at retirement.
I lived in Madrid from 1971 to 1974, came back in 1982, then again in 1990, 1995, and being coming every year sometimes several times since 2003. Its never enough but now with a family is not easy just to move. Maybe in retirement. Now, from where I am we get satellite TV, see all the autonomous regions channels including TeleMadrid, its a consolation.

Wow this is an amazing thread.... I went to Barcelona as a Rotary exchange student wayyyy back in the 80s (From Ohio also) and it totally rocked my world. I had Spain on the brain but there was no internet, nothing around me to keep me in touch, and everyone around me thought I was nuts.

I married a Turk in the mid 90s, and we went back and forth between Turkey and the US but I never developed the same feeling for it, thinking it was some emotional block on my part, and I had convinced myself that i was being silly and immature with my love for all things Spanish.

We live full time in Istanbul now, but I have never met another expat here with the same addiction to Turkey that I had and you all seem to have for Spain. We have been coming to Madrid on holidays (during the Eids) for the last few years now and will be there again during the Sacrifice Holiday in November.

I am so glad to read what you all have written here, and glad to know after a couple decades that I wasn't as crazy as everyone else thought me to be. Thank you!

I love Istanbul and travel to Dalyan sometimes . Eating fish sandwiches down by the Bosphorous river looking at all the mosques is magical ... or being invited into a shop for apple tea while they try and sell you a carpet ( I have 3 stored away in England ) . I always stay in Sultanahmet because it´s so central .... Istanbul is one city I would definitely consider living in . I have a friend ( Turkish ) whó lives there but would definitely like to meet you the next time I go .
I should also mention the hamam in Goçek ... superb .. and the trip around the islands in a big boat .. BBQ on the beach . What a great country ! I have had major problems there but they are anhialated by the good times .
The only downside to Madrid is the lack of a major river , the sea , a big lake etc... During summer that is a problem . The only resort is to go to the open air swimming pools , which are good BUT not quite the same .

Yes, back when i was "haciendo COU" in Barcelona, back in the Middle Ages, everyone went on and one about the lack of a large body of water in Madrid. Of course I live walking distance to the Bosphorus so maybe I would change my mind once it were taken away.... but... No one has ever mentioned this particular kind of magic like you guys have.

Giggling about the stuff you like, you are such a tourist! :-P

I honestly have to check myself that I don't talk about Spain too much to my friends and family. I am a Spanish teacher, so all day long, I can bring it up with my students. Even today, a new 4th grader asked if I would be showing and telling about Spain because she had heard about it from her brother, a former student. I don't know about others on the message board, but for me, it is the people, the history, the language, the attitudes about life, and the general atmosphere. I am so grateful for this community of people who seem to understand and feel the same way.

Hey we're all tourists ! I travel widely and try and take local advice ( which is what this site is about I guess ) . I'm proud to say that my friends in Spain , Turkey , Russia etc .. have helped me appreciate how wonderful their countries are .

so glad to hear it!

Hey, Detroiter, which part? I am from Toledo!

I sent you a private message.