Town mice and country mice

Put me down as a country mouse.
Lived virtually all my life way out in the sticks.

I detest big cities, feeling oppressed and almost imprisoned when I visit them, about my only thought after a couple of hours or so is to escape to the wide open spaces as rapidly as possible.
I hate the traffic, the noise, the hustle and bustle, the pollution, crowds of ppl, the rip off mentality, the increased risk of crime and just about everything else.

"Give me land lots of land neath the starry stars above, don't fence me in."

I'm with you on this.
Friends say to me that when I retire I will move away from London. No chance. If anything I would like to move closer to the centre. My in-laws live at Frinton-on-Sea. You know what they say, Harwich for the continent, Frinton for the incontinent. How true.

I once rented a holiday apartment in Spain that was a few miles out of town.
I absolutely hated it. The darkness and silence was eerie and you had to drive everywhere.

Thats why I bought in the middle of a Spanish town where everything is too hand.
The countryside does nothing for me, I find walking around towns far more interesting.

It takes all sorts.

I totally agree with underlined phrase, I like space, peace and quiet.

I like visiting other places especially with my camera but prefer NO people in my lineof sight although I would like to do a series of images like the work on exhibition by Pedro Leal in Chiclana.

Before I came to Spain I didn't know what the capital was called or where it was.

I know Bennydawm, Aibeefa and Myaaawka, but Madrid?

Could it be that the lack of interest in Madrid is a lack of knowledge?

Well most punters still think Spain's a British colony and Benidorm is the capital.

However apparently there's some strange race of ppl. around here who appear to be under the impression that the country is ruled from some weird polluted overcrowded inland city called Madrid.

Singing form the same hymn sheet....

I recognise that accent. Cockney, from London...which is ALL of England to most foreigners, especially Americans!

It could be historical. I mean in creating España (Ehphaña) Madrid seems to be a bit of an after thought.

And it doesn't have a beech. And neither has it hosted the Olympics (I still remember a bit of the theme tune, Barcelooooonaaaaa).

Angiescarr, that's too true. I'm from Brighton (Hove actually*) but still I know plenty of people that speak a bit Cockney (erm, not me, much)

*that's a local joke. Everyone knows Brighton but no one knows Hove.

[QUOTE=Treegod;9190912]It could be historical. I mean in creating España (Ehphaña) Madrid seems to be a bit of an after thought.
QUOTE]

You really dont know much about Spain

Don't you have a Spanish girlfriend who can tell you these things or have I got you mixed up with someone else?

[QUOTE=cricketman;9190936] I'm picking up on half-remembered info floating around in my brain, that even when Spain became Spain, Madrid still wasn't a major city nor a stable capital until 3 or 4 centuries ago (not much compared to some capitals).

Also that it has no local geographical source for its wealth, no local industry that made it especially special in the past (except the river?). It is just conveniently situated in the middle of the peninsula, so it became convenient economically and politically.

That's what's floating around my brain. Any on that improvements welcome
(I'm going to Wikipedia, get myself some learning done)

I went to a miniatures fair there. Good fair. people in Hove have money to spend and the visitors from the Brighton area were creative, so I did well!

Could it be that the British education system suffers of serious shortcomings, because if someone of a banana republic lost in Africa or Asia tells me he does not know Spain or the capital of Spain, well, I could believe it, but, someone of UK? Because the truth, I do not know what to think, because many, many years in school, and only in the primary school, already I knew that London, Manchester, Liverpool or York are in England. This, or a feeling of superiority to us

Or both things

Yes, there are shortcomings in the education system, especially with history... like, is there a chance they might teach history that doesn't involve or isn't somehow based around England? And maybe a history of Britain that doesn't just start with the Romans?

That's why, when I moved to Spain I thought it would be a good idea (nay essential) to learn more about this peninsula that I live on.

That's a new thread perhaps, about why Brits are scared of the world beyond their island

I dont think that most Brits rule out Madrid, most never think of Madrid, and for me the reason is fairly obvious.

Most want a quieter life, most want a costal location, most want a place that make them feel like they are on holiday, most want a place that their visitors from UK will like.

Take away those groups and there will not be that many left in percentage terms.
As for the professionals, who are "sought after" in Spain, most would be heading to Madrid or Barcelona.

Also they would not be the type to askabout the best place for work in Spain, they would have it all swen up already and not bother with opinions on what is mainly a "winding down" expat forum. By that I mean people who have done their working hard stint and are looking for something else.