hey guys and welcome back to puppy english my name is sam and i'm traveling the world and teaching
you english today i'm in madrid in spain we're going to visit the city see what there is and of
course learn some english as well let's go this is madrid the capital of spain and a city that
knows how to live for a major capital it is famous for its friendly people and laid-back lifestyle if
something is laid back it means it's relaxed and easy going madrid has such a rich culture
and it will knock your socks off that means it will amaze you incredible architecture amazing
food and an abundance of art can be found here so welcome to madrid and let's learn english
so we are kicking off the trip to madrid in puerto del sol the busy heart of the city which
right now is a hive of activity getting ready for the christmas and new year celebrations
if a place is a hive of activity it means there are a lot of people busy working there as you can
see they are setting up the christmas tree so this is probably the busiest square in
all of madrid it can get so busy here full of people but this square has a very important clock
because at new year's eve this clock chimes 12 times if a clock chimes it means a clock
rings it's another way of saying it and for every time this clock chimes spanish people eat a grape
so at 12 o'clock on new year's eve spanish people eat 12 grapes and this is supposed to bring
luck and prosperity to the new year so prosperity is like success okay so it'll make your new year
more successful and also behind me you can see that they are putting up a christmas tree
so new year's eve is also coming very soon after christmas and this is probably the best place to
spend new year's eve in spain next i'm off to one of the most historic markets in the world
el rastro it is over 400 years old and it sells everyday objects as well as unique and curious
items so this market is a flea market a flea market is a specific type of market where they
only sell second-hand goods okay so nothing is new and this market runs along the streets all of the
stores the little shops run along the streets so the market runs along the streets but i'm walking
along the streets looking for a bargain that means something on sale for much cheaper than you would
expect however all of this shopping is making me quite hungry so it's time to get something to eat
this is tortilla de patatas or spanish omelette it's made with eggs potato and optionally includes
onion it is then fried using olive oil it's a national dish in spain and it is great if
you want something to eat on the fly that means something to eat when you don't have a lot of time
there's a lot of debate in spain whether tortilla should have onions or not the traditionalists say
that tortilla spanish omelet shouldn't have onions it's not traditional on the other side of the coin
many people say they should have onions because it tastes much better on the other side of the coin
it's a cooling expression it means on the other hand from a different perspective from a different
way of looking at it okay so what do you think with onions or without onions i definitely prefer
it with onions next i went to the stunning park el buen retiro which is a huge park right in the
center of madrid one of my favorite things about this park is the delightful lake which is great if
you want to do a spot of rowing to do a spot or something is british informal english for doing
a little bit of something so let me tell you a story about one of the first times i ever came
to this park i came here with my girlfriend and we were looking for the oldest tree in madrid the
oldest tree madrid is in this park and it's about 400 years old the only problem is there are 15 000
trees in this park so it was like searching for a needle in a haystack here is an expression for you
searching for a needle in a haystack means looking for something that's very difficult to find
looking for the tree was so difficult it was like searching for a needle in a haystack madrid is
also the artistic hub of spain if somewhere is a hub it is the central point for an activity
some of the greatest art galleries in the world can be found here such as el prado and reina sofia
and there are many smaller art exhibitions such as the one in the beautiful crystal palace of madrid
it's cool here there are lots of handmade crafts it's very crafty you can describe somebody as
crafty it means they're very good at making things with their hands but also it can mean that
somebody is very good at getting what they want in a deceitful manner okay they trick you to get
what they want they're very crafty so i don't want to be crafty and trick you into subscribing to my
channel but if you want to continue traveling the world and learning english make sure you subscribe
okay so here we are in plaza mayor this is one of the oldest squares in madrid and it's used for
many big events announcements and festivities in this country and as you can see they are setting
up the christmas market which they have been doing here for 150 years which is donkey's years in
english if something's been going on for a long long time we say it's been going on for donkeys
years because donkeys live a long time did you know that something else that has been around
for donkeys years is the spanish royal family which dates back to the 8th century if you say
something has been around for a period of time it means it has existed for a period of time and even
today the king of spain lives in this magnificent palace so we often forget at least i do that spain
also has a royal family and this is where the king officially lives or the king officially resides
besides is a more formal way of saying to live the king is very posh and probably speaks very well so
in this case we can say the king resides in this enormous palace so let me know in the comments
in which city or country do you reside and why should i go there and make a video so there we go
that's the incredible city of madrid there's a lot more to show you in future videos i hope you
learned something new if you did write an example sentence in the comments make sure you like and
subscribe and i'll see you in the next video bye so there we go that is the amazing metropolis of
madrid i'm traveling the world and i'm teaching you english where do you think i should go next