Real Travel Adventures Goes to Madrid

Does the rain and snow (depending on where you are) have you wishing for sunnier weather? Pour yourself a snifter of Spanish brandy, prepare a bit of tapas, and come with me to Madrid!


Real Travel Adventures is an online travel magazine that draws the eyes of half a million unique visitors each year. The current issue features my travel story, called “Spanish Holiday: Part 2, Madrid.” It's illustrated by my wife, Nataliya A. Goodman.

I’ll admit that the published story has been cut down to size, and much of the detail and experience has been omitted or altered—rendering some reference confusing or unexplained. But the story will give you a glimpse of Madrid's beauty, along with its darker side.

So warm that chill with me in Madrid at Real Travel Adventures International Magazine!

www.realtraveladventures.com/2Feb2013/spanish_holiday_in_madrid.htm


You can also go back to Part 1, Barcelona, at the following link.

www.writeful.blogspot.com/2013/01/real-travel-adventures-goes-to-barcelona.html

Selling Books Abroad in Writers Weekly

Recently, Writers Weekly, the highest-circulation freelance writing ezine in the world, published my story, “Selling Books Abroad,” as their weekly Featured Story.

In the article, I share my experience of doing a book event for Tracks in Madrid, Spain. Here’s a taste of the books and beer coverage:

“We were planning a vacation to (and travel story on) Spain anyway. Adding a book event to the visit was a great way of mixing business with pleasure - and it proved to be an effective way to sell books and create some buzz with a new readership.”

Read more by visiting the link below.

http://writersweekly.com/success_stories/007513_08152012.html

Writing from Spain

I don’t know any Spanish, but I know a little about Spain. Four articles about my visit to Spain earlier this year have been accepted by three different publications.

Writers Weekly will publish my success story, “Selling Books Abroad,” about my sold-out book event in Madrid.

Real Travel Adventures Magazine will publish two armchair travel stories about my time in Spain: “Bouncing About Barcelona” and “Meandering About Madrid.”

Finally, inTravel Magazine will publish one longer story about my travels in Spain: “Spanish Holiday.”

Return to Writeful for more details (and links to published content) as it becomes available!

www.Writeful.blogspot.com

Laying Tracks at J and J Books in Madrid

I’ve been back from my trip to Spain for more days than I spent in Spain. But memories from the visit are still fresh in my mind.


One of the highlights of the visit was my first international reading event: a reading from Tracks at J & J Books and Coffee in Madrid. Perhaps “Books and Beer” would be a more fitting name. The bookstore, with a highly literary crowd, seemed as much bar as bookstore. That was a good thing.

J & J Books and Coffee is a popular bookstore in Madrid specializing in English-language books. They’re also known for their Friday Quiz night, two-for-one happy hour specials, and reading events.

When we arrived, the crowd was as lively as you might expect at a neighborhood bar—people talking sports and books and travel, seated at the long bar and at tables and chairs beyond it. The manager and staff kept us supplied with house beer, wine, and cocktails. The manager stood behind the bar and introduced me. I was given a place of honor behind the beer tap. From there, I read an “Idle Chatter” from Tracks.

The conversing crowd became attentive, and during dramatic pauses in my reading it had grown quiet enough to hear a drop of beer splash against the bar.

After my reading, which lasted close to half an hour, I was warmly received by my audience. We talked about my book, my writing process, my visit to Spain and other travels. We talked about their favorite books and their writing. About why they lived in Madrid (most of them were originally from England, Ireland, Scotland, or the United States) and their own travels. It was a good time.

A bit of wisdom picked up during the conversation: “What’s for you won’t go by you.”

A bit of insight on Spanish literature: “Don Quixote was [not a good man].”

I sold out of all the books I brought with me, and signed a good number of them. It was a fine way to cap our visit to Spain.

I discovered after my invitation to read that J and J was written up in a few of the guide books we had on Spain. Here is their write-up in the New York Times:

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/spain/madrid/32237/j-j-books-and-coffee/shopping-detail.html

Visit J & J Books and Coffee at their website.

http://www.jandjbooksandcoffee.com/

Where in the World Was Eric D. Goodman?

In Spain!



I’ve been offline and out of touch for a couple weeks as I spent about nine days on siesta in Barcelona and Madrid. Each city was wonderful in its own way. From what I experienced, Barcelona had a more Medeterranian feel, and Madrid seemed much more European. They balanced one another well.

Other than a quick night in Barajas (a suburb of Madrid), we started in Barcelona. In Montjuic, we climbed from the National Palace (and the art museum inside that featured Europe’s most complete collection of frescos) to the castle (which reminded me a lot of an older—but more recently active—version of Baltimore’s own Fort McHenry), and the Olympic stadium.

In Barcelona’s Old Town, we enjoyed the Gothic Quarter with the Barcelona Cathedral, Town Hall, and Casa de l’Ardiaca. We strolled along Las Rambles and took a trip through the Picasso Museum. And we got a taste of Gaudi’s surreal architecture and art in Palau Guell.

In the neighborhood where our B & B was, Eixample, we marveled at more of Gaudi’s masterworks: Sagrada Familia (the most unusual cathedral I have ever seen—in a good way), Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, and a bit further afield, Park Guell.

Then it was back to Madrid. We stayed about a two minute walk from the soul of Spain: Puerta del Sol. The Royal Palace, the Communications Palace, City Hall, the Metropolis Building, a private viewing of San Miguel Basilica, walks through Plaza de Cibeles, and two of the three flagship museums: Thyssen Bornemisza and Museo del Prado.

One of the personal highlights to the visit was my reading from Tracks at J and J Books and Coffee. It was a great place to get to know the local ex-pat community, consisting of people from all over: America, Ireland, England, Scotland, and even some Spanish natives who spoke English. During my reading, the crowded bar listened so attentively, during dramatic pauses you could hear a beer tap drip. (I read behind the bar.)

In the shadow of all these great sights, some of the best times were taking breakfast of Spanish coffee and sandwiches at a stand-up café, or enjoying tapas and wine in Plaza Mayor, or a snifters of Spanish brandy at a local bar in Puerta del Sol.

In fact, I hadn’t planned on it, but I’m inspired to take up some travel writing again. I decided to write down some thoughts on my trip over the weekend, and I’m already twenty pages into a armchair travel story. If I could sit in a Gaudi-designed office with a cup of Café con Leche or some 1886 brandy, I may be able to finish it.

Take a look at Gaudi’s Wiki page and check out some of the images toward the later years of his career:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudi


Enjoy a sip of 1886:
http://www.vinissimus.co.uk/en/destilados/tipo/brandy/detalle_destilado.html?id_destilado=lar1866


Or some Café con Leche:
http://spanishfood.about.com/od/discoverspanishfood/qt/qtcafeconlech.htm

Making Tracks for Spain

Next week, Tracks makes its debut in Madrid, Spain!

My novel in stories has been available in Europe for months. This will be my first Tracks reading abroad. The event is free to the public at takes place at 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 15

J & J Books and Coffee is a popular bookstore in Madrid specializing in English-language books. They’re also known for their Friday night Quiz night, two-for-one happy hour specials, and reading events.

Here is their write-up in the New York Times:

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/spain/madrid/32237/j-j-books-and-coffee/shopping-detail.html

Visit J & J Books and Coffee at their website.

www.jandjbooksandcoffee.com

Learn more about my reading at J & J Coffee and Books in Madrid next week at their website’s events page.

http://www.jandjbooksandcoffee.com/php/events.php