19.03.16 — Journal

Erretres on the Move

As mentioned in my post from a couple of weeks back (apologies for the extended delays), here at Erretres we have just finished off a week of packing, shifting, and unpacking; all as we make our way to our brand new home! As documented on the Tumblr we made to give a peek into la mudanza (the move), we’re sadly leaving behind our gorgeous view of the Plaza de España, but we’ve upsized rather exponentially to a cool and modern new space.

All taped up and ready to go

The one thing I never really got to try out in our old studio was the huge outdoor terrace, which was kind of useless in the bitter cold of the Madrilenian winter, but looked like a lovely to relax space in the heat of summer. Braving the cold, however, me and Thuy decided to say our farewell by hosting a water-gun superhero-inspired photo shoot — obviously.

Got guns?

However there wasn’t really all that much time to sit around getting nostalgic about the Plaza de España studio, for we were soon setting into our new space situated on the street just behind the old studio!

A lightbulb
The second kitchen
The ground floor is a theatre

With all this shifting and moving around, during the weekend I decided to take it relatively easy – so I really did not expect the Sunday market here in the city to be so lively! Time to backtrack a tad and explain…

Much unlike England, everything here really does shut shop on a Sunday, and with the exception of the El Rastro market in the south of the city, there isn’t that much to be done. Intrigued, I hopped on the metro and sauntered on down to the market at La Latina, where I was greeted by the colourful curved roofs of the indoor market and the throngs of people wandering in and out of the main market street.

La Latina

From the Metro station I followed the crowds down a little side street brimming with stalls and on to the main street and Madrid’s most popular flea market, where I ended up flowing with the crowds up and down the lively streets. There was live music, stalls selling every little thing imaginable, street food, and much more! The atmosphere was great, so I stayed a while to enjoy a live Latin band, an African acoustic group and a chocolate pancake – needless to say I didn’t really spend much time taking any decent photos, but here’s one which hopefully captures some of the buzz…

El Rastro in full swing

Apart from venturing out to experience the city and working hard on the studio move, I’ve also been occupied by day-to-day domestic jobs such as washing, shopping and generally kicking back in my flat. Just a few nights ago we all sat down in the living room to watch El Laberinto Del Fauno – Pan’s Labyrinth – and enjoy a multi-cultural feast of Mexican-style popcorn and crisps, German chocolate, and my best attempt at a selection of Spanish canapés. Here’s me and Levin, very excited for a little bit of Pan’s…

Chilling in the flat
A view on the way to Aldi
Typical Spanish breakfast

And so with another fortnight full of locura y caos (craziness and chaos), it’s no wonder I have decided to spend this weekend finishing off some chores and tidying my room – I am on the move once again this coming Saturday to a new flat! It’s no surprise then that Thuy managed to capture me kicking back in the new studio!

Working hard

I should hopefully have another post up in the next few days as the Semana Santa (Easter) celebrations begin to kick off here in Madrid – but until then I am going to gorge on some chorizo and remain horizontal as much as possible…