Monthly Archives: October 2019

25.10.19 — Journal

Working & Playing Hard

When concluding my last blog post, I mentioned that we’d been working hard and playing hard in the office recently, and promised that I’d elaborate on said statement in my next blog post. Here I am, faithfully as ever, to explain what’s been going on down in Guecho 35

The Friday after my auntie and uncle left, we spent our afternoon at work celebrating 5×10, an event in which five of us have ten minutes to present a project, work-related or personal, to the rest of the team. There were plenty of interesting things shared, but the real fun lay in what came next: cider and empanadas!

We stand around a table drinking cider and eating empanadas.

This little gathering was our way of saying our farewell to the summer season, drawing to an end our time splashing around in the pool and picnicking in the garden. It also brought back great memories of many a night spent partying with Kevin and co. in Asturias, as the cider and empanadas (a bit like pies) are typical of the northern region – in fact, they had the empanadas shipped down especially!

Cider and empanadas on the table

Once they began to pour the cider, it didn’t stop flowing…

We all had a lovely time, involving lots of chatting without the stresses of working, plenty of food, and even an impromptu vogueing class led by María! A group of us stayed behind a little longer, but I soon managed to cut proceedings short after in incident whilst opening a bottle which left me with quite a nasty cut down my hand…

Me, Luis, Carlos, María, and Mario at work.
Buildings near Plaza Mayor in Madrid.

Once I’d slept off the cider and my bandaged up my hand, I could think of no better way to kick-start the weekend than by attempting to cook a full English breakfast for myself and Bogar. It’s been well over 8 months since I moved back to Madrid, and so roughly the same amount of time will have passed since I last enjoyed a proper fry-up with all the trimmings.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as I was going to get.

An attempt at a full English breakfast with orange juice.

As you can see, the sausages weren’t the right ones and the bacon was never going to be the proper British stuff, but I did managed to get hold of some baked beans and make a pretty decent fried egg, so not all was lost. In the end, it was just the beginning of what was to become the weekend of decadent breakfasts, as the next day I whipped up a plate of French toast, topped with lashings of authentic maple syrup that Megan had brought over when she visited from Vermont!

A plate of French toast with maple syrup.

These culinary adventures then carried on over the next couple of weeks, during which I even dared to try to make ramen, one of my favourite Japanese dishes. I initially judged that I’d included too much ginger, but this actually worked in my favour, as it helped alleviate some of the symptoms of a nasty cold that I’ve been battling since the seasons began to change.

A bowl of pork ramen with egg.

It hasn’t all been home cooking, however, as one night me and Bogar also braved the cold (said change of season has been very, very sudden) to head for some typical Madrid grub at our favourite local bar. We ordered a plate of chopitos (fried cuttlefish, a Madrid classic), and one of my favourite albeit simple dishes, huevos rotos con jamón (chips with fried eggs and cured ham).

Me posing with a plate of huevos rotos.

I look terrible, but at least I appear in a photo on my own blog for once.

But now back to work, as I notice that I’ve gone on a food-related tangent here, and for once I’d like to try and at least conclude my blog post in a manner faithful to the title of the thing!

As ever, there’s not much I can say due to confidentiality, but I’m full-steam ahead with two big projects. I’m hoping that we’ll soon see these published on the Erretres website, but for now I can only present you with this photo of a moment of divine intervention…

A selfie of me in which the sun is illuminating my hair.

Another exciting work-related moment recently was the launch of Collision, a design mentorship network which Erretres Open Lab (part of Erretres, the design studio where I work) has developed in collaboration with BBVA and local creatives. I was lucky enough to be asked to participate as a senior designer in its inaugural year, and so I attended the launch event just the other evening.

Proceedings kicked off with a presentation by my colleague Blanca (with whom I attended our friend Soyoung’s wedding earlier this year), and Brian Farrell, Creative Director at BBVA. Sergio, a fellow designer at Erretres, then presented the visual identity for the programme, and then it was time for us to find out who we’d be working with!

Sergio presents the visual identity for Collision.

Once I’d been introduced to my pair, with whom I’ll be working on a project over the next 8 months or so, the pizzas arrived and the beer began to flow, and I got chatting to all sorts of people from all different creative backgrounds. We all ended up so engaged in these interesting chats that we wound up staying way past the supposed 10pm end time, but the difficult start the morning after was definitely worth it!

With that, I think I conclude this little overview of what’s been going on both whilst at work and at play. As I said, we’re all rather busy in the office at the moment, but I’m sure that this will mean that I’ll soon be able to share the fruits of said labour with you guys – exciting! Until then, I’ll be back soon with more updates on my adventures in and out of Madrid!

20.10.19 — Journal

My Aunt & Uncle Visit

Since my Auntie and Uncle last visited Madrid in May, when they stopped by during their journey by car back up to the UK, they’ve been living in England during the summer. With the return of the cold weather, however, it was time for them to head back down to their Spanish home in Murica, meaning they passed by for another visit!

My uncle, me, and my auntie in Sol, Madrid.

After a rather rocky arrival involving them getting lost whilst looking for their car park, we finally had the chance to catch up over some food at my local bar. The navigation dramas, however, didn’t leave us much time, and so we were soon in bed and getting rested for the next day’s exploration.

The next day was a Monday that I’d taken off work, and so we were sure to make the most of our time and set about visiting some of our favourite spots around the city centre. We passed by the royal palace, through the streets of quirky Malasaña, and even wondered into a church and its crypt that I’d never noticed before.

Looking over Madrid's royal palace.
The inside of a Madrid crypt, with burial vaults, pews, arches, and a chandelier.

The atmosphere of the crypt was very different from the lively streets above.

Graffiti on the facade of a building in the Malasaña district of Madrid.

For lunch, I could think of no better place than Casa Julio, a vibrant local bar in Malasaña. It’s famed for it’s delicious traditional Spanish dishes, and so we were sure to order some picadillo (spiced minced pork), ensaladilla rusa (a potato salad dish with tuna) and croquetas (croquettes).

A sign reading "Boncista" and "Niquelador".

Once we were full to burst, it was time to relax, and for that we headed down to the lake. I’d taken my parents down for the first time when they last visited, and they’d spoke highly of a jar of sangría that we’d shared by the water, and so we took a couple of hours to kick back with a beer.

After we’d recharged, I thought it would be a good idea to follow the lovely river walk back home, a trip that I thought would only take 45 minutes at most. After we’d passed by the remnants of the old Atlético de Madrid stadium, however, it soon became clear that Google Maps had tricked us – there was still a long way to go!

A stand of the abandoned Atlético de Madrid stadium.

Once we’d sped up our return journey with a train, we headed out to a local bar for tea, having depleted all our energy during the walk home. I’d then to turn in early for the night, as the next day I had to head back to the office.

After work, I met back up with my auntie and uncle, who’d enjoyed a relaxing day meandering through the centre. We’d arranged to have some drinks in the centre, involving some wine and nibbles at an old sherry bar, and then found another local spot for some meatballs and patatas bravas in Lavapiés.

On Wednesday morning, I sadly had to wave my auntie and uncle off again as they headed back to their car and down to Murcia. It was lovely to have them stop by in Madrid again, and I’m hoping to head back down to Murcia once again in very soon to kick back with them by the coast.

The week which then followed at work consisted of lots of working hard and then playing hard, which I will update you all on in my next blog post, but for now I plan to spend my Sunday doing as little as humanly possible – except maybe a spot of baking…

10.10.19 — Journal

Cookies & Capitalism

It’s been over a month since I last brought everyone the latest from the Spanish capital, and so I’m back again with a roundup of the past few weeks of gallivanting. This has involved plenty of food, the odd spot of exploration, and a bit of cheeky post-pay-day spending…

The first spot of leisure took the form of a few hours spent with Bogar at Parquesur, a large shopping centre in the south of the city. The two of us had spent most of the weekend lolling around in my flat, and so come Sunday afternoon we were itching to be anywhere which wasn’t my flat!

After browsing around my typical haunts and picking up a book detailing the many facets of Spanish grammar, I treated myself to a “pizza slice” made entirely of sweets! Or, at least, that was what I thought. It turned out that the “pizza slice” was actually padded out with a styrofoam base – I felt ripped off after spending 6€ on what I assumed would be a solid slice of sugary bliss!

I hold a slice of candy pizza.

Before the realisation that I had been royally conned.

Once I’d stopped reeling from this blatant injustice, the two of us stopped by the lakeside eating area for an evening meal of ramen and green tea. After this we headed back to my flat, and I headed off to bed in preparation for another busy working week.

Fountains over a lake with a multicolour sunset sky in the background.
I ascend an escalator in a metal tunnel.

The following weekend was a rather relaxed one, with plenty of lounging around my flat culminating in a couple of glasses of wine in the city centre with my friend Jhosef, followed by an evening spent chatting away late into the evening in my flat.

Me and my friend Jhosef.

Later that week, me and my colleague Blanca had arranged to meet up with an ex-colleague and friend Soyoung, who’s wedding we’d been along to (and had a fabulous time at) earlier this year. The three of us had some lovely drinks and food together in the old La Latina district of the city, which was beautiful in the evening light when we arrived, and then lively as ever as we left in the dark!

The La Latina area of Madrid by dark.

After another Friday at work, me and Bogar started the weekend off properly, as we met up for breakfast out in a little neighbourhood bar. After this, I headed home and whipped up a batch of something decidedly sweeter – some homemade cookies! Following a recipe that I’ve been developing and perfecting for a few weeks now, I think I finally hit the sweet spot between crunchy and chewy.

Quick note: If you’d like me to start posting some of my own recipes for sweet treats and quick dishes which are perfect for living alone, let me know in my blog feedback form!

A table with a breakfast.

The day after signalled another day trip for me and Bogar, this time to IKEA. I’ve been wanting to pick up a few last luxuries for a while now, and so when I got paid last month I decided that it was finally time to make my house into a home.

Bogar hides behind a large plant in IKEA.
A sunset over the south end of Madrid.

After buying way more plants than I meant to and irritating the taxi driver by filling his poor car with the big leafy monster you see in the photo above, I finally kitted out my flat with the coffee table, rug, and some extra greenery that I’ve been fancying for a while. I think that it’s come together quite nicely since I first started decorating!

My living room.

I also finally got round to attaching some wheels on my TV stand, which I installed so that I could pull it out to face me whenever I sit on the sofa. After a sudden eureka moment, however, I also realised that I could wheel the whole setup into my bedroom and watch some TV there! It may have brought back memories of televisions on trolleys from primary/high-school days, but nothing says home quite like some telly in bed on a Sunday morning!

My TV in my bedroom.

This all brings us to last week, where me and my ex-colleague Elena finally got round to meeting up for some drinks and a catch-up. We ended up heading into Lavapiés, one of my favourite areas of the city, where we had a delicious pizza meal from NAP Pizza – a place definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in Madrid!

Elena hides behind her hand.
Me and Elena after eating pizza.

With that, I think I’ve brought you just about up to speed with the various frivolities that I’ve been indulging in. I’d love to share more details from work, as it’s been an intense but exciting couple of weeks, but confidentiality means that I can’t give too much away. Just know that there’ll be plenty to see in the future!

As I write this, I’ve just waved goodbye to my auntie and uncle who came to visit for a few days, and so the next post will naturally be dedicated to what I got up to during their few days in the city. I’ve to stop typing now, as I’m running out of time before I’ve to leave the house for some food with a friend. No rest for the wicked!

04.10.19 — Travel

Tenerife on Film

It’s been a good few months now since I visited Cami and her family in Tenerife, but today’s post takes the form of a follow up, albeit somewhat belated!

One morning during said visit, I headed out to the coast with Cami and her mum for a lovely shared breakfast. In my first blog post, I lamented having left my phone in their house and the fact that I therefore had no photos to share from that morning. I also mentioned, however, that this wasn’t entirely true, as I’d taken some shots on my film camera in the hope of subsequently having them processed.

As you have probably gauged from the title of this blog post, I finally got round to dropping off a couple of rolls of film to be developed just a week or so ago. I then received en email a couple of days back with the scanned photos attached, and so I’m happy to be able to share the lovely results with you all today!

Me and Cami's mum at the breakfast table.
Cami and her mum at the breakfast table.

As you can see, the breakfast was beautiful and the company was impeccable; the three of us had a wonderful time chatting and laughing under the morning sun! What you can’t see was that the food was as good as it looked, and we were lucky enough to enjoy it overlooking some gorgeous coastal views, scenery which it turns out I managed to photograph on my trusty film camera.

Looking out over the Tenerife coast.

There were also a few photos of Cami and I which were taken along this coast, two of which I have included below. The typical tourist photo of me standing amongst the town’s name depicted in large letters must have been the last photo of the roll, however, as can be seen by the discolouration and black bar which dominate the left hand side of the pic.

Me and Cami on the Tenerife coast.
I stand in between the letters spelling out the name of the town on the Tenerife coast.

When it came time to take some photos during the delicious BBQ, then, I knew that the fresh roll would need a bit of warming up, and so I was sure to take the group photos more than once. Thank goodness I did, as when I saw the amount of light leakage and misalignment of the first couple of developed photos, I thought there wasn’t going to be a single usable one in the pile!

A group photo is ruined by light leakage.
A group photo is ruined by misalignment of the film in the camera.

Although I find the errors of these first few shots rather beautiful, it was also nice to discover that there was one ‘normal’ photo from the meal – it’s just a shame that Cami took it and so doesn’t appear!

Cami's parents, Sam and I sit at the BBQ table.

We did manage to sneak another photo in after we’d eaten, though, and this time even Luke (Cami & Sam’s dog) makes an appearance alongside the three of us! It’s just a shame about my eyes – I can’t remember if I was being blinded by the sun at the moment the photo was taken, or whether it was just a very badly timed blink…

Sam, myself, Luke and Cami in the family garden.

The rest of the photos are then from our last evening’s trip up Teide, the volcano which dominates the island. The first couple come from a stop we made halfway up the mountain, where we took a breather to peer down over the towns and coast that we’d just ascended from.

Looking over the coast of Tenerife.
Cami along the side of a road on Tenerife's Teide volcano.

The next are a series of shots which I took nearer the summit, consisting of martian-like landscapes and lunar textures. I think these shots are made even more otherworldly by the warm tones of the film camera, the light leakage, and the film’s grainy texture, which all come together to form a very distinct look.

A lunar-like surface on the tip of Teide on Tenerife.
A lunar-like surface and blue sky on the tip of Teide on Tenerife.
A lunar-like surface on the tip of Teide on Tenerife.

With the final photo, I really have saved the best until last. Realistically, this photo isn’t much different from a similar one I took on my phone and shared towards the end of the previous blog post, but the warmth of the film camera really makes all the difference.

It depicts the moment during our descent back to civilisation in which we realised that a layer of clouds had settled below us, with the peaks of neighbouring mountains resembling tiny islands in a sea of puffy clouds, all against the dramatic backdrop of a gorgeous multicolour sunset.

I once again ask that you take a moment to check out the detail of the photo, as it depicts a moment which we found ourselves in through sheer luck, and the likes of which I shall probably never experience ever again…

A sunset over the layer of clouds, taken from the side of the Teide volcano in Tenerife.

With that, I’ll round up by saying that I hope I haven’t bored anyone with this little recap of my Tenerife trip, but I know that I’m always a sucker for some lovely analogue photography. I also wanted to share with you the delight of receiving a batch of film photos, as I usually only have a very hazy and vague recollection of the specific photos taken, making the act of opening the envelope containing the photos one of life’s simple moments of joyous surprises.

I shall be back soon with more current updates, but until then please be sure to fill out my quick blog survey if you haven’t already. I’ve already had some really insightful responses, for which I thank everyone involved, but I’d love to get a full range of opinions. The more, the merrier!