Monthly Archives: October 2022

31.10.22 — Travel

Em & Lincoln’s Wedding

After having my parents over and then my sister, it was now Rhea’s turn to come and visit me a mere six months after she last came to have a little Spanish holiday here in Madrid! She rocked up on a Wednesday whilst I was working from home and settled into my flat for a long weekend of a dance event that she’d signed up to.

It was a good job that she’d a few days of event to keep her busy, however, as our original plan of spending the weekend together had been thrown into chaos from a phone call I’d had a couple of months before. Em and Lincoln had rang with giddy excitement to announce that they’d finally manage to concrete a date for their big day after all the pandemic-induced chaos!

The date, the 22nd of October, coincided with Rhea’s visit, so I’d had to ring her to check it was okay if I left her with a copy of my keys for the weekend to entertain herself. As with all good friends, she was very chill about the whole thing, and so the day after she arrived I bade her farewell as I headed for an early night.

My flight back to the UK was a disgustingly early one which saw me up at 4:30am to grab a taxi to the airport, where I flew through security and wound up having to entertain myself for nearly three hours before boarding. I managed to get half an hour’s worth of kip in on the flight, which left me at Manchester Airport where my parents had kindly agreed to come and pick me up.

From Manchester, the three of us headed to Leeds, where we did a spot of shopping around the centre of the city that I once went to university in. It was very odd but very nice to be wandering the streets of Leeds once more, as the last time I’d been in the centre of the city itself was in 2019 way before the pandemic started.

I visited some of my favourite old haunts, including Village Books, Colours May Vary, and the Corn Exchange. I also couldn’t resist grabbing myself a bite from a British institution, Greggs, where I devoured a very warm and very tasty vegan sausage roll.

Whilst in the Corn Exchange, I grabbed myself a cool new “Dirty Leeds” tote bag and then proceeded to fill it with some treats to bring back to Spain with me, including a “If it’s not from Yorkshire, it’s shite” notebook and a Yorkshire English dictionary. I also started my hunt for some bonfire toffee to bring back with me to Spain, but I couldn’t seem to find any around the city centre.

I love nothing more than a tote bag, especially when it matches my coat.

We then went for lunch at another old haunt of mine, Belgrave Music Hall, where we’d often skulk off as students in order to grab ourselves some cheap pizza slices and sit working on our laptops for hours on end. It was nice to see that it hasn’t really changed a bit, with it’s cozy charm and staff as friendly as ever.

We ordered some burgers and a huge portion of “session fries” to share, which is a literal tray full of chips topped with spicy mayo, pancetta, chillies, and cheese. These were as delicious as I remember them being and they went down very well with a pint of citrusy lager that the bartender chose out for me. My eyes were left watering though, and not just by the chillis – the price of a pint in England is outrageous recently!

These loaded “session fries” were just as good as I remember them.

After lunch, we indulged in a bit more shopping. This culminated in a trip to Ibérica, a Spanish restaurant where I’d read you can buy proper imported Spanish wine – none of that dodgy Rioja that they sell for outrageous prices over in the UK. This turned out to be a lovely experience, with the waiter throwing in some bags of picos (bits of hard bread to eat cured meats with) for free. We wound up so at home at the place that we stopped for a drink of sangría!

We then headed back to the car, where I added the wine to the various other Spanish goodies that I’d brought over for Em and Lincoln as a mini wedding gift. My parents then graciously dropped me off at Em and Lincoln’s house, where I was to stay the night before the wedding in order to save a bit of money on a hotel.

There I met the core of Em and Lincoln’s family and friends, who’d come over for a quiet drink to celebrate the last evening before the big day. We had some wine and a good old laugh, even though I was beginning to wilt from my long day of travelling, shopping, and socialising.

Once everyone had left, I was allocated the comfy spongy sofa to sleep on as the two guest rooms were full, but getting into bed was made quite difficult by another guest who’d decided it was his. Lando, Em and Lincoln’s gorgeous dog, had claimed the duvet as his own!

With those puppy dog eyes, I nearly resigned to sleeping on the floor.

The next day was the day of the ceremony, so we all got into our glad rags and headed down to Millennium Square and the City Hall where the wedding was to take place. Once the rest of the friends and family arrived, the proceedings got underway and I felt the pressure as I was responsible for two aspects of the wedding: controlling the music and bearing the rings!

Acting as DJ wasn’t too difficult, but I’d had the job of ring bearer spring up on me just the evening before. I’d held on to the box containing the two wedding bands as if it was my first born child the entire journey, and then did as I’d been briefed during the ceremony itself. It was an honour to be included in this way in such a lovely and intimate setting!

With the rings exchanged, the registry signed, and the exit music over, we all reconvened outside the City Hall for the customary confetti throwing and photo shooting. I’d shed a little tear during the ceremony itself and then I’d to contain myself during the photos, but this time they were tears from laughing as me, Em, and Lincoln grabbed a photo together.

We were quite distracted during the actual photo but I love it anyway!

Once the photoshoot was over, the group of us then headed down to Franco Manca’s for some lunch. I sat next to Ros, Lincoln’s mum, and we had a right laugh as we enjoyed our salads, pizzas, sorbets, and then a little shot of grapa (a strong Italian liquor) that Ros suggested we take as a digestif.

After lunch, the wedding party then split up for us all to go our separate ways before we reconvened at Em and Lincoln’s house for the evening do. I headed off to a hotel I’d grabbed in Headingley and checked in, whereupon I made the absolutely most of the amenities by having a two hour nap in the comfy bed and then an hourlong soak in the bath.

My decadent afternoon of relaxation had then made me quite late for the evening do, so I threw on my clothes and grabbed a taxi back up to Em and Lincoln’s place. The party was in full swing when I arrived, so I headed outside to toast some marshmallows and get chatting to everyone I’d not had chance to speak to before.

The celebration was a lovely way to end the day, with highlights including a recreation of an improv dance I made up to Sia’s “Chandelier” in my second year of university (when Em and I lived together). I met a great bunch of new people, drank some good wine, eat some good cheese, and would have stayed all night if I hadn’t plans for the next day!

The next morning I awoke in my hotel room to a very foggy Leeds – check the contrast in the two photos above! The first order of the day was some breakfast, which I’d booked in advance as a treat to myself. I thus headed down to the hotel restaurant and loaded up on all my favourite British breakfast goodies: sausages, bacon, black pudding, and poached egg on toast.

After this, I checked out of my room and headed down to a local café just down the road, where I’d arranged for another special meet up which had been facilitated by the stars aligning in a rather happy twist of fate: Luisa was in Leeds!

I’d not seen Luisa since we had breakfast together in Leeds back in 2019, and she’s changed jobs, got herself a partner, and moved down to Norwich since then – a lot can change in such a short time! It was thus a stroke of luck that she just happened to be around, so I met up with her and her partner, Sol, for some post-breakfast coffee.

We had an absolute hoot in the few short hours that we were together, with me and Luisa catching up on many, many things and reminiscing past hilarity from both Leeds and my trips over to Germany. We also spoke of the possibility of meeting up to go to another beer festival back in Germany early next year – so watch this space!

All too soon Luisa and Sol had to be getting off and I’d to head into Leeds proper to get the first of many trains over to Manchester Airport. They dropped me off at the train station and I began to navigate the delicate state of the British train system, but I’ve to say that despite having to make three changes along the way, the journey was pretty cheap and pretty smooth sailing. I didn’t even complain about the couple of interchanges I’d to run through in Manchester, as it was nice to get out a bit and see even brief flashes of the city.

I eventually arrived at Manchester Airport, which was again an absolute breeze and nothing like the horror stories I’ve heard about it. My only gripe was that I’d arrived so early, so had to spend a good three hours entertaining myself in the somewhat lacking departure lounge at terminal three.

My late flight then got me back into Madrid just after midnight, where I suffered a painfully slow journey from terminal 4S back to my flat. I was just happy to be in my bed, though, and so slept like an absolute baby to be ready to work the next day.

I then had just one last evening with Rhea, which we made a nice and chill one as we stayed in and did a spot of cooking. We whipped up a meal of prawns with homemade lemonade and some roast veggies, which we then devoured with Rhea’s tipple of choice whilst in Spain: vermouth.

The next day I then waved Rhea off as she headed back to the UK and our crazy weekend of country swapping was complete. It was great to see her, then an honour to form such an intimate role in Em and Lincoln’s wedding, and then I’d even the pleasure of heading back to a flat kept nice and cosy by Rhea after her long weekend of swing dancing.

It was quite the crazy weekend for all of us!

28.10.22 — Journal

Ellie Nips Over

After my parents visited just a couple of weeks before, it was once again time for me to welcome family into my humble abode here in Madrid, and this time it was the turn of my sister, Ellie! Like my mum and dad, she’s been in Madrid a good few times before, the last time about a year ago to the day, but it’s always great to have her over and do some chill stuff together around the city.

She arrived in the afternoon and made her way to my office, where I’d to finish off a busy day at work. We then left together and headed back to my flat, where we’d a chill evening planned at home. Pedro came over, we opened a bottle of wine, and the three of us wound up so deep in conversation that we almost forgot to put the homemade cannelloni in the oven that I’d prepared with Ellie!

We had a hilarious evening in and my spinach and ricotta cannelloni weren’t half bad, even if I say so myself. It was a miracle that they were even made, as the night before I was trapping around Madrid visiting six different supermarkets after Mercadona didn’t have any ricotta in stock. Nightmare so it was!

The next morning began with a walk around the river after a decent lie in. We then headed back home for lunch, where we made a Caprese salad, homemade hummus, and some other goodies for lunch. We then chilled around the house some more to regain some energy for our evening plans which were to take us out of the city centre.

The autumn colours are now out in force and things are looking lovely.

One of the things me and Ellie always do when she visits is head down to a park in the south of the city to watch the sun set, and so we packed a bag with some drinks and nibbles and headed down to catch the bus southwards. We were joined on the bus by Luis and his friend, who was visiting Madrid and also decided she’d like to catch the sunset from the infamous “Park of the Seven Tits” (that’s what its name translates as, honestly!)

We had a hoot down at the park, with Luis teaching Ellie the Spanish custom of how to properly eat sunflower seeds after she ate one whole, shell and all! Sharing some drinks, we then watched the sun set over the Madrid skyline before abandoning the park and heading into the centre as the temperature dropped.

For a drink and a bite to eat we headed to a couple of my favourite haunts around Antón Martín. The first is a 70s style bar with a great atmosphere and some equally fabulous cocktails. From there, we tipsily headed to a Basque pintxos bar for some delicious small dishes. It was there that we ended our night and grabbed the bus back home.

Me and Ellie headed up into the centre of Madrid the morning after, where we indulged in a spot of shopping before heading up to the rooftop bar of El Corte Inglés. It was pretty busy and the place we liked to grab a snack was closed, so we headed back down and carried on exploring the shops we wanted to check out until we got tired and headed down to the lake.

We then shared a big jug of sangría down at the lake whilst the afternoon drew on into the evening. We’d time to kill before our main plan for the evening, which was to see the sun set from a great vantage point next to the Royal Palace. With little time to spare, we’d then to head to the metro and get ourselves back up to Ópera in order to catch the last rays of sun.

Ellie was very chuffed at getting her hands on some unique flavours of chocolate.

The sunset from this spot was then as gorgeous as usual. We watched the sky change from blue to bright orange and then its typical shades of pink and purple as the evening drew on, all framed by the royal place and cathedral. Not a bad way to end another busy day exploring my home city!

I love this photos and all of the colours created by the evening light.

The next morning we’d planned to make some homemade pancakes, and so spent a lazy morning frying them, filling them with fruit, and then dousing them with a generous helping of proper Vermont maple syrup that Megan’s mum Maureen had gifted me when I went to visit!

After our hearty breakfast, Ellie and I prepared our picnic lunch and then headed off on the bus to Retiro, Madrid’s main park. We scouted out a space in our favourite area of the park overlooking the lake, and then settled down to spend a slow afternoon munching, drinking, reading, and chatting.

Once we were full of food and had been worn down by the sun, we collected our things and wandered out of the park, eventually heading the entire way home on foot in order to pass by some of the city’s other sights. We then rested in the flat for a while before heading out for our evening meal, for which we were accompanied by Luis once again!

Our meal at our favourite local Italian spot was then as hilarious as it was tasty, with a couple of (shared, mind you) bottles of wine leading us to attempt to recreate some videos that Luis had seen on Instagram. These involved Luis covering himself with a cloth, from which behind I would then appear in his place in a feeble attempt at a magic trick. Things went south quite literally when we attempted it, with Luis winding up on the floor and me nearly joining him as I burst into laughter!

The next day we decided to take things easy once again (there’s a theme going on here) and prepared some fruit smoothies at home for breakfast. Our original plan had been to hire some bikes, but we weren’t feeling so committal and so opted for a leisurely walk down the river instead.

The whole trip was a rather relaxed experience.

We wound up having a quick drink before heading back home, where we had a nap ready for our evening’s plans of a night out with Sara. This then began at a local bar for some food and then a couple of rounds of gin and tonics. From there, we grabbed a taxi up to my favourite karaoke joint, where we spend the rest of the night singing and jiving to a lot of songs that poor Ellie couldn’t understand. She gave it her all though, and even wound up being roped into singing a Spanish song by a group of lads nearby. It was great fun!

The two of us were a little worse for wear the next day, and so spent most of the day relaxing around my flat before eventually gathering the strength to head out for an evening wander. We passed by a shop in the city centre so that Ellie could grab something she’d seen a few days before, and then wandered past the royal palace and the west of the city once more to take in the views as the sun set.

This view from the royal palace is almost ethereal, with the mountains in the background.

Ellie then left early the next morning and I headed back to work after a good few days of lots of relaxed fun. It was great to have her over and to catch up with all the gossip and news. She’s now as busy as me and is always travelling and doing all sorts of stuff, so we’re often a bit out of date until we actually sit down and have a proper chat!

There was no rest for me, however, and I was soon preparing my house for my next visitor just two days after Ellie headed back to the UK – but more on that in my next post!

27.10.22 — Journal

Arcade Fire & Theme Parks

With my parents back home in the UK, I had plenty of other entertaining plans in place to keep myself occupied. After my trip to the US and Canda, I’d decided to do more stuff and live more experiences, so I jumped at the chance to go and see Arcade Fire live in concert with Carmen!

We met up one evening in a very cramped bar just outside the Wizink Centre, Madrid’s main arena in which I’d seen Queen with Danni just this past summer. We had a couple of beers to build up some energy and then headed out with the rest of the crowds as the hour of the concert drew closer.

It turned out that our seats were way up in the gods, but I was happy as it meant I could enjoy the light show in its entirety – anyone who knows me will know I do love to stare at the lighting rig during any given live event. Arcade Fire were then on stage, and so followed a medley of some of my favourite songs of theirs and some new gems that I discovered as they belted them out live.

It was a truly awesome show, with the band’s signature and eclectic mix of styles reflected in the visuals and the staging of the show. They moved from the main stage to a smaller on in the centre of the standing crowd, heading to it through the audience itself. It was a great experience and me and Carmen had a wonderful time of it all!

The next weekend I had another plan in place, which was to head with a friend to Parque Warner, a huge theme park just outside of Madrid proper that me and Danni visited together for the first time last year. In the end he was too ill to join, but in a moment of improvisation and spontaneity I rang another mate who lives nearby. He had just enough time to throw on some clothes and head down to the bus station to accompany me!

I managed to talk him into this one, which didn’t go down well after.

The Superman coaster was definitely our favourite: we rode it four times!

We had loads of fun at the park, with one of the more hilarious moments being off the rides themselves. We sat down for lunch inside one of the food courts and watched as a family just outside the window began to panic as they were attacked by a persistent bee. We couldn’t help but laugh as we watched them waft and flail their arms around. I might have felt bad, but they could have just as easily moved to another table…

The rest of the rides were a good laugh, all except for a water ride that Álvaro wanted to go on which then soaked us through to the skin. It took every last ounce of my self control to stop myself from yelling expletives the entire way around the painfully slow circuit, for the duration of which we were attacked by water jets and waterfalls and other such instruments of torture.

As the day drew to a close we headed over to the Loca Academia de Policía (“Crazy Police Academy”) show. I’d seen this before with Danni when we went together, but the motor stunts and the questionable comedy were still as fun this second time around.

The sun set on us during this show, but we were still clinging on to the back end of summer, so the temperatures were warm enough for us to keep on enjoying the park’s offer until it closed. We made one last run around the park, hopping on another coaster and then sadly missing the evening parade as the time given on the park’s app turned out to be wrong – damn it!

Leaving the pleasingly illuminated park, I had then only one week to wait until my next theme park experience. This time I headed off to Madrid’s other and more central theme park, the Parque de Atracciones (whose name is very uninspired, meaning just “Amusement Park”). I met up with my colleague María and the two of us had an absolute blast, riding all of the rides multiple times and making the most of the 10 hours that the park was open.

One of the funniest moments took place on the ride that I’m sat waiting for above, a huge spinning contraption that takes you high into the skies above Madrid for some of the most insane views over the city and its surrounding mountains. We just found the whole experience hilarious, giggling from start to finish!

Another highlight took place on the rapids. I’d convinced María to join me on it and then somehow managed to talk her into a second ride as there was no queue when we arrived back in the station. I recorded the entirety of this second run around the rapids track, in which María got properly drenched by a stray wave that hit our boat. I’d include the clip here, but I shan’t on fear of death…

And with all that, I conclude another blog post to try and catch up with all the stuff I’ve been doing recently. Stay tuned for the next – it shouldn’t be too long!

25.10.22 — Travel

Toledo with the Parents

After returning from Andrea and Andrei’s wedding in the north of Spain, I’d a week at work to undergo before my next adventure got underway, this time accompanied by my parents! They’d headed over from the UK to spend a few days with me in Madrid after I visited them back in summer, and we’d some interesting plans in mind for their trip!

They arrived at Atocha train station just as I finished work, so I rushed on down to meet them in arrivals. Reunited, the three of us headed to my flat and then out for some drinks and an evening meal, for which we manage to snag a table on a popular terrace in my local neighbourhood.

We had a great chat and a catch up with some delicious scran, but didn’t stay out too late as we’d some adventurous plans for the next day. These began in earnest as we rocked up at the train station bright and early to catch a train to Toledo!

It’d been years since I last visited the old capital of Spain, a quick hour train just outside Madrid. It was only to be the second time I was in the city, so I was sure to get some recommendations from friends and colleagues for the best places to visit and eat.

Toledo’s train station is lovely but not as old as it looks.

Arriving in Toledo’s very ornate train station, we began our journey up to the top of the hillside city on foot. The views as we crossed the bridge over the river we pretty spectacular, but we were soon faced by the uphill slog in order to reach the historical centre – thank god we’d brought plenty of water!

Once we’d reached the top, we began to explore Toledo’s ancient winding streets, although we did soon grow hot and tired and opted to stop for a drink on a little terrace at a bar that came recommended by a colleague. From here we explored some more, all before arriving at the restaurant that we’d booked for lunch.

Lunch was at a spot that had also come recommended. We tried a selection of local food, from salad to pork to partridge, a traditional dish from the ancient city. It was all very delicious and served in a lovely cellar setting accompanied by some artesanal beers that are brewed by the restaurant itself.

After eating, we continued our trek through the hilly streets of the city and wound up at the huge cathedral. Dad was keen on heading inside, so we grabbed some audio guides and headed into the vast space that I’d only seen from outside the last time I visited.

As you can see from the photos here, the cathedral was absolutely spectacular. It’s a pretty place from the outside, but I was still taken aback by the variety and intricacy of the different architectural and sculptural wonders that lie within. The sensation of intrigue and awe I can only compare to when I went to visit the mosque-cathedral in Córdoba.

We’d entered wanting a quick snoop around for five minutes, but we wound up spending well over an hour listening to the audio guide and leading ourselves around the vast space. It was an interesting experience, even if the voice on the audio guide was a bit overdramatic – even by my standards!

The space was overwhelmingly vast and ornamental.

After we’d knackered ourselves out, we dropped the audio guides back off and went to wander around the streets some more. We came across a shop selling traditional sweets and marzipans, so bought some of them from the nun that was working there.

The day was then growing on and we were getting a bit tired, so we retreated to another café along the way to have a glass of wine and a quick snack as we watched the world go by. From there, I ordered a taxi as I was keen on visiting another place that I’d been told was worth the car ride up to.

Even after the amazing cathedral, I think this is my favourite pic from Toledo.

The trip turned out to be well worth the taxi fare, with panoramic views over the hilltop city from an adjacent incline. We spent a good while just taking in the views and watching the evening sun cast its golden light on Toledo’s buildings.

It was only the threat of missing our train back to Madrid that eventually coaxed us down from our vantage point. We made the downhill journey back to the train station on foot, which also provided some cool views from the winding path by the river.

The striking city is set within equally dramatic landscapes.

Back in Madrid, we had an early night ready to spend our Sunday doing some decidedly more relaxed activities. Top of the list was a picnic, which we spent all morning preparing for. I made some homemade ensaladilla, a salad made with potato, tuna, egg, homemade mayo, and a variety of other goodies. This was accompanied by a Caprese salad and some other treats which we took to the Parque del Oeste, a pretty park in the west of Madrid.

We enjoyed our afternoon in the park before returning back home for an evening in – it had been a busy weekend and the ups and downs of Toledo’s roads had really worn us down! This relaxation spilled over into Monday, when we spent our last evening together in my local bar where I’m now a regular.

I then saw the two of them off the next morning as I left them in an early taxi up to the airport to fly back to the UK. It was lovely to have them over and I was now looking forward to the next few days. There was no rest for the wicked, however, as I’d many other plans to get my teeth stuck into as the week continued – but more on that next time!

17.10.22 — Travel

Andrea & Andrei’s Wedding

After landing back in Spain and catching up with friends around Madrid, it was time for me to head out for one of my first adventures outside my home city. This took me up to Gijón in the north, where I’d very important business to attend to in the form of Andrea and Andrei’s wedding!

I hopped in the carshare after work on the Friday and had a very pleasant trip up with my driver, Ana, who I’d travelled with on my trip up to Gijón for my birthday weekend back in April. We had a good laugh during the trip, which concluded when she left me in a petrol station in Asturias. Cami came to pick me up from there and we headed towards her place, where she’d kindly agreed to put me up for the weekend.

As I’d arrived relatively early, we’d time to head straight to the seafront and have a meal out in the city centre together. This we did, and I was happy to catch the gorgeous pink sunset over one of Gijón’s lovely beaches before heading off for a delicious sushi meal.

We also ran into some celebrations on the street, as the local festival was in full swing. We followed the sound of a marching band with some huge drums to the main square of the historical centre of the city, where we encountered a photo opportunity that we simply couldn’t miss…

Me and Cami are secretly a couple of century-old Asturian children.

The next day was the day of the big event. We grabbed a taxi with David, who was to be one of the best men, and headed down to the hotel where the bride and groom were getting ready. I infiltrated the room where Andrea was getting prepared, where we all had a drink and I met the rest of the bridesmaids: Cami had been invited to do the honour of being one of them too!

Once everyone was ready, we then taxied our way up to the venue to celebrate the ceremony itself. We had a quick drink before sitting down for the ceremony to begin, which was a lovely and unique affair fitting of the couple. There were some pretty good wise cracks in speeches from the bride and groom’s family and friends, after which we all dispersed and the eating and drinking began.

Cami looked absolutely stunning as one of the bridesmaids!

Things kicked off with some drinks and nibbles in the gardens of the venue, where I tried some delicious local cheese, meats, and seafood. We were then sat down for lunch, which being Spain was a huge five-course affair with all sorts of tasty dishes.

The long lunch over, we gathered round to see the newlyweds’ first dance, after which the bar was officially open and the DJ began playing some tunes. We had a boogie, sat outside for a good chat, and eventually wound up munching on even more food as some food truck offerings were laid out for us to graze on.

The night then drew to a close in the early hours of the morning with the traditional rendition of Asturias, a song that lives in the hearts of all who are from the region. We weren’t ready for the night to be over, though, so we all hopped in a a car and headed into the centre of Oviedo to keep on partying!

After some singing and dancing in the parties that I mentioned earlier, me and Cami struggled to flag down a taxi but eventually managed to get ourselves back to Gijón ready for a good night of sleep. This actually worked out quite well, because despite the unlimited gin and tonics on offer, I’d been pretty well behaved and drank plenty of water along the way.

This meant that we could make the most of our Sunday, and so we pottered down to the beach once again for a wander around and some lunch. That we did, ending my trip with some lovely ramen and beer in another Japanese restaurant that Cami knew before heading back to the train bound to Madrid.

The seafront in Gijón is always a lovely place to go for a walk.

It was an absolute honour to be invited to join Andrea and Andrei for their special day, so I’ve to extend my thanks to them for allowing me to form part of the celebrations. A big shout out to Cami for also letting me crash at her lovely flat in Gijón – it’s a lovely place to escape from the madness of Madrid for a while!

13.10.22 — Journal

The Return to Spain

After a crazy monthlong trip around the US and Canada, I was finally back in Europe with plenty of energy. Having done so much whilst in the Americas, I was inspired to make a shedload of plans and keep up the holiday spirit back in my home city of Madrid.

The first thing to do was to catch up with all my friends that I hadn’t seen for a month, so I spent a good few evenings meeting up for drinks around the city. If there’s one thing I’d missed whilst across the pond it was the concept of cañas (pronounced ‘can-yas’), meeting up with mates on an outdoor terrace for a few chill beers.

The summer sun was still shining down on my neighbourhood.

Another afternoon I headed out to the Royal Botanical Gardens with Sara. This was a place I’d been meaning to visit since I first visited Madrid but which I’d never got round to, so we decided to head there together seeing as it was free for the afternoon.

We had a good snoop around the plants and exhibits, but it was a markedly average time of year to visit. The blooms of summer had passed and they hadn’t yet replaced the summer foliage with the winter one. I did enjoy a photography exhibition that they had on inside one of their buildings, however, and so took note of some of the works and photographers that had caught my eye.

After leaving the gardens, we wandered past the Museo del Prado which it sits alongside and headed up into the literary quarter to have a drink and a proper catch up. As usual we had a great laugh whilst chatting about our summer’s antics.

The Prado is one of the world’s most famous art museums.

Later that same week I met up with Hugo, Sergejs, and some more friends to have a meal out to celebrate Hugo’s birthday. We headed up into the north of the city and to an American BBQ restaurant that they’re a fan of – something I found somewhat ironic after having just arrived from the US a few days before.

We had a great time at the restaurant, where one of Hugo’s friends knew one of the waitresses from having worked together there in the past. We shared some delicious meaty dishes and had a good few drinks, during which the desserts were on the house as a gift to the birthday boy!

Continuing the celebrations, we arranged to meet up for a picnic that weekend. Despite the delicious desserts at the restaurant, I theorised that it wouldn’t be a proper birthday without some cake, and so I whipped up a Victoria sponge for everyone to try down by the river. This was also prompted by the need to use up some self-raising flour that I’d bought while down in Murcia a while ago – it’s a nightmare to get hold of here in Spain!

Not a bad attempt thanks to the self-raising flour.

In another moment of me doing something I should have done a while ago, I also finally bought myself a helmet to use whilst cycling around the city. I put it to good use in some of my many cycles home, but I also spent some time enjoying the more tolerable late-summer temperatures and did plenty of walking and exploring. One of these wanders took me through the Campo del Moro, the royal palace’s formal gardens which I’d also never been inside.

The next weekend I was back out with Sara once again, but this time joined by her boyfriend Eric and his friends who were visiting from the north of Spain. We had some drinks around the centre of Madrid and then headed to a restaurant in the north of the city, where I enjoyed some delicious salmon and some drinks.

My next adventure took me to Arganda del Rey, a town on the outskirts of Madrid where Luis is from and where his family still live. I grabbed a lift with Carmen to join Luis and friends in the centre of Arganda one evening, where we had some food and drinks before heading out to the edge of town and to the main event: the fair!

These fiestas are a staple of Spain, and the last one I’d been to was up in Gijón back in July, so it was high time for another! The group of us headed into the action, where we grabbed some more drinks and headed over to dance to the music as we waited for another of Luis’ friends to take the stage for his DJ set.

We had an absolutely fabulous night out at the fiestas, dancing and laughing and eventually filling ourselves up with huge sandwiches full of chorizo and morcilla, a Spanish blood sausage which is one of my guilty pleasures. As the only person not from Arganda in the group, I then headed with Luis back to his family home where I stayed over in one of the spare bedrooms.

The next morning I had quite the heavy head, but this was soon tended to with a breakfast of homemade and freshly fried tequeños (Venezuelan salty cheese sticks) courtesy of the lady who takes care of Luis’ parents. Me and Luis spent a good while in their picturesque garden munching on these cheesy delights whilst calming our hangovers with a hot chocolate.

Luis’ family’s garden is a lovely spot shaded by grape vines.

We then headed out into the centre of Arganda del Rey, where the streets were buzzing as everything was prepared for the encierro. This is the name given to the running of the bulls, an event played out in small towns across Spain which is exactly what it sounds like: bulls are let loose to charge through the streets whilst people do their best to outpace or at least outmanoeuvre them.

I do love many aspects of Spain culture, but their treatment of bulls is not one of them. It was fascinating, however, to wander around and see how they had prepared the entire town for this event, and how they have permanent infrastructure in place such as holes in the floor in order for the huge iron walls (with gaps enough for a human but not a bull to slide though) to be installed.

My weekend in Arganda ended with some ice cream and a very warm car journey with Luis back up to the centre of Madrid, where he left me at my house and I spent the rest of the day mooching around and feeling sorry for myself as I nursed my heavy head.

This wasn’t the end of the late-summer festivities back in Spain, but I’ll have to leave my next little adventure for my next blog post. There’s a lot to catch up on after pumping out thirteen posts from the Americas!

10.10.22 — Journal

The USA & Canada

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog over the last month or so, you’ll know that I’ve been publishing a load of blog posts from my monthlong trip across the US and Canada. In the end there’s thirteen blog posts to get through, so I thought I’d make a little directory to list them all for quick reference!

1Montreal

I land in Canada after a long journey over from Europe. I’m met at Montreal airport by Megan, and we spend a night in the city.

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2Williston

We cross over into the US and I spend my first few days with Megan and her family in their lovely house just outside the city of Burlington in the state of Vermont. We explore the beautiful nature of Vermont and I get my first look at at American high school.

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3Lake Champlain

My adventures in Williston continue, with a series of activities on and around the beautiful Lake Champlain. Me and Megan go kayaking, Maureen takes me on a tour of the islands, and we have some fun evenings of meals out and karaoke at the local bars.

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4Bougie Camping

Me, Megan, Breen, and Aaron spend a weekend in the Vermont countryside at a fancy camping spot with views over Lake Champlain. I have a corn dog, make s’mores, and we all chat into the early hours of the morning.

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5Megan Moves

Megan moves into her new condo and I join her there for a week of remote work and busy afternoons. We head to the theatre, I join a softball game, and we eat plenty of tacos, pizza, and ice cream.

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6Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I have the full US experience with a trip to a baseball game, complete with 25¢ hot dogs and lots of other treats. Highlights include a beautiful sunset and a drunken photo shoot with the team’s mascot.

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7An Intense Day in Burlington

Me and Megan cycle 32km in the summer sun out into Lake Champlain and get caught in a rainstorm on the way home. We celebrate our busy day with an evening of drinks and karaoke!

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8Bread & Puppet

Megan takes me for an alternative experience with some outdoor theatre in the Vermont countryside. A unique experience that I can’t really sum up here…

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9Leaving Vermont

My last few days in the state of Vermont see us head out for a diner breakfast, scale Vermont’s highest mountain, visit the Von Trapp Family Lodge, and pass by the Ben & Jerry’s factory.

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10New York with Megan

Me and Megan have an absolute blast in New York City. Highlights include visiting the Brooklyn Bridge, eating at Katz’s Deli, watching a comedy show, cycling Central Park, watching a show on Broadway, visiting the Metropolitan Museum, and enjoying the panoramic views of Manhattan from our hotel rooftop.

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11Alone in New York

Megan bids me farewell and leaves me alone in New York for 24 hours. I head up the Highline, visit the 9/11 Memorial, get emotional watching the sun set over Manhattan, and then get lost on the metro out of the city.

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12Buffalo

I fly over to Buffalo to spend a few days with Kevin and James in their city. They show me the highlights of the city and its food, and we spend a hilarious day at the county fair. I end my trip in style with a drunken night on the town with Kevin and fly back to Europe with one of the worst hangovers ever!

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13Toronto

Whilst with Kevin and James, Kevin and I headed off to Toronto for a day trip. We stopped at Niagara Falls and then explored the Canadian city before heading back to Buffalo.

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If you don’t want to click around, you can also just start reading the first of the blog posts and then click “Next blog post” at the bottom of each page to read them all in order. I’ve also updated my travel page with all the new locations that I visited along the way!

I hope you enjoy this series of posts documenting a crazy month touring around Canada and the northeastern United States – I certainly had an amazing time!

02.10.22 — Travel

Toronto

As mentioned in my blog post on the few days I spent at my last stop on my US trip, Buffalo, me and Kevin also spent a day in Toronto! This day trip took us out of Buffalo and out of the US into Canada, but we’d first a stop on the very border to make.

I have to admit that after so many weeks in the US and a particularly busy time in New York, I’d completely forgotten that Kevin and James live nearby a very famous natural wonder: Niagara Falls. I was excited to catch a glimpse of the famous waterfall, so we parked up on the Canadian side of the Niagara River and headed towards the huge column of spray.

It will sound very cliché, but I did get quite emotional even before the falls came into full view. Just being close to the edge and watching the sheer quantity of water go flying over the edge from the top end of the falls was impressive enough, and so I had to hold back a tear as we headed further down the river’s edge and the full glory of this famous landmark presented itself.

The photos I’ve included – much like any videos I’ve ever seen of the falls – do not do the place any justice. I had never imagined the huge, panoramic size of the waterfall – it was breathtaking.

Another aspect that can’t be appreciated via photo is how bloody misty the whole area surrounding the falls is: we got absolutely soaked! It was a hot and sunny day, thankfully, so its cooling effects were quite welcome.

It was also cool to stand and look across the river to the US side.

After a quick trip to the gift shop and the loos, we hopped back into the car and headed on into Toronto proper. Me and Kevin had a good karaoke session in the car along the way, belting out some Spanish karaoke classics until we arrived and Kevin just fully drove over an entire pavement as a shortcut to get into a car park – it was hilarious!

We grabbed ourselves some public transport tickets and headed off to the city’s gay district, where we had a drink and indulged in a spot of shopping, all whilst pretending to be two old Spanish ladies who were overestimating their grasp on the English language. More hilarity!

Kevin then made a plan of other things we should go and see and we duly headed off to check out the places he’d identified. We passed through the city’s main square, to the old town hall, a famous indoor market, and then off to the distillery district.

The streets of Toronto were lovely and showed the city’s famous skyline.

The distillery district was just that, a whole district which was once an industrial complex full of breweries and distilleries. It had since been converted into a rather bougie area full of restaurants and bars, so we found a place with a table outside and had a pint to end our day in Toronto.

The distillery district was an absolutely lovely way to end the day.

As day turned into night, we headed back to the car and began our journey back south towards the US and Buffalo. Kevin wanted to take me to a mystery restaurant for tea, but the traffic out of Toronto delayed our arrival by a good while and so we decided to head off to Jim’s Stakeout. This was a little bit of foreshadowing for the evening after when we’d both end up back in there and in quite a state!

After messing up my dates and telling the immigration officer that I’d arrived in the United States on the 24th of August – a date which hadn’t even passed at this point – I was miraculously let into the country after the officer himself didn’t even seem to notice my monumental gaffe!

I had an absolutely great day in Toronto and at the Niagara Falls (which I’d been spelling wrong all my life, yikes). Kevin was an absolutely great tour guide and the best company one could wish for when exploring a new city!

After this I headed back to Buffalo, so if you’ve clicked into this blog post from there, time to head back!

— Travel

Buffalo

After a few days in New York City, it was then time for me to head off to the last of the cities on my monthlong tour of Canada and the US: Buffalo! It’s not a conventional stop for people wandering around the States, but I was off to see two very special people: Kevin and James! I’ve known Kevin for a long time now and I met James when he came over to England back in the day and then again when he stopped over in Spain for a few days, but now it was time for me to see the two of them in their own place.

The flight over from New York was a quick one, and I was soon being picked up from the airport by Kevin. We nattered all the way back to their flat, where James had prepared a homemade meal of chicken, mac and cheese, greens, and corn bread. It was all absolutely delicious!

After eating, I unpacked and installed myself in their spare room before we headed into the centre of Buffalo and to a bar for some drinks. Me and Kevin got a bit tipsy off vodka cocktails and had a good sing and a bit of a boogie. We then headed back home, where me and Kevin indulged in our usual activity of chatting away into the early hours.

The next day we woke up somewhat groggy after just two cocktails, but we were soon on our feet and out the door to begin some explorations. We took the car down to the city centre, where we first headed into the impressively tall and ornamental city hall. The interior was then a complete surprise, with its gorgeous Art Deco architecture and artwork.

Buffalo City Hall has quite a presence in the middle of the town centre.

We then grabbed a lift and headed upstairs for the next surprise in the form of panoramic views over the city and Lake Erie. I took some photos and James pointed out some of the most important spots from our vantage point up in the clouds.

Leaving the city hall behind, we headed up the road and to hotel to grab some coffee. James and I had a nosey around some of the rooms of the hotel whilst Kevin bought drinks, and we reconvened at the car to head over to another part of the city.

I very much enjoyed the illustrations on the wall in the hotel.

We stopped along the way at a mural that James wanted to show me, where I took a photo to prove that I’d visited Buffalo, New York. If that’s confusing to you, it’s because New York City is in New York State, in which Buffalo is also situated. I don’t know about you, but I was never taught US geography, so I’ve learned all of this in just the past few years!

To reiterate: I was now in Buffalo in the state of New York.

From there, we headed down to the docks, where we saw some of the important sights including a bunch of decommissioned military boats and submarines. I also had my photo taken with Shark Girl, a sculpture and local landmark, but I shan’t include the photo here as I look pretty terrible!

The sky began to darken as some dodgy looking grey clouds walked in, so we headed back to the safety of the car as we waited for the storm to break. We headed over to a supermarket I wanted to visit, stopping at Tim Horton’s (a Canadian coffee chain) for a bagel along the way as I was still living my bagel obsession after those I tried in New York.

The supermarket in question was Trader Joe’s, where I bought lots of supplies for my visit. We then headed over to Kevin and James’ preferred supermarket, which was nice and had some fabulous cookies, but was a bit too big and overwhelming for me as tends to be the case with supermarkets in the US. I did grab some root beer which I’d never had before, upon which I discovered that it tastes like sarsaparilla – I loved it!

On the way home, we stopped at an outlet, where I wanted to buy some new shoes but wound up grabbing some new jeans in an Old Navy. I was sure to take a photo of myself with the Old Navy bag and send it to Megan and friends back in Vermont – apparently they love the place!

We then stopped to grab some dinner: pizza and chicken wings. Buffalo is famous for both of these indulgent foods, so I was keen on trying them. The pizza was lovely but the stars of the show were definitely the wings. They were lightly spicy with a blue cheese sauce and were absolutely delicious!

And now for a quick intermission whilst me and Kevin headed somewhere else…

The next day, Kevin and I headed over the Canadian border and into Toronto to pass the day, and I want to leave that for a separate blog post. You can read that here!

Back in Buffalo the next day, it was just me and James for the morning as Kevin had to work until the afternoon. The two of us hopped in the car and James showed me around some of Buffalo’s hidden architectural gems and other neighbourhoods of the city. It was a very interesting trip and it was great to have a a tour guide who knows the kinds of things I appreciate!

We then headed to the North Campus of the State University of New York at Buffalo (quite the mouthful) in order to pick Kevin up from work. Before we left the campus, we had a quick snoop around, as I was keen to check out an American university after having seen the high school in Burlington. It was very interesting but we were growing tired and hungry, so the sight of the aggressive campus geese was as good a sign as any to head off.

Lunch was at a spot called Rachael’s, where I grabbed a light lunch of chicken salad after my body was crying out for some greens after a good few days of absolutely indulgence in Buffalo, Toronto, and New York City. It was also a good idea to eat something healthy before we arrived at our next stop: we were off to the county fair!

After witnessing what for me was the first attraction of the fair, an argument in the car park between a parking attendant and a very cross man, we bought our tickets and headed inside. We saw some cows and other animals, but I think the main draw for me was just looking at the people in the fair. It’s times like this when I begin to understand anthropology – the study of people and human behaviour.

James then wanted to show me the bizarre section where prizes had been awarded for all sorts of bizarre things, from the packing and presentation of pickles to the best patriotic photography. Once back outside, I grabbed a fresh lemonade and we wandered into the part of the fair with the main event: the rides!

I love this photo with all of the colours and energy of the fair.

I failed to convince Kevin and James to hop on the Wild Mouse or the Dodgems with me, so I’d to settle for a ride on the Ferris Wheel. This turned out to be a pleasant surprise, as it provided some great views over the sprawling fair from up in the air.

I then spent the remaining tickets on a spinning monstrosity called a Zero Gravity which I’d always wanted to try since seeing them online. These menacing things take the form of a circle in which you stand facing the centre with your back to the wall, which I did diligently with just four other small children for company – not a good sign.

The rickety metal ride then began to spin at increasingly higher speeds, pushing me against the wall with the g-forces generated. Then came the vertigo-inducing part of the experience, as the whole thing began to tilt until we were basically being spun upside down as if we were in a washing machine. All of this whilst being held in place by nothing but the centrifugal force generated by the spinning!

This was the view that greeted me once I hopped on this terrifying thing.

The sensation of having my organs moved around for what felt like an eternity wasn’t the most pleasant one, but I got off with a big smile on my face and sat down for a moment while I caught my breath and balance. From there, we headed off to look for “I Got It”, James’ favourite fairground game.

“I Got It” was loads of fun! We’d to throw small rubber balls from a bench into a box with a 5 × 5 grid, where they’d settle in one of the 25 squares. The objective was basically the same as in bingo, we’d to shout “I got it!” if we managed to land a horizontal or diagonal line of five balls.

I can’t stress how addictive this game was, we sat playing until we’d all spent all the physical dollars that we had on us! We didn’t win anything more than one free game at one point, but it was well worth the splurge as it was loads of fun – and hey, I was going to have to spend my dollars at some point before leaving!

Money spent, we wound up in a hall which was a bit creepy and full of pushy vendors, but at least it had some AC to cool us off. On the way out we ran into a parade of horses on our way to grab a county fair staple: fried Oreos. These decadent snacks take the form of Oreos which have been fried in a doughnut-like batter. I wasn’t the biggest fan, and opted to grab myself some sweet and salty kettle popcorn instead – it was fresh and delicious!

We then snooped around some RVs, where I was rather appalled at the excess of people having what is basically a second home sat empty and parked on their driveways. I did, however, enjoy the drink I grabbed afterwards, which was like a root beer but even stronger – I’m mad at myself because I’ve completely forgotten what it was called!

It was then getting rather late and rather warm, so we headed back to the car and back home. James then had to head off to work, so Kevin and I pottered down to the local metro station to head into the city together to spend my last evening in the Americas.

The metro was quite dodgy looking but I wasn’t too shocked at this point: the US is really terrible at public transport. The train was clean and punctual, though, so I can’t complain. It left us near the docks that we’d visited a few days before, from where we pottered down to a bierhaus for some German food and beer!

We grabbed what I would describe as a maß after my experiences at the local beer festivals in Herzogenaurach, which are basically big steins of beer. Although we accompanied these with a selection of bratwurst sausages, the beer soon had us tipsily chatting with the waitress and I began to sing along to some of the German songs that I knew thanks to Luisa and my two visits to her hometown in Germany!

James eventually came and picked the me and Kevin up, and not before time as we were quite tipsily away. James was exhausted after work so headed home, dropping me and Kevin off at the bar we’d all gone to together on my first night in Buffalo. We grabbed some gin and tonics there, where things got a little out of hand and we wound up ending the night at Jim’s Stakeout for fried chicken sandwiches!

After grabbing a taxi home, I then awoke the next day with an absolute monster of a hangover and the panic that I had to somehow pack my suitcase and be out of the door by midday in order to catch my flight back to Europe. I somehow managed to power through all of this, but I began to seriously wilt as we headed to the airport in the car.

There was a pretty big queue of cars at Canadian immigration, where the heat began to beat down on us and I began to regret ever drinking a sip of alcohol as we waited in line to have our passports checked. I did survive, though, and had to say my goodbyes to Kevin and James at Toronto airport as a torrential rainstorm began to lash down.

From there I’d then to endure the nightmare of a flight back to Madrid, which included a four-hour layover in Lisbon. I was so groggy and my stomach was awful on the entire flight back over the Atlantic, which wasn’t helped by the baby crying in the row in front of me and the fact that I was sandwiched in between two other people with very little legroom. To add insult to injury, I’d then to make a manual flight transfer in Lisbon airport, involving passing through immigration, picking up my suitcase, and then checking it back in. Nightmare!

I can’t let this rather unpleasant trip back to my home continent of Europe mar the amazing memories I made in Buffalo with Kevin and James. From exploring Buffalo to highlights such as the country fair and all of the delicious food that we ate, I can’t thank Kevin and James enough for taking me in and showing me their lovely city. It was a great way to end my trip across the Americas, but more than anything it was just lovely to be reunited with the two of them so we could spend plenty of time together.

Now back in Madrid, I nearly fell asleep in the taxi back home, where I arrived to discover that the two plants I’d left in the flat with an automatic watering system had survived their month alone. I jumped straight in bed for a nap, after which I unpacked and settled down for a chilled evening of watching Legally Blonde: The Musical in bed.

What a trip!