The Cold’s Back

24.11.22 — Madrid

Now back in Madrid after many trips out and about, autumn has really began to hit and coat and hat season has definitely rolled around. All of this, of course, from one day to the other and in true Madrid fashion.

No fear, though, as there were still many plans to make with friends and things to do that we’d planned well in advance. The first of these was a night in at home with Sara, which we spent making spinach and ricotta cannelloni (my favourite dish) and getting a little merry on a couple of glasses of wine.

The very next day me and Sara were back having a cheeky drink, but this time in a wholly new setting. We’d booked in for an evening session at Arte Bar, a place where we’d be guided through how to paint on canvas whilst enjoying some snacks and a quick tipple.

We had an absolute blast at what we’d affectionally nicknamed “pintar y chumar” (painting and drinking). Our art teacher for the evening was an absolute hoot and helped us try out the different techniques to create our paintings, which I think came out pretty well!

I was pretty happy with the end result, even if I had to rush the trees.

It was also lovely to spend an evening out doing something different to the usual chats over a drink or meals out around the centre of Madrid. Not that I’m saying there’s anything wrong with a meal and a drink out, though – it’s one of my favourite activities!

The next week I was back to work, but my time after work was – as usual – filled with other plans and activities. A couple of days took me down to the Matadero to visit Japan Desu, a series of events, exhibitions, and talks exploring Japanese design and innovation. These were very interesting and got me thinking about a lot of issues.

This mirror looked a bit like a portal into another world.

To end the week on a high, Bogar, Javier, Hugo, and I met up for an evening. We first had a meal at our favourite local spot and then headed to the cinema. There we watched a Spanish film called “No mires a los ojos” (whose title in English is “Staring at Strangers”), a very odd thriller which told the tale of a man who infiltrates a family’s house by hiding in a wardrobe that’s being moved into their bedroom.

It was, as I say, a rather strange film, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, especially as it began to pick up and things began to become steadily more convoluted. It began as a simple albeit creepy story, but ended up somewhere completely different.

The highlight of the evening has to have been the place where we’d gone to see the film, as we’d finally got round to visiting a local independent cinema. This cozy spot is just two minutes away from my front door and shows films in their original language. I am not a fan of dubbing at all, so I’ll definitely be back!

The day after, Sara and I met up once more for another evening out. We headed up on the bus to Antón Martín, a market where the locals go to for a bite to eat and a drink on an evening. As the weather was cold and the rain attacking by this point, an evening inside a covered and heated market was just what the doctor ordered!

After some delicious food and a couple of beers, we moved across the road and into a jazz bar that I’d visited with my parents when they visited earlier this year. I quite fancied a bit of live music and a good cocktail, and so “El Despertar” was just the place to go.

An Amaretto Sour was just what the doctor ordered for me.

The next day was a day I’d planned to stay at home and relax somewhat, but there’s never any rest for the wicked: Luis called and suggested we have lunch. I’m never one to turn down a meal out, so I suggested we meet up try out a place nearby that I’d spotted on my way to the Japan Desu event a few days prior. Luis had seen it too on his travels around our neighbourhood, so we met up there to try the Argentinian offerings.

The pretty little restaurant was an absolute triumph. We enjoyed a starter of melted cheese and some empanadas, with the main event being a huge beef milanesa (a bit like a schnitzel) with some delicious toppings. We polished it all off with a couple of desserts, including some crepes filled with dulce de leche – a sweet spread so tasty it should be a sin!

From there, the two of us wandered down to the Matadero for a post-lunch gin and tonic. We had this on a little hidden terrace garden which I’d never been to, marking the second discovery of the day. I love Arganzuela, my neighbourhood, and I don’t think I’ll ever leave for as long as I stay in Madrid!

That evening I eventually tidied up my house a bit, just in time for a special and much-awaited call. Heidi, Loredana, Megan, and I had finally managed to set a date for a video call for a huge catch up after a good while without the four of us speaking all together.

We had a hilarious evening chatting, gossiping, and painting. I say painting as I took it upon myself to paint a self portrait of all for of us during the call. I’d post the final paintings here but they are very caricature-like and very much unflattering of all of us, with none of the skills that I’d learned at Arte Bar applied to their creation. I also think if I did then the three girls would kill me, so let’s move swiftly on…

The next week continued with more cinema. I firstly went by myself to see “Cerdita” (translated into English as “Piggy”), a film described as an “anti-bullying slasher”. This it was indeed, with plenty of uncomfortable scenes of bullying and harrassment followed by some rather nail-biting suspense and gore towards the end.

I should have known from the trailer that it was going to be an uneasy watch and I should have thus probably gone with someone else, but it was a fabulous film despite all this. I would very much recommend it to anyone who is in the right frame of mind to watch it!

The second trip to the cinema took me to see “As bestas” (translated from Galician into English as “The Beasts”) with a couple of colleagues. It was half leisure, half research trip, as we’d been sent with instructions to take note of the film’s representation of Galicia, a province in the northwestern corner of Spain.

This was another fabulous film, with plenty of suspense and heartbreak throughout the nail-biting story. It was also beautiful, and made me even more keen to visit Galicia despite the somewhat depressing events which take place throughout the plot. Another one to go and see if you can!

Outside of my cinematographic adventures, Thursday also had a surprise in store for me. My boss Pablo couldn’t make it over for a talk he was scheduled to give at the Japan Desu events, so me and my colleague Blanca were drafted in to present our ethos and methodology at Erretres.

It was lovely to be asked to present and to meet the team of DiMad, the design collective who organise these kind of events in the city. I think Blanca and I did the company justice, and hope that anyone who came along enjoyed our talk and learned something about how we design from Madrid to the rest of the world.

But it was also a nice little milestone for me at a personal level. I first visited the Matadero’s design centre when I moved to Madrid and have loved the place ever since, so to be forming part of one of these events was a nice moment for reflection on my journey since rocking up to Spain at just 20 years old. Who’d have thought that I’d go from my rough A-Level language skills as an intern to giving a presentation in Spanish at a place I’ve always revered so much!

I risk getting sentimental here, so I’ll move on…

As the week ended, my weekend plans were just beginning. Cami had come down to Madrid to spend a few days, so on Friday night we had a pyjama party at my place. We grabbed some pizza, binged on snacks, put on face masks, and watched a fun little film that I hadn’t seen for years: St. Trinian’s.

The next day we met up with Nacho, one of Cami’s family friends who has also moved to Madrid, and had a lovely Japanese meal at a restaurant north of the centre. From there, I did a bit of urgent clothes shopping after all my winter clothes from last year are now way too big on me – another little personal success story I guess!

That evening we also stayed in, but I had Napo and Sara come over too and we all had some food together (cannelloni [again] and carrot cake) before having some drinks and an absolute hoot of a time until the early hours of the morning. With winter around, the perfect plan starts to involve long evenings at home with great company and the heating turned up!

Sunday was thus a more relaxed day, as I stayed at home to finally finish a deep clean of my kitchen which has – hopefully understandably given the amount of stuff I’ve been up to – dragged on for a while now. I did wind up heading out for a walk in the last rays of the evening sun, though, which led to a series of rather pretty pictures down by the river.

I’d planned an evening in by myself, but wound up inviting Álvaro over for something to eat. I threw together a quick but tasty dish of dorada (a white fish) and some vegetables, after which we polished off what was left of the carrot cake.

And I think that with all that said, I’m finally up to date with my blog posts – at least I was, until today, but that’s one for next time!

My Neighbourhood on Film

06.11.22 — Madrid

I recently sent a couple of rolls of film off to be developed after taking plenty of photos around the USA and Canada. As often happens when I receive the developed film back, there were a few surprises thrown in there in the form of photos that I’d forgotten I’d taken.

The first set of these photos was taken during a walk around my neighbourhood shortly after they began allowing us to head outside and stretch our legs after a long and strict lockdown here in Spain. My favourite area to walk along and escape the dense streets of the city is the park which winds alongside the river.

It seems that the day I headed out was quite a spectacular sunset, which was rather lucky as it’s vary rare that I take my film camera out of the house just on a whim – I usually reserve it for special occasions. The Manzanares River which forms the central column of the park, unimaginatively named “Madrid Río” (Madrid River), is typically very low on water. It was enough to reflect the bright sunset of that evening, though.

Although dulled by the expired film, the sunset still came out pretty glorious.

Being presented with these photos was a somewhat bittersweet experience. The photos themselves are pretty, but they took me back to a rather dark era during the lockdown where my daily river walks were one of the few things that cheered me up.

I’ve not retouched these photos at all, as I think the film grain and the pronounced vignette (the darkened corners) reflect those difficult times perfectly. It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as other photos from these rolls of film came from much happier aventures. I’ll be back to post those soon!

PortAventura

05.11.22 — Salou

Once Rhea had left, I’d another week of work to undergo before I was back off again for the next installation of my crazy October plans. This time I was leaving Madrid once more bound for the northeastern region of Catalonia, with my first stop being Barcelona.

I took the high speed train up to Spain’s other big city in order to meet up with Danni, who was to join me for a few days riding the rides and watching the parades in Spain’s principal theme park, PortAventura! With recent trips to Madrid’s two parks, Parque Warner and the Parque de Atracciones, it was shaping up to be quite the month for my rollercoaster obsession.

After arriving in Barcelona’s Sants train station, I found Danni waiting for me there after she’d flown in from Manchester in the morning. The two of us then headed out to a bar next to the station to kill some time, having a drink and a bite to eat to keep us going for the next leg of our journey. This then took us down to Salou, the seaside town that PortAventura forms part of and where we’d grabbed a flat for the duration of our stay.

The next day was our first day in the park, so we were up bright and early to grab some breakfast and take the fifteen minute walk up to the park gates. Once inside, we headed straight for the two biggest coasters at the back of the park, Dragon Khan and Shambhala. Despite some serious wait times, we grabbed a ride on them both and then had some lunch next to Shambhala, the undisputed king of the coasters within the park.

Lunch over, we wandered around some more of the park and stumbled upon the Wild West area, which was home to another of the park’s famous rides, Stampida. Before bringing our noodles back up on this duelling wooden beast, we hopped onto its smaller sibling, Tomahawk, which was located just alongside and with a track that interacts beautifully with its much larger and scarier sister.

It turns out that this smaller of the two wooden roller coasters actually still packed quite a punch! The most scandalous thing about it was the placement of the on-ride photo section, which came just after a curving drop which caught me completely off guard. This made for a hilarious photo which made us feel obliged to spend the ridiculous price to grab a copy. Worth it.

With Tomahawk ridden, it was time to head over to the main event. The queue for Stampida was another long one, and it was already dark when we actually made it into the station building and the final bit of the wait before boarding. There was panic when an announcement informed us of a breakdown, but they soon had the coaster back up and running, much to the delight of the waiting crowds that cheered as another train left the station.

It was then our turn to experience the crazy hills and turns of Stampida, which has to be up there with some of my favourite other wooden rollercoasters. Our on-ride photo didn’t turn out so funny as on Tomahawk, but I did manage to sneak a photo of the station under the night sky as we waited to head back in from the break run.

From here, we nabbed a ride on a few flat rights around the park and then one last run on Dragon Khan before we had to head back towards the park entrance for our evening plans. We’d to be back around the entrance lake for 11pm, when the evening Halloween parade was to began. We arrived about halfway through, catching a mere glimpse of some of the floats from far back, and so resolved that we’d have to stay and watch it properly another day.

The next day we were exhausted from our first, and so took it easy in the morning, having some breakfast and coffee at a local café before engaging in a spot of reading and relaxation around the flat. Once back in the park, we were once again confronted by some pretty long queues, and so hopped on some of the smaller offerings which had shorter wait times.

One of these easier rides was the train, which had a small queue but then took ages to actually show up. We were then informed that we could only go one stop before having to get off, so at the next stop we’d to get off, run back into the queue, and then jump back on. It was a bit absurd!

We then went on to find part of the park that we’d not passed through until that point, jumping for a quick (and mercifully pretty dry) ride on the rapids before heading back to Stampida for a go on the other track. It’s a duelling coaster with two unconnected tracks, so technically it’s two separarte coasters in one!

I then piped up that I wanted to re-ride Shambhala, my favourite coaster at the park. Danni was feeling a bit under the weather and so sat this evening ride out, but that meant I could hop in the single rider queue and get on in a slightly more reasonable time.

The evening ride on this huge coaster was an absolute blast. I’m one for putting my hands up on coasters, but my first ride on the beast had shocked me so much that I’d held on for dear life for the first few drops. This time I emptied my pockets to ensure that the restraint was snug and tight, which then gave me the confidence to go for it and allow myself to experience all the g-forces as we traversed the awesome layout!

By the time I was off Shambhala, it was already very late, and so we headed back to the apartment after yet another late night of rides and Nutella crepes. It had quickly become a habit for us to pick up one of these sweet treats every evening: even after only two days the staff were already recognising us!

When the staff at the crepe stall are recognising you after only two days, you may have a problem…

The next day was our third and last at the park, and we’d decided to start it off with a visit to the second and substantially smaller park, Ferrari Land. The main attraction in this park is Red Force, Europe’s tallest (880 m or 2,890 ft) and fastest (180 km/h or 112 mph) coaster that’s meant to replicate the sensation of being in an F1 car.

We were then pretty shocked to see the queue for the coaster stretched around pretty much half of the park. The signs were quoting two hours of wait, but given the excessive length and the slow throughput, we knew that we’d not much chance of getting on it for at least four hours. We thus decided to head back to PortAventura, the main park, and return to Ferrari Land later on to grab a ride on Red Force.

Back in the main park, we joined the queue for Furius Baco, a launched coaster with trains which sit on either side of the track instead of on top of it. The already long wait for this ride was then made longer by a breakdown, which meant that by the time we’d ridden, Ferrari Land was already closing. You can bet I’m currently arguing with PortAventura to try and get our money back for the wasted entry to Ferrari Land!

To keep our spirits up, we headed off into the other side of the park to grab some time on our favourite flat rides. This included a spin on the carrousel that we’d seen and heard so much of but not been on. After this, we headed to the kids area to have a go on a water ride that allowed you to drift out from a central hub over the water as it span at a pretty high speed. It was a lot of fun!

That evening we made sure to secure ourselves a good spot to watch the parade go past, which we did to the dulcet tones of the PortAventura Halloween song that they had on loop. It really stuck in our head – check it out on YouTube if you want to listen to the cheesy earworm for yourself.

Once the parade floats had all gone past, we joined in the parade and danced our way out of the park for the last time. We’d made sure to be near the entrance in order to make a swift exit and get in bed as early as possible – three days on our feet in theme parks really can take its toll!

The next day we’d a relaxed morning of packing and eating some breakfast at the flat before we’d to check out at midday. We left the key and headed down to the seafront, where we wound up in a McDonald’s after the rest of the restaurants were either closed or the typical tourist offerings of overpriced imported food for British visitors. At least the McDonald’s in Spain have beer as an option with their meals!

Once we’d had some lunch, we rang for a taxi to take us back to Salou train station ready for our ride back up to Barcelona. This chilled train journey gave us some time to listen to the cheesy parade music and check out some of my creations on RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Back in Barcelona, we’d a few hours before Danni had to go to the airport to catch her flight back to the UK. We thus grabbed the metro over to Barceloneta, an area of the city I really like with its small streets which lead to the city’s main beach. We found a little terrace in a calm square and had a couple of drinks and a good chat there before Danni had to head off.

I then had a couple more hours to kill by myself, so I headed down to the beach to watch the sun set over the sea. Once this had happened, the cold descended and began to bite, and so I headed back into the little streets of Barceloneta to find somewhere to grab a bite to eat.

I wound up installing myself in a cute little bar, where I grabbed a very nice beer, some good cheese, and the best tomaca (bread with tomato) that I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t know how such a simple dish can taste so good, but it did. I was thus distraught when I dropped a piece of it, which also somehow managed to stain my shirt, my jeans, and my backpack on the way to the floor. Just my luck!

After reading some more of my book in my very obviously tomato-stained white shirt, I battled against the small size of the bar’s toilet to get changed into another shirt and wash the tomato and oil from my jeans. With this just about managed, I headed back to the metro station where I boarded two trains that never left on time. Frustrated, I wound up hailing a taxi back to Barcelona Sants such as not to miss my train onwards to Madrid.

In the end I didn’t miss my train, which was just as well as it was the last one of the day back to the capital. I arrived just after midnight and wound up walking back home as I was still rather cross that I’d had to pay for a taxi back up in Barcelona just two and a half hours before: the train link between Madrid and Barcelona is fast!

Despite the dramas and long wait times, I had an absolutely fabulous long weekend with Danni up in Barcelona and PortAventura. We commented that we’ll have to come back at some point to further explore Salou and make sure we get on Red Force. Heck, maybe we’ll come in the summer in order to brave the very wet looking log flume!

Em & Lincoln’s Wedding

31.10.22 — Leeds

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!

Ellie Nips Over

28.10.22 — Madrid

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!