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!

Arcade Fire & Theme Parks

27.10.22 — Madrid

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!

Toledo with the Parents

25.10.22 — Toledo

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!

Andrea & Andrei’s Wedding

17.10.22 — Gijón

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!

The Return to Spain

13.10.22 — Madrid

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!