Here’s another short post to bring me up to speed with all of the increasingly frantic goings on in my life, and for this one we’re back in Madrid after a long birthday weekend up in Asturias. I started my return off with a bit of a downer, as I was sick for a few days (it wasn’t COVID again, thankfully) and thus housebound.
Once I was back out, the weather had started to turn, and I managed to catch the second of the two days that form Madrid’s spring – the weather here seems to go from cold to boiling in a matter of days every single year! This heat brings with it the shall we say interesting smells of a hot and dry populous city, hence the title of this post…
I’m always surprised by the new places I find just next to my house.
I wouldn’t want to throw my adopted city under the bus like that though, so I’ve to admit that I’m being an exagerado, as they’d say here – someone who exaggerates everything. In reality, the lovely weather brings with it the chance to spend my evenings with friends and walking around some of my favourite areas of the city.
With these photos, I briefly summarise a week spent seeing friends, munching on some proper British scones in a new café one of them showed me, heading out for unlimited BBQ meats at a restaurant near my house, and even a drunken evening in with Luis where we made some homemade chicken curry. It’s been non-stop!
Speaking of non-stop, I write this post from outside the country once again – my new year’s resolution to travel more seems to be outweighing my desire to start saving up a bit of money. I guess you can’t have it all, and I’ve to make the most of being able to travel after two years of semi-quarantine.
More on that in my next blog post, when I’ll be talking about where I currently find myself!
I’m not a real fan of my birthday – those of you who know me will know that I’ve a decade-old habit of rescheduling my birthday so that I can celebrate it on a day that best suits me. I’m usually in a sulk every 30th of April, and so this year I decided that I’d spend it alone and out of Madrid, taking time to disconnect and rest after a busy start to the year.
And so, with my friends assured that I’d celebrate my big day this summer, I decided to head off by myself. I’m lucky in a sense that here in Madrid there’s always a long weekend for my birthday, and so I booked myself into a hotel in Gijón in the north of Spain.
With a backpack prepared, I left work on Friday and searched for my carshare up to the Asturias. The trip was a lovely one, and the four of us spent the whole journey chatting and putting the world to rights, all whilst accompanied by a lovely little dog called Theo who snoozed most of the ride.
After stopping off for a bite to eat and to stretch our legs along the way (where I found a creepy looking play area that I was obsessed with, hence the photos), I arrived at the hotel at around 11pm. I headed out for a quick bite to eat and then collapsed into the huge bed that the friendly lady at reception had assigned me – complete with sea views over a very dark and foggy Gijón.
I then awoke to my first day as a 27-year-old and spent the morning in a mood, mooching around in bed until I eventually had to ged up and showered, for my plans to spend my birthday alone had been somewhat scarpered.
As luck would have it, my friend Cami had moved to Asturias less than a week before my visit, and was staying with Andrei and Andrea, two other friends who live just outside of Gijón. I’d eventually ceded and agreed to have lunch with them to celebrate another year older – and I wound up very glad that I did!
Leaving the hotel, I immediately realised I’d left too little time to get to the restaurant on time, as I’d no idea how the public transport works in Gijón. I then missed the bus thanks to my refusal to run, spent ten minutes or so trying to hail already occupied taxis, and eventually managed to grab one that would take me to the place I needed to go. I spent the journey peering out of the window, catching my first glimpses of a side of Gijón that I’d never seen by day.
Arriving at the restaurant, I was greeted by Cami, Andrea, and Andrei, the latter two of whom I’d not seen since I nipped up to Oviedo to visit Kevin when he was back in Spain last year. The four of us then had an absolute whale of a time, munching through a huge plate of seafood, drinking cider, and having a great laugh and a catch up.
With the traditional Asturian cider flowing rather freely and the later discovery of “cider gin and tonic” on the drinks menu, things soon got a little out of hand, and we ended up befriending a group of guys on a stag do whilst we waited for the desserts to arrive. We then ate what we could of those – they were huge – and then headed down to a bar on the beach to carry on with a few cocktails.
Looking back, the Asturian cider-infused gin and tonics might have been a bit too much…
We then continued to have an absolutely fabulous time down at “La Buena Vida”, with a special moment being when one of my cocktails came with a little firework attached to it. I was told to try and blow it out – that was a disaster waiting to happen!
When there’s no space for cake, a pyrotechnic cocktail will have to do!
Catastrophic fires averted, we continued to chat the afternoon away there. Andrei and Andrea eventually headed home, but me and Cami had decided that we were going to carry on and go out around Gijón that evening.
This turned out to be a rather optimistic plan, as we eventually ended up napping for over three hours in my hotel room, awaking with heavy heads and upset stomachs. We decided that we had to eat something, however, and so booked some Japanese food to pick up.
When we went down to pick up the food, the restaurant turned out to be a really pretty little space. We asked the waitress if we could eat in, something she graciously let us do, and so Cami and I enjoyed our delicious meal on a side street just a few minutes from the hotel.
After a quick call to my parents, Cami and I then decided to head down into the city centre for one quick cocktail. Finding a chill little bar, we had some delicious custom cocktails made for us by the waiter, who was happy to make one with gin after I told him that I didn’t want to keep on mixing drinks after the day I’d had!
The next day we awoke to slightly cloudier weather, but eventually decided to head out for some breakfast at a place that we’d looked up in the centre. We wandered along the seafront and into Catlove, where we had a delicious breakfast and a couple of coffees to keep us going.
With such a slap-up breakfast, we resolved that lunch was unnecessary, and so spent a few hours exploring the centre and Cimavilla. This lovely outcrop of land offers panoramic views over the sea, beaches, and ports of the city, and was one of my favourite spots the first time I visited Gijón back in 2017.
As the afternoon wore on and we grew tired, Cami headed back home. I carried on wandering for a while, taking the chance to call my sister Ellie and have a catch up with her whilst basking in the sea air. I then headed back to the hotel, where I spent a good two hours on a video call with Megan. This was in order to get some ideas and some plans in place for my upcoming trip to the US and Canada this summer – exciting!
After the call, I spent a relaxing evening in the hotel. I took the chance to write my last blog post, work on the new design of my website, and pop a face mask on that I’d been gifted for Christmas. It was a lovely way to end a fabulous birthday weekend in the special place that is Asturias.
My final morning was quite a swift one, as I spent most of it in bed. I eventually had to get a shuffle on around 11am, as at midday I’d to vacate the room and I was hopping back in the same carshare to take me back home to Madrid. I headed out to grab a quick coffee and a pastry for breakfast, and then sat awaiting the arrival of my ride back south next to an abandoned glass of cider – only in Asturias!
I had an absolutely lovely weekend up north in Gijón, and I’ve to thank Cami, Andrea, and Andrei for dragging me out on my birthday and forcing me to have such a great time. Being away for my weekend might just have to become an anual tradition!
This little blog post that is about to follow is my attempt to do two things. Firstly, I will attempt to catch up a little bit before my next blog post detailing the little trip that I’m currently on. Secondly, I will attempt to put out a post which isn’t as long as an entire work of Shakespeare. To that end, let’s get straight to it…
The first thing I’ve to report on is a hilarious night out that we had to celebrate Sara’s birthday, which took place in a little bar in Lavapiés and then a club whose name has escaped me entirely. We had an absolute blast and a good old boogie like I haven’t done since before the pandemic began!
Recovering from this late night, I spent another evening wandering along the river with another friend, where we caught up under a quite spectacular sunset. I’ll include just two of the countless photos that I took that night…
The next day took me down to Hugo’s place, who’d invited me to an evening of Mexican food and beers with some other friends. We had a lovely meal of tacos, totopos, and enchiladas, with a slice of carrot cake for dessert courtesy of yours truly.
Much of my time was spent chatting to Hugo’s friends and leaning out of the window of their 16th floor apartment – I think the photo below demonstrates why…
Another evening spent out was with Luis, who invited me to try some of the delicious burgers at a place he’d discovered near his house. It was a lovely evening, even if the huge burger left me with an upset stomach the next day…
And with that, I end this short yet sweet blog post. Note to self: that was easy, wasn’t it? I guess I don’t always have to waffle on in order to get a blog post done. Let me know if you liked this shorter format.
With my little holiday down to the south of Spain wrapped up, it was time for me and Rhea to spend our Easter holidays together here in Madrid. Her visit marked the first time that she’s been able to come over and visit me in Spain, so it was kind of a big deal – and we surely packed enough in to do the occasion justice!
The trip began as I went to look for Rhea at the airport, where we had our big reunion in arrivals – I’d not seen her since just before the pandemic began! Once we’d dropped off her stuff, our priority was getting some lunch, and so we headed up to share a selection of Madrid dishes at my favourite local bar.
Rhea was looking as radiant as ever in the sun, which returned just for her visit.
We then had to make a change of plans, as we’d spent so long munching, drinking, and chatting that it was too late to squeeze in a wander down the river as I’d planned. Instead, we headed straight up towards the city centre, where I was determined that we’d catch one of the Easter processions that take place across Spain. I first discovered these awesome spectacles back in 2016 when I moved here for the first time, but I was also keen to see one again after two years without them courtesy of our old friend coronavirus.
Up in the La Latina district, the streets were absolutely packed, with throngs of crows making it impossible to even catch the slightest glimpse of the passing procession. We listened to the dramatic music of the brass band for a while, before eventually diving into a bar on the famous Cava Baja street for a vermut and Rhea’s first tapas experience.
We grabbed this selfie just before we got tipsy on vermut and cheese.
Our little evening of barhopping down Cava Baja then continued with a stop for some wine and croquettes, after which we were pretty worn out and ready for home.
We started the next day with a proper Madrid breakfast of churros and chocolate, heading up to the centre and to San Ginés for the real deal. After this, we explored some of the centre’s most emblematic sights, markets, and streets, passing by the Royal Palace along the way.
The city centre was absolutely heaving with people, which I attributed to the combination of the Easter holidays, relaxing COVID travel regulations, and the sudden bout of good weather. To escape the crowds a bit, the two of us headed up to the north of the centre and to an Asturian restaurant that Sara had recommended we check out.
We then enjoyed a delicious and absolutely huge lunch at Llagar El Quesu, starting with some pastel de cabracho, a fish “cake” and one of my absolute favourite dishes from Spain. This was followed by artichokes with jamón, and finally a delicious cut of beef with some chips. We left the place absolutely stuffed!
The food was great, the waiter was hilarious, and the interior design was on point.
Rhea and I then headed to the abandoned metro station, but decided to give it a pass when we saw that there was a wait to get in. Well, the sun was beating down and we were stuffed fit to burst: it was no time to be standing in a queue!
Asturian food will always hold a place in my heart, but it’s not a great idea if you then plan on doing things afterwards…
We instead continued back southwards towards the centre, which took us through the Chueca neighbourhood, Madrid’s gay district. There, Rhea was very excited to discover the various sock shops, and so we had a good snoop around whilst avoiding the worst of the midday sun.
As the evening wore on, we headed down to a little Mexican joint, where I snacked on a couple of tacos and we had a couple of margaritas. With the sun now low in the sky, we paid up and left, heading up to a vantage point by the royal palace and cathedral to witness the sunset.
With the sun gone, it began to get cool, and so we began walking towards Sala Equis to have our final drink of the night. We wound up running into yet another Easter procession along the way, signalled by the loud music, throngs of people, and the smell of incense thick in the air.
As with the evening before, we couldn’t make out much of what was going on with so many bodies squished into the small corners of the square where it was all taking place, and so began to head towards the bar down a back street. It was here that we had a stroke of luck, finding an alternative entrance to the square which had been opened to spectators.
Heading into the plaza, we had a front-row view of the spectacle, watching the huge floats with holy figures be carried to the sound of the brass band and the odd round of chanting from the crowds. It’s a surreal experience, and one I would encourage anyone visiting Spain to try and catch.
Once the procession began to leave the square, we finally made our way to the bar in question and had our last couple of drinks before heading back home. It’d been quite the busy second day!
In order to then relax somewhat, we began the next day at home, cooking and preparing a set of local dishes. Rhea, an excellent cook and food photographer, was keen to take some local recipes back to the UK with her, and so we’d decided to start the weekend with a picnic in the park.
With bags full of many snacks, including an ensaladilla rusa which we’d made with one of my colleague’s mother’s recipe, we arrived in the park and began our feast with a glass of sangría in hand. As we finished eating, we spent a while reading our books whilst the sun forced us to move the picnic mat periodically – I’m not the biggest fan of sunbathing!
We then headed for a wander around the rest of the park after our picnic, grabbing an ice cream along the way as the temperatures continued to rise. Once we were well and truly knackered once again, we grabbed the bus back home, relaxing for a while before the evening’s activities.
We decided to stick around my local area that evening, walking down the river and chatting away until the cold began to bite somewhat. Back home, we then spent the rest of the evening watching Mrs. Doubtfire, a hilarious film that I still can’t believe I’d never seen before!
The next day was Easter Sunday itself, and so I celebrated in the only way I know how – by eating a whole chocolate egg for breakfast!
Me and Rhea then began Easter Sunday by making the most of Madrid’s policy of pedestrianising certain streets on Sundays. Our plan was to walk up the Paseo del Prado, the city’s newest UNESCO World Heritage site, but the bus dropped us off at the other side of the train station.
This actually worked out well for the two of us, as I was keen to have a snoop at the tropical gardens inside Atocha train station, a lesser-known spot which I hadn’t seen for a good few years. Our wander through this indoor forest got us to where we needed to be, and we then carried on with our walk up to the spot that we’d chosen for lunch.
After a tasty and varied lunch at Vinitus, the two of us then spent an afternoon doing a spot of shopping, from a popup artisan market to a casual browse for some new sunglasses for yours truly. We wound up having a drink around Malasaña and then heading home, where we painted our nails and rested ready for an evening out in the city centre.
With the sun setting, me and Rhea had a wander around the centre, soaking up the atmosphere and taking in the lovely sights of the literary quarter. In a stroke of bad luck, the Jazz bar that I’d been to with my parents and which I wanted to take Rhea to was closed, but we soon found ourselves another spot to munch on some Spanish food and get pleasantly tipsy on some good cocktails.
The streets of Lavapiés are always a lovely sight to behold on the way home.
The next day then came around, and with it Rhea’s last day here in the city with me. We were still pretty tired after so many days of doing so much stuff, and so our morning was spent down at the Matadero, the cultural centre near my house. We headed down there for a snoop around after some breakfast at my local bar, and spent a while taking in the atmosphere before stopping for a drink.
I also fancied taking a look at a free exhibition put on by my neighbourhood’s local council. This took us inside the Casa del Reloj, a beautiful building which forms part of the same ex-slaughterhouse on which the Matadero sits: “matadero” is just Spanish for “slaughterhouse”.
The exhibition looked at the work of Luis Bellido, Madrid’s municipal architect from 1905 to 1939. He was the one who actually designed the Matadero and the Casa del Reloj, and so it seemed very fitting to be discovering his work from inside one of his buildings.
I feel like Rhea really enjoyed the architecture of the space.
After the exhibition, we then headed out the back of the Matadero and down to the river’s edge. There, we found a spot of grass to again unfurl our picnic mat and spend a while lying down and reading our books – even if we were chased by the sun and its unforgiving rays once again…
Once the sun got too much for us, we made the short journey back home for some lunch. In the second installation of Rhea’s Spanish cooking sessions, we whipped up a tortilla de patatas, which we shared with some veggies. Between the two of us, I have to say that the omelette came out quite spectacularly – it was delicious!
That evening, we headed back out for tea at a Basque pintxos restaurant that never fails to serve up some tasty small dishes. From there, we swung by my office so that Rhea could have a look at where I work, all before heading down to the Debod Temple to watch the sun set over the mountains in the west.
I may be biased as I live in the south of the city, but the city streets here are beautiful.
With day turning to night and the cool of the evening setting in, we had a quick drink on a terrace near the temple. This was followed by our last evening walk back home, which we managed about half of until we decided to surrender to our aching legs and wait for the bus to take us the rest of the way.
Thus concluded Rhea’s visit to Madrid, as she’d to head off back to the airport in the early hours of the next morning. It was an absolute pleasure to have her here, and a fabulous opportunity for me to reconnect with some of the parts of the city that I’ve not passed by for quite a while. I can only hope that this was her first visit of many, and I’m also hoping to visit her and everyone else over in London just as soon as I can!
With the weather in Madrid not up to much recently, I had some hope for some nicer weather as I once again set off down to Murcia to spend a weekend with my auntie and uncle. The familiar routine unfolded as I caught the train at Madrid’s Atocha train station, but this time the journey had a few twists, as I’d to change trains and wound up going backwards and forwards as I got closer to the Mar Menor.
The first evening was a chill one, as I was tired from a long day, but then the Saturday was a completely different story. After a quick bite to eat, we jumped in the car and headed down towards the coast. Before hitting the big city, we stopped off by an industrial complex, where my uncle knew of a walk that’d take us to the very top of a hill with views over the sea.
We parked the car and wandered first past this crazy forest of transformers and electricity cables, heading uphill at quite a pace until we reached a seating area with views over the water. My uncle carried on further, but my auntie and I opted to rest at this first stop, taking in the views as we were ruffled by the wind – it was blowing quite the gale!
I soon got restless, and decided to creep past a “no entry” sign in order to see what lay beyond. This little adventure took me along a rather exposed ridge of the cliff face, which then led me down to the corner of the precipie. This precarious little spot offered some lovely views over the sea, but I didn’t stick around for too long due to the gathering wind and questionable structural stability.
Me and my auntie then waited for my uncle to head back down. Once he was back, the three of us headed back to the car, where the smell of sausages made us hungry for a quick snack. To this end, we started heading on our way to Cartagena, stopping along the way at a little cove that I’d never been to before.
This hidden little tunnel took us down to the quirky little cove.
The weather really wasn’t good enough for a dip in the sea or a rest on the sand – but that didn’t seem to stop the locals! We opted not to join them, instead grabbing a drink and some marineras (a local snack made with Russian salad and an anchovy) to pass the time.
I’m always down for a Radler and a local snack by the sea.
We then headed into Cartagena proper, wandering its pretty streets and spending the afternoon drinking beer and munching on tapas instead of sitting down for a proper lunch – when the weather’s good, it’s a great plan! Our afternoon ended when we had some frozen yoghurt for dessert, after which we headed back towards their apartment.
That evening, we first headed into another local town to check out a restaurant that they’d never visited, but we were met by a rather empty and rather glum looking bar. Not fancying that, we headed back to their local town, Sucina, where we shared some local dished at another restaurant.
From there, we headed to the bar within the complex, where I wound up spending the evening chatting to the bar staff after my auntie and uncle grew tired and headed home. I found out some pretty interesting stuff, from details about the local parties to the story of the old duchess of the property on which the complex was built, whose burial site was relocated when the old house was renovated to create the resort’s restaurant.
The next day, we headed down to the shore, where the wind had picked up and the sky was beginning to get a little cloudy: foreshadowing of the weather to come. We wandered along the shore, stopping eventually at a restaurant to share some food. As we left, I grabbed myself a chocolate a la taza (like a thick hot chocolate) to go, which came in useful as a hand warmer as the wind kept up its relentless attack as we headed back to the car.
This old car in front of this old facade took me back a few years.
That evening’s meal took us down to a lovely local Indian restaurant, where I enjoyed a lovely curry and some fish pakora as recommended to me by one of the owners. After this, we headed back home for an early night, as the next day I’d to connect to work remotely for the day – hence the name of this blog post.
In the end, this day at work wasn’t too hard to face, as the weather outside had taken a page out of Madrid’s book and turned into a downpour. It was lovely to have the flexibility to work from Murcia, and the experience was made even lovelier by a varied spread of food that my auntie laid out for us all to have lunch together on my lunch break!
After work that evening, we headed up to one of their friends’ apartments, where Viv and Martin treated us to some homemade sausage rolls and coconut buns to accompany a gin and tonic. From there, we headed to the resort’s restaurant, where we enjoyed one last evening meal of burgers and burritos.
The next day was Tuesday, and that meant that I’d be heading back to Madrid in the afternoon. This time, we retook our old tradition of heading out for lunch at a restaurant so that I wouldn’t be hungry during my train trip back up, joined by another two of my auntie and uncle’s friends. It was a light-hearted and delicious lunch, as usual, cut somewhat short by my need to be at the train station in the next town along at a given time.
This trip back didn’t go quite to plan, however. At the train station, I stood on the platform waiting for quite a while, becoming somewhat worried when I didn’t see the train appear on the screens. One of the receptionists eventually appeared, who promptly informed me that there was a bus replacement service that had – to my horror – already left. Upon further inspection, it did indeed mention said rail replacement on the ticket – but in my defence it was printed in pretty small text and right at the bottom of the page.
It seemed like the only option for me to carry my trip back to Madrid was for my auntie and uncle to drive me all the way up to Albacete, where I could jump straight onto the second train of my original journey. As we sped down the motorway, my auntie told me to reread my ticket, and it turned out that the bus service didn’t actually last the entire way to Albacete. We thus rerouted and they managed to drop me off at a small town, where the lovely conductor directed me to the train which would take me onwards, upwards, and towards the capital.
The trip back up to Madrid was proving to be a pretty interesting one, but it was about to get even more so…
From Albacete, and once on my final high-speed train back to Atocha, I thought things would be smooth sailing – but that wasn’t to be so! As I sat working on my previous blog post, I sensed a commotion brewing in the aisle, and wound up watching a guy discover that another guy had stolen his laptop and hidden it in his backpack. This caused a lot of discussions between them and the train conductors, and I stepped off the train to the police waiting on the platform to interrogate the people involved.
After checking that my laptop was securely in my backpack, I then walked to the short distance back home, ready for a good night of rest after such a chaotic journey back up to my home city!
Although I’d to work during one of the days and despite the shenanigans that unfolded on my trip back northwards, I had a lovely time down in Murcia. I’ve to once again thank my auntie and uncle for putting me up and taking me out to do all sorts of different things – I’ll be back in the autumn!
