Spring Springs a Leak

05.04.22 — Madrid

After my last post took me up into nature with some glorious weather, this time I’m back in the big city and with what can be only described as a washout. Madrid’s usually mild spring seems to have been replaced by a wet and windy few weeks this year, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stood still!

One Saturday I arranged to meet up with a colleague and her daughter for a snoop around the Municipal Printers, a lovely old building which is now a museum conserving old printing presses and traditional printing techniques through a free exhibition and printing workshops. It reminded me of the fun I had back in Leeds as a student and one of the hilarious bookbinding workshops I attended there!

The architecture was as interesting as the printing presses within.

After our wander around the space, we headed out for a bite to eat, sharing one of my all time favourite dishes, huevos rotos con picadillo, a mix of chips, fried egg, and a spiced and minced meat with a similar taste to chorizo. After lunch, we went shopping for some rubber bands before I stopped by their house to meet their hamster, Melocotón (meaning “Peach”), and have a crash-course in making bracelets with the little coloured rubber bands that we’d picked up.

This little guy was very friendly, but also soft and fluffy – just like a peach.

Later that afternoon, I headed up to the north of Madrid and to IFEMA, Madrid’s vast convention centre. There I’d arranged to meet up with Luis and Carmen, who’d managed to bag us some free tickets to ARCO, a huge annual contemporary art fair.

The journey to get to the exhibition was more complicated than we thought partly thanks to the partial closure of line 8 of the metro, and then partly thanks to me and Luis’ confusion as we got off the replacement bus at the wrong stop! Thankfully, we ran into two other lost souls who had done the same, and the four of us wound up splitting a taxi to take us the rest of the way.

Needless to say that we arrived quite late in the day, and so didn’t have much time to have a proper look around all the stalls and exhibitions at the fair. I saw some pretty cool stuff, including a ball of spaghetti which reminded me how hungry I was. This then led to us heading into the VIP bar for a gin and tonic and a quick bite to eat, which was more than welcome as my busy day wore on!

This big ball of spaghetti was just asking for someone to fall into it…

Instead of heading home after ARCO, I headed to the north of the city centre, where I met up with Sara and her friend Rocío to have a drink and a bite to eat. Once we’d had our fill of croquettes and some other delicious dishes, the two of them were ready and rearing to head out, but my relentless day meant that I was well and truly ready for bed!

The week after saw some more unpredictable weather in and around Madrid, with some of my evening walks home being an absolute pleasure as the days grew longer, whilst some others were only possible thanks to my trusty (and somewhat battered) umbrella.

The next weekend saw me over at Bogar and Javier’s new place for party which combined a housewarming for their new place with Bogar’s birthday celebrations. I headed over with some G&T and a homemade carrot cake in tow, and we had a fabulous evening chatting the night away. It’s hard to believe that it’s now been three years since the two of us were hauling his mattress down the road as he moved into his previous flat!

Me, my carrot cake, and the cumpleañero (birthday boy).

This wasn’t the only birthday weekend I’d to attend, however, as it was then Luis’ turn to celebrate. Under a rather threatening grey sky, a huge group of us convened at a restaurant down by the lake. There, we ate, drank, and gossiped the evening away – yet another lovely Saturday afternoon plan to celebrate not only his birthday but that of his friend, Marta.

The week after was then a rather busy one for me, as I had some visitors over and we had plenty of interesting things going on at work!

At lunchtime on Monday I was disturbed by a knock at my door, and then greeted by my parents, who’d flown in from England to spend a week with me here in the big city. We spent the first afternoon having lunch together and chilling out – we were all pretty tired and the weather wasn’t looking great.

The next day, the weather took a turn for the bizarre, as a calima, dust and sand from the Sahara desert, had made it way up to Madrid. I’m used to seeing it in Tenerife, which is obviously a lot closer to Africa, but it was the first time I’d ever stepped outside to see the capital covered in the telltale fine red dust.

This rather apocalyptic-looking phenomenon coincided with a day of filming that we were undertaking for a client at work, and so I told my parents to come and join us on the film shoot for a while for a behind-the-scenes look at how such a production was undertaken.

Once the filming was over for the day, I headed out for tea with my parents, and so begun the routine for the week – we’d meet up for lunch near work and then spend the evening having a bite to eat and some drinks before I headed to bed for work the next day.

As I finish work a few hours earlier on a Friday, we decided to mix things up, and headed down to the Matadero for some gin and tonics so that I could kick back after a long and busy week at work. We enjoyed our drinks before heading out to tea, after which we had a relatively early night in order to gather up some energy for the next day’s shenanigans.

We snuck into a cool bar in the Matadero that I’d only ever been to once before.

On the Saturday, and under the persistent grey skies, we headed out for a walk along the river and down to the lake, a spot we always like to visit for a drink by the water. On the way, mum mentioned that she’d never had her photo taken in those big letter signs you see in many cities, and so I knew just the place we had to have our photo taken!

After our afternoon spent by the waterside, we then headed back into the city centre for an evening meal and some drinks to celebrate their final evening with me in the big city – how time had flown!

Our last supper took place in a taco place that I’d visited with Hugo and Bogar a few weeks before, where I introduced my parents to some of the various tasty flavours that this Mexican staple has to offer. Once full of meats and cheeses, we wound up stumbling across a jazz bar, where we ordered one round of cocktails after another as the evening’s live jazz band kicked off. It was a lovely way to end their visit and a curious little find that I’ll definitely be back to!

With this, I think I’ll end this blog post here for fear of trying to cover too much – I’ve still lots to tell you all about, but finding the time to do so is proving quite difficult these past few weeks. I write to you all sat on a train headed back to Madrid – but that’s a story for next time…

Wandering Around La Pedriza

20.03.22 — Madrid

Well, I had my last blog post out in record time, but this time I’m breaking records thanks to how late I am to post it! As I’ll get into in later blog posts, it’s been a crazy few weeks, so I’m just getting some time to sit down and bring you this quick update with some lovely photos.

A whole month ago now I, along with three colleagues, headed up to the outskirts of Madrid in order to spend the day wandering around La Pedriza. I’ve been to this mountain range a good few times now since discovering it with Cake Club back in 2018, and it’s always a great chance to get away from the busy city life and catch some rays whilst walking around the gorgeous scenery.

This was all part of proving to myself that one of my various New Year’s resolutions, namely my daily goal of walking 10,000 steps, was having some kind of effect. After struggling to complete some fairly easy walks during Christmas in the UK, I decided that it was time I got a bit more active, so this daylong wander was to try out how I was getting along – I’m happy to report that I got along just fine!

We started off with a bus ride up to Manzanares El Real, where we grabbed some snacks (healthy ones, of course) before heading on our way to begin our great walk around the dramatic mountainous scenery. We had a good laugh along the way, with the thought of a beer at the midway point keeping our spirits up!

Just after this selfie of the four of us, I found an excellent stick, which I then used as my walking aid/fashionable accessory to make me look like Rafiki from the Lion King. This didn’t last all too long though, as I wound up forgetting to pick it back up after leaving it outside the bar that we eventually stopped in for a drink and some freshly fried croquettes.

Lunch over, we then waited in the painfully long queue to go to the toilet, during which time I met an excellent friendly cat whose photo I will include below. More than focussing on the walk and the sights that surrounded us, we’d been talking about all sorts of things – putting the world to rights in between talking about some of the projects that we’ve been working on together.

This guy was sat atop a wall and knew how to pose for the camera.

From there we powered on, our energy renewed both by the fried delights and the lovely surroundings of a rocky valley that we were now heading through on our way back to the bus stop. I’d brought my big bulky yellow coat with me and a bottle of water that I’d slung into its pocket, so I had that knotted around my chest, something which didn’t help when it came to navigating the precarious slopes of the side of the valley…

The sights from up in the mountains outside Madrid are fabulous.

Once out of the valley and back on tarmac, we completed the last leg of the journey with what was remaining of our waning energy. The bus ride back to Madrid proper always presents the temptation of a quick nap, but I managed to stay awake – I’d things to do when I got back home!

With over 24,000 steps done, I’d say that our little trip up to La Pedriza was a great success – and it’s a good job I got some excess steps in the bank, as the week later was quite a busy one which didn’t leave me with much time to hit my step goal every day.

More on that in my next post, however. For now I’ll leave you with this excellent photo of Julia, me, and Inés as we make out like we’re three ladies going on a power walk around a Californian suburb…

Spring in Murcia

08.02.22 — Murcia

In an attempt to keep the last of my New Year’s resolutions, which was to travel more, I currently find myself returning from the first trip outside of Madrid that I’ve taken in 2022. As I’ve done many times before, I headed down to Murcia on the train to spend an extended weekend with my auntie and uncle. The last time I headed southward to see them was in summer last year, and so I was well overdue a few days visiting them in their Murcian home in the sun.

Well, I say sun, that’s quite an optimistic way of describing the weather. The photos contained within this blog post are about to be rather deceiving: a combination of the time of year and some sheer bad luck meant that it was rather overcast a lot of the time that I spent there.

My journey began as I walked from my office in the north of the city centre down to Atocha train station towards the south, a trip which took about 90 minutes but felt like an eternity thanks to my heavy backpack. After stopping for a bite to eat outside the station, I headed inside and boarded the familiar train southwards. Upon arrival in Murcia, we headed straight to my auntie and uncle’s place in order for me to make myself a healthy meal before heading to bed for the night.

Walking plenty, eating homemade food, and setting off for a trip: three of my ten resolutions at play.

The next day we’d decided to try and grab lunch at a Chilean restaurant that my uncle had found, and so headed to a little town nearby their place after doing a spot of shopping in the morning. We were initially disheartened when the place seemed to have closed, as the street just looked to be lined by a bunch of sleepy houses. I then spotted that one of the houses was in fact the restaurant, but we were then disheartened once again when the chef came out to tell us that they were all booked up and that we’d have to come back another time. We decided it would be worth it to try something different, and so reserved a table for the very next day.

We then carried on to another nearby village where the chef had recommended that we try the food, but that place was closed as the owners were on holiday, and so we resorted to searching Google Maps for a nearby place as it was getting somewhat late.

We eventually had a rather lovely lunch, mixing a series of local dishes with some Spanish classics such as squid rings and garlic prawns. The only shock came in the price of some prawns I’d ordered – I didn’t think they’d be so expensive!

Lunch over, we then headed back home to spend an evening in as the weather was’t looking too great. I made a batch of hummus following my colleague Rocío’s recipe, and settled down with a glass of vermouth to watch some telly and chat the evening away.

The day after and we were back to the Chilean restaurant in order to see what the food would be like. I’d consulted Cami, who is also from Chile, to ask for some recommendations of what to order, but all of that was pointless in the end as it turned out that there was no menu, rather the chef would recommend and bring us out a series of dishes as he saw fit.

Well, what an experience it turned out to be! The owner of the place was absolutely lovely, and invited us to try everything from a creamy avocado and prawn salad to some fresh oysters. I’d never tried oysters before, and I think I’ll leave them for a while before trying them again…

These gorgeous cats would have probably appreciated the oysters more than me.

The food was absolutely delicious, though, and we ended up spending nearly three hours there, chatting and munching our way though a grand total of seven courses and two bottles of wine. Towards the end, the owner even brought us out some games he used to play as a kid in Chile, and we spent a good while drunkenly trying to get a bobbin on a string hooked onto its accompanying stick. The best part of the whole thing, however, had to be when he dived into his collection of party gear and made a trip around the place in his best drag outfit. We had an absolute blast!

My auntie and the owner whose name I didn’t catch – not even his drag name.

We left the place absolutely stuffed, so much so that I wound up having a rather extended three-hour nap upon arrival back home. Once I’d woken up I took myself out for an evening walk, stopping at the golf resort’s bar along the way to grab myself a drink to keep me going back down to my auntie and uncle’s apartment – it’s a big resort!

The sun had finally made an appearance the next day, and so we bundled into the car and headed up to the city of Murcia to spend the day. After parking up on the outskirts and walking down the river for a while, we landed in the centre, where I first engaged in a bit of sightseeing before lunch.

We spent some time soaking in the sun and taking photos near the cathedral in the city centre. I always forget how pretty the centre of Murcia really is, and I still find new things to see and take photos of every time I visit. From there, we moved on to the place that my auntie and uncle had found for lunch, Mercado de Correos.

Murica city centre is always a joy with its hidden little corners and side streets.

This market is situated inside what was a Correos building (Correos being the Spanish postal service) which has been converted into a modern gastronomic space. Inside, there’s a series of food stalls offering everything from sushi to local dishes to platters of cured meats and cheeses.

We wound up ordering a mix of local Murcian food and other small sharing dishes, enjoying them as they were brought to our table by the waiters. Once we’d had our savoury fix, we then paid up and left, scouting the city for something sweet for dessert.

In another moment of me sticking my head through an open door, I found this gorgeous door.

After a bit of a wander, we finally found an ice cream parlour that was open, where we all grabbed an ice cream sandwich. These bombs of sugar took the form of some delicious homemade ice cream sandwiched between two equally tasty chocolate chip cookies – they were divine!

Lunch over, we then wandered around some more of the city streets as we slowly meandered back to the car, stopping for a rest in the late afternoon heat as we went. From the big city, we then headed back home, where I had another nap – and this time I managed to keep it to just an acceptable half an hour.

As it was my last evening, I said we should head back up to the resort’s bar for some drinks, and so we spent the evening over some snacks and gin and tonics at El Casón. There I got chatting to one of the waiters, one who I’d then run into the following morning, and who told me about his favourite market in Murcia – one for next time!

The next day, once I was showered, packed, and ready to go, me and my auntie dropped my uncle off at a meeting he’d to attend and then headed out for lunch together. She took me to an unassuming little restaurant connected to the warehouse of an agricultural company, where we ate a delicious and very filling menú del día (daily set menu) before she dropped me back off at the train station that I’d arrived at just four short nights before.

As is always the case, I had a lovely break down in Murcia, where we managed to do plenty of stuff and eat plenty of delicious meals despite the weather. I’ve to thank my auntie and uncle for once again opening their doors and driving me around during my little winter break down in the south of Spain. As ever, I’ll be back again soon!

Resolutions for 2022

31.01.22 — Madrid

I’m not usually one for making New Year’s resolutions as I’m not know for keeping them for very long, but after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic it felt like it was time to start to make some changes. That, alongside an energy and optimism gained whilst home for Christmas and then in Tenerife for the New Year, drove me to throw together a list of ten resolutions for 2022.

Of course I wasn’t going to start the new year by trying to change ten aspects of my life all in one go, and so I chose a selection of resolutions, some of which I’d start right away and some that I could complete later on in the year. Also, as I was on holiday in Tenerife until the 6th of January, I decided to put my plan into action on the 7th upon my arrival back in Madrid.

I’m sure you’ll be wondering what my resolutions are in the end, and I shall include them here, not only for informative purposes but also as a way of holding myself to account by exposing myself to the world – or at least those of you who read my blog:

Cook and eat better food
Begin to do exercise
Stop biting your nails
Walk at least 10,000 steps a day
Advance with learning Irish
Launch my new website
Get a Spanish driving license
Begin calligraphy classes
Save up some money
Travel more

As mentioned, some I’ll start as the year goes on, such as driving lessons and calligraphy classes, but some I’ve already implemented since day one. The first one of the list was perhaps the most challenging for me personally, as I’ve a turbulent history of trying to eat better and lose weight, a lot of which stems from my tendency to use food as a crutch to deal with any stress I might be experiencing.

This year I’ve decided that the key lies in drawing up a meal plan, planning when to buy food, and investigating new recipes in my spare time, which usually involves me asking friends, family, and colleagues for ideas as I grow bored of other plates that I usually make. As you can see below, I’ve been making some healthy yet tasty dishes these last few weeks.

These pretty ingredients formed part of a vegetable soup recipe I made up on the spot.

I mention the word ‘tasty’ as for me it’s paramount that I still enjoy my food – it’s one of the things which I genuinely probably enjoy the most about the human condition. This way, I’m still managing to stick to my new health habits, and beginning to really enjoy the challenge of cooking everything in between my work and social lives. It also has the added benefit of helping with the penultimate resolution in my list, as I’m spending a lot less money on eating out or pre-made meals.

Alongside this newfound attitude to food, I’ve also become somewhat obsessed with the measurable resolution in my list: the 10,000 daily step goal. After a while using my phone to count my steps, I finally caved and bought an activity band to better track my steps and activity, and so every day since the 7th of January I’ve diligently walked my ten thousand steps – even after a late night at work and one particularly hungover Sunday morning.

One particularly nice benefit of this little lifestyle change has been the chance to see much more of the city than I ever did before, with my evening walks home after work pushing me to explore little streets and routes that I’ve never walked down before. I do still take the fastest route home sometimes, however this route still takes me past some of the prettiest sites the centre has to offer, such as the royal palace and the Viaducto de Segovia, a huge bridge offering views over the west of the city.

It’s not all bad when I get to pass architecture like this every evening.

It might sound silly, but this combination of eating better and moving more has really changed my outlook on everything, and the extra energy it has given me has motivated me to start doing some things I’ve been unconsciously putting off doing for a while now. One such trip took me to the north of the city and to the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, the National Museum of Natural Sciences (an easy one to translate, come on now). This was incited by a dream I had about dinosaurs, and so I decided I would drag myself up there the following day in order to snoop at some models of dinosaur bones.

I’ve also been more proactive in organising things with friends, including a trip to Hugo’s new flat for an evening of tacos and enchiladas prepared by him and his friends. It was a lovely evening, with friends from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Spain all coming together to inaugurate Hugo’s new place. Being on the sixteenth floor, the views from his new place are quite something!

I’d also arranged to spend one Sunday at Sara’s place, where we were joined by her boyfriend, her other flatmate, and another friend to share a long afternoon lunch. Dessert was provided by yours truly, and took the form of a Victoria sponge with fresh cream and strawberries. It may look very nice, but the texture and the rise on the cake were a bit off, as I’ve still not found a good ratio of raising agent to properly substitute self-raising flour. If anyone out there has any idea, please let me know!

The lack of self-raising flour in Spain may actually be my biggest gripe about living here.

Obviously this cake didn’t exactly align with my new healthy eating plan – even if it did contain quite a bit of fresh fruit. This didn’t bother me, however, as my mum rightly pointed out that if I don’t allow myself the odd treat from time to time then I’ll get frustrated with eating well and give up on the whole thing entirely. That means I’m still allowing myself drinks out with friends, my Wednesday lunch out with my colleague Esther, and the occasional sweet treat to keep my sweet tooth at bay.

That’s about it for this blog post, in which I’ve given you a bit of an update as to what I’ve been up to this January through the medium of a rather rambling explanation of my ten resolutions. This weekend, however, I’ve some more interesting plans lined up, and so I’ll be back soon with all the antics from my first trip outside of Madrid for 2022…

New Year in Tenerife

21.01.22 — Tenerife

Epilepsy Warning: This post contains a video which includes flashing lights.

I ended the last blog post on a mysterious note, and I’ve begun this one with a title which gives everything away – I did indeed spend the New Year on the Spanish island of Tenerife. I celebrated the arrival of 2022 with my friends Cami, Sam, and Cami’s family, who have always welcomed me with open arms since the first time I visited.

My trip to England ended with Danni giving me a lift to the airport, where I headed to security at Terminal 1 just to be sent wandering all the way to Terminal 3, something my back did not appreciate as I lugged my two heavy bags with me. I did eventually find my gate in the otherwise abandoned T3, and I was soon on board the long 4-hour flight to Tenerife.

At the airport I was greeted by Sam, who drove the two of us up to Cami’s parents’ place so I could leave my stuff at theirs ready to head back to sleep later in the evening. Once Cami finished work, the three of us then headed down to a local Asian fusion restaurant, where we enjoyed a much-needed catch up over a lovely meal of sushi and other dishes.

I then partook in a spot of stargazing before heading to sleep, as the isolated location of the Canary Islands make for a great view of the heavens above, and the bedroom that I stayed in at Cami’s parents’ place has a lovely little balcony perfect for a moment of reflection before bed. This brought me into the next day, which was already New Year’s Eve, and so we’d stuff to do!

We first headed to the supermarket so that I could buy the ingredients needed to make a carrot cake for the New Year’s celebrations, after which we rejoined Cami’s family for a lovely lunch at a local grill. Full of soup, grilled cheese, and a selection of meats, I then headed back to the house to start work on my cake.

The carrot cake was thus completed with the help of Miguel, the son of one of the family friends who had invited us to see in the New Year at her house. With the culinary adventures over, I had precious little time to decorate the cake with a santa and his sleigh (slightly late, but never mind) and get changed ready for the evening meal.

Arriving at the house of Eva, a close friend of Cami’s family, I chatted to my family for a bit to wish them a happy New Year, and then we were all called to be seated ready for the feasting to begin – and what a feast! I finally learned how to eat langostines, discovered the virtues of marinated salmon, and sampled some of the most delicious seafood soup that I’ve ever tasted.

With the meal over, midnight was encroaching, and so we all got into position in front of the telly with our streamers and cup of 12 grapes. These are part of Spain’s Nochevieja tradition, which dictates that you have to eat one grape for each chime of the bell at midnight. It sounds like a doozy, but one misplaced or mistimed grape can see you coughing your way into the new year!

Once Miguel had smashed a plate outside as per the family tradition, we all finished our last glass of champagne and then headed back home to sleep before the next day.

The first day of 2022 treated me rather well, as me and Cami headed down to Los Cristianos for lunch, a wander around, and a bite of dessert. We ate at a lovely little Italian restaurant that Cami had found, and then headed down to the beach and to a ice cream and cocktail bar to spend the afternoon in style by the sea.

The 26° of Tenerife made a lovely change from England’s rain and Madrid’s biting cold.

The two of us then headed back to the car and up to an observation point to watch the sun set. Cami had noted that the calima – the haze caused by dust carried on the wind from Africa just 250km away – had subsided quite a bit, meaning we could see some of the surrounding islands from the shores of Tenerife. The hope was that we could see even more of them from high up and catch some lovely views of the sunset.

As you can see, the sunset and the views thereof did not disappoint one bit, and so Cami and I sat down for a good while to take in the views. We had a good chat up there, enjoying some crisps and beers that we’d grabbed from a petrol station on the way up to our vantage point atop the roof of an abandoned hillside café.

The next day we hopped back in Cami’s car and headed for a day out in the north of the island, stopping for some breakfast along the way. Our road trip took us first to Puerto de la Cruz, where we had some cocktails and snacks before heading to Santa Cruz for lunch. The names of these two places are quite confusing – they both have the word cruz (cross) in them!

After lunch, we then headed to Santa Cruz’s big central park for a drink and to relax in the greenery until the sun began to set and the lowering temperatures became too cold to bear. Being full of Korean food and as generally lazy as I am, I insisted that we take a taxi back down to the car, which we took back home and settled in for an early night as I’d to work the next day.

Although I do enjoy the flexibility of working from home, I’m usually a fan of going into the office – but when ‘home’ consists of a terrace in sunny Tenerife, I’ll definitely take that any day! Thanks to the revolution in our way of working that we’ve undertaken at Erretres, I was able to work just as efficiently from the garden of Cami’s parents’ house as I do in the office.

Once work was over, though, I was keen to get back out to see some more of Tenerife with what was left of the daylight hours. As Cami was working, me and Sam headed down to the beach together, watching some paragliders descend gracefully onto the beach framed by the beautiful sunset. It was quite the sight!

The two of us then headed down to that same beach, perching ourselves down on some deck chairs on the sand at a lovely little beach bar. We ordered a bite to eat and a cheeky cocktail – I was half on holiday after all – and poor Sam had to put up with me jumping up every two minutes as I spotted yet another photo I could take as the sun set.

My favourite photo I managed to bag that evening has to be the following one, as I managed to catch just the moment when a father and son were playing together in the last rays of light, with another of the Canary Islands visible in the background. It was a lovely time to be down on the beach, the noise of the day’s visitors had died down and people were relaxing and enjoying the sights.

One the cold crept in, we headed back home, and then the thought of another evening down on the coast got me through another nine hours of work the next day. Sam faithfully granted me my wish, and that evening we headed back to Los Cristianos to have a wander around and find something to eat for tea.

There was no better way to start the new year and reflect on my resolutions than a walk on the beach.

Our evening meal was eventually had at a Japanese restaurant that Cami and Sam are fond of, and the reason for which I soon discovered after a variety of delicious sushi dishes. After cramming so much into one day I was soon tired, and so we headed back home so that I could get an early night.

The next day was much more of a quiet affair, as both Cami and Sam were working in the afternoon after I’d disconnected from work. I was expecting to be alone for the evening, but Cami’s parents Nati and Rodrigo invited me to have pizza with them and Nati’s brother who’d swung by for a visit.

After this came an important day in the Spanish calendar, perhaps more so than the 25th of December. The 6th of January is celebrated as Día de los Reyes Magos, the day of the three kings. It’s the day that the three kings (or wise men as we know them) bring presents to all the well-behaved kids in Spain, and as part of the traditions a sweet bread called roscón is cut. Hidden within this halo-shaped bread are both a figurine of a wise man and a bean – if you bite into the wise man you are crowned as king, and if you bite into the bean, you’ve to pay for the roscón!

We celebrated this day with a breakfast including bread, meats, avocado, hot chocolate, and – of course – roscón. This jovial get-together was to be my last of the holiday, however, as I was soon wishing Cami and Sam farewell as they’d to head off to work, a few hours after which I’d to head off to the airport for my trip back to Madrid.

As you can see, the airport of Tenerife Sur is quite unique in it’s lovely views over the beach, which took some of the sting out of the whole leaving thing as I boarded the plane headed back to the mainland…

As ever, I’ve to end this blog post sending my heartfelt thanks to Cami, Sam, Nati, and Rodrigo, who graciously took me in and ferried me around between them. Tenerife is a beautiful and unique place to visit, but my visits wouldn’t be half as fabulous without their generous hospitality. I’ll be back again soon!