As the winter chill begins to bite here in Madrid, it’s time to think of warmer summer days, days which were spent in Caudete de las Fuentes, Valencia. If you’re an avid reader, you may remember the week over summer that I spent with Rodrigo exploring his grandparents’ hometown and setting up a lighting show in the patio of their old house.
Three months after said shenanigans, I finally got round to having some rolls of film developed, which led to the post “Tenerife on Film” as a follow-up to my post detailing my trip to Tenerife even earlier in summer. In this quick post I shall do the same, sharing the few noteworthy snaps from my visit to Caudete de las Fuentes.
As the messy, harsh look of a full flash and film camera remind me of days spent with disposable cameras as a child, I naturally took the majority of these photos at night. Our evenings in Caudete, as detailed in the main blog post, were spent listening to a range of music and snacking on bread, cured meats, and cheese.
The last photo on the reel was really rather eerie, showing the darkened figure of a man emerging from a run-down looking edifice. It was, in reality, a sneak shot that I took of Roberto as he emerged from the outdoor shower room.
With that, I round of this admittedly very short post. It reminds me of my first blog posts, where I used to write rather little in comparison to my often essay-length blog posts of recent. The shortness of this blog post is also due to the business of my work life and the therefore lacklustre state of my social life as of recent, but with a trip over to England coming up just next week, I’m sure that’s soon to change!
After a lot of working hard and playing hard, last weekend I decided that I needed to escape the noise of the city, and so made a little getaway to the mountains of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. I’ve been there a fewtimesbefore, and I love the quiet surroundings and the small-town feel. It kind of reminds me of Sintra, a lovely town outside Lisbon that me and Ellie visited during our holiday together a couple of years ago.
The autumn colours only served to make El Escorial more beautiful.
I always enjoy a trip wandering around the town and it’s impressive 16th-century monastery, but the rather steep climb up to the centre of the town from the train station is always a bit of killer! I decided to take it very easy, meandering up at my jolly old pace in between a spattering of racing cyclists who looked like they were having a hard time!
Upon arrival, my first stop was at a little local lunch spot, one that I have made a habit of visiting since the first time I ever visited. I had a wonderful time the first time I visited the little bar, with gorgeous local dishes and a hilarious chat with the three generations of daughters who run the place. Every time I re-visit, I’m sure to update them on the events and happenings in my life, and this time was no different!
I spent a good time wandering the undulating streets of the hillside town.
After I had been fed to bursting with plate after plate of delicious dishes, I went for a wander around the town and the outside of the monastery in order to digest some of the food. I decided not to wander through the gardens, as I didn’t want to arrive back in Madrid too late, but wound up missing my train and so had to have another drink at another bar (huge shame, I know).
The plan to get back to my flat in time for an early night didn’t work out as expected, and I found myself walking back from the train station in pitch blackness after the change in hour the night before. It was worth the short evening for the chance to make an escape, however, as being a country boy I do need to see greenery even now and then!
When concluding my last blog post, I mentioned that we’d been working hard and playing hard in the office recently, and promised that I’d elaborate on said statement in my next blog post. Here I am, faithfully as ever, to explain what’s been going on down in Guecho 35…
The Friday after my auntie and uncle left, we spent our afternoon at work celebrating 5×10, an event in which five of us have ten minutes to present a project, work-related or personal, to the rest of the team. There were plenty of interesting things shared, but the real fun lay in what came next: cider and empanadas!
This little gathering was our way of saying our farewell to the summer season, drawing to an end our time splashing around in the pool and picnicking in the garden. It also brought back great memories of many a nightspent partying with Kevin and co. in Asturias, as the cider and empanadas (a bit like pies) are typical of the northern region – in fact, they had the empanadas shipped down especially!
Once they began to pour the cider, it didn’t stop flowing…
We all had a lovely time, involving lots of chatting without the stresses of working, plenty of food, and even an impromptu vogueing class led by María! A group of us stayed behind a little longer, but I soon managed to cut proceedings short after in incident whilst opening a bottle which left me with quite a nasty cut down my hand…
Once I’d slept off the cider and my bandaged up my hand, I could think of no better way to kick-start the weekend than by attempting to cook a full English breakfast for myself and Bogar. It’s been well over 8 months since I moved back to Madrid, and so roughly the same amount of time will have passed since I last enjoyed a proper fry-up with all the trimmings.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as I was going to get.
As you can see, the sausages weren’t the right ones and the bacon was never going to be the proper British stuff, but I did managed to get hold of some baked beans and make a pretty decent fried egg, so not all was lost. In the end, it was just the beginning of what was to become the weekend of decadent breakfasts, as the next day I whipped up a plate of French toast, topped with lashings of authentic maple syrup that Megan had brought over when she visited from Vermont!
These culinary adventures then carried on over the next couple of weeks, during which I even dared to try to make ramen, one of my favourite Japanese dishes. I initially judged that I’d included too much ginger, but this actually worked in my favour, as it helped alleviate some of the symptoms of a nasty cold that I’ve been battling since the seasons began to change.
It hasn’t all been home cooking, however, as one night me and Bogar also braved the cold (said change of season has been very, very sudden) to head for some typical Madrid grub at our favourite local bar. We ordered a plate of chopitos (fried cuttlefish, a Madrid classic), and one of my favourite albeit simple dishes, huevos rotos con jamón (chips with fried eggs and cured ham).
I look terrible, but at least I appear in a photo on my own blog for once.
But now back to work, as I notice that I’ve gone on a food-related tangent here, and for once I’d like to try and at least conclude my blog post in a manner faithful to the title of the thing!
As ever, there’s not much I can say due to confidentiality, but I’m full-steam ahead with two big projects. I’m hoping that we’ll soon see these published on the Erretres website, but for now I can only present you with this photo of a moment of divine intervention…
Another exciting work-related moment recently was the launch of Collision, a design mentorship network which Erretres Open Lab (part of Erretres, the design studio where I work) has developed in collaboration with BBVA and local creatives. I was lucky enough to be asked to participate as a senior designer in its inaugural year, and so I attended the launch event just the other evening.
Proceedings kicked off with a presentation by my colleague Blanca (with whom I attended our friend Soyoung’s wedding earlier this year), and Brian Farrell, Creative Director at BBVA. Sergio, a fellow designer at Erretres, then presented the visual identity for the programme, and then it was time for us to find out who we’d be working with!
Once I’d been introduced to my pair, with whom I’ll be working on a project over the next 8 months or so, the pizzas arrived and the beer began to flow, and I got chatting to all sorts of people from all different creative backgrounds. We all ended up so engaged in these interesting chats that we wound up staying way past the supposed 10pm end time, but the difficult start the morning after was definitely worth it!
With that, I think I conclude this little overview of what’s been going on both whilst at work and at play. As I said, we’re all rather busy in the office at the moment, but I’m sure that this will mean that I’ll soon be able to share the fruits of said labour with you guys – exciting! Until then, I’ll be back soon with more updates on my adventures in and out of Madrid!
Since my Auntie and Uncle last visited Madrid in May, when they stopped by during their journey by car back up to the UK, they’ve been living in England during the summer. With the return of the cold weather, however, it was time for them to head back down to their Spanish home in Murica, meaning they passed by for another visit!
After a rather rocky arrival involving them getting lost whilst looking for their car park, we finally had the chance to catch up over some food at my local bar. The navigation dramas, however, didn’t leave us much time, and so we were soon in bed and getting rested for the next day’s exploration.
The next day was a Monday that I’d taken off work, and so we were sure to make the most of our time and set about visiting some of our favourite spots around the city centre. We passed by the royal palace, through the streets of quirky Malasaña, and even wondered into a church and its crypt that I’d never noticed before.
The atmosphere of the crypt was very different from the lively streets above.
For lunch, I could think of no better place than Casa Julio, a vibrant local bar in Malasaña. It’s famed for it’s delicious traditional Spanish dishes, and so we were sure to order some picadillo (spiced minced pork), ensaladilla rusa (a potato salad dish with tuna) and croquetas (croquettes).
Once we were full to burst, it was time to relax, and for that we headed down to the lake. I’d taken my parents down for the first time when they last visited, and they’d spoke highly of a jar of sangría that we’d shared by the water, and so we took a couple of hours to kick back with a beer.
After we’d recharged, I thought it would be a good idea to follow the lovely river walk back home, a trip that I thought would only take 45 minutes at most. After we’d passed by the remnants of the old Atlético de Madrid stadium, however, it soon became clear that Google Maps had tricked us – there was still a long way to go!
Once we’d sped up our return journey with a train, we headed out to a local bar for tea, having depleted all our energy during the walk home. I’d then to turn in early for the night, as the next day I had to head back to the office.
After work, I met back up with my auntie and uncle, who’d enjoyed a relaxing day meandering through the centre. We’d arranged to have some drinks in the centre, involving some wine and nibbles at an old sherry bar, and then found another local spot for some meatballs and patatas bravas in Lavapiés.
On Wednesday morning, I sadly had to wave my auntie and uncle off again as they headed back to their car and down to Murcia. It was lovely to have them stop by in Madrid again, and I’m hoping to head back down to Murcia once again in very soon to kick back with them by the coast.
The week which then followed at work consisted of lots of working hard and then playing hard, which I will update you all on in my next blog post, but for now I plan to spend my Sunday doing as little as humanly possible – except maybe a spot of baking…
It’s been over a month since I last brought everyone the latest from the Spanish capital, and so I’m back again with a roundup of the past few weeks of gallivanting. This has involved plenty of food, the odd spot of exploration, and a bit of cheeky post-pay-day spending…
The first spot of leisure took the form of a few hours spent with Bogar at Parquesur, a large shopping centre in the south of the city. The two of us had spent most of the weekend lolling around in my flat, and so come Sunday afternoon we were itching to be anywhere which wasn’t my flat!
After browsing around my typical haunts and picking up a book detailing the many facets of Spanish grammar, I treated myself to a “pizza slice” made entirely of sweets! Or, at least, that was what I thought. It turned out that the “pizza slice” was actually padded out with a styrofoam base – I felt ripped off after spending 6€ on what I assumed would be a solid slice of sugary bliss!
Before the realisation that I had been royally conned.
Once I’d stopped reeling from this blatant injustice, the two of us stopped by the lakeside eating area for an evening meal of ramen and green tea. After this we headed back to my flat, and I headed off to bed in preparation for another busy working week.
The following weekend was a rather relaxed one, with plenty of lounging around my flat culminating in a couple of glasses of wine in the city centre with my friend Jhosef, followed by an evening spent chatting away late into the evening in my flat.
Later that week, me and my colleague Blanca had arranged to meet up with an ex-colleague and friend Soyoung, who’s wedding we’d been along to (and had a fabulous time at) earlier this year. The three of us had some lovely drinks and food together in the old La Latina district of the city, which was beautiful in the evening light when we arrived, and then lively as ever as we left in the dark!
After another Friday at work, me and Bogar started the weekend off properly, as we met up for breakfast out in a little neighbourhood bar. After this, I headed home and whipped up a batch of something decidedly sweeter – some homemade cookies! Following a recipe that I’ve been developing and perfecting for a few weeks now, I think I finally hit the sweet spot between crunchy and chewy.
Quick note: If you’d like me to start posting some of my own recipes for sweet treats and quick dishes which are perfect for living alone, let me know in my blog feedback form!
The day after signalled another day trip for me and Bogar, this time to IKEA. I’ve been wanting to pick up a few last luxuries for a while now, and so when I got paid last month I decided that it was finally time to make my house into a home.
After buying way more plants than I meant to and irritating the taxi driver by filling his poor car with the big leafy monster you see in the photo above, I finally kitted out my flat with the coffee table, rug, and some extra greenery that I’ve been fancying for a while. I think that it’s come together quite nicely since I first started decorating!
I also finally got round to attaching some wheels on my TV stand, which I installed so that I could pull it out to face me whenever I sit on the sofa. After a sudden eureka moment, however, I also realised that I could wheel the whole setup into my bedroom and watch some TV there! It may have brought back memories of televisions on trolleys from primary/high-school days, but nothing says home quite like some telly in bed on a Sunday morning!
This all brings us to last week, where me and my ex-colleague Elena finally got round to meeting up for some drinks and a catch-up. We ended up heading into Lavapiés, one of my favourite areas of the city, where we had a delicious pizza meal from NAP Pizza – a place definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in Madrid!
With that, I think I’ve brought you just about up to speed with the various frivolities that I’ve been indulging in. I’d love to share more details from work, as it’s been an intense but exciting couple of weeks, but confidentiality means that I can’t give too much away. Just know that there’ll be plenty to see in the future!
As I write this, I’ve just waved goodbye to my auntie and uncle who came to visit for a few days, and so the next post will naturally be dedicated to what I got up to during their few days in the city. I’ve to stop typing now, as I’m running out of time before I’ve to leave the house for some food with a friend. No rest for the wicked!
