With work becoming busier as we head into the festive period – something which has struck us all as quite strange, as things usually begin to quieten down during the winter months – I’ve been dedicating most of my spare time to chilling out and recovering at home. I did, of course, have a wild trip back to England thrown in the middle, but other than this, it’s been a rather rather tranquil time!
Because of this, this blog post is much more of a visual diary rather than an account of anything particularly interesting. This isn’t to say that I didn’t get up to anything, however, as I had a lovely catch up with María from work over some vegan burgers, and have also spent plenty of time cooking and cleaning at home.
My little trips around the city and the daily commute to the office have allowed me to observe the lovely colours of autumn as we moved into November (and now December?! How has that happened?). I’ve collected a few of these photos below, so enjoy the little visual diary of this Spanish autumn!
As we are now (somehow) already one week into December, I should really update you all on my Christmas holiday plans. I’ll be back in England for ten days over the festive period, but I’ll be back in Madrid to welcome in the New Year, and so I have spent a whopping 3.50€ on decorating my flat for the yuletide…
First thing’s first: hello there again! If you checked my site over the last couple of days, you may have been greeted by a rather terrifying security message, but I assure you that there’s nothing to be worried about – I just forgot to update some security settings. I’m now back online, and just in time to tell you about my latest crazy weekend…
As the title suggests, just last weekend I made a whistle-stop trip to England, during which I packed as much as I could into a mere 36 hours. After leaving the office at 3pm, I nipped by my house to pack (I am a very relaxed traveller these days), and then headed straight for the airport for 6pm in order to catch my 8pm flight.
Landing in England around 10pm, I didn’t waste a minute in leaving the terminal and searching for my parents, who kindly drove over to Manchester to pick me up. The car journey back to Burnley provided a good chance to catch up for a while, as we arrived at home so late that after just an hour of chatting over a drink we all headed for bed.
The next morning, I was up bright and early and hitching a lift down to Burnley Town Centre in order to get my haircut at my 9am appointment. I chatted for a while to my hairdresser, finally had my mop chopped, and then headed into town to sort out some issues with my bank and then for a quick reunion with Amber and Jess!
Burnley was as grey and damp as it always is.
The three of us were reunited in Little Barista, a lovely independent coffee shop in the town centre, and had a rousing chat over some festive hot chocolate and herbal tea. This was the first of many catchups which was to be cut too short, however, as I soon had to be driven back home by Jess in order to re-pack (yes, already) my bags and head out for lunch with my parents.
Lunch really couldn’t have been at any other place than JJ’s, an unsuspecting canteen at the side of a rural road which serves up some of the best classic British dishes going. I was soon devouring some of their infamous homemade steak puddings, complete with chips, mushy peas, and plenty of salt and vinegar! The meal was delicious as ever, and served as as a fitting but somewhat premature farewell to my parents, as they dropped me off at Danni’s house for the next part of my speedy adventure…
I couldn’t go wrong with a weekend full of good food, old friends, and meeting new dogs.
Whilst being reunited with Danni, I was also introduced to her new dog, Lottie, who didn’t take a shining to me but was gorgeous nonetheless. We caught up at her house whilst awaiting the arrival of Abi, whose birthday present we had all prepared – a customised bottle of vodka! When she showed up and received said gift, it was soon evident that it would be joining the three of us as we headed on to our next destination: Leeds!
Once in Leeds, me and Danni checked into the hotel we’d booked, sneaking Abi in as a cheeky extra guest for the night. Dropping our stuff off and buying some drinks for later, the three of us then (eventually) managed to catch a taxi up to Belgrave Music Hall, one of my favourite haunts from my uni days and one of the finest purveyors of pizza, burgers, and chips in all the land.
After some drinks and burgers accompanied with a huge tray of delicious “session fries” (chips topped with pancetta, pickled jalapeños, and a whole host of other tasty delights), me and Danni had to set off at quite a pace: we’d a concert to get to!
The concert in question was Sigrid, who I’ve been a fan of since stumbling across her on Spotify earlier this year. We did end up arriving quite late and hence had to take up our position at the very back of the stalls, but we had a great time anyway, jiving along to a host of her best hits.
During the concert, Abi had headed back to the hotel to get ready and bring us back some drinks, and we were then reunited in the streets of Leeds to head out on the town! After an impromptu photo session in Victoria Quarter, we headed on down to Call Lane and some old uni haunts, as well as some new clubs that I’d never been to before.
As the three of us are getting old and wizened, the night didn’t go on for too long, and we were soon back at the hotel and waiting for our food delivery. This delivery, it turns out, was not to be, and so we were left stranded and food-less, a solution to which I found in marching myself back to the train station and picking up a McDonalds for the three of us.
I tried my hand at a spot of festive photo-bombing.
The next morning, we all woke up surprisingly fresh, although I had a suspicion that my clear head could easily make way for a lingering hangover later that Sunday. There wasn’t much time for contemplation, however, as I’d to be up, showered, dressed, and at Layne’s Espresso for brunch with Luisa, Rhea, Em, and Lincoln by 11:30am. I really didn’t stop during this trip!
Adding to the weekend’s food woes, I received a message from Rhea whilst en route to Layne’s to inform me that she and Luisa were already there, but that the place was packed and that I should probably have booked a table in advance. Panicking, I was saved when the two of them rang another local spot in a moment of quick thinking, and I promptly informed Em and Lincoln that the location had changed. Hurrah, breakfast was saved!
The reunion thus took place at Wapentake, a lovely and relatively new little bar that I’d never been in before, but which served us all a delicious slap-up breakfast. By this point my head was beginning to pound, and so I ordered a Bloody Mary to go with my full English, a choice I soon regretted as I was reminded just how spicy they can be…
I had a lovely chat with the four of them over breakfast, with the whole group letting each other know what they’d been up to and how adult and work life was panning out for them. All good things must come to an end, though, and alas I eventually had to leave for Leeds Train Station and head back to Manchester for my return flight.
As you’ve probably noticed from the sheer speed through which I have run through all of my activities, I was absolutely knackered after cramming three cities and a shedload of events into a mere day and a half. Needless to say, I dozed off a while on the flight back, but even so this week I feel like I am still recovering from the exhaustion!
It was all worth it though, as I had an absolutely fabulous time, and I’m now just looking forward to this coming weekend of total relaxation at home. I’ll certainly need it too, as this week at work we’re super busy with lots of exciting new projects coming in. More on that to come!
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!
