In the spirit of how things actually happened during the week which I’m talking about, we’re going to move straight from one visit – that of the Cake Club girls – to the next: Em & Lincoln!
As I mysteriously mentioned at the end of my previous blog post, I waved Megan off as she headed to France one morning before heading off to work, and returned back home to find a pair of intruders had somehow gotten into my flat! Of course this was all planned, as they had arrived around lunchtime, picked my keys up off a friend, and let themselves into my place to wait for me to return from work.
Em was actually the first person I met when I moved to Leeds for university, as she was moving into my flat at exactly the same time as me. She met Lincoln that same year, and they’ve been together, with me third-wheeling on the odd occasion, ever since!
We reminisced about this as we headed out for our first evening of exploring the city, where I took the two of them for a meander around the centre to give them their first taste of Spain. In doing this, we passed by quite a few spots that I visited during my very first trip to Madrid, and so begun three days of reminisce!
The next two days I had taken off work in order to spend more time with the two of them, and so for lunch on the first of these days I simply had to take them to Casa Dani, a restaurant within a market which I think showcases some of the best local dishes imaginable.
In the afternoon we proceeded to explore more places, with one of the highlights being time spent by the lake in front of the Crystal Palace in Retiro.
The next day we’d decided to head up into the mountains of the city, as I had an inkling that the two of them would appreciate seeing the more natural landscapes which surround the rather isolated city – much like I knew Ellie and Johann would like it when they visited last year.
After a long walk in the increasingly hot sun, we arrived at the river which runs through the area and which gives the town its name – Manzanares El Real. We sat by the river – the same one which eventually runs through the city and near my flat – for a good while, chatting and reminiscing about various university scandals.
Once we’d made it back down into the city from the mountains, there wasn’t much time left for anything else, and so we headed back home and decided to head out for a late meal. I took the two of them to one of my go-to options for a delicious meal of a rather unexpected (for us Brits, anyway) cuisine, Venezuelan.
This meal provided the perfect conclusion to a lovely, relaxing few days spent with Em and Linc. Sitting there ready to burst with delicious food and somewhat tipsy after a few beers, it was upsetting to think that in the morning – as with many other visits as of recent – we’d have to say goodbye until I’m next back in England.
As I saw them off the next day, I was upset to see them head off again, but happy to have finally been able to invite them over to my place after years of regular crashing in their spare bedroom. I had a lovely, relaxing time with the two of them, and look forward to a reunion back in Leeds very soon!
And now, a little warning that my next blog post also deals with a visit from another two people, but this time I shall leave you hanging (well, any of you who know me) and refuse to divulge who they are…
Just two days after returning to Madrid from Tenerife, I had an exciting Thursday evening to look forward to!
Some of you may remember that I spent a lot of last year hanging out with my friends Heidi, Loredana, and Megan, with the four of us forming a group we like to call Cake Club. The original plan of meeting up to make cakes and share recipes was soon scrapped, with the four of us spending more time eating tacos, scaling the mountains surrounding Madrid, and generally chatting many an evening away with a drink in hand.
I was, then, very upset in the summer of last year when one by one they all eventually left Madrid back to their home countries – Heidi to Norway, Loredana to Austria, and Megan to the USA. We all made sure, however, to stay in regular contact, with our Cake Club WhatsApp group lighting up at least once a day. I even, if you remember, managed to make a trip over to Oslo last year to visit Heidi!
As you can imagine from the above paragraphs and the title of this post, the weekend of a few weeks ago was a rather special one, as the four of us were to be reunited at long last in Madrid!
The first to arrive was Megan, who had already been in Europe for some time, flying in from Rome after spending a few days there visiting Loredana. After many hugs in my flat, the two of us headed out for pizza, and then for an early night as I was working the next day.
The next afternoon I arrived at my flat to find that Heidi had also arrived during the day, having flown in from Oslo, and the three of us anxiously awaited the arrival of Loredana from Rome. She arrived just in time for the four of us to head out for tacos at our old haunt, a taco restaurant just below what used to be Heidi and Loredana’s flat!
Loredana and Heidi just had to have a photo stood outside their old flat…
The next day was Friday, and so I headed off early in the morning, leaving the girls to have a lie in and do what they would with their day. We did, however, have a plan set, and just before we all left work, they arrived at my office to check out the new space and make the most of our new garden!
After chilling at the office for an extra hour and enjoying a few games of ping-pong, we headed back to the city centre and to Bodega de la Ardosa, one of my favorite spots for a proper slice of Spanish omelette. From there we decided to wander through Malasaña for a while, with the girls resolving that they’d return the next day to check out the shops along the way, shops from which I had to half tear them away – I was getting tired and wanted to go home!
Well, I soon had to recover from said tiredness, as that evening we popped open a bottle of gin and started up the music in my flat – it was time for us to all head out together! After many laughs, some questionable dancing, and a round of tipsy selfies, we hopped on the metro and wandered to one of my favorite haunts – a tacky little karaoke bar.
After further questionable dancing and even more dubious singing, we all made it home in one piece. The next morning I didn’t feel up to moving too much – shocker – so the girls headed out to watch Loredana’s football game and indulge in a spot of shopping around Malasaña. I did eventually move, however, and whipped up a carrot cake to celebrate my fake birthday.
The main part of said celebrations involved the evening meal with the four of us plus Bogar and Napo. We headed out to Goiko Grill – the same spot as last year, in fact – and then enjoyed a relaxing evening of drinks on a terrace in Chueca.
With the next day being a Sunday and the lack of things to do, we decided to make good on a plan we’d organized in advance, and headed to Retiro park for a repeat of the picnic we had just before they all began to leave last year. We sat on our picnic blankets for a good few hours until, in a sad repeat of last year’s picnic, it was time for one of us to leave – this time Heidi. We saw her off, waving and nearly sobbing, as she hopped in a taxi and made for the airport.
The three of us who remained then headed back home to drop off the leftover picnic supplies, and then made our way down to a place we’d never visited as a group – the lake in Casa de Campo. There we dragged out the picnic blanket once again, this time opting to take a siesta by the water’s edge – all after a little photo shoot, of course.
If there’s a photo shoot going down, you can rest assured that it’ll have been Meg’s idea.
As the sun began to set, the three of us then headed up to the Templo de Debod, grabbing a beer and watching the sun set from one of the most picturesque spots in the centre. Another early night then ensued, as I’d to head to work the next day and Loredana was up early to catch her flight back to Italy. I bade her another sad farewell that evening, and then there were just the two of us – Megan and me – when I returned from work on Monday evening.
After another relaxing evening putting the world to rights, the two of us once again headed off to bed early, as the next morning it was Megan’s turn to head off in the early hours and catch her flight on to her next European destination – Paris! There’d be no rest for me, though, as that same day I’d arrive back from work only to find another set of visitors already in my flat – but I’ll have to save that for the next post!
All that remains to say is the obvious: that I can only hope that Heidi, Loredana, and Megan had as much fun visiting me as I had having them all back in the city! I am hoping to visit Loredana in her native Austria later this year, and I’ll be sure to hop across the pond next year and spend a couple of my summer weeks with Megan in Vermont and Kevin and James wherever they may be…
As mentioned in my previous post, the next instalment in my series of crazily busy weekends involved a weekend out in Tenerife with my friend Cami and her family! Technically I have been in Tenerife before, but I believe I was two years old at that point and hence have zero recollection…
Anyway, my weekend began on Saturday morning, as I took the train line up to Terminal 4 of Madrid airport. This terminal is somewhat famed for its colourful design which, due to my getting lost looking for my gate, I didn’t have chance to take many photos of – but here’s an attempt I made:
The flight that ensued was a bit longer than I’d expected – as a European it seems odd to be able to fly for two and a half hours and still land in the same country – but I closed my eyes and, before I knew it, walked out of the arrival gates in Tenerife. There to meet me was Cami, who then drove me down the island and to where she and her family live in the south.
After being welcomed in by her family and receiving a noisy salute from Cami’s dog Luke, we headed out for some lunch at a little local spot. Here we enjoyed a wonderful meal during which we tried a wealth of local dishes, with one of the highlights being a potato dish known as “patatas arrugadas” (literally “wrinkly potatoes”), consisting of roast potatoes dressed with a powdered type of cereal called “gofio”. This dusting has a unique flavour which I can’t really describe, but it was tasty!
I also have to laud the wine we were served during our meal, which was one of the fruitiest and freshest white wines I have ever tasted. I wondered whether it was unique to the island, but Cami informed me that it was in fact unique to the restaurant, being made in-house! I’ll have to get some sent over at some point…
Anyway, after a slap-up meal and plenty of fun with our merry waiter, we headed back home to be reunited with Sam, Cami’s partner, who I hadn’t seen since one of my previous trips to Asturias! Once together we head out for the beach, which involved a wander past a rather fancy looking hotel complex…
I enjoy walking past hotels I will never be able to afford to stay in.
After a perilous descent down some uneven steps, a journey not helped by the flip-flops I had adorned, we reached the sand and spent a few hours taking it easy. Once we’d worn tired of nipping in and out of the sea, Sam graciously made the journey upwards alone and picked me and Cami up in the car right from the back of the beach.
From there, we headed further down the coast and to a little ice cream parlour favoured by the two of them. The company and the sights were all great, but I was extremely excited to find something on the menu which I haven’t eaten since a trip to Germany around four years ago: spaghetti ice!
Spaghetti shaped vanilla ice cream, crushed nuts, whipped cream, and a strawberry sauce.
Once we were peckish, we headed to yet another coastal spot and tucked into a lovely meal of Lebanese food, with some of the most stellar hummus I have ever tried. The plan afterwards involved going for some drinks along with the rest of the British tourists, but now that we’re all boring old women, we decided to head home instead!
The following morning meant that it was time to take Luke, Cami’s dog, out for a walk. During this little wander I snapped a couple of photos of the lovely area surrounding Cami’s place.
With Luke worn out and our appetites nagging, I, Cami, and her mum all headed out for breakfast together. We headed to a lovely little coastal spot and ordered a big shared breakfast between the three of us. This was served beautifully on tiered platters – very much like the high tea I had just before leaving England – and was all absolutely delightful!
Unfortunately I had left my phone at home during the trip, and so I didn’t get any photos of the breakfast – or did I? I did take my film camera along, so we’ll have to wait and see if I can get those developed over here soon and what the photos come out like, if indeed they do come out at all! In the meantime I leave you with this lovely snap of me and Cami taken by her mum.
Me and Cami then headed out together once again, making for yet another beach for an extended afternoon of sunbathing, paddling in the surf, and chatting the day away. At a certain point in the afternoon, however, we had to head back to Cami’s house, but for a very good reason: her parents were throwing a BBQ!
I didn’t take many photos during our delicious BBQ lunch as we were much more concerned in enjoying the food, company, and delicious wine. Cami’s dad opened a bottle of red which his relatives had sent over from Chile, and it was absolutely delicious, almost as delicious as the various cuts of meat that he kept serving from the grill. I’m not usually that fussed about chicken, but words cannot do justice to the succulency of the chicken breasts we were served – all washed down with some lovely Chilean salad and enjoyed between endless jokes!
After lunch, there was talk of “heading up Teide”, the name of the volcano which dominates the island. With our stomachs ready to burst after so much food, I wondered how on earth we would manage to walk to the front door, never mind up a bloody volcano! To my relief, said trip was to be made in Sam’s car, and so we piled in and started our ascent with the sun already low in the sky.
The sun, low in the sky, bathed the area in a lovely light.
We’d soon climbed up through the clouds, and made a few stops to admire the view over the blanket of them below.
Moving further still up the volcano, we reached a plateau which had the look of a lunar landscape. Stopping to take a few of the photos below, we found a plaque which revealed that the area was in fact used to test a lunar rover due to its similarity to the surface of the moon!
We then pushed further towards the summit of the volcano, reaching the lower station of a cable car to the summit before deciding to turn back. This cable car, it turns out, only runs upon request, as permission has to be granted to visit the crater of the volcano itself.
After this we began our descent back towards sea level, and it was during this return trip that one of the most breathtaking things I’ve ever seen presented itself. Looking down into what I assumed was the sea, I asked which island I could see in the distance, and the response came that what I was seeing was the tips of the mountains of the neighbouring island. At that precise moment, I realised that I wasn’t looking at sea, but rather an uninterrupted blanket of clouds floating below a spectacular multicolour sunset.
I’ll leave the following photos in large and isolated – I implore that you take a moment to look at the detail and appreciate what a sight it was to behold!
After admiring the view during the rest of the journey downwards, we soon found ourselves in a restaurant near Cami’s place for tea, and then back in bed ready for my last day.
During my final day, we didn’t really do all that much, sitting through a power cut and enjoying a pizza for lunch at another local spot. This was followed by the journey back to the airport, and then a flight back to Madrid which seemed to pass rather quickly.
I had a wonderful time in Tenerife, and I must thank Cami and Sam for showing me around the island, as well as Cami’s parents for being so welcoming and hospitable. I’m definitely looking forward to another visit sometime very soon!
To finish, I must once again admit that this post comes to you all rather late, as I’ve been in Madrid for nearly a month since. In this time I’ve enjoyed three more visits from friends from all over the world, and of course I’ll be bringing you all the latest on those whenever I get a moment! Until then…
After a lovely but hectic weekend down in Alicante for the Bentana-Cho wedding, another week of work ensued. Once again, however, I had a busy weekend to look forward to, as my parents were coming over to visit!
The three of us united on Friday in my neighbourhood, after a colleague kindly gave me a lift to the centre so I wouldn’t have to meet my parents at some midpoint between the centre and my new office. As they were staying with me, we first headed up to my flat so that they could unpack somewhat and prepare for the coming days, and then headed out for the evening.
What we got up to next set the prescient for pretty much the entire weekend. Instead of rushing around the city checking out everything, which they’ve already done on trips both individually and together, I instead decided to take them out to live the Madrid lifestyle: eating, drinking, and watching the world go by from a table on outdoor terraces.
For tea (or dinner, if you call it that), we headed to my favourite local bar just two streets away from my house, indulging in a selection of sharing dishes and a few beers to wash it all down. Once we were slightly tipsy and very full, we wandered down to the river, which I thought would be a nice spot to sit on the grass and grab another drink and watch the world go by.
I love living so close to the river and its park.
What I had forgotten was that that particular weekend marked the start of the San Isidro celebrations, one of Madrid’s key annual holidays. This meant that most of the grass was barricaded off, and a big outdoor stage had been erected ready to host performances later in the evening. We did, however, find a bench to perch ourselves on, and proceeded to enjoy our beers there until the music started up, whereupon we took in the atmosphere for a while before then heading home.
To start the weekend, we made what was to be our only appointment of the weekend, and headed to the Secret Garden of Salvador Bachiller for some lunch after a spot of shopping. A drama then ensued when, during the leisurely walk back through the city and back to my flat, we realised that we’d left out shopping bag in the restaurant! Thankfully, though, they’d found the bag and put it aside, and so we continued with our holiday relaxation, resolving to pick it up the following day.
I’d planned the Sunday as a day to wander around some of Madrid’s green spaces, and so we headed off in the morning to have a picnic in Retiro, the city’s main park. After a spot of sunbathing and watching the ducks in the pond, we sat by the lake and tucked into a lunch of bread with alioli and tomato.
To head to our next destination we caught the bus, stopping along the way to pick up my lost bag, and made our way to the lake in the Casa de Campo. We chilled out down there for a good few hours, sharing a big jar of sangria as evening came around.
For our last evening together, I whipped up some quesadillas at home, and then we headed out for one last round of drinks at my local bar. My mum here looks somewhat confused at the basket of bread being delivered to the table before the extra bits of food we’d ordered came – someone needs to tell her that bread here is just another obligatory eating utensil!
That Monday morning we were all up early, as my parents had to get an early taxi to the airport and I had to be awake to bundle them in and explain where they were going to the driver! This concluded a lovely weekend spent with my parents, who I must thank for making the effort of coming over and paying for pretty much everything along the way. I’m now looking forward to visiting them in Murcia later this summer!
Anyway, my past few weeks haven’t just been all fun and games, as I’ve also been working in between all the chaos. As mentioned a couple of posts back, we’re now settled in our new office at work, and we’ve been using the new garden as much as we can ever since…
Breakfast on the porch is always a pretty good start to the day.
As part of the move, I’m also happy to report that the ping-pong table – which was present in the past two offices and sadly removed a few months into our stay in the second – has been reinstated! Rebuilt after sitting in storage for over a year, it’s now a great excuse for some relaxation and competitive letting off of steam when we grab a spare moment.
In between my busy schedule at work, with many projects on the go at the moment, a photo surfaced from a networking event last year, which I noticed had been labelled internally as “Ollie with a crisp”. I don’t know why it made me giggle so much, but below I include said photo of me and Elena enjoying the free crisps!
My next adventure came the day after my parents left, as me and Bogar decided to head out on Tuesday evening to the San Isidro festivities seeing as Wednesday was a bank holiday. This involved heading to the aptly-named San Isidro Park, where artists and DJs would be playing and a fair would be in full swing.
We arrived at the park just in time to catch one of the evening’s main acts, La Bien Querida, who I’ve been listening to since a colleague intruded me to her music. Cracking open a can and finding a space to watch from the grass, I sang along to a few of her famous hits, including Muero de amor and, my personal favourite, De momento abril.
Once we’d had a boogie and a few more drinks, the two of us headed to the food stalls to grab a few bites to eat. In the end we ended up sharing fried potatoes, a hot dog, and a kebab, all followed by a cheeky mojito as the DJ sets begun.
After another few hours enjoying the music, we eventually decided to head back home. Having seen the crazy state of the metro on our way down, we decided the best way home would be to walk, and so we put the world to rights as we meandered down the river and back to our neighbourhood.
It was a lovely way to blow off some stream after some busy weekends and a busy period at work, but I had even more to come with a holiday to Tenerife the following weekend! All that, however, must wait until the next post.
I’d just like to finish this post off by sharing a photo of my sister, Ellie, who has recently finished her final year dissertation. She’s in the final throes of her third year at university, but she’s making me wait another twelve months until I get to watch her graduation as she’s just been accepted to complete an integrated master’s degree.
Well done, Bel!
And so concludes another post written on my phone and in sporadic bursts whilst on buses, waiting for trains, sitting in the laundrette, and ultimately lying in bed. I am going to become an expert at typing on this little screen!
Once again I write this post whilst on the move, the difference this time being that I’m not just catching a train to work, rather I’m flying down the coast of Northern Africa and on my way to Tenerife! I’m off to spend a long weekend relaxing on the island’s coast with my friend Cami (who I last saw when she visited Madrid last year), but for now I’ve other delayed updates to share, so let’s get straight to it…
As mentioned in my previous post, when my colleague Soyoung left Erretres, a few of us found ourselves bestowed with an invite to her wedding ceremony. I immediately RSVP’d to let her and Pablo (the groom) know that I would be there, and then as the date grew nearer, organised the final details such as a shirt to wear, a lift down with my two colleagues Blanca and Helena, and an apartment in which to stay just behind the hotel in Alicante where the ceremony was to take place.
At about 10am on Friday 3rd May, I headed along to the car park to help my auntie and uncle pick up their car and wave them off as they began their trip from Madrid northwards, and then I had just a couple of hours to run a wash, pack my bag, and head out to be picked up by Blanca who was to drive us to the south. I did manage to made it on time somehow, and from Madrid we began the car journey down to Villajoyosa, a beautiful little coastal town near Alicante.
Upon arrival, we first picked up the keys to our lodgings, a gorgeous apartment with a balcony and a huge rooftop terrace with views of the sea and the hotel where the wedding would be held the next day. Once we’d decided who’d take which bedroom, we hoped back in the car and headed to Mercadona to pick up some supplies to keep us going for the time that we wouldn’t be at the wedding.
Whilst in the town centre, we also took the opportunity to explore its old centre, a pretty little collection of colourful buildings all squished together along the promenade. Not so pretty, however, was the weather forecast, with a blanket of menacing clouds threatening to linger for quite some time…
Google was reporting that the stormy outlook would clear up by the following day and make way for a lovely sunny wedding afternoon, but with the dense cloud cover and chilly wind, we were convinced that the storm was going to outstay it’s welcome and cast a quite liberal shadow over the beach ceremony.
Not wanting to dwell on such preoccupations, we continued our wander up and down the beach, engaging in a spot of beach-combing whilst Helena took a few candid shots on her camera. Photo credit and thanks, then, go to her for the next couple of shots.
Growing weary and tired, we then hopped back in the car and made our way back to the apartment, whereupon we braved the cold and enjoyed a shared tea (standard English: dinner) on the balcony. The main attraction of the tea, though, has to have been the jamón (cured ham). Provided by Helena’s dad, a jamón producer, we had been munching on the delicious packet since we’d left Madrid!
We then made like very sensible adults and headed off to bed for an early night, with a plan to get up early in order to give us enough time to prepare for the wedding and arrive in good time (which is the least subtle bit of literary foreshadowing I’ve ever written).
The morning started rather tranquilly, as Blanca and Helena had already left to pick up a few more bits for breakfast by the time I finally moved myself out of bed and made an appearance. I grabbed the pastry I’d picked up the night before and headed to the roof to take in the views and get some fresh air, and was overjoyed when I saw that Google had in fact been bang on the money with its forecast, and that the skies had cleared to form a beautifully sunny day.
Quite the way to start the day!
It was only after them two had returned, had breakfast, and had begun to get ready that the clock began to seemingly work against us. Helena came out with that she didn’t know how to iron, Blanca spent ages painting all her nails, and I managed to break the leg of one of the tables by sitting on it. What a group we made!
In the end, however, we made it to the hotel in good time, and descended the gorgeous pathway down to the hotel’s private beach where the ceremony was to take place.
Photos really cannot do the place any justice! The beach was gorgeous, the temperature was just right, and the music playing in the background set the tone perfectly as we milled around and awaited to be asked take up our positions to watch the ceremony.
Before too long, the proceedings began, but I shan’t delve too much into the entire ceremony – just know that it was very personal and absolutely gorgeous. The arrival of both Soyoung and Pablo caused many a tear to be shed, and the gorgeous setting was the perfect backdrop to several fun speeches and cheers of “¡viva la nueva pareja!” (long live the new couple!).
After taking the above photo (which I now highly treasure) with the newly-weds, it was time for us all to head to the beachside terrace for some pre-lunch drinks and canapés.
Once we’d enjoyed some gazpacho (the infamous cold soup) and a few sips of wine, we slowly made our way into the dining room and were seated for a feast which, in true Spanish style, was to carry on throughout pretty much the entire afternoon. We were treated to numerous courses of fresh seafood, rice dishes, and a slice of the lovely wedding cake.
With lunch wrapped up, the music begun, the bar opened, and the party got underway! We danced a selection of universal hits (think YMCA and ABBA) and Spanish classics (like this), and I even tried the waltz – which did not end well after a few gin and tonics…
Before heading back to the apartment for the night, we were sure to take advantage of the location as evening came around, and headed out to a rock formation to sit around and watch the sun set behind the sea.
Once all was over it was time to head home, which we just about managed after having to jump a fence due to having lost our way and a stop at Burger King to soak up the gin!
Now that the weekend’s all over, I’d like to send my thanks once again to Soyoung and Pablo for inviting me along to celebrate their day. It was an honour to be amongst the invitees, we generally had an absolute blast, and their generosity in providing such a lovely meal and drinks thereafter knew no bounds. One of the loveliest touches was a gift for each guest, a pair of ducks as per Korean wedding tradition, which have now taken up residence on top of my fridge.
I am still writing to you on my way to Tenerife, and of course there’ll be a blog on its way soon detailing the shenanigans I’ll inevitably get up to once there, but until then I’m going to disconnect and relax for the next few days!
Update:the inflight WiFi is not working so I guess this will be posted upon my return…
Anyway, and until then: long live the Bentana-Cho’s!
