Celebration Time

31.03.24 — Madrid

Recently I’m a bit slow with the old blog posts, as I’m busily working away on programming my new website and various other projects that I’ll discuss once they’re a bit further into development. For now, I’ve to get everything here up to speed, and we start that with no less than another wedding!

It was my ex-colleague Teresa’s big day, which brought together a collection of past and present Erretres employees here in Madrid. María and I headed over to Julia’s house in the morning, where the three of us got our glad rags on. I managed to squeeze into a suit for the occasion, with the only drama being the cufflinks I’d bought not fitting into the corresponding button holes on my shirt. A bit of huffing and puffing from Javier and Julia soon got them in place though, and we were ready to go!

Then followed a lovely ceremony at a rather splendid church, after which we all hopped on a bus and up to El Pardo, just outside of Madrid City, where there were canapés and drinks before the wedding meal. This involved a surprise ending, with bingo cards being handed out and Teresa taking the mic to read out the numbers in her best teacher’s voice.

You can then imagine my surprise when I had one number left, number 27, and that was just the number that Teresa called out. I jumped to my feet shouting ‘bingo’, and was then shocked to be presented with a whole leg of cured ham. I’ve never had a proper jamón: it feels like the process of españolización (becoming Spanish) is advancing slowly but surely.

The meal was delicious and the dance after was a great laugh. Teresa told me that she had included a song for me in the playlist after I played it once in the office, but I had no idea which one it could be. I thought it might be Barbie Girl by Aqua, so you can imagine my surprise when it wound up being Tarzan & Jane by Toy-Box. What a random throwback!

The next weekend I was out dancing (read: jumping up and down) once again. Sara, Rocío, and I had bought tickets to the Teatro Barceló, an old theatre which has now been turned into a well-known club. As we’re not drinking, Sara had discovered that they offer an early party from 6pm until 11:30pm which just plays old classics from the 90s and early 2000s. My kind of night!

We had an absolutely fabulous time, dancing along to a mix of Spanish, European, and even British hits from our childhood. I got so into a Mónica Naranjo classic, Sobreviviré, that I didn’t even realise that they’d turned on the house lights and were shooing us all out of the door…

The next day my feet were rather worse for wear, but by Monday I was right as rain and off to a client meeting up in the north of the city. Afterwards, me and some colleagues went for lunch, after which I ran into an enticing looking new job opportunity…

In case it wasn’t obvious, ‘diseño gráfico’ means ‘graphic design’.

I then had a rather busy week between work, the gym, swimming, website development, writing, and reading. It was only fair that I should have a relaxed weekend, and the Madrid weather seemed to agree as it turned cold and threatened to rain. I took the opportunity to do a spot of cooking, making a tortilla de patata with a touch of chorizo, which I must say came out rather well.

Sara and I then met up in the evening to go to the cinema, something I’ve been doing a lot more of recently as my colleague has got me hooked on films. We then wound up in a kaitenzushi restaurant, helping ourselves to plates of sushi and chatting way into the evening.

From Spain to Japan and then back again.

The poor weather then continued throughout the week, but I was way too busily along with my weekly routine to notice. My culinary adventures continued as I made an apple crumble and some vegetable soup, both of which received Pedro’s seal of approval. I also introduced him to proper English butter after I’d had the chance to pick some up when down in Murcia. He was very much sold!

My other weekly outing was for another client workshop, a day which was a lot of fun and took me to a part of the city that I don’t normally explore, but one that I may visit more in the future as I’ve discovered that my gym has another location around that area.

The only thing left for me to do now was to rest. Well, that and clean my house, as I’d a set of very special guests coming for a few days. More on that next time…

Murcia Forever

01.03.24 — Murcia

It feels a little strange to be writing this post, seeing as I felt like I’d said my goodbyes to Murica last year when my auntie and uncle sold their apartment and moved back to the UK on a permanent basis. I did end the post, however, with an allusion to the fact that they might rent an apartment at some point. That they did, and so once again I grabbed a train and made my way down to the south of Spain to spend a few days with them.

They were staying in an apartment on the same golf complex but in a different location, something which felt quite odd as we drove in on the Friday evening and then I tried to make my way back to the next day. I was up bright and early on the Saturday so I went for a snoop and a trip to the shop to pick up some goodies and enjoy the morning sun.

The area is rather beautiful, more so in the morning sun.

It was nice to have a relaxing first day because we’d plans to spend the evening with a couple of my auntie and uncle’s friends. Hopping in the car together, the five of us headed to a lovely restaurant in a nearby town, owned by a Chilean guy and his wife who is from Madrid. I first went to this place with my auntie and uncle a couple of years ago and we had a great time, so I was excited to go back.

This cat was keeping watch of things as we headed out for the evening.

At the resultant, the food did not disappoint once again, with a seemingly endless selection of soups, seafood, meats, and drinks. With the whole restaurant on endless glasses of wine, things soon got a little animated, ending in a quasi-karaoke session complete with wigs provided by the owners. It was lots of fun!

The next day it was time for us to head down to the coast, where we’d booked a table at one of our favourite tapas restaurants. The weather wasn’t looking so lovely but we did run into a little street market, where I got chatting to a lady on one of the stalls and bought a surprise gift for one of my friends.

Despite the grey skies, the food was excellent and I was happy because we stopped off on the way home to grab some chocolate from Aldi. Chocolate makes any day better!

As Monday came around it was time for me to connect to work, something I did rather less begrudgingly than usual as I managed caved out a spot for myself on the resort’s terrace. It was a glorious day with the sun beating down, so I ordered an orange juice and started work under the shade of a parasol. Fabulous!

In the afternoon the sky began treating us to a colourful light show.

My auntie and uncle swung by the resort’s bar just before I finished work, which gave us chance to have a quick chat and a drink before the sun began to set. When it finally did, we were in for a real treat, as we were lucky enough to just catch it as it began to illuminate the sky over the lake. I love a good sunset, so I stayed there for a good while taking photos while the two of them walked back to the apartment. Here’s a photo dump, selected after much agonising over which were the best of the best.

The next day was then my last; these trips down to Murcia always seem to fly by. I had the day off work and we had a plan, so we got in the car and made our way back down to the coast for a bit of shopping and a quick stroll along the beach. I was happy because I managed to get some Branston Pickle from the British shop and my auntie and uncle were happy as I then took them out to lunch to say thank you for having me. I’ll say it again on here, though: thanks for having me!

Once we’d enjoyed a rather filling menú del día, it was time for me to get one last lift to the train station and await the first of two trains that would take me back up to the capital, with an hour in Alicante which gave me enough time to enjoy the sunset there whilst I had a coffee.

I’ll end the post with this photo of my auntie, which I’ve checked and she’s happy for me to put on. It’s from the night at the Chilean restaurant once all the wigs had been dragged out!

More Skies & More Stuff

13.02.24 — Madrid

You’ll be happy to know that I finally got around to making my lentils, but that’s not all I’ve been up to. All this eating has meant I’ve been going to the gym just as much as I can bear, both my local gym and the other location they have in Madrid. This one turned out to be quite a discovery, as it comes equipped with a pool and spa facilities. The dream!

I also spent time with Sara and Julia over the weekend, with activities including shopping for clothes, picking out a suit for a wedding, and hitting the streets of La Latina and Lavapiés for some drinks and an impromptu comedy show with the Italian owner of the bar we ended up sat in.

I then spent the next weekend with Sara and Rocío, as they wanted to go and see the sunset from the Cerro del Tío Pío, a spot in the south of the city with the best evening views over Madrid. I’d last been down with Ellie and Johann last year, so it was lovely to go and catch the colourful sky again – even if I did wake up from my nap a mere half an hour before we were all due to meet! It was nothing that a quick bike ride couldn’t fix, though.

The park offers an aerial look over the city and its mountains.

We then made our way back into the city centre and spent the evening around the Barrio de las Letras, the city’s literary quarter. We ordered some tostas, small bread-based tapas, and a selection of food to share including some decadent fried shrimp pancakes. It was all rather delicious!

My next week at work was then punctuated by a couple of key events, the first being a breakfast of waffles that was provided by the office and which led to the whole team mooching around after the sugar high of so much Nutella and dulce de leche had passed. The second was a trip to the IE University, where I’d been invited to talk about our work and methodology at Erretres.

The IE Tower is an imposing new addition to Madrid’s skyline.

It was lovely to get a chance to visit the university after we worked with them on a book to celebrate their 50th anniversary last year. It’s also always great to chat to budding designers, as I remember that I always loved when design studios came to visit us back when I was a student.

My week then ended on a train up to Madrid’s train station and off to another place to spend a long weekend, but more on that in my next post…

Changing Skies

24.01.24 — Manchester

Now back in Madrid after an extended period of Christmas and New Year celebrations, I’d a few days of sitting at home taking care of myself ahead of me thanks to the flu that I’d managed to catch in between all the chocolate and turkey and stuffing. Once I’d seen the back of the coughing fits, I was back out to make the most of the city in defiance of the bitter cold.

One day I headed up for a walk around the city centre and all of its tourist offerings. I walked past the palace and the cathedral to a vantage point, from which I could see that the mountains in the distance were covered in snow. It was quite a lovely sight, despite the grey day.

That weekend Sara and I spent an evening around Antón Martín, our favourite little neighbourhood for a drink which is named after the market that sits at its centre. We had some drinks and nibbles at the markets various stalls, ending our night in a jazz bar which serves some great mocktails. From there I cycled back home, passing by the city’s decorative streetlights and the impressive structure of Atocha train station. What a thrill!

A few days more at work followed, after which I was back up to the airport and on a plane back to Manchester. I was returning so soon after I’d left in order to pay a surprise visit, as Danni’s grandad had sadly passed away just a week or so prior and I wanted to be there at the funeral. This had me up bright and early, but the views over a snowy England as the sun rose made it all worthwhile.

Upon landing in Manchester, I hopped on a train into the centre and headed to a WeWork location to work from there until I clocked off. I arrived at the WeWork only to discover that it was literally one floor below the offices of the Manchester branch of the company Danni works for. What are the chances!

Luckily, Danni was in another office that day, so I was safe from being discovered. I popped myself down at one of the desks and took in the lovely views over the Manchester Central Library whilst I chatted to my colleagues and prepared a presentation.

My day was broken up by a lovely pizza from Rudy’s at lunchtime and then a bus trip back to Burnley in the evening. Throughout this trip I was keeping an eye on Danni’s location, as knowing my luck I could well have run into her in Burnley Bus Station!

All went well though, and after an evening with my parents and then some drama with my taxi showing up early, I arrived at the chapel for the service. It was a lovely send off, one which was then followed by food, drinks, and a good old chinwag down at the local club. Danni, Abi, and I wound up playing a few rounds of pool and had a great laugh.

Once I was hungry and tired, my parents came to pick me up and we swung by our favourite Chinese restaurant to pick up the evening’s meal. This we enjoyed together before my mum headed back off to work the next day, leaving me and my dad to entertain ourselves for a while before I had to head back off to the airport. Talk about a flying visit!

My dad and I spent the morning reconfiguring the record player that he gifted me before putting it to the test with a collection of our favourite music on vinyl. After a good dose of ABBA and Kraftwerk, I packed my bag and we headed off to the airport, stopping off at the hospital along the way so that I could see my mum before leaving.

Now back in the Spanish capital, I spent what was left of the weekend with Sara. We met up at the city’s main park and went for a walk around its many sights as the sun set, winding up on the far end of the park where we left in search of la merienda, which is a small meal that the Spanish have around the time we’d probably be having tea (or ‘dinner’ in standard English).

Retiro looked lovely in the afternoon sun.

Sara and I wound up enjoying some sweet pastries and coffee for our merienda, after which I’d to dash off on one of the city’s rental bikes in order to be home in time for a very special appointment. At 8pm I’d arranged to call Cake Club, which was a real treat. Our call lasted so long that I completely forgot to make one of my favourite Spanish dishes, lentejas a la riojana, so I’ll have to make these delicious lentils some other day…

Epiphany in Gijón

14.01.24 — Gijón

As I teased at the end of my last post, my return home didn’t take me straight back to Madrid, but rather up to the north of Spain. My flight landed into Santander, a picturesque city I first visited just over a year ago. Cami had come over to spend the afternoon there with her partner, Hessel, and graciously picked me up to take me back over to Gijón.

Here in Spain, presents aren’t presented on the 25th of December and nor are they brought by Father Christmas: rather they are brought on the 6th of January (the Epiphany) by the Three Kings. I’d thus arranged to celebrate “Los Reyes Magos” in Gijón with Cami, Hessel, Bogar, Javier, and – as a special Christmas treat – Kevin!

Kevin had made the trip from the US in order to spend time with his family. I’d seen him just a few months before when he made the trip over to Vermont to meet up with me and Megan, but I was pumped to be able to spend some time with him on his home turf of Asturias, the northern region of Spain that I’m so very fond of.

Anyway, back to Santander. After picking me up from the airport, Cami, Hessel, and I had some pizza together in a restaurant in Santander before hitting the road and making the two hour trip west to Gijón. The next day we got up, dressed, and made our way to one of our favourite restaurants in the city where we’d arranged to meet Kevin for some lunch.

As usual, we all had a lot of laughs and ate some fabulous food. We then spent the rest of the day showing Hessel the city, from the windy heights of Cimadevilla to the bars and streets of the old centre. I felt like I was back up with my parents again after I’d shown them the city and Asturias in general when they visited last summer.

Who’d have thought, a photo of the three of us together!

After relaxing for a bit back at Cami’s flat, her and Hessel left for a spot of ice skating, something Kevin and I opted out of in favour of spending the evening at home eating roscón (a sweet bread typical of the Epiphany in Spain) dunked in thick hot chocolate. It was bliss!

The next day I’d to work from home, but it was all made much better by the presence of Luke, Cami’s dog who sat around watching me work all day. Another highlight was also lunch, for which Cami whipped up a Chilean dish called pastel de papas. This reminded me of a more exciting cottage pie, filled with mince, egg, and chicken and topped with a deliciously sticky potato creme.

Once I’d signed off work, I packed my bags and hopped in a taxi down to my next temporary home, Bogar and Javier’s apartment. There, I dropped my stuff and then headed back out into the evening, as Kevin had come back over to Gijón for the evening and so we’d arranged to meet up once more.

My walk into the centre of Gijón took me down the seafront. Well, that’s a lie: I thought it could as I wanted to see the sea, but it turns out that this was in fact a huge detour which left me up in Cimadevilla rather than in the centre where I wanted to be. Oops!

The extra walking was worth it though, as Kevin arrived a tad late and the winter evening light was creating some interesting shades of pink and purple in the sky. We eventually met up in a pretty like area outside the Jovellanos Theatre, where we stumbled across a Christmas market. Hungry, I grabbed us some freshly baked biscuits and then some freshly fried churros: nothing goes better with carbs than more carbs!

Once we’d finished off our churros, Kevin and I headed off for a drink on a lovely little street full of bars and restaurants. Whilst scouting out a spot, we noticed that one place specialised in vermouth and was serving bollos preñaos (bread stuffed with chorizo) as tapas with each drink. Say no more, we said, and headed in.

There we wound up trying some of the house speciality drinks and ordering some tortilla de patatas. It was a lovely moment as we enjoyed some local food and drinks whilst chatting about all sorts as only Kevin and I know how.

We then moved closer to the seafront and found a cozy little bar with a sofa to sit on. We plonked ourselves down in there and proceeded to carry on our evening of drinking and chatting, eventually being joined by Cami and Hessel later in the night. I was wrapped up in my coat by this point, as despite my trip back to England, I was still avoiding the cold!

I look like a bit of a grandma but that’s okay because I felt like a bit of a grandma.

Alas, I still had one day of work to do and was feeling pretty tired after a busy few days, so I bade everyone farewell and headed back to Bogar and Javi’s place to turn in for the night.

The next day I worked from their lovely new place, but as the afternoon came around I was starting to feel a bit iffy. A quick nap to sleep it off turned into a full sleep after which I awoke with a fever: I had managed to get the flu.

This meant that I had to sit out the evening’s activities of going to the cabalgata, a parade in which the Three Kings (or Three Wise Men) grace the streets and throw sweets out to an expectant crowd. I’d never been to a cabalgata and I still haven’t: one for next year!

I did feel a bit better in the evening, though, so Bogar, Javi, and I got comfy on their sofa and watched a film to mark my last evening in Gijón. The next day I’d to pump myself full of energy drinks, paracetamol, and cough medicine as I’d a train to catch to take me down to Madrid and thus back home. I masked up for the journey, but soon discovered that everyone from the taxi driver to the ticket inspector was also coughing and spluttering. There’s a lot of flu going round this year here!

It was lovely to end my rather drawn-out festive activities with a few days in Gijón, even if the last two of them were spent mooching around feeling somewhat sorry for myself. It was great to catch up with everyone who’s based there, but it was a special treat to catch Kevin on one of his few visits back to the motherland from stateside.

I’d like to end by saying many thanks to Cami for picking me up from Santander and having me over, and of course many thanks to Bogar and Javi for not only putting me up for a couple of nights but also for putting up with me as I moped around their flat moaning woe is me…