Just a week after I’d been off to Cuenca on business and a mere fortnight after I landed back in Spain from the US, I was cleaning the house up ready for the arrival of a couple of guests: Ellie and Johann. My sister usually comes once a year but it’s been a whole five years since she last came with Johann!
After picking them up from the airport, our top priority was getting some food. We visited a lovely little Greek restaurant near my house and had some amazing grub, including some divine roast carrots. From there, we pottered down the road and to the Matadero, which was hosting a series of installations from Luz Madrid.
As you can imagine, this annual festival celebrating light is right up my street. I last managed to visit it here in the city two years ago, so I was keen to see what kind of delights they’d have in store. We rocked up and weren’t disappointed; there were all kinds of installations including my favourite in the form of a big star which interacted with the Matadero’s water tower.
We then carried on further down the river, passing through other installations such as a matrix of flashing spotlights under a bridge and then a series of huge work lamps which changed colours. Ellie and Johann also took a ride on some kids slides which were quite the death trap…
You can just about make Ellie out in the darkness here.
It then began to rain in a rather Madrid fashion: both suddenly and very heavily. Taking it as a sign that it was time for bed, we scrambled for cover and hailed a taxi back home for the night.
The next day it was dry once more and so we hopped on the metro and up to the city centre to to indulge in some shopping and tourist activities. These naturally included some churros for breakfast and a pizza at Ellie’s favourite Italian restaurant for lunch.
Once it was dark again we were back out to check out some more of Luz Madrid, but not until we’d sat down at a bar for a drink. This evening we were out around the Plaza de España, where it looked like a huge and colourful spaceship had landed in the middle of this iconic square.
I then wanted to check out another installation inside a church, but the queue was long, we were hungry, and it had just started to rain again. We nipped a couple of streets down to a restaurant next to my old office, a place I used to haunt with my colleagues and which I knew would have us full of patatas bravas in no time.
We then returned to the church and hopped in line to see the show inside. It was worth the few minutes of queuing: the installation was a visual delight, involving moving spotlights, mirrors, and other visual effects in time with the music and within this rather unusual setting.
I always love it when fog is used to visualise rays of light.
The next day we had some tacos for lunch and then regrouped in the evening to go and watch the sun set from a park in Madrid’s south. We ate some snacks, enjoyed the panoramic views over the city, and shivered as the setting sun brought forth the bitter cold of the Madrid winter.
The Cerro del Tío Pío is one of the best places to get some iconic shots of Madrid.
Another day we headed up to the sierra, the mountains which surround the city. I’d wanted to visit a reservoir up there for a while and Ellie and Johann enjoy a walk around the countryside, so we caught the bus up to Navacerrada after a bit of a drama when I realised I didn’t have enough cash to pay for the three of us.
Once up there we were met with some lovely surroundings. We set off with the intention of walking the entire perimeter of the reservoir but wound up deviating from our course and up into a nearby village as we’d all wound up rather hungry and rather tired. This turned out to be a good decision; we found a nice spot on a terrace to have some lunch, a drink, and then grab the bus back to Madrid from the bus stop just across the road.
It had been a long day, but we still had the energy to go and catch another sunset from a place that I’d been wanting to visit for a while. Grabbing a bike each, we cycled down to the Dama del Manzanares, a sculpture atop an artificial hill in one of the parks which borders the river near my house. We made our way up to the peak just in time to catch some last rays of sun.
Once we’d cycled back home and returned our bikes there was just enough time for us to meet up with Luis. The four of us met up at NAP, the pizzeria that we all enjoy, and had an absolute whale of a time. From there we crossed Lavapiés to have a drink in Bodegas Lo Máximo, a local bar famed for its quirky decor and fun clientele. It was, as always, an absolute hoot!
That night sadly marked the last of Ellie and Johann’s visit. The next day we were all up and out relatively early as I took them to the train station and waved them off on their way to the airport. As ever, it was an absolutely lovely visit and I look forward to having them back over soon.
My next little adventure saw the tables turn as it was time for me to head off to the airport and away for a few days to visit a friend. More on that next time…
Now back in Spain after my trip around the US, there was no rest for me as I was straight back into work on Monday, the day after I landed. This was all well and good, but then I’d to leave Madrid once again that same Thursday as I’d been invited to an event.
This little trip would take me to Cuenca, a pretty and historical city to the east of Madrid famed for how its old architecture meshes with some striking natural features to create some impressive sights. I’d made a quick day trip to the city with my colleagues a couple of years ago, but this time I’d be staying overnight.
Just when I’d got comfy in my own bed, I was off to sleep elsewhere.
The event in question was put on by AUGAC, the Association of Communication Professionals from Universities and Research Centres within Spain. The event was orientated at sharing knowledge about visual communication and promotion within the education sector, so I was drafted in to go over the rebranding project that we at Erretres worked on for UDIT.
Disaster almost struck as the trip began, as once again I was caught up in the confusing mess that is the redirection of trains from Madrid’s southern train station to its northern one. As with Murcia at the start of this year, I managed to get to the correct station just on time. The train ride was then quick and smooth and I hopped into a taxi with another of the event’s speakers in order for us to head to the lovely hotel that they’d reserved for us.
The hotel was rather grandiose and rather lovely.
Once I’d unpacked I left the hotel again and made my way to a restaurant in the city centre where I’d been invited to lunch. The weather was pretty dire, with rain and wind aplenty, but the walk offered some nice views and the food was absolutely top notch. Cuenca is a great place for foodies!
From the restaurant we headed to the event space and before I knew it I was up on stage talking about the process of tackling a project to brand an affiliated design school for its transition to an independent university. I was joined by some other really inspiring speakers who I had a chance to get to know during the wine tasting session after the event and then over a lovely evening meal at another restaurant in the city. A fabulous day all in all!
The next day I didn’t get up on time for breakfast and then nearly missed my train as the taxi I booked to the station took forever and a day to show up. Once it had arrived, the driver really stepped on it and I made it onto my train back to Madrid in the nick of time. Quite the week I’d had…
There were more work shenanigans to be enjoyed the week after, however. For a special internal event celebrating our rebranding, I spent a while assembling a gift pack for the team, including a funky card with an elastic band we used to fire bits of paper at each other over a team breakfast.
A couple of days later I was off for a day trip with my colleagues to visit another one of our clients. They had a stand at the Global Mobility Call, an international event bringing together key players in the mobility and transport sector. We enjoyed a morning there snooping around, learning about the latest about the future of mobility, and even had chance to try out some of Madrid’s new bus stops.
To finish that week off I had a rather busy Friday. Hugo had bagged some free passes to go and watch Bailo Bailo, a musical celebrating the life and work of Rafaella Carrà, whose music I’ve always been a fan of. As much as I was enjoying the show, I had to leave during the interval as I’d to cross the city centre to be at another theatre by 8pm where I’d arranged to watch another play with Nacho, who was visiting Madrid from Prague.
In the end our evening turned out to be rather different than we’d expected, as they advised us at the theatre that the show was a whole four hours long. Nacho had to head back home just after midnight as he’d an early flight, so in the end we decided to ditch the show and instead went out for a meal so we could actually chat and have a proper catch up. We were joined by one of his friends and in the end we had an absolutely blast!
I leave this post here though, as the very next day I had some visitors arrive and what we got up to warrants its own blog post…
You may have seen that I’ve slowly but surely been putting out some blog posts from the fortnight I spent over in the Canada and the US in early October. Two weeks they may have been, but I got up to loads of stuff and so split the visit into six blog posts, which I have collected here below:
Back to Montreal
I arrive in the Americas for some poutine and a quick weekend break with Megan and Mallory before we cross the US border.
In what might be the prettiest blog post ever, I explore the Vermont mountains with Maureen and Mallory whilst surrounded by striking autumnal colours.
Me and Megan finally get some time together, so we head off on a sunset cruise over Lake Champlain and then dive into the water in a local swimming hole.
We show a very special guest around Burlington, including sampling the local delicacies and then burning the calories off as we climb up yet another hill.
Me and Danni make a dream come true as we meet up in Tennessee to visit Dolly Parton’s very own theme park. We watch a cowboy dinner show, ride some fantastic rollercoasters, and have lots of laughs down in the south of the US.
As usual, you can also start at the very beginning of the trip and then just hit “Next blog post” at the bottom of each post as you go along. I’ve also updated my travel page with all the new locations I visited along the way. Happy reading!
My flight from Burlington was quite an interesting one, being just over an hour in a small plane which took me for a quick layover at Washington DC, the country’s capital. I rushed off the plane rather anxious about making my connection, which was just 40 minutes after this first plane had landed, but upon leaving the airbridge I turned a corner to run straight into the gate for my second flight. Easy peasy!
This took me further south and down to Tennessee, where Danni would be picking me up from Knoxville Airport. From there, she drove us the an hour eastward and up to Pigeon Forge, where we’d be staying for a few days whilst we lived one of our collective dreams: we were going to Dollywood!
For those of you who might not know, Dollywood is a theme park partly owned by Dolly Parton herself. It’s themed to all things country and southern, and is nestled in the middle of the Great Smokey Mountains. Me and Danni are huge fans of both roller coasters and Dolly Parton, so this trip promised to be an absolute blast!
We certainly weren’t working 9 to 5 the next few days.
As I’d arrived quite late, the only thing for us to do on that first night was to head to bed in the hotel that Danni had already got us all checked in to. We’d then have breakfast in the tiny reception area of the hotel the next day, and that was quite an experience! We watched all the locals pile their plates high with biscuits and gravy, waffles and syrup, and sugary cereals with milk. We followed suit and I discovered that American gravy, even if weirdly different to what I’d call gravy, is pretty damn good.
Having eaten approximately 5000 calories each for breakfast, we hopped back in the car and drove the short distance to Dollywood. We parked up, grabbed the trolley (what they call a tram) to the entrance, and made our way inside. We were finally here!
What then followed was a lovely day of rides, snacks, and shows, but I’m going to skip over all of that for now as I want to get to the highlight of that first day: the dinner show we went to see.
When booking our Dollywood tickets we’d discovered that Dolly’s entertainment empire also includes some live shows, including one called Stampede. Intrigued by the promise of a cowboy spectacular, we booked in to see it on the very first evening, which meant cutting our theme park day short to head back to the hotel, have a quick nap, and then walk the short distance across the road to the custom built Stampede theatre.
It took us 15 minutes to walk between two places that are a mere 98m (320′) apart across a road. I know it’s that far because I just measured it on Google Maps. Thanks to the brilliance of the US’ prioritisation of cars over all else, we’d to walk a while down the road before finding a crossing, wait for ages at the traffic lights which were obviously prioritising traffic, and then walk all the way back down the other side of the road. We found the whole thing rather funny: a great example of America’s terrible urban planning.
This trek was worth it though, as the show was a real experience. We arrived as busses full of local retirees were also showing up, so we knew it was going to be a good one. We were ushered to our seats around the sand-filled arena, asked what we’d like to drink during the show, and then the lights dimmed.
The show itself was a lot of fun, with comedic relief and audience participation amid plenty of stunts performed on horseback. We were somewhat distracted when our food showed up halfway through though: we were served a whole roast chicken each! It was a small chicken admittedly, but we wound up munching through an ungodly amount of food whilst watching the action unfold.
I think the funniest moment of the whole evening was right at the end of the show, when the whole thing turned very, very American. To the dulcet tones of Dolly’s ‘Color Me America‘, the presenter shouted “stand up if you’re proud to be an American!”, a rallying call to which me and Danni jumped to our feet and started to hoot and shout louder than the rest of the actual Americans in the room. When in Rome…
As we filed out of the arena me and Danni were in absolute hysterics, something which didn’t let up as we hit the gift shop. We tried out a selection of all manner of cowboy goodies, but our favourite was undoubtedly this cowboy hat which was emblazoned with the American flag. I don’t know if you’ll be able to tell in the photo, but we’d been crying tears of laughter as we put them on with a mighty yeehaw!
We left the venue relatively early at night, so we decided to go for a wander to explore a bit more of Pigeon Forge. This took us past the Dollywood sign and then by plenty of neon-clad restaurantes and attractions. These included some shops which we headed into on a search for some pyjamas, only to find ourselves very uncomfortable as we were suddenly surrounded by souvenirs with questionable messages and propaganda on them. It was like the Blackpool of the American South…
Here’s me and the best sign I’ve ever seen.
After heading home for a good night’s sleep, the two of us were ready for a full day in the theme park. We’d ridden quite a lot the day before, but we’d still plenty to check out, so off we set to do what we do best and strategise the best way of riding all the big coasters whilst avoiding the longest queues.
No wimmin, but us two dumb blondes got in.
The sun was out and our plan was working perfectly: we were able to get on all the main coasters before the evening came around. These included:
Blazing Fury: an old indoor wooden coaster with a few little surprises.
Thunderhead: the best wooden coaster I’ve ever been on which may even be the best coaster I’ve ever been on regardless of type.
Mystery Mine: an indoor coaster with a beyond vertical drop.
Big Bear Mountain: a new and fun family coaster.
Lighting Rod: a wooden coaster which is unique in that it launches you up a huge hill and then through a crazy collection of huge turns and hills.
Wild Eagle: a wing coaster, meaning that you sit suspended on each side of the track.
This last one was the perfect example of what made Dollywood so special. Its mountainous location means that most of the rollercoasters begin in the valley, rise up following the slope of the mountains, and then disappear out of sight for the bulk of the ride. This makes for a disorientating surprise as you’ve no idea what’s coming, alongside some great near-miss moments as you zoom close to the ground.
It was also one of the rides that we bagged a photo on. Here’s the two of us trying to compose ourselves as we fly down the side of one of the Rockies!
Once the sun had set things only got better at Dollywood. Alongside the thrill of zooming around a ride in the dark, there was also a spectacle of lights to enjoy. We wandered around to take all of this in, passing by all kinds of illuminated sculptures, walkways, and even a spooky nighttime disco. This led us back to Thunderhead, my beloved wooden coaster, which we wound up riding three consecutive times as there was simply no queue that late at night!
The next day we were back at the park again for our third and final day. This time we had other goals in mind, including riding a one last coaster and hunting down some of Dollywood’s famous cinnamon bread. As the sun was out and things were heating up, we first made a trip to the log flume, where we snagged two rides as the station was empty after our first trip. Success!
After some more rides we were ready for some sweet treats. We had a snoop around a candy emporium but then decided we’d finally take the plunge and try and get ourselves some cinnamon bread. We’d to wait for a while for it to come out of the oven, but this huge loaf turned out to be a gooey and heavenly combination of cinnamon, sugar, and butter. We’d have kept some for later, but the bag was so greasy that we decided to finish it off there and then!
Now full of bread, we decided to head for a ride that we knew would have a long queue: Lightning Rod. Not only is this coaster unique in the world and therefore very popular, it is also famously unreliable, being known to be broken down almost as much as it is up and running.
With the sun beating down, we were in with a bit of luck as the ride was running and the queue was open for us to jump in and get some shade. However, it would turn out that we weren’t the only ones suffering with the temperature, as the launch system overheated and broke down just as we were the next ones to ride.
Now stuck just behind the gates, we’d to decide whether to wait for the thing to be fixed or abandon ship. Not ones for giving up and curious to see how such a ride reset worked, Danni and I plonked ourselves on the ground and watched as the ride crew sent empty car after empty car around the circuit.
Eventually the all clear came, a moment which we all celebrated with cheers and applause, as the poor ride crew seemed as fed up with as we did. At least we got the payoff of being able to ride this absolutely crazy ride – we even grabbed a photo to mark the occasion. The poor girl in front of us looks to be having a rather rough time of it!
We were particularly keen to get on Lightning Rod as many times as we could because 2023 will be its final year operating as it currently does. As the launched lift hill is such a headache, over winter the launch system will be replaced by a conventional chain lift, so we wanted to ride it in it’s current crazy form whilst we could!
Now content to have been on all the rides, eaten all the food, and seen all the sights, we asked some other tourists to take a photo of us together under the iconic Dollywood sign before we left the park for one last time. We bought some goodies in the gift shop, grabbed a tram back to the car, and then headed out for one last little surprise adventure before the end of our trip.
Near Pigeon Forge was a petrol-station-cum-huge-supermarket called Buc-ee’s that Danni had told me about and that we were keen to visit. On our way there, I wanted some snacks and chewing gum, so we stopped off at a local supermarket chain to pick up some goodies.
As we entered I spied a line of what, for me, epitomises America: the electric shopping carts that you see people riding around in supermarkets. I’d never had the chance to ride on one of these, so I went over to get one after checking that there were plenty left for people who might actually need one.
I am about to live my American dream.
I then began scootering around the supermarket whilst Danni – rather understandably – didn’t want to be seen anywhere near me. I filled the basket with crisps, chocolates, and other goodies without even rising from my seat: the epitome of human laziness and consumerism. It was a good laugh, even if it made me a feel a bit grim about the state of humanity.
Anyway, here’s what your’e all here for: a video of my new ride:
Once we’d paid and I ditched the thing, we head off to Buc-ee’s, parking up and heading into what would be a whole other level of American experience. It was a cathedral to high-fructose corn syrup and saturated fats, with a whole wall of fizzy drinks machines and fresh brisket sandwiches and hot dogs for days.
After the awe of the spectacle had passed, me and Danni grabbed some “soda” and greasy grub. We ate this just outside the supermarket on top of one of the barbecues that they had on sale: a perfectly trashy way to end a few days down in the American South.
There can be nothing more American than some industrial food in the middle of a huge car park.
All that was left for us to do the next day was to get up, get packed, and head off back to Knoxville Airport together. There I waved Danni off as she flew onwards to New York for last few days of her US trip before I boarded the first of my two flights back across the pond.
During my layover in Charlotte Douglas Airport, I got talking to a very chatty lady who recommended me some more obscure Dolly songs to listen to during the second leg of my journey back to Madrid. One of her suggestions was “Mule Skinner Blues“, which I have found myself to be quite fond of. Who’d have thought I’d come back from Tennessee listening to some yodel music?
I’m sure you can deduce from all my tales that I had an absolutely amazing time down in Pigeon Forge, an experience made possible by and infinitely bettered by the presence of one of my oldest friends. Stay tuned for the plans we’ve got for next year and then our big 30th celebrations in 2025…
The day he arrived was a Saturday, so I finally had chance to have a lie in and mooch around all morning. Me and Megan made the most of the hours we had together, heading to Walmart (a favourite spot of mine for people watching) and grabbing a huge beef hot dog from a stall outside Home Depot. The American dream!
Nothing says “USA” quite like a hot dog in a car park.
Whilst we were gorging on street food (throwback to late-night pizzas together in New York and sausages in Vienna), I was watching Kevin’s little blue dot on my phone get closer and closer to Burlington. The drive from New York State is not a quick one, taking about eight hours, so I was chuffed that he was making the trek to spend some time with us in the green mountain state.
Once we’d chatted for a while it was time to get some food, so the three of us headed out to a local pizzeria which was bring-your-own-booze. With a bottle of wine in tow we enjoyed lots of laughs and some amazing food: it was a blast to be in such great company.
Here we are, looking rather content after a glass or two!
The next day had us up and about to explore Burlington despite the cloudy sky. We first stopped off at the lovely farm shop that we’d been to a few days before, but this time were looking for doughnuts rather than pies. Megan had said that they have some of the best maple doughnuts around. I think she may be right!
This selection of freshly-fried doughnuts was not the healthiest of breakfasts…
From there we drove into the centre of Burlington so that Kevin could have a look around. After a spot of shopping and tourist wandering, we landed in Henry’s Diner for lunch, a spot that I visited last year and absolutely loved. It was no disappointment this time around either, with the same delicious food and crappy coffee that I had remembered so fondly.
Whilst in the diner the weather finally took the turn for the worst that it had been threatening all morning. This had us back to the car and back home in no time, as there wasn’t much we fancied doing in the cold and the rain that had suddenly descended on us. We made some food at home and had a relaxing evening watching The Great British Bake Off. What a treat!
We were back on our feet again the next day, as Megan wanted to take us for another climb after my ascent to the top of Jay Peak just a few days earlier. We drove to Mount Philo under sunny skies and began our ascent up the hill. It reminded me a little bit of a wander up to the hills around Oslo, but this time in much more autumnal colours.
The views from the top of Mount Philo were amazing. Despite the fog and the rain in the distance, we could still see out quite a long way, so we spent a while at the peak taking silly photos and making fools of ourselves – the usual.
Who knows what was going on here…
As we reached the bottom of the hill it then began to rain, but we figured that it would soon pass and so headed to grab some food from a local farm. When we arrived there was a huge queue and the rain was just picking up again, so in the end we found ourselves grabbing some snacks from another shop and heading home.
That evening Kevin and I headed out for a catch up and to let Megan have a rest from so much hosting and ferrying me around. After wandering around the centre of Burlington for a while, we plonked ourselves on the terrace of a bar and had a lot of laughs and a great chat over some drinks and chips.
Not long after we woke up the next day Kevin had to be on his way. We said our goodbyes and then I had to get packing, as I’d be leaving Vermont to the very next day. Me and Megan then ran a few errands and got to preparing a meal at home, as we’d invited everyone over for one last hurrah before I left.
I made a pasta bake and Megan made apple crumble, all which went down very nicely whilst we all chatted at the dining table. It was a fabulous send off with some great people, so you can be sure I’ll be looking to come back and visit once again just as soon as I can!
The next day I got up, finished my packing, had some lunch, and then waited for my lift from Megan to Burlington Airport. She nipped over after school and drove me there, where I killed a bit of time in the teeny terminal before boarding my equally teeny plane off to another part of the US…
