Segovia y Avila

We took our first mini road trip to Segovia and Avila. Pablo finally has the week off so he could drive us. Segovia and Avila or only an hour north of Madrid and about an hour east/west of each other. We arrived in Segovia about noon and walked around exploring the aquaduct, Cathedral and Alcazar which was a royal palace. We ate lunch in Segovia and Corrie had her first experience with a menu del dia. After lunch we head to Avila to check out the walled city and just walk around enjoying the sun. We took pictures, stopped to have a beer and tapas and then headed home for the day.

Avila

Alcazar in Segovia

Wall in Avila

Aqueduct in Segovia

Royal Palace and Paseo de Prado

Corrie and I continue hitting the pavement exploring Madrid. We took a tour of the inside of the Royal Palace. I have been to the palace many time but never went inside or had any idea what it would be like and I was pleasantly surprised! It has some really beautiful rooms, they are so extravagant and ornate that it can kind of make you go insane if you had to live there but the history and detail is amazing.
After our tour of the palace we made our way back towards the Puerta del Sol to continue our walking tour but made a a Spanish stop to have a caña and tapas. Then we decided to order some calamari and another caña for me. We had a very pleasant time enjoying our food and being Spanish. We could even take home our beer glasses for .30 cents more- Score!! After our much needed food we headed on a walking tour down the Paseo de Prado to take pictures of the famous fountains in Madrid, Cibeles and Neptuno. We also stopped to see the Caixa Forum which is a museum and showcases a wall of a building completely covered in vegetation. Our last stop was the Atocha train station. The inside has a mini-tropical rain forest complete with little turtles and misters. It is actually pretty cool and weird to think it is in the middle of the train station.

Royal Palace


Cathedral across from Palace


Bar on Calle Mayor



Cibeles



Neptuno


Caixa Forum (grass wall)


Atocha

Birthday Boy

Someone has reached the grand old age of 31! Pablo! So to commemorate the grand day we through him a party.
After our day of sight-seeing Corrie and I made our hour trek home on the metro to get ready for Pablo´s birthday party. We weren´t sure if he could get off work in time to celebrate but lucky for him he did. We received the final word he was coming with guests about 30 minutes before they arrived home so Corrie and I made a mad dash to prepare and cook all the food I had bought. We made a dinner of tapas which included Spanish and American delights. Some highlights include, chorizo a la sidra, homemade hummus, manchego cheese and chorizo pamplona, chips and salsa, nachos, olives, empanadillas, croquettas and sidra of course. Corrie got to experience her first sidra and I think she liked it so now she is on her way to becoming a real Asturiana! Pablo´s partner Jesus and her girlfriend came too to make it a big fiesta! For dessert Corrie and I made cupcakes (Thanks to the American Store and Duncan Hines cake mix) Pablo never had cupcakes before and we topped them off with trick candles to make it a complete American experience.

Our Fiesta


Birthday Boy


Sidra


Chupitos


Cupcakes

Corrie is here!

My friend Corrie is here in Madrid visiting from San Francisco. It has been so great having a friend here, especially a girlfriend who speaks english! She arrived last saturday and this week we have been touring around Madrid. After being in Madrid for awhile I have come to the point where it is now fun to be a tourist in my own city. I actually know my way around and feel more confident being in the city. I have come to really appreciate Madrid for all its great parks and even the people are growing on me.

Pablo has been working this week and I have been forced to do all the talking in Spanish- ordering beer and asking questions. I think I have done pretty good and I'm proud of myself! Now I really feel like a Madrileño. Here are some highlights so far...

First Spanish lunch after we arrived home from the airport

First Caña and tapas at our fav bar

Ready to hit Madrid but first we need a beer

Plaza Mayor

Center of Spain

Rose Garden

Egyptian Temple

Retiro Park and it's art

I have Euros

I officially have Euros in my Spanish bank account! It was kind of an ordeal but everything worked out and I now have my own spanish debit card. Thanks to my mom for helping me with the bank process at WaMu and going multiple time to ask questions and figure out the wire process. Now I won't get all these bank charges and deal with the always changing exchange rate. Now I just have to get paid in euros!

Random Photos

Here are a few photos from the last 2 and half weeks.

Always tons of cows in Asturias
Little church in el pueblo

Watching the Big Game! Barca! Pablo's dad and his friends at the bar downstairs (Pablo's dad is white hair man)

Pablo's work car. Bullet proof and all!

Old men playing cards in the plaza- very common

My walk down the Castellana- main street in Madrid and the sidewalk looks like this all the way.

Traditonal Rosquillas for the San Isidro Festival

Their carnival games....you can win booze! (what happened to cute stuffed animals?)

Or you can win meat of your choice! YUM

The four towers of Madrid from our neighborhood. They are the only skyscrapers in Madrid (and yes there are really four, just can see from this angle)

La Fiesta de San Isidro

Friday was a holiday in Madrid celebrating their patron saint San Isidro. This festival has events all around the city but the biggest in the Parque San Isidro which was the park right behind our old house. So I was very excited to go check it out especially because it was my old neighborhood. We took the metro and when we reached the metro line going to the park it was jammed packed with people- an experience in itself. We had to get off a stop before because they closed the closest metro stop because of so many people. As we walked to the park it was so crowded with tons of people but I stayed pretty calm :) Our first stop was to buy beer and a snack because after an hour subway trip we were hungry and you need beer to tackle all the people. When we got to our old neighborhood it was so weird to see it set up with carnival rides, booths with food, crafts, bars, lights and did I mention all the people?
We made it about 50 feet into the mob and had to buy the traditional Rosquillas and then decided to sit in the grass drink our beer, eat food and watch the people.
After we felt ready we walked past all the booths and food and restaurants and then decided to hike up to the park where there were all the rides. Now if you have ever been to a carnival or festival in Spain you know but it surprises me every time how dirty everything is...people leave their garbage everywhere, people are drinking a ton and for some reason there are NEVER ANY BATHROOMS. Not sure where they drunk girls go to pee but you can find the guys peeing everywhere. I don't really understand the logic in this but after awhile when you have to go it doesn't make for happy times. Lucky for us we were in our old neighborhood and knew the perfect place to go for a bathroom- Nacho Bar- which was below our old house. As we walked we hoped it was open and not too crowded. It was far enough away that when we arrived we were surprised to find not too many people, the usual regulars and familiar faces to greet us Nacho and his wife Carmen. We had 3 beers, free tapas and watched the Madrid Open. Now this wasn't officially part of the San Isidro festival but probably the best...you can only handle all the people for so long.
So overall I got in some culture, my first San Isidro festival and I think I did pretty good but you always have to have your neighborhood bar to save you in times of crisis....or when you don't have a bathroom!

Asturias

We are in Asturias this week. (State where Pablo´s family lives) We arrived Sunday afternoon and will return to Madrid on Thursday. We are here to see the family and today we celebrated Pablo´s sister´s birthday, Pablo´s birthday and mother´s day with a lunch in Sellaño. It is a very tiny town in the middle of the mountains. You would never find it if you didn´t know where you were going.
We had a menu del dia which is includes two courses, drink and dessert. Tons of food but it was very good. After lunch we played some asturian bowling, which I had never seen before but it was fun. We then drove further up the mountain to another super-small town to explore. Everything was very pretty- Asturias is very green and tons of moutains and rivers so everything is beautiful and very different from the rest of spain. I´ll post pictures soon.
In other news... I opened my first spanish bank account. The dollar/euro exchange, atm fees from my US bank and spanish bank gets very expensive so hopefully this will be easier. I´ll get my own debit card and hopefully we will figure out how to wire money from the us to my new account without having to pay too much in fees and exchanges.
I don´t know the plans for the rest of the week but hopefully it will include a train trip to Oviedo but if nothing else...more Sidra!

First week in Madrid

I have survived my first week Madrid! :) I am all settled in the new apartment and did as much organizing and decorating as Pablo would let me! Everyday he comes home looking for something I changed. I tried to help him with his hoarding issue but had to compromise and let him keep his 3 boxes full of junk and randomness.
The apartment has been great so far. I think it is a good mix of spanish and american. American as in we have a dishwasher, washer and dryer, full size shower/bathtub, air conditioning, big fridge, parking spaces in garage, 24 hour door man. Spanish as in, you can hear all your neighbors (people above us have a cat with some issues because it moans very oddly- sounds like someone is killing it), the bathroom smells weird, bidet, lines to dry clothes even though there is a dryer, small elevator. :)
The neighborhood is great too. More and more stores are opening and we are finding new places like the butcher and new bars. We found a great running/bike trail that goes all around. I have already gone jogging three times. It will be a good place to keep up my jogging except I have to either do it in the morning or at night because it gets hot. Our view looks out onto the shared park area and I like to watch all the dogs and people. It is amazing how many people have dogs around here.
The weather has been quite warm for me so I have only been down a few times to lay out and read my book. The pool doesn't open until June 15.
Right now I have resumed my house-wife duties- cleaning, doing laundry and cooking. I'm not sure how much longer this will last but it gives me something to do. I even have my telenovela (soap opera) I watch almost everyday. I'm so spanish! I can't really understand the tv but we always have on subtitles in spanish and that helps me a lot more.
This coming week we plan to go to asturias to visit Pablo's family and the 15th starts the San Isidro festival. Not sure what it all means but we are going to go check it out. It is in the park which is behind our old apartment so we get to go back and visit the old neighborhood.

Tapas y Cañas on Sunday

Spain's Unemployment

Just reading the BBC this morning and they are saying unemployment in Spain is 17.4%, highest in the European Union and they predict it will reach 20% by next year. They also predict it will be the last EU country to get out of the recession sometime around 2011. Depressing.....I doubt they are giving any job to a foreigner, non-eu member without working papers! :)

House Hunters International

House #2
Here are pictures of the new casita!

Family Room

Family Room

Kitchen

Bathroom

Our bedroom

Bedroom