Weekend in Soria

(The kids in Quintana Redonda)

This past weekend I went with the family to the north of Spain, Soria. It is a 2 hour drive north of Madrid. The drive up was fun as I sat beside Diego and Rebeca who were either singing or playing on their psp. I wanted to see what diego was playing but I would get a little dizzy whenever I looked at the psp. All in all the drive went well and before we got to the house we went looking for a restaurant/bar to get dinner. We went to a typical Spanish cerveceria, where you can order food, tapas and drinks. Also kids are allowed in the bar and everybody smokes. In Madrid I haven’t really found smoking a big problem but here you could tell more people smoked. The bar was busy with a wide variety of people, young and old. This old man was bugging Diego with a live crab and kept tapping Diego’s shoulder with it, and beside our table was another man playing on the slots machine while watching the tv program above, he was so focused on pressing the slots button but all at the same time ordering drinks, talking to his family and watching tv. Once we got to the small village Quintana Redonda we got settled, made our beds and went to bed.

The next two days the family took me to many small villages and sights.
We went to the villages where the kids grandparents were from. Deserted little villages, really nice though! Where the grandmothers house was, there was fruit that had been planted years ago. Apples, pears, plums, grapes and raspberries, it was nice to be able to just pick it right off the tree and enjoy.

Also on the trip we went to the main city Soria, which is the biggest city in this region. It has a cathedral called Santo Domingo where you can go to the side of the cathedral and buy desserts and sweets from the nuns. I would have never known about this if I hadn’t been with the family that’s for sure. It was really interesting, you weren’t allowed to see the nuns and they had this sliding closet where you would place your money and they would switch it with the boxes of desserts.

In the evening while in Soria everyone heads to the main square and street and walks down to enjoy a chat or drink. We went down to get some of Soria’s mantequilla (butter, either plain or sweet, which is a particular Soria specialty). The sweet butter is almost like icing mmm and really good on these little muffins (called magdelenas). While walking back we ran into Celia’s aunt and uncle so sat down to have a drink with everyone. Saw a few more sights along the trip including some old roman buildings and other cathedrals and castles. Pretty cool to just drive around and spot castles and things every few minutes.

This trip I enjoyed some good times with the family, great food and desserts (can’t forget the desserts!) and beautiful scenery. A weekend well spent!! and very different than all the bustle of the big city.

Mmm dessert!

Thanks again Andres and Celia for letting me come along!!