1. Lunch is eaten at 2 or even as late at 4. When I first arrived I had a hard time with this but now I am so used to it. Also one thing I really enjoyed is lunch is the bigger meal of the day, whereas dinner (at 9-10ish) is very small and often just protein. This makes sense as you can use the day to burn off the calories of a large meal compared to going right to bed after.
2. People know how to parallel park!! You really can’t park any other way, but still you have to know how to do it. I would have a little trouble in this department that’s for sure.
3. Traffic circles make sense here, and people know how to drive in them! It keeps traffic moving, which in Madrid is very necessary. I would think of the new traffic circles they just built behind Western on 18th ave in Calgary and it makes me laugh.
4. Transit is amazing! The metro runs throughout the whole city and is comes on a very regular basis. I think the longest I ever had to wait for a train to come was 5 minutes. Also they have buses that run to all the nearing cities and sites for very good prices. For a trip from Madrid to Segovia (comparable distance Calgary to Red Deer) it was 12€ (~$17) round trip. I am pretty sure greyhound doesn’t offer the same deal. Also these above buses run very often. Yes I know the large population in Madrid an area does help in this but I was still very impressed.
5. In Spain, Spanish has a slightly different accent than Latin America Spanish (which is what most of us in North America would have learnt or heard). I only note this as when I first arrived I found myself having a hard time saying all the words with z’s and c’s with a “th” sound. Also when hearing the word and then seeing it writing with a “z” was also very confusing, but now I have gotten very used to it and yes Plaza is not pronounced pla-za, but pla-tha!
6. Fruit and veggies are so yummy. When I came back to Calgary I grabbed a pear and then almost had to spit it out as it just tasted very pulpy. I never realized how horrible the fruit is we get until experiencing fresh fruit on a daily basis.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
the yummy Tortilla a Patata
(this is not my photo, but just thought you guys should get a visual)The tortilla a patata is a Spanish specialty, it is a potato and onion omelette. It sounds so simple but sometimes its the simplest things that are the best! It is sooo yummy!! So my last morning Andres taught me how to prepare it, and it was my turn to try it out. It isn't the easiest thing to make, well everything is easy until you get to the flipping part. My first attempt at flipping didn't go so well as I lost half of the tortilla on the counter/sink, luckily managed to salvage it and it wasn't a total disaster. Andres helped with the flipping the second time, but now I have the basics and will just need to practice!
Last week in Madrid
These last few days I have managed to keep myself busy. On Oct 31 was my last day with a transit pass so I had a few things on my list. I ended going to the Prado museum, they had just opened up a new exposition and it was free, so I mean what was I going to lose. It ws super super busy though (because it was free) so it was hard to really appreciate it all. From Prado I headed to Plaza de Castilla, all I wanted here was a photo and then I headed back downtown to Gran Via. Gran Via is the street with all the main shops and things, I just wanted one last look of european fashion before I left.
Oh I forgot to mention... being halloween the kids got all dressed up for school, it was fun to see them in costumes. Rebeca's whole class had to dress gothic so she was all in black, Diego was a mad scientist, Jamie was a millionare (his whole class the same), Marcos a indian, Patri was half man half woman (it was a pretty sweet costume) and Sarah was a black dressed bride. In the evening I went along with Marcos, Patri and Sarah trick or treating. Halloween here isn't very popular so it wasn't the same as back home. We went for about an 1 and half and maybe 6 or 7 houses gave out candy. I was trying to explain to the kids that we used to fill pillow cases with candy when used to go!! However although the lack of candy.. one house felt bad so they gave us a full box of ferrero rocher chocolates, mmm now that is a sweet halloween candy.
The kids don't get the 31st off school but Nov 1 is a holiday here so no school Thursday or Friday. It was nice to spend my last few days with the kids around! Thursday evening we went ice skating. Rebeca really enjoys going so was pretty excited. I haven't been on skates for almost 2 years now so I was worried I would fall, but it went well, I even taught the kids how to skate backwards a bit. 3 hours of skating and my feet hurt but it was fun to get some activity in with the kids before I leave. Also another thing that made me happy at the rink was there was a huge poster of Kipper!! yay Go Flames Go!!! I am sure the people don't really know who he is but I sure was excited about it.
Oh I forgot to mention... being halloween the kids got all dressed up for school, it was fun to see them in costumes. Rebeca's whole class had to dress gothic so she was all in black, Diego was a mad scientist, Jamie was a millionare (his whole class the same), Marcos a indian, Patri was half man half woman (it was a pretty sweet costume) and Sarah was a black dressed bride. In the evening I went along with Marcos, Patri and Sarah trick or treating. Halloween here isn't very popular so it wasn't the same as back home. We went for about an 1 and half and maybe 6 or 7 houses gave out candy. I was trying to explain to the kids that we used to fill pillow cases with candy when used to go!! However although the lack of candy.. one house felt bad so they gave us a full box of ferrero rocher chocolates, mmm now that is a sweet halloween candy.
The kids don't get the 31st off school but Nov 1 is a holiday here so no school Thursday or Friday. It was nice to spend my last few days with the kids around! Thursday evening we went ice skating. Rebeca really enjoys going so was pretty excited. I haven't been on skates for almost 2 years now so I was worried I would fall, but it went well, I even taught the kids how to skate backwards a bit. 3 hours of skating and my feet hurt but it was fun to get some activity in with the kids before I leave. Also another thing that made me happy at the rink was there was a huge poster of Kipper!! yay Go Flames Go!!! I am sure the people don't really know who he is but I sure was excited about it.
Weekend in Rota and Cadiz
This trip was originally planned to be super super busy, I had hoped to go to Sevilla and see a few other things but in the end I ended up just going to Cadiz and Rota and just hanging out on the beach and things. It was nice to just relax a little nearing the end of my trip, but since I didn't get to see Sevilla and Grenada yet it just means I will have to come back!!
Once in Rota we spent a few hours at the beach then headed to Cadiz by ferry. I little 30 min ride over to Cadiz and then we wondered to find our hostal. Once getting organized at the hostal we went to roam our surroudings. A few of the girls had been to Cadiz already so they knew a few spots but we pretty much just wondered until we could find food. Lunch was umm ok but the ice cream made my day. I really can't turn down a good ice cream! The big group of us (8girls) ended up splitting up a little to explore things so Kristin, Jodie and I decided to be tourists and check out some of the sights. In the end our sight seeing turned into a search for churros (fried dough that you dip into chocolate mmm), but we were not successful at this. Churros are more of a breakfast thing it seems. One back at the hostal we made some pasta and enjoyed some cheap wine and sangria(from a box hahaha). The evening was filled with tyring to find the popular spot in town, botellon (big bottle) and the discoteca. Botellon is where all the young people (15-24) meet up and bring their own drinks and just hang out until about 3am when the discotecas open. This was very interesting, its like a party without the host. There were at least a few hundred people here so it was very eventful.
The next morning we enjoyed some yummy churros con chocolate (mmm finally I got to try to joys of churros) and then just lazied around Cadiz until our ferry back to Rota. That evening just went to the beach, watched a little spanish television and ordered chinese. My last day in Rota was purely relaxing, woke up late, headed to the beach then just in teh evening headed back to the dreaded bus station to go to Puerto Santa Maria and take the 7 hour night bus back to Madrid. In the end I managed to get some sleep this time but it wasn't that great.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Bus ride to Rota
As I mentioned in my last post I just came back from the south of spain (Cadiz and Rota, in Andalucia, Spain).
I have found it more expensive to travel within Spain so when my friend Kristin found this bus that goes for only 36 euros I was so there. The only problem is the bus ride is 7 hrs, so I decided I would take the night bus so it wouldn't affect my days and I could just sleep on the bus. The bus left the bus station at 12am but I had to purchase my ticket and was worried it would be sold out so I got to the station at about 10:30. The bus station isn't really a nice place so I was happy to get on the bus. However when I realized what seat I had I wasn't so happy. You don't get to choose your seat when purchasing your ticket (well maybe you can but I wasn't really in the mood to complicate things when getting my ticket) so I was stuck with sitting right behind the driver. This was horrible as it was nearly impossible to get some sleep. The driver had a radio on and a fan so I was freezing the whole time. Once I finally got into a somewhat comfortable position and was almost asleep the bus stopped at some random restaurant and gas station to refuel. I was so confused with what was going on because the driver made everyone get off the bus. I wasn't sure where we were and what was going on really, I was worried I had missed my stop and this was the last stop and I had no idea where we were, but I eventually figured it out but really all I wanted to do was sleep!!
Another 3 hours and we made it to my destination. Well I say destination but really here at el Peurto de Santa Maria I had to wait for another bus to get to Rota (where Kristin lives). There were 4 or 5 buses that go to Rota so I thought at least one would come in time, however this was not the case and I had to wait 3 hours at the bus stop. I was so tired at this point but once at the bus station in Rota I thouth I would find my way to Kristins on my own. I had some awesome directions so managed my way quite easitly, however since I was dressed for the cold nights and the bus ride I was in many layers, so when I got to Kristins doors I was sweaty and tired (not a pretty sight when giving hellos). Once at Kristins it was nice to sit that's forsure!!
I have found it more expensive to travel within Spain so when my friend Kristin found this bus that goes for only 36 euros I was so there. The only problem is the bus ride is 7 hrs, so I decided I would take the night bus so it wouldn't affect my days and I could just sleep on the bus. The bus left the bus station at 12am but I had to purchase my ticket and was worried it would be sold out so I got to the station at about 10:30. The bus station isn't really a nice place so I was happy to get on the bus. However when I realized what seat I had I wasn't so happy. You don't get to choose your seat when purchasing your ticket (well maybe you can but I wasn't really in the mood to complicate things when getting my ticket) so I was stuck with sitting right behind the driver. This was horrible as it was nearly impossible to get some sleep. The driver had a radio on and a fan so I was freezing the whole time. Once I finally got into a somewhat comfortable position and was almost asleep the bus stopped at some random restaurant and gas station to refuel. I was so confused with what was going on because the driver made everyone get off the bus. I wasn't sure where we were and what was going on really, I was worried I had missed my stop and this was the last stop and I had no idea where we were, but I eventually figured it out but really all I wanted to do was sleep!!
Another 3 hours and we made it to my destination. Well I say destination but really here at el Peurto de Santa Maria I had to wait for another bus to get to Rota (where Kristin lives). There were 4 or 5 buses that go to Rota so I thought at least one would come in time, however this was not the case and I had to wait 3 hours at the bus stop. I was so tired at this point but once at the bus station in Rota I thouth I would find my way to Kristins on my own. I had some awesome directions so managed my way quite easitly, however since I was dressed for the cold nights and the bus ride I was in many layers, so when I got to Kristins doors I was sweaty and tired (not a pretty sight when giving hellos). Once at Kristins it was nice to sit that's forsure!!
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