the rain in spain
so, an update on my trip to spain...
it was amazing! my flight left friday night which turned out to be a perfect time to leave because the plane wasn't full. i got 2 seats to myself. i popped 2 sleeping pills and called it a night. i figured my spanish would be rusty but it wasn't nearly as bad as i thought. all the stewardnesses addressed me in spanish and i didn't get my usual butterflies. anyway, got to madrid in the early morning. jp met me about 15 minutes after we landed and all my excitement was reinvorgorated. he looked the same only with longer hair and we seemed to pick up where we left off 2 years ago...as friends.
we spent the day walking around his neighborhood and did some grocery shopping for the night. he was having a get together of former coworkers. one of the first things i noticed was how cheap the food is--especially the seafood. we bought shrimp, cheese and wine for practically nothing. and all of it lived up to my preconceived ideas of being fantastic. we took a nap and then entertained his friends. because of the jet lag, i didn't eat properly and got a bit too tipsy for my own good. however, i managed to bounce back. we did a little bar hopping and then returned to jps place for some late night conversation. his friends were really cool. my favorite were raquel and hiel (he's dutch) and pete (who's from new york). his roommate, diego, and i got along really well too. he had a little crush on me which i thought was cute.
we spent sunday walking around el mercado--a street festival that gets packed! we tried to buy futbol tickets for the real game but unfortunately, it was sold out so we had to settle for watching it at an irish pub. we went to the royal palace on monday and had traditional spanish lunch which was cool, but heavy. we had dinner at his apt and hung out with diego until the wee hours of the morning. went to salamanca tuesday and spent a good 4 hours trying to find the front of the university entrance. there are million carvings on it and if you find the frog, you'll have good luck. by the time we found it, the entire town had shut down so we holed up in a dive bar and hopped on an early train back to madrid.
we slept and shopped on wednesday--i found killer pair of shoes but didn't actually get them until friday. we went to a restraunt that's run by cooking students called glorias that was kick ass and SUPER cheap. we had a bottle of wine, an appetizer, entree and dessert for 37 euros. then we went to a brazilian bar and people watched--even danced a little.
i think thursday was my favorite day/night. i made iji (lebanese scrambled eggs) for lunch--my first attempt at making them by myself. jp got tickets to the athletico futbol game as a make-up to fudging plans to lisbon. we spent the day walking around and chillin. we got ready for the game, which he said started at 10 p.m. only to get there and find out that it started at 8! jp felt really bad but i thought it was hysterical. we met up with diego and his friends at this old-man bar and got toasted. we had so much fun! by then my spanish was very warmed up and jp, diego and i were like 3 peas in a pod. we ended up at some bar that was owned by a female writer who passed out her new book to everyone that came in. the night just got messy but in a good way (you'll know it when you see the pictures). when i woke up friday morning diego was rolling around and moaning. in english he said: i have the most important headache of my life! it was hysterical, especially because his accent is so heavy.
we hung out with jps irish friends on friday and pretty much layed low that night. had churros and chocolate on saturday and went to la reina sophia museum. had dinner with jps students for my last night which was hysterical because they were all men. our meal was incredible. i had oxtail for the first time and am in love. jp and i had arroz con gambas which was so yummy but couldn't hold a candle to the oxtail. we stayed up until very late and slept in a bit on sunday. we went to the airport to meet his brohter and drop me off.
8 hours later i was not in nyc but back at jps apt. my flight was one of many that was overbooked so i was bumped to a flight on monday. although i had a lot of fun in spain, i was ready to come home so i wasn't all that excited to stay an extra night, especially because jp and mike were leaving for the north of spain to begin a 1-month walk (el camino). but, it all worked out and i got back to the states safe and sound, albeit with a nasty headcold that im still trying to shake. and you can go here to see the pictures to prove it: http://www.kodakgallery.com/MyKodak.jsp?&
jp sends an email once every few weeks to let us know how the walk is going. he'll be in nyc in december and is back to stay. im really excited because we had a lot of fun together in spain. he said he had a great time living there but is glad to be getting back to the states. much as i loved madrid, i don't know that i could live there. the food is fantastic but there are certain things i really missed like yogurt and bagels. also, things there are veeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow and that just doesn't jive with my new york mind. my next trip to spain will be to barcelona and maybe then ill have better considerations of moving there. it certainly isnt't out of the question.
it was amazing! my flight left friday night which turned out to be a perfect time to leave because the plane wasn't full. i got 2 seats to myself. i popped 2 sleeping pills and called it a night. i figured my spanish would be rusty but it wasn't nearly as bad as i thought. all the stewardnesses addressed me in spanish and i didn't get my usual butterflies. anyway, got to madrid in the early morning. jp met me about 15 minutes after we landed and all my excitement was reinvorgorated. he looked the same only with longer hair and we seemed to pick up where we left off 2 years ago...as friends.
we spent the day walking around his neighborhood and did some grocery shopping for the night. he was having a get together of former coworkers. one of the first things i noticed was how cheap the food is--especially the seafood. we bought shrimp, cheese and wine for practically nothing. and all of it lived up to my preconceived ideas of being fantastic. we took a nap and then entertained his friends. because of the jet lag, i didn't eat properly and got a bit too tipsy for my own good. however, i managed to bounce back. we did a little bar hopping and then returned to jps place for some late night conversation. his friends were really cool. my favorite were raquel and hiel (he's dutch) and pete (who's from new york). his roommate, diego, and i got along really well too. he had a little crush on me which i thought was cute.
we spent sunday walking around el mercado--a street festival that gets packed! we tried to buy futbol tickets for the real game but unfortunately, it was sold out so we had to settle for watching it at an irish pub. we went to the royal palace on monday and had traditional spanish lunch which was cool, but heavy. we had dinner at his apt and hung out with diego until the wee hours of the morning. went to salamanca tuesday and spent a good 4 hours trying to find the front of the university entrance. there are million carvings on it and if you find the frog, you'll have good luck. by the time we found it, the entire town had shut down so we holed up in a dive bar and hopped on an early train back to madrid.
we slept and shopped on wednesday--i found killer pair of shoes but didn't actually get them until friday. we went to a restraunt that's run by cooking students called glorias that was kick ass and SUPER cheap. we had a bottle of wine, an appetizer, entree and dessert for 37 euros. then we went to a brazilian bar and people watched--even danced a little.
i think thursday was my favorite day/night. i made iji (lebanese scrambled eggs) for lunch--my first attempt at making them by myself. jp got tickets to the athletico futbol game as a make-up to fudging plans to lisbon. we spent the day walking around and chillin. we got ready for the game, which he said started at 10 p.m. only to get there and find out that it started at 8! jp felt really bad but i thought it was hysterical. we met up with diego and his friends at this old-man bar and got toasted. we had so much fun! by then my spanish was very warmed up and jp, diego and i were like 3 peas in a pod. we ended up at some bar that was owned by a female writer who passed out her new book to everyone that came in. the night just got messy but in a good way (you'll know it when you see the pictures). when i woke up friday morning diego was rolling around and moaning. in english he said: i have the most important headache of my life! it was hysterical, especially because his accent is so heavy.
we hung out with jps irish friends on friday and pretty much layed low that night. had churros and chocolate on saturday and went to la reina sophia museum. had dinner with jps students for my last night which was hysterical because they were all men. our meal was incredible. i had oxtail for the first time and am in love. jp and i had arroz con gambas which was so yummy but couldn't hold a candle to the oxtail. we stayed up until very late and slept in a bit on sunday. we went to the airport to meet his brohter and drop me off.
8 hours later i was not in nyc but back at jps apt. my flight was one of many that was overbooked so i was bumped to a flight on monday. although i had a lot of fun in spain, i was ready to come home so i wasn't all that excited to stay an extra night, especially because jp and mike were leaving for the north of spain to begin a 1-month walk (el camino). but, it all worked out and i got back to the states safe and sound, albeit with a nasty headcold that im still trying to shake. and you can go here to see the pictures to prove it: http://www.kodakgallery.com/MyKodak.jsp?&
jp sends an email once every few weeks to let us know how the walk is going. he'll be in nyc in december and is back to stay. im really excited because we had a lot of fun together in spain. he said he had a great time living there but is glad to be getting back to the states. much as i loved madrid, i don't know that i could live there. the food is fantastic but there are certain things i really missed like yogurt and bagels. also, things there are veeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow and that just doesn't jive with my new york mind. my next trip to spain will be to barcelona and maybe then ill have better considerations of moving there. it certainly isnt't out of the question.