tourismo in madrid

For those of you who think that I just bounce around Europe, drinking coffee and eating flaky pastries, sometimes I do stay in Madrid. And it's café con leche, much better than coffee, for the record. Anyway. The past long weekend, I took it easy with the traveling, and hung out in Madrid. But, to avoid massive boredom, I did some touristy things around town. Beacause when you live in a place, you don't really see what's around you. Example: I lived in New York for three years, and I did not see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Guggenheim, or the Whitney Museum. I'm not proud of myself, I'm just saying. So, while in Madrid, I decided to go to the tennis tournament, the Masters Series in Madrid, at the new stadium, la Caja Mágica. (Translation: The Magic Box) I lucked out, and got to see Nadal vs. Verdasco, an all-Spanish affair (Verdasco is even from Madrid), followed by Murray vs. del Poltro (Battle of the Gangly). It was pretty cool, and the view was definitely not that bad, considering where I was sitting. Not only did I see some sports action, I also went to some museusm, fulfilling all cultural requirements. Having taking a class at the Prado (and really having no desire to return), I went to a temporary exhibition called La Sombra (The Shadow). It was two parts, starting in the Museo Thyssen (for the more classical works...about to the year 1850), and finishing in Caja Madrid, a gallery-like art space, which had more modern paintings and films. It was all about the shadow in art. Actually really cool. I don't know why I hadn't gone earlier. So, although I didn't travel anywhere, I lived it up here in Madrid, which, clearly, is a pretty cool place.

visiting friends!

So, not only do friends visit me, but I also visit friends. It's a great idea, especially because it's way cheaper, and it's more fun to go with someone who knows all the spots around town. And, sometimes, you get really lucky and your friend has a car. My friend Vanesa, who is an English teacher I work with, went to visit her family in Asturias, a region in the north of Spain. She has always generously invited us to go with her, and a couple weekends ago, I took her up on it. We picked up her godson Dani on the way up, who lives in Leon. Although she did give me fair warning, he was a talker. About an hour in, he was like, "So...you're English?" He really didn't stop...for three days. A feat of remarkable endurance. We finally made it to Oveido, which is just as beautiful, if not more, than the movie "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" makes it look. It's a city, but it's small and quaint and green. Trees everywhere. Trees, and parks, and cobblestones. You wouldn't think Madrid and Oveido are in the same country. It's that green. And there's a lot of cider there. The way they pour it is incredible. The bartenders hold the bottle in their hand, stretched all the way above their head, and pour it out into the glass, which is in their other hand, stretched to below their waist. I can imagine drunk people trying to that, and failing miserably. I mean, they're specially trained. Then, we headed to Gijón, which is ridiculously gorgeous beach town. Basically, everything about this trip was beautiful/gorgeous/breath-taking. The mountains are gigantic. Did I say everything is green? After Gijón, we headed to where her family lives, in Cangas de Narcea, which is a pretty small town. We visited her grandparents, who live in a smaller town, of about 50 people. I could not understand a word they said. Luckily we didn't talk that much. They just made me eat my weight in food. I thought I was going to explode, just from sheer hospitality. Everywhere we went, "Do you want coffee? A snack? Food? Are you hungry?" The madness! This blog entry is my pitch for Asturias: Everything is green, it's ridiculously beautiful, and you will leave in stretchy pants.

when friends visit

When you start over, no one you meet knows how you used to be, or where you started. They get version 2.0, the more finished product, and the past isn't really relevant. But that's what your friends are for! To remind you of that time when you did that thing, and so on and so forth. So, I was really excited when my friend Sarah came to visit me in good old Spain. We lived together here when we studied abroad (also Veronica, shout out!), and it was a nice reunion. It also made my job of host super easy, because Sarah had already lived in Madrid, and we didn't need to do touristy things. But that article my mom sent me from the NYTimes on Madrid did in fact come in quite handy. We hit up all over Madrid, going to El Matadero, an alternative art space that used to be a slaughterhouse (still pretty sketchy). We checked out some cool gardens, along with some Roman murals in La Latina, a pretty trendy neighborhood. And our old señora, Maria Luisa, was not forgotten. I'm extremely glad Sarah made me go see her, and we went out to dinner with her. We nearly exploded with food. Disgusting. Chorizo and cured meat would have gone everywhere. Sarah even came to school with me for a day, to watch me teach 3 year olds the Hokey Pokey. My job is very stressful, clearly. It was overall, a great visit. Except the part where I got Sarah sick. That wasn't so great for her. But at least it wasn't swine flu.