Hola from Madrid, Spain! Well... sort of. Currently on a 3 hour stop over in Madrid central station while heading from Valladolid (Bia-doh-leeth) to Grenada. Valladolid was absolutely fantastic! Here's the scoop...
We arrived at 9am on Saturday (16th), found our way to a local tourist info place, searched out a few hostels, and finally settled into our room at the Astrogal Hostel by noon. We were pretty beat from our overnight excursion across the country, so we got some grub, had a bite and crashed for the afternoon. Got some (awesomely cheap) Mahou beers at the store nearby and had a few cold ones (cold water in the sink style), then headed to a small eatery for some calamari for dinner. Afterwards it was time for a surprise drop in on Aranxta and Aitur's reception (Ginny hadn't actually told them we'd arrived yet). We had a great night attempting to drunkenly communicate with all the Spaniards. Fun! Ginny's old friend Nacho (that's actually his name) was friggin hilarious, tho I think Northcott offended him a little when he tried to drunkenly convince him that Spanish was basically the same as French. Hahaha...
The next day (Sunday the 17th) we headed on down to Arantxa's aprartment shortly after lunch. Met up with our friend Krista Garland from home (Ginny's old roomate and good friend. She's here in Spain for the wedding a little vacation, so I think she'll be travelling around with us for the next little while! Good stuff!) Spent the day walking around Vallodolid with the newlyweds and a bunch of friends from the reception... a very cool way to get to know a place. We stopped into a small pub for a bite to eat (tho I was still full from the full Baguette I ate for lunch. Baguettes! They're everywhere! And at 50 cents for a huge meal... how can you afford not to buy one?). Anyway, then we headed to a coffehouse and we all had iced coffee (cafe conyero) - refreshing on a hot spanish summer day, that's for sure. From there we headed on back to the newlyweds place to get ready for the evening. Ginny's and Arantxa's friends Marta and Fran had asked us to visit their house out in the countryside for a BBQ supper. We definitely weren't gonna turn that down! So, we all piled into Arantxa's and Yolaunda's cars, headed to the convenience store where Audi, Steve and I got some beers, and then sped off towards Alba where Marta and Fran's house was. They had purchased the house for real cheap because it was super old and needed a LOT of work. I must say, what they've got done so far is amazing... but there's still lots to be done! Beautiful spot, nonetheless. Man, I was just loving being in a car again and blazing down the highway! Fuckin A! Yolaunda even had some Spanish Cypres Hill!! LOL!
From Marta's, we all piled into the cars once more and headed out to the countryside for a Spanish BBQ. Lamb (another first for me), pork and all sorts of grilled veggies over an open fire pit - absolutely unbelieveable! That evening was another clear highlight of this entire trip! What a time! Headed on back to Alba for another beer at a small local pub with the crew before saying our buenos noches. Marta even made me order the booze to practice my Spanish! Goodtimes.
The next day (Monday the 18th) Ginny and Krista wanted to shop, so the boy and I decided to go get our train tickets booked for the next destination: Grenada (chosen on the good advice of our new friends). 2 arguous hours later we had it all sorted out, and we were getting hungry, so we decided to take a little bit a jaunt across the river to find a McD's to quell our hangover hunger with. On the way home we picked up some more beer (San Miguel) and ice (it should be noted that in Spain, the ice costs more than the beer!!! Go figure!). The boy and I had ourselves a little siesta and then our nice cold beer (which you really appreciate after 7 weeks of not having a fridge on hand). The 4 of us decided to take a little stroll around the city at 10pm.. ironically enough, we managed to bump into none other than Arantxa and Aitur in an internet cafe (small world eh?). Said our final goodbyes and gave them our thanks. Without them, we would have never got to experince all the cool things we did, or meet all the awesome people we met. They're in the air to Norway for their honeymoney as we speak. I wish them the best of luck. Then the four of us felt like an evening bite, so we headed on down to the southside of town and hit up the Milano restaurant - delish.
This morning (19th) we were up early and getting ready to head to Grenada in southern Spain. Unfortunately for Krista, when she arrived in Madrid a few days ago, he backpack did not... so she's been on the line with the airline trying to get that sorted out. The problem is the fact that we want to keep moving on, but she has to stay in Valladolid until her bag arrives. However, she's expecting it sometime today, so hopefully she'll get it and we can meet her at our hostel in Grenada tonight. From here, it looks like it's going to be ~3 nights in Grenada, and then on to Alicante for another ~3 nights or so. Alicante is where yet another of Ginny's friends lives whom we're going to visit and stay with! Handy having the little wood sprite around, eh? From there, the boy and I (at least) are heading north to Scotland and Ireland to finish out our trip.
Holy fack time is going way too fast!! Amazing times in Valladolid!!
QOTD: "From what I recall, Nacho and I got along quite well last time" - Ginny, attempting to be provocative (and failing).
"BONITA!! (makes fish-head expression)
"Pepe and PePito" - Male and Female body parts in Spanish
"You have an old woman in your ass" - Audi, to Ginny
"Uno Big Big Mac Por Favor" - Northcott at McD's
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