TIE card and La Alpargata

 27 December, 2019

Today I went to pick up my Tarjeta de Identidad Extranjero (TIE), which is my combination Spanish Identification card and residency permit. This is a photo of the line we have to wait in to collect the card.

Finally legal! It feels like turning 21 again...

To celebrate, I took myself to lunch at a little restaurant inside the Mercado San Fernando (marketplace). Marketplaces here typically have lots of eateries inside as well as vendors. The more trendy ones sometimes have an entire floor of just eateries (like the food court in a mall, only 100x more crowded).

The one I went to is called La Alpargata, which is a type of handmade shoe with a canvas top and a rope sole, worn by both men and women.. In English I think they are called espadrilles. From the picture, it looks like they have fond memories of being whupped by abuela (grandma) with a slipper!

This restaurant is one I have been wanting to try because it has vegan versions of traditional Spanish foods. It did not disappoint. The menu is small and the restaurant was even smaller, only a few barstools and tall tables.

Here is a vegan version of one of the most popular foods in Spain, the tortilla de patata (potato omelette). The name has nothing to do with Latin American style tortillas, which are known here as "tortilla mexicana". The word tortilla translates as "little cake", so I can see how it evolved in both cases.

I ordered the albondigas de mijo con salsa de pimientos (millet meatballs with red pepper sauce). It was 100% delicious, and I used the bread to scrape up every drop of the sauce. I don't know whether that is a faux pas here or not and I don't care!

Atocha Station, Madrid

30 November, 2019

Major European train stations are impressive, and Madrid's Atocha Station is no exception. I am compelled to take photos of it every time I pass by from the outside, but don't often pause for photos once inside. These photos are of the original train terminal, which has been converted to a conservatory and the actual station moved to a new wing of the building behind it, preserving the original architecture in a truly beautiful way and providing a really nice place to relax while having a bite to eat or waiting for a connection (bus, train, and metro all converge here).

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Atocha, Fish, and a High-Rise Sunset

 23 September 2019

Today I went to the shop where I bought a SIM card for my mobile phone to investigate why I couldn't get service when I traveled to Germany. The shop was a couple of blocks from the main downtown train station, Atocha. The station is enormous and the old part of the building is beautiful. I'm sure I'll be back to photograph it inside and out.

The building across the way with the striking statuary on top is the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food).

Haven't figured out the whole siesta thing here yet. The mobile phone shop was closed from 2-5:00PM, so I had some time to kill. Just a few doors down was a very Spanish looking bar/restaurant, so I decided to sit down and have lunch. The accent here is VERY different from Latin American Spanish, so I honestly had no idea what I ordered because I couldn't understand a word the owner said. I did NOT expect this terrifying looking fish.

 

 

Dessert was more to my taste, a yellow cake with a hint of almond. 

The Airbnb I'm staying in is an apartment away from the city center, on the top floor. The view from here is fantastic and tonight's sunset was no exception.

Buenas noches!

Doors!

11 September 2019

Those of you who have been following my blog may have noticed that I have a thing for interesting manhole covers and doors. Today I saw a lot of interesting doors and other architectural features!

I started off my wandering in La Latina, with lunch at the vegan restaurant VivaBurger. The food was incredible, and it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the day and people watch (even though there were not many people about). 

 

After lunch, I just started walking... love all the outdoor cafe seating. 

 

Just a typical street, but the colors and lines appealed to me.

Door Number 1: This door was bizarrely tall, and the carving on it seems to imply that it was once prosperous and well cared for. The graffiti, on the other hand, shows it has fallen on hard times. 

Further along I saw this cool round window with an interesting iron grating.

 

 

 

What the heck kind of key fits into this lock? 

 

 

The light was terrible, but if you zoom in on this photo you may be able to see all the incredible details of this door: the iron scrollwork at the top windows, the carved embellishments, and the knobs and knockers. 

 

 

 

Again, poor lighting but the door had beautiful details. Each door is so different!

 

 

 

Not a door, but rather a large multilevel department store (Primark), complete with an animated light show displaying on the inner plexiglass walls.

 

And lastly, I will leave you with this image of a person in a giant koala suit in Callao Plaza. No, I don't know why.

Beauty Party

10 September 2019

Last week, I joined a group of women here for a "Beauty Party", which I thought would be about sharing beauty and health tips, but instead was a product demonstration/sales party more along the lines of Mary Kay except that only one person got a makeover.

Still, it was nice to meet some other women of varying ages here, all of whom were non-Spanish. We laughed a lot and had fun together.

What's this I see? A telephone booth? I haven't seen one in a loooooong time! I liked this contrast between the "modern" phone booth and the much older architecture of the buildings in the background.

I was intrigued by this dome because its style reminds me so much of the Berliner Dom, a church in Berlin.

Today a storm moved through, making for some incredible high-rise post storm lighting and clouds.

First day in Spain - pedicure, electronics etc.

04 September 2019

Day 1. Slept just a few hours as my body can't figure out what time it is. I made a quick trip to the grocery store yesterday, so I could have my usual breakfast. I found a cereal I like with some kind of bran flakes and dried fruits and nuts, and there were soymilk, almond milk, and oat milk to choose from.

Dragged myself out to go to my pedicure appointment (silly me, I thought it would be a relaxing way to spend the first day). The whole trip on the metro - about an hour, including transfers and getting on the wrong train - I was feeling extremely nauseated with jet lag. Nausea is one of my least favorite sensations, right up there with stabbing pain.

My mobile phone service from home worked for calls but not for data. Unfortunately, I had only connected with my beautician online, so I had no way to ask for detailed directions and Google maps wasn't working so I was relying on the map in my phone's memory, which didn't have any street names loaded. Apparently the street changes names halfway down so there are two buildings with the same number. The first one I rang the bell at I received a very short "no", so I must not be the first to make that mistake. Finally I found a Spanish girl willing to help and she got me to the right street, so I made it to my appointment only a few minutes late (sorry, Emily!). She did a fantastic job transforming my hooves back into feet and my toes look cute.

After that, my next task was to get a SIM card (that is how you get a phone plan when traveling internationally). Again, using the map from my phone's memory and the battery was quickly dying. The woman at the phone store was very sweet. She also had the most lovely blonde curly bobbed hair which I could not stop admiring. I now have a Spanish mobile phone number including data - yay, online map access!

Next stop: Media Markt to find a plug adapter to charge my computer and my Sonicare toothbrush. Dental care is important, people. Achievement unlocked!

Came home for a rest and crashed out for the rest of the day. I did manage to walk out to find the Lidl market nearby. A whole bag of groceries for 14 Euros, not even possible in the US. It is hard to find things because the shapes and colors of the packaging is often completely different. I never did find tissues, thank goodness I brought some handkerchiefs with me. The air is very dry, around 35% humidity, which makes the heat bearable, but I have already had one major nosebleed so I'm trying to drink as much water as possible.

This section of apartment buildings seems a bit seedy (graffiti and beer bars, no cute wine/tapas/chocolaterias in sight). However, there is this pretty aisle between the buildings which makes up for it. When it's cool in the morning and evening I see people down there.

The colors at dusk were so beautiful. I am often not successful at capturing what I see in a photo, but this time it's spot on.

The wind is picking up so it should cool down tonight.

Safely arrived in Spain

04 September, 2019

One more farewell with "Lunch Bunch", my mother and her friends.

Getting ready to move to Spain was a whirlwind of chaos right up to the airport. Here is just a small part of what my room looked like leading up to departure date.

I did not leave everything behind as orderly as I would have wished, and there is a whole bin of stuff I wanted to bring but had to eliminate due to baggage weight restrictions.  Here is my cat Tiny Tubby supervising the packing process.

The thing I regret the most not getting into the suitcase? My handy dandy massage tool, which consists of two tennis balls tied into an old sock. I have three of these high tech devices at home, yet not one made it into my bag. I'll have to find a tennis court to look for stray balls.

My mother, God bless her, rode with me on the 3 hour bus ride to the Los Angeles International Airport for moral support. Without her I would have had a total anxiety attack, rather than just being stressed. We ended up having to repack my bags in the lobby, which was ok because I had lots of time before check in.

In the international terminal, there was a giant projection screen on two walls. When I walked in, there were old black and white silent films playing there. So fantastic!

Here is a short video showing the films in action:

On the way to the gate, my back was aching after lifting my bags over and over to weigh them as we moved stuff from one bag to the other, so I stopped for a 20 minute back and shoulder chair massage. No photo, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and felt so much better afterward. Then a little yoga time with "legs up the wall" while waiting to board the plane.

 

I upgraded to Premium Economy, and it was worth it after all the stress. It was so much more comfortable than Economy. 

This is how much leg room I had - my legs were extended straight out and I could barely reach the seat in front with my toes. Usually I can't even bend over to pick up my purse off the floor because my head bashes into the seat in front.  I didn't get a picture of it, but there was a retractable leg rest which helped immensely, even though it was too short for my legs, it provided some elevation and combined with a nice recline on the seat, made sleeping so much easier. I got about 5 hours of sleep, which for me on a plane is usually impossible.

No problems on arrival in Spain. Immigration lines were short and those with "nothing to declare" bypassed customs and went straight out the door.

The taxi driver refused to follow the careful directionss of my Airbnb host and dropped me off a block or so away, leaving me completely lost with a huge amount of luggage. Thankfully, my host came to find me when I finally called after wandering around and getting sweaty and frustrated.

My Airbnb is on the 12th floor with a lovely rooftop view typical of this area. There are some parks below and as evening fell the sounds of children playing drifted up.

I sat chatting with my host and watching the sunset from the window, after which I was treated to Spanish lessons by their 7-year-old daughter using her school textbooks.

And then finally to bed. Buenas noches!