El Escorial and wildflowers

09 June, 2020

A very nice Spanish gentleman took me by car to visit El Escorial, a former monastery and sometimes summer palace in the foothills of the mountains north of Madrid. Unfortunately, it was still closed due to COVID-19 and we were one day early for the reopening, so we weren't able to tour the inside or the grounds.

Although we couldn't go inside the monastery, we were lucky in that the wildflowers were in full bloom and we took a short hike in the hills behind it.

This is a really interesting suspension bridge over the highway on the outskirts of Madrid.

It was so nice to have a day out of the city.

El Olivar

06 May 2020

The COVID quarantine has been de-escalated here in the Comunidad de Madrid, and we are now allowed to go out for walks at any time of day. Previously there were different times for people with children, elderly or high risk, and adults (anyone who didn't fit in the other categories).

There is an abandoned olive orchard near the house I am living in here in Rivas which is currently sporting lovely grass and wildflowers, where I love to go for my daily walks. There are a lot of people who walk there, especially dog walkers, but it rarely feels crowded because it's pretty large.  

Olive trees have a unique color and shape that I find really lovely.

There were a scattering of red poppies here and there, a brilliant contrast to all the more subtle colors.

  The occasional patch of thistles also provided color spots.

 I kept trying to capture the way these poppies looked to my naked eye and failing (although they are still pretty. Seen with the sun behind them, from this angle, they were translucent. Looking at them from the top, the petals looked as though they had been dusted with a fine opalescent glitter. 

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!