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Reflections on Spain
13 years ago
Well, I've been in Spain now for nearly 2 months. Just thought I'd jot down some thoughts on the place here while I'm thinkin' about 'em.
The town that I've been staying in is León, in the province of Castilla y León in Northern Spain. This particular part of town I'm in is extremely similar to the outer-Richmond area of San Francisco.. steep streets, joined buildings, the weather is nearly the same.. foggy and cool at night/morning, eventually burning off to mild temps and sun.
The area between here in Madrid is remarkably like California's central valley.. if I were blindfolded and dropped someplace, woke up there.. I'd say I was in California (no joke!). As you head west towards Galicia, the scenery changes from fairly flat, to slightly rolling hills, to fairly moderate sized mountains. The drive between here and A Coruna is a -lot- like going from the valley to the Bay Area, it's almost eerie how similar the surroundings are.
Of note, when driving on the autovia (freeway), there are NO advertisements on the sides of the roads, no giant billboards, no Flying-J's, no fast food.. nothing. It's actually quite peaceful. With fuel being so expensive (anywhere between $6.75-$8.00 a US gallon), there usually isn't much traffic on the more rural parts of the freeway.
The food.. oh god the food. it's something that's not easy for me to write about, you'll just have to come and experience it for yourself. All I can say, is I've found a new respect for pork, however I know once I get back to the states, I'm going to sorely disappointed by the processed garbage we hawk there.
Groceries are cheap, variety isn't too grand. The bread here is phenomenal, as well as all the olive oils. Very little processed food exists here. Infact, in this town alone, there are only TWO "fast food" places, which are McDonalds and Burger King.. and they're exorbitantly expensive. In the time I've been here, I've eaten processed food maybe twice. Everything else has been cooked fresh, using cheap, real ingredients.
People here seem to be genuinely happy, theres an overall optimistic mood amongst everyone I've run into. Everyone is healthy, and for the most part, in great shape.
"Breakfast" here is usually something pretty simple, a pastry, some coffee maybe, perhaps some yogurt, small and simple. Lunch is the main meal of the day, and usually happens anywhere between 2-3 or so. Shops close betweeen 2:00-4:30 for this time, to go home and have lunch, have a nap.. then come back to work. Dinner (around 9-10ish) or isn't a formal activity, and is usually something small and simple, say a section of bread and jamón (thin sliced cured ham), this is called "Merienda". Later in the evening (midnight-2am), many folks go out for tapas. Tapas are free, and can range from small jamón & manchego sandwiches, fried chicken, morcilla (blood sausage on toast), soup, patatas bravas to pizza, burgers and hot dogs. If you're doing it right, you'll hit up about a dozen or so places until 1. you're full or 2. you're stumbling drunk. A nightcap usually consists of fresh hot churros and a cup of thick chocolate for dipping/drinking. Bedtime can be anywhere between 3-6 AM.
It's a pretty relaxed lifestyle for sure, quite a change of pace from what I'm used to, but I like it.
This is getting quite long, so I'll sum it up shortly here. Later this month I've got Carnaval to look forward to, then at the end of this month, beginning of next month, I head back to Madrid to go back to California.
My time here has been amazing, I couldn't have done this without the help of some excellent friends, and of course the constant loving support of my incredible
jackiedog
Now.. get your ass over here and visit!
Olé!
The town that I've been staying in is León, in the province of Castilla y León in Northern Spain. This particular part of town I'm in is extremely similar to the outer-Richmond area of San Francisco.. steep streets, joined buildings, the weather is nearly the same.. foggy and cool at night/morning, eventually burning off to mild temps and sun.
The area between here in Madrid is remarkably like California's central valley.. if I were blindfolded and dropped someplace, woke up there.. I'd say I was in California (no joke!). As you head west towards Galicia, the scenery changes from fairly flat, to slightly rolling hills, to fairly moderate sized mountains. The drive between here and A Coruna is a -lot- like going from the valley to the Bay Area, it's almost eerie how similar the surroundings are.
Of note, when driving on the autovia (freeway), there are NO advertisements on the sides of the roads, no giant billboards, no Flying-J's, no fast food.. nothing. It's actually quite peaceful. With fuel being so expensive (anywhere between $6.75-$8.00 a US gallon), there usually isn't much traffic on the more rural parts of the freeway.
The food.. oh god the food. it's something that's not easy for me to write about, you'll just have to come and experience it for yourself. All I can say, is I've found a new respect for pork, however I know once I get back to the states, I'm going to sorely disappointed by the processed garbage we hawk there.
Groceries are cheap, variety isn't too grand. The bread here is phenomenal, as well as all the olive oils. Very little processed food exists here. Infact, in this town alone, there are only TWO "fast food" places, which are McDonalds and Burger King.. and they're exorbitantly expensive. In the time I've been here, I've eaten processed food maybe twice. Everything else has been cooked fresh, using cheap, real ingredients.
People here seem to be genuinely happy, theres an overall optimistic mood amongst everyone I've run into. Everyone is healthy, and for the most part, in great shape.
"Breakfast" here is usually something pretty simple, a pastry, some coffee maybe, perhaps some yogurt, small and simple. Lunch is the main meal of the day, and usually happens anywhere between 2-3 or so. Shops close betweeen 2:00-4:30 for this time, to go home and have lunch, have a nap.. then come back to work. Dinner (around 9-10ish) or isn't a formal activity, and is usually something small and simple, say a section of bread and jamón (thin sliced cured ham), this is called "Merienda". Later in the evening (midnight-2am), many folks go out for tapas. Tapas are free, and can range from small jamón & manchego sandwiches, fried chicken, morcilla (blood sausage on toast), soup, patatas bravas to pizza, burgers and hot dogs. If you're doing it right, you'll hit up about a dozen or so places until 1. you're full or 2. you're stumbling drunk. A nightcap usually consists of fresh hot churros and a cup of thick chocolate for dipping/drinking. Bedtime can be anywhere between 3-6 AM.
It's a pretty relaxed lifestyle for sure, quite a change of pace from what I'm used to, but I like it.
This is getting quite long, so I'll sum it up shortly here. Later this month I've got Carnaval to look forward to, then at the end of this month, beginning of next month, I head back to Madrid to go back to California.
My time here has been amazing, I couldn't have done this without the help of some excellent friends, and of course the constant loving support of my incredible
jackiedog Now.. get your ass over here and visit!
Olé!
People are overall optimistic and positive? That's truely something rare today.
Will you return to spain in summer? (just right for the EF, will you both actually attend EF?) ^^
So, we'll see what happens
The one thing for certain is that I -will- be back, eventually permanently
and i still need roommate(s) :P
Will keep the offer in mind though, thanks!
One thing is for sure, I love it here!
The time that you've been here so far has been amazing for me and I can't wait for us to be living together forever ^-^
Hopefully you can make it in summer time so we can actually travel around, which with days not getting dark until almost 23:00 instead of 18:00 makes things easier too on that regard :p
Anyway I love you very much hunny. This 2 months here together have been most memorable and still one more to go <3
And yeah, yay for mediterranean diet! You even got to "love" pork again *wags* I'm not the better to say it, but we have great ingredients and dishes in here! And that part about your diary noms routine... LOL!! I hope people don't believe you're doing that -everyday- :P Crazy doggy!
Anyway, I hope your remaining time will be the same or even better. And of course I'm really glad having had the opportunity to spend some of that time with you and finally met ya <3