Madrid, Spain: A Week in the Capital

I arrived in Madrid with Violeta, my Bla Bla Car driver, who offered for me to stay at her place. I already had plans that night but accepted for the next day. She dropped me off in the very centre of Madrid. I was a little overwhelmed by Madrid at first, it had been 4 months since I was in the major cities of Paris and London. The centre of Madrid might be busier than both and has the craziest drivers I've seen so far. Madrid is a city of many squares, many statues and many bars... The garbage men/women were on their 4th day of strike when I arrived. The locals kept telling me to ignore and that Madrid is usually an incredibly clean city. I was actually impressed.

I was soon at my host's place, Pepe. That evening I went out with 2 of his other CSers, a French couple. I took them to a bar I had heard stories about from travellers all over Spain. The bar is El Tigre (The Tiger). When you buy a drink at this bar you get a huge plate of tapas gratis (free). 3 drinks meant 3 plates. This place really is a must visit in Madrid.

The next day I went to Violeta's place. Her father made Fideuá (Paella with pasta instead of rice) for our Friday lunch. It was amazing. Violeta had only just returned from 3 months in France so she took off to a friend's place for the weekend leaving just her father and I for the weekend. Since I only met her the day before this was very random but I went with it. I bought a bottle of red wine and cooked my famous risotto for dinner. Her dad, a physician, was actually pretty cool.

The next day I was off to explore the city.

The following day I met up with an Argentinean traveller and new friend, Jani, that I briefly met in San Sebastian 2 months earlier. We went to the famous Sunday market, where I bought my first ever scarf for 2 euro. After the market 100 Montaditos made its 3rd appearance in my Spanish adventure. It was Sunday so 1 Euro for 500ml beers. Then one of Jani's Argentinean friends joined us for some delicious (disgusting) Argentinean tea, mate (mah-te), by the pond.

Jani and I

The next day I said goodbye to Violeta and her father, and moved to a hostel for 3 nights. After another visit to Montaditos for lunch I met back up with Jani (50 cent mini sandwiches, "Montaditos", on Mondays. Yes, there are 100 to choose from on the menu). We were off to watch the sunset over Madrid.

Then we were back at 100 Montaditos for dinner.

Girl with a beer, man with a red wine and lemonade!

It was time to say goodbye to Jani, a new  friend that I will see in Argentina next year.

The next day I toured more of Madrid.

pick pocket circle

At night it was finally time for some more sport! My 2nd ever Padel match. This time I won. It was a guy and I vs a guy and a girl. It turned out the girl, Carolina, had lived in Australia for a year. I met up with Carolina, a 27 year old radio news girl, again the next day. She drove me to a few places outside of the city. She doesn't like losing so I tried not to mention the match (or maybe I squeezed it into the conversation whenever possible).

Camera Shy

It was my last night in Madrid so after the photo shoot we were off to a little farewell I had organised (yes, I organised my own farewell from a city I had only spent 7 nights in). The venue... 100 Montaditos! It was Wednesday so 1 Euro for 500ml drinks. This time I opted for Verano Tinto (Summer Red Wine), it is red wine and lemonade. It actually tastes pretty good but I prefer the basque Kalimotxo (Red wine and coke).

The next day I was on a train to Toledo!

What Madrid keeps in its train stations

Lessons Learnt:
Sharing a ride with a stranger can lead to cooking dinner for their father the next day.
The world is small and you never know who you will meet again.
I prefer smaller towns to experience culture and meet people but it's good to enjoy big cities too.
100 Montaditos should sponsor this post.
As always it's the people you meet that make the experience, nature and pretty buildings are just a bonus.

San Sebastian, Spain: Pintxos, Hiking & Estudiando Español

I arrived in San Sebastian with a one night booking in a hostel followed by 4 weeks in a shared flat. I knew almost nothing about San Sebastian (aka Donostia in Basque, officially Donostia-San Sebastian) before arriving. It didn't take very long to realise I was in possibly the most beautiful city I've ever seen. It has a beautiful and busy old town, amazing beaches and mountains. Plus literally hundreds of bars lining the streets.

My first night was in one of the smallest, cleanest and friendliest hostels I've ever stayed in, Pension Goiko. Since I was going to be staying in SS for long time the girl working there turned my map into a mural. That night I went out with an Australian couple we had many pintxos, kalimotxos, sangrias and beers.

The next day I arrived at my flat not knowing any details. I was greeted by my 4 housemates, a Spanish guy, a Spanish girl and 2 Polish girls. My room was simple but perfect. The highlight  was having my own clothesline through my window. Everyone else had to use the clothes horses. I was always worried about dropping my underpants on someone else's line.

The next day I started school at El Aula Azul (The Blue Classroom). I was welcomed by two awesome ladies, Silvia and Ester (my teacher). The deal was 1.5 hours of 1 on 1 class a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. I commenced as a complete beginner. The class structure allowed me to deviate from the planned lesson and steer the conversation. I remember one day my homework was to describe my entire kitchen in Australia. I provided a photo for comparison... The photo contained 2 ex-girlfriends in my kitchen together. I learnt some very interesting Spanish that day! La conversación en español fue muy interesante ese día!

Ester, mi profesora

I spent my first few days getting used to Spanish life, walking around and studying. I also got back into the habit of daily running.

Thursday came which is Pintxo Pote, 2 Euro for a beer and a pintxo. This was the start of a 5 night bender. I had different arranged meet ups every night mostly with Spanish tourists and a lot of international tourists but not many locals. The film festival was on so the streets were packed.

On Monday I promised no more drinking until the next Pintxo Pote. That weekend I met up with 2 Germans and 2 Mexicans to go on a 25 km hike across the beautiful coastline to the French border. the landscape was amazing. After 9.5 hours of walking up and down mountains and swimming we arrived at the border town.

After the weekend it was back to class. I had also found a language exchange partner to meet with everyday for 1.5 hours for 2 weeks. I wasn't sure what to expect committing so much time to someone I had never met. My exchange partner, Amaiur, turned out to be one of my best meets in SS. She was studying at the highest level of English in another school so the help I gave was a lot more technical than the help I received. Study was actually fun. She also took me to dance Cuban Salsa and introduced me to the incredibly fun game of Padel (tennis with a wall around the court). It was so good to play real sport again.

Amaiur

At the end of my 3rd week an old friend came to San Sebastian... Miren, my host from Rennes. San Sebastian is her home town. We went to the beach, Pintxo bars and a place with the best hot chocolate I've had in my life (chocolate caliente). It's always good to see old friends even if they are relatively new.

in Pintxo bars it's normal to throw your rubbish on the floor

After 3.5 weeks I became a local and a tour guide.

Me giving a tour

Sadly it was time to leave San Sebastian. In my 4 weeks I met a ridiculous amount of people, ate the most amazing food, could hold a basic conversation in Spanish and had an unbelievable amount of fun... next stop Bilbao!

Lessons Learnt:

How to play Padel

Spain has Ratoncito Perez instead of the Toothfairy

You can't notice the financial crisis in Basque Country

Spanish in Latin America is different to Spain

Yo hablo español basico!

The school I attended really was excellent and fun. For 4 weeks of class plus great accommodation it was 1025 Euro for 4 weeks. That is a cheap holiday option plus you learn a new language.