picnics, polpo and the huelgas

Where to begin!

In my last post I promised myself (and anyone reading) that I would do a better job of taking advantage of my remaining time here. Based on the fact that I had to organize an outline of all the fun things I did in the last two weeks, I'd say I'm doing pretty well!
A couple of weekends ago I decided to organize a little outing in the city inspired by a cool article a friend sent me (thanks Jenna!). The article suggested some really awesome things to see in the city which remained undiscovered by tourists (for now). The best of the bunch was Plaza de la Paja.
The Plaza is a few blocks from Opera but tucked up in a neighborhood. It sits on a big hill and at the bottom there is a very small gated garden. The garden remains from the Spanish court. All around the Plaza sat cool restaurants, bars, and cafes. The most popular cafe, Delic, was too crowded to get a seat. We got a coffee at an equally cool spot and then browsed. Another find was a cute little shop that was like a mini Whole Foods, but Spanish and reasonably priced.

The next day Blair, Eimear and I decided to enjoy the warm sunshine and have a picnic in Retiro. We each brought some grub and I brought a giant blanket and really that's all you need! I am so thankful it's sunny and nice out finally. I think we earned an early spring after the winter we endured.

Mid-week we decided to try a new Galician restaurant our friend Cristina has raved about. Galicia is a region in northwest Spain and it's famous for its killer seafood among other things. There were six of us at dinner which allowed us to get a whole bunch of things and try them all. We got the usual croquetas, some really yummy steak, salty green peppers, calamaris, and... pulpo!! I have been wanting to try pulpo for a while since so many Spaniards have told me I must. Any guesses? Octopus! I have to say that while it's not my favorite seafood dish, I did really enjoy it! Tentacles and all :)

Last Saturday was my last volleyball game with the Spanish team I've been playing with. As for the game, we got absolutely destroyed. It was ugly stuff. But I think that's because we were all distracted and looking forward to the team dinner afterword. To celebrate the season we went to a local Italian restaurant. It was fun to hang out with my teammates outside of the gym. I also sampled THE best sangria I've had in Spain. And let's just say I've had a few glasses of sangria in my time here. The secret ingredient was a hint of cinnamon. Yum!

Last weekend we had another puente. Spanish quiz! Do you remember puente? If you said bridge or four day weekend, you are correct. I stayed in Madrid for the puente for a number of reasons. But on Thursday I was able to take a day trip to Segovia. After a short bus ride we landed in this very cute town. It's most famous for it's aquaduct which was built in 50 b.c.! We walked around a bit and I even got to see the home of my favorite Spanish author and the namesake of the school where I work, Antonio Machado. I also splurged and got cochinillo for lunch, which is suckling pig and something Segovia is famous for. I may have ragged on pig products in the past, but let me tell you, this was some good pork.
The next day my friend and teammate from USF, Linzy, came to visit from Paris where she currently lives. We had a really fun weekend together. We went out Friday and Saturday night and had dinner at a cute place in La Latina on Saturday. It's famous for fries and eggs. I didn't really get it. I asked the waiter, so what is it? He looked at me like I was stupid and replied, "it's fries...with eggs on top." Ok then. We decided to see what all the fuss was about. Gotta say this one wasn't my favorite. Kind of a weird "I really need to go grocery shopping what can I possibly throw together" sort of a dish. But I'm glad we tried it nonetheless.

On Sunday we went to the Rastro, somewhere I've been meaning to check out. The Rastro is a giant street fair of sorts that extends many blocks in the La Latina neighborhood. Vendors sell everything from jewelry to tapestries to my personal favorite, rubber by the kilo. It was really fun and I even picked up an item or two.

Finally, I'd like to tell you about some exciting happenings here in Madrid. On Monday we read in the paper as well as heard announced on the metro that there was going to be a "huelga" of metro workers on the 24th and 26th. A huelga is a strike, btw. The huelga would make all metro trains run at 50%. This annoyed me for two reasons. One is I already have a pretty dreadful commute at 100%. Second, the 26th I was to go to the United States and getting to the airport via metro seemed impossible. So the 24th I got up early, walked to a farther metro to avoid a transfer, and got there early preparing myself for the worst. And then, I walk up to my platform and what's this? There are less commuters than usual, the train pulls up immediately, and I get a seat which never happens. Could this be? The strike scared off a lot of passengers and in the end the metro union decided to postpone it for the 30th. Nice! So no need to worry about that any more.There was also a huelga of all public teachers today. It was a big one. We had a lot of teachers from school stay home and go to the protest. I, however, don't qualify to participate in the huelga since I'm not technically a teacher but an auxiliar.

Ok, well I'm off to bed because in the morning I am heading to the good old USA! I am so excited. It will be an adventure to be sure.

Besos!