Life in Madrid - October 23rd - 29th Day trip to Segovia!

Madrid, Spain 2015-2016

October 23rd - 29th

Tapapies

On Saturday night we met with a few people and went to a festival in the city called Tapapies. Around 100 restaurants/bars in one area participated and they each created a special tapa for their restaurant that cost 1.5 euros or 2.5 euros with a small beer.  That way you could taste the food at many restaurants and hop from one to another.  We went to three restaurants total.  The first one had guacamole with salmon and wasabi ice-cream all mixed together. That was interesting.  The second was egg, cheese, caramelized onions, etc. on bread and the third one was the picture below, a buttery pastry with a mixture of things inside and a shrimp on top.

Segovia

Sunday we finally did a little day trip outside of Madrid.  Spain has soooo many places you can visit and we chose this one because we could do a day trip.  This city is called Segovia and it took us about an hour by coach bus to get there.

A perspective of the size of the arches.

The aqueduct of Segovia, a 1st century Roman structure still in partial operation today, albeit not for its original purpose.

La Plaza Mayor with the Cathedral of Segovia in the background.

The Alcázar of Segovia (or Segovia Castle), originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then. It began as an Arab fort, which itself was built over the remains of a Roman fort

A view of the Cathedral of Segovia ensconced by the ancient city walls (8th century).

The armoury with a collection of medieval weaponry and armour.

The inside of the Alcázar.

We went up the tower of John II, 152 steps to an amazing view of the city.

The Cathedral of Segovia, a mid-sixteenth century Gothic Style Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Having a "tinto de verano," a fizzy wine soft-drink.

Beautiful pictures, such as this one, were easy to capture in Segovia. This is San Martín Church.

On Monday it rained....again!  I finally tried one of the cupcakes I have been eyeballing from a cute coffee shop we pass often.  It was delicious!  

On Tuesday,  a Spanish co-worker invited me to try a class at the gym she goes to that is near where we both live.  We did a latin dance cardio class and the teacher was very flamboyant!  He also taught us a halloween choreography.  My co-worker, Esther and I are thinking of teaching it to the kids for a halloween activity!

Life in Madrid - October 16th -22nd

Madrid,  Spain 2015-2016

October 16th -22nd

It seems that fall is in the air.  It was another on and off again rainy weekend and I have been fighting a little cold (maybe why I have been feeling a bit run down).  The price you pay working with kids I guess.

Halloween talk has been going around too and although it is an American holiday, you can find people celebrating it in all corners of the earth. 

We stayed close to home again this weekend (I still don't have my metro card!)  But most things are within walking distance and we need a way to burn off all those cafes con leche anyway. Friday night we met my co-workers for a game of trivia and Saturday night we met Daniel's co-workers at a house warming party.  

Saturday afternoon we sat outside and had a drink called a café bombón.  It reminded us of the tea and coffee in South East Asia with the condensed milk that is oh so delicious!  After that we walked around the city.  A new store just opened called Primark and there was a line up I think around 1km long!  It is similar to H&M and Forever 21 and has cheap prices and I think it originated in Ireland.

Café bombón

Sunday we explored Palacio de Cibeles which is an old giant building that has been restored and turned into a place to show off exhibitions and for people to hang out or study.  It had a restaurant and five floors to walk around including a 6th floor sky deck.
    

Outside of Palace de Cibeles

Monday, we met one of my co-workers for churros con chocolate.

The churro place in an alley

Mannequin legs on the balcony

We bought this sheep cheese/milk for one euro.  What I love about it is that it came in this ceramic container that, first of all, we can reuse, it is also recyclable and and producing it is not as harmful to the environment as plastic.