A touristy–but well worth it–photo op in Parc Güell

Any trip to Barcelona would be incomplete without a Gaudí sighting or two. On my first trip to Barcelona, the ‘rents and I climbed the Sagrada Familia cathedral, which was a great introduction to Gaudí’s work. I was eager to discover more. Luckily, before I succumbed to an unforgiving cold on a Barcelona trip last weekend,  Andres and I managed to squeeze in a few more Gaudí sites. The most impressive had to be Parc Güell, which was perched on a hill like a whimsical tiled cake topper.

Barely 30 minutes after opening, the park is already filling up

Magnificent ceiling art

Back to the stone age

THE Parc Güell photo

Roaming around the park yields varied views of the city

Since it was earlly May, flowers were in full bloom

I told a co-teacher that I had been to “Parc Güell” and she didn’t know what I was talking about. After a translating “Parc” to “Parque,” her eyes lit up and she exclaimed “Claro! Parque Güell!”

One last flower shot

Odd one out–Casa Batllò

Finally, we strolled the Passeig de Gràcia one evening to check out the two Gaudí houses of La Pedrera and Casa Batllò (pictured above). We didn’t actually go in, as the tour prices were €16.50 and €20.35, respectively. However, in looking up info online for this post, I realize that we should have gone into at least one of them; photos of the interior were stunning. The answer here? We’ll simply have to take another trip to Barcelona.

For more on Gaudí, check out Hola Yessica’s dual posts:

The Insider’s Guide to Gaudí

 The Insider’s Guide to Gaudí Part 2.

If only I’d read her great tips, such as taking the metro to Vallcarca so as not to face the uphill climb to Parc Güell!

Have you been to Barcelona? Have you ever had a Gaudí sighting?

Christina in Madrid

Eggs and octupus @ Gabinoteca

Bright lights inside–raining outside

Group shot at Baco y Beto

Romantic, eh?

Even more romantic!

Inside a one of Madrid´s “secret” gardens

One more shot from El Jardín Secreto

Goodbye April, Goodbye waterworks!

Things have been very busy here; please excuse the month-in-a-nutsell photo post. Hopefully I´ll have time to update more frequently after May hectiness calms down.

A bar in Alcalá de Henares pays homage to homeboy Cervantes

Me cobras la tapita? I asked our waiter. He wagged his finger at me–No se cobra la tapa,  ¡se cobra la bebida!

Tapas, tapas, tapas. This is what Alcalá de Henares is known for, so don’t you dare head for Mickey D’s in the main square. Tapas in this town are famously generous, but you do need to know a bit of the tapas culture so you won’t be surprised when ordering. Tapas aren’t like those in León, were a bar is known for one or two specific things. Nay, Alcalá is the king of options. Typically, there will be an entire tapas menu, so everyone in the crowd can happily choose his or her own fav. Bars will stress that the tapas are FREE–don’t ask to pay for the tapa, as they will tell you it’s the drink they’re charging you for.

Tapas (taken here to mean a drink + a tapa) will run you between 2.4 and 2.80. I can’t remember my bill stretching to 3 Euros/tapa, and this is that I have had ample Alcalá experience as of late.  Due to my Masters program, I made the pilgrimage to this town half a dozen Saturdays. And every Saturday, I joined fellow classmates in a tapa-hop. Below are my top choices for tapas in Cervantes’ hometown:

Typical tapas in Alcalá – cured meats and bread with fresh tomato and olive oil

1) La Taberna de Don Rosendo / Calle Calle Atienza 5

This restaurant comes very highly recommended, partly because of the range of tapas and also for the great price-quality ratio. Ordering a drink + tapa will be less than 3 euros, but a tapa by itself is a scant €1.50. This is the only place I’ve been to which brought our group a tapa in addition to our regular tapa. So far my favorite tapas have been the tempura verduras con salsa soja (vegetable tempura) and setas rebozadas con alioli (wild mushrooms with alioli). They have a lot of other tempting cazuelitas and tostas on the menu, as well as racciones to share.

2)  La Taberna de Rusty / Calle Diego de Torres 2

This is where I brought my boyfriend when I wanted to introduce him to some of the best of Alcalá’s tapas. The decor has wood accents with low lightening, and if you’re lucky you’ll snag one of the tables made of wine barrels. This used to be my favorite place for tapas in Alcalá, but in March the menu underwent a face lift and now there aren’t as many offerings as before. The good news? Empanadas are now on the menu! These flaky, savory pastries were being offered sporadically during the fall and winter and were so delicious they often sold out before the lunch rush ended. Appearing on the laminated menu still doesn’t ensure they’ll be around–if you want to try the chicken or beef empanadas, put Taberna de Rusty first on your list.

Ensaladilla rusa con langostino, Taberna de Rusty

3)  Indalo / Calle Libreros, 9

For weeks and weeks this was THE place to get tapas among our group.You’ll find classic Spanish bar food such as huevos rotos and croquetas, and even hamburgers and chicken nuggets. There are 24 different tapas; I liked the tostas and the chipirones (fried cuttlefish). While this wasn’t my favorite restaurant overall, it was certainly a crowd-pleaser, which is why I’m including it here. If you’re in Madrid, you can visit Indalo at Calle Pérez Galdós, 7.

4) Argentinian grill & pizzeria / Calle Mayor on Plaza de Cervantes

After so many weekends in Alcalá, I still don’t know the name of this place! We simply referred to it as “the pizza place.” You can find it at the north end of the Plaza de Cervantes, under the covered arcade. While the restaurant serves up pizzas and roasted meats, order a drink at the bar area to get pizza as a tapa. Yes, pizza! After so many patatas bravas, chorizo, and tostas de jamón, pizza starts to sound pretty appealing. Just point to the type of pizza you want (olive, onion, ham…) and the waiter will heat it up in their pizza oven for you.

Chalkboards announces which tapas are on offer

Bonus: Café de Libreros /Calle de Libreros 18

If you want to get an after-lunch coffee, I recommend Café de Libreros. They have a wide range of coffees, teas, juices, cakes, and snacks, as well as ample seating. I’d got back for their gorgeous café con leche, which is similar to an Italian cappuccino!

Have you ever been to Alcalá? Do you have any tapa recomendations?

Visitors to El Matadero

A slaughterhouse-cum-art center, Madrid’s El Matadero surprises from the very beginning. The pale stone, red brick, and teal-tiled façade are admittedly pretty considering such a bloody history, but what strikes me most, apart from the contemporary art, is the vast amount of space. El Matadero spans so much ground that one can’t help but wonder how it wasn’t simply swallowed up into modern-day Madrid. It is so vast as to feel lonely, yet the creative juices that keep this powerhouse running don’t let it reach that point.

While certainly not the only establishment to receive this type of face-lift,  El Matadero isn’t merely a venue but also a point of reference and a springboard for inspiration  Concerts, plays, and art exhibits are on constant rotation, often complementing each another. For example, when we visited there was an exhibit about that famous villain, Dracula, which corresponded to a play under the same name.

Entrance to one of the working spaces / art galleries

New signs guide visitors around the old slaughterhouse

The cineteca, dedicated to AV art

Free form

In addition, the center attempts to foster imagination and collaborative projects. Long-term projects have set areas and even formal titles. For example, one of the buildings held a community garden, and we saw a huge map of Madrid with information on local seed swaps. There are sprawling work spaces for individuals, too; we spied locals camped out, doodling in drawing pads, scribbling notes, and typing up a storm.

One of the many workspaces

Creativity takes root with cacti chairs

A peek at the gardens

This installation piece was housed inside a van!

And then the art! When we went over Semana Santa there were a number of interesting art exhibits, many of them larger-than-life installation pieces. One entire building was dedicated to “contemporary archaeology of present-day ruins,” offering up found objects, comic books, traditional Mexican festival costumes, and more. It wasn’t what I was expecting to find, but then again, what could really be assumed about a slaughterhouse with a new lease on life?

Art exhibit featuring children’s books

Interactive art  in the Ilustrarte 2012 gallery

Read more about our time at Ilustrarte here. Check out the exhibit in Madrid until September 29, 2013!

Nave 16, one of the handful of galleries

Matadero Madrid Specifics

Address: Plaza de Legazpi, 8

Metro: Legazpi

Hours:

Tuesday-Friday 16:00-21:00

Saturdays- Sunday: 11-21:00

Price: Free

 Tip: If you are in Madrid before April 21, check out this intriguing installation piece, Candela, which evokes the feeling of a fire. Not for the faint of heart!

The boring but important stuff–studying/reading/writing

As I write this, the sun is eerily bright. Daylight saving’s time snuck up on us yesterday, and neither my body nor my mind can reconcile the fact that there is this much light at 7:30 p.m. Another thing I can’t reconcile? The fact that spring break is over! Below you’ll find some of the highlights of my time.

Paseo por Retiro

This photo is deceptive–there isn’t a lot of life springing up just yet. Also, you will note a lack of portraits as the wind made any facial captures wildly hair-blown.

In with the new…

The ever-intriguing modern art in Retiro’s Palacio de Cristal is at it again. When my brother came, there was a ceiling-high sculpture of plastic lawn furniture. (I use “sculpture” generously.)

Templo de Debod time

This place never gets old. I love how the stone seems to change depending on the weather around and the sky above it.

Returing to old favorites

 Baco y Beto is a wine bar/restaurant I have loved ever since my first year in Madrid. If you go, make sure to get the setas (wild mushrooms) with truffled alioli.

Banagrams

Getting to spend time with Andres was definitely a highlight; with our busy rush of class and work, it’s harder to carve out time for goofing off,  window shopping, and challenging each other to rounds of Bananagrams. (And in which language, you ask?)

Touristy towers?

While attempting to visit  the David Hockney exhibit  at the Fundación Canal, I snapped this picture of the Torres KIO. Since I almost never venture into this part of the city, I certainly felt like a tourist again–in a positive, adventurous way!

Visiting El Matadero

Stay tuned for a post to this intriguing space, a slaughterhouse turned art gallery!

Browsing Ilustrarte 2012

Ilustrarte, one of the most interactive art exhibits I’ve seen since a visit to the Guggenheim, inspires sweet (day)dreams with its massive night stand + lamp set-up. Ilustrarte is a jurried show–1,585 artists from around the globe submitted work this year! Of those, 50 artists were chosen to take part in the traveling exhibit. I found several new artists I want to look up again. The exhibit just came to Madrid, so if you’re in town you have until September 29th to check it out.

Interactive art

I saw a family of three generations smiling together over these pieces.

What’s inside?

 So, guys, I look forward to reading about all of your travels and being struck with travel envy. At the same time, I proud of what I accomplished this week here in Madrid, both school-wise and city-wise. Now, back to the grindstone…

“Iva” or ”Iba”? “Haber” or ”a ver”? At least I’ve got “tejer” down.

One question that I get a lot from friends is, “What language do you and your boyfriend speak?” The easy answer? Spanish and English.  However, being a language enthusiast, this is something I ponder as well–what propels us to speak in one language or the other? While I haven’t figured out exactly why we switch from English to Spanish and back again, I’ll let you in on 5 facts about the way we communicate.

Fact 1

My boyfriend is from Colombia and I am from the US, and the truth is that we speak a mix of English and Spanish.

English? Spanish? Spanglish? How ’bout a mix?

Fact 2:

We tend to speak slightly more English than Spanish. Andres attended bilingual school from a young age, went to college in the states, and continues to do a lot of reading in English. Because of this his second language abilities (accent, pronunciation, vocab…) far outshine my own. I can’t always find the right nuance or expression or even term that I want in Spanish, which makes it tempting to switch back to English when we’re chatting en español. But hey, that’s all the more reason to practice Spanish, right?!

Luckily for me, Andres helps translate phrases when I’m at a loss for words. He has proofread countless emails and maybe even a few school assignments. However….

Fact 3

We both make mistakes in our second language. Whatever wise guy proclaimed that “practice makes perfect” has never tried to learn a language.

The other day I was ranting about catching a cold and accidentally said, “Cotorra tras cotorra!” or “Parrot after parrot!” when I meant to say “Cold after cold!” [Note: cotorra = parrot, cotarro = cold] Cue laughter. And, as much as I am impressed by Andres’ English, he also makes mistakes every once in a while. Sometimes a word he’s only seen in print comes out funny–last week it was “curmudgeon.” Other times the mistakes are so endearing I’m also afraid to correct them lest he stop saying them. This is the case with toes, which Andres calls “fingers” [Note: Spanish doesn't differentiate much between fingers and toes].

Did you know…I’ve taught Andres some Southern American English? I’m fixin’ to share some more expressions one of these days.

Fact 4

Knowing both Spanish and English doesn’t always mean that we understand each other perfectly. There are English terms I use which sound a bit odd to Andres. And, of course, Colombian Spanish also leaves me bewildered. When some friends of Andres’ visited, I had a hard time following the rapid-fire string of “ful,” “vaina,” and “bacano.” Suddenly, “listo” had a different meaning, there was no lisping, and add to this the confusion created by switching back and forth between vosotros and ustedes. Even though I learned ustedes first, I have been using vosotros so long that now me cuesta cambiar! See, even just writing about it makes my head spin and my languages tangle.

Did you know…in Colombia a coffee is called un tinto? That’s red wine in Spain!

Fact 5

Living in a culture that is foreign to both of us results in hilarious linguistic head-scratching. Being from two different contenints yet living in a third, there are cultural aspects at play that keep us on our toes. For example, I am the expert on the Spanish from Spain. At times I’m the translator when we go out to eat and an Iberian-specific dishes pops up on the menu. I was the first person to introduce him to the idea of a “caña,”  and I’ve had to warn him multiple times, “Don’t order callos, that’s tripe!”

No callos at this table!

And then there’s the addition of slang, lovely slang. Andres has chuckled more than once when I used terms such as “pachucha,” “piripi” and “no es moco de pavo,” which sound funny to him. One of my favorite language-related tales comes from last summer when I was staying with Andres after coming back from camp. We were discussing our plans for the rest of the afternoon when I asked, “Puedo hacer una colada?” I was referring to the Spanish “colada,” which is a load of laundry. He gave me a puzzled look but nodded his agreement. Later it came out that the only “colada” he knew of was a piña colada– “I wondered why you suddenly wanted to make cocktails at 2 in the afternoon!” he laughed.

What linguistic or cultural mishaps do you encounter when mixing languages? Spill your stories!