La Pedriza, Madrid

The mountains near Madrid are a popular destination for Madrileños and if you're lucky enough you can sneak away during the week for a hike. Located on the southern slopes of the Guadarrama range just north of Madrid, the park is full of huge boulders and impressive rock features. Rock climbers and hikers alike enjoy the area and a variety of trails of varying difficulty provide a perfect place to escape the Madrid heat.

Futbol: Real Madrid vs. Las Palmas

View from our seats

I generally like professional sports and one thing I've always wanted to do on our trips to Spain is attend a La Liga game. Unfortunately we usually visit in the summer which is out of season but this year we decided to visit in November. Aside from enjoying sports, it is also surely a cultural and sociological event since futbol is deep in the culture of Spain.

I like soccer in general and I've gone to NFL, MLB, NBA, and college sporting events. The game was against a lowly team, Las Palmas, at 845pm on Sunday, the scheduling equivalent to a prime time game. The stadium holds 80,000+, I think the attendance was around 67,000 but the place looked and felt full.

The thing that surprised me the most was the lack of video replay. There were two huge monitors on each the ends of the stadium but they only showed ads during halftime. Otherwise they only had the score and game clock. I'm used to constant replays but enjoyed the focus on the game at present. I think it's also more challenging in futbol because the action is continuous so very little time to watch replays. A few random notes...

-Great pre-game atmosphere in and around the stadium. The super fans were leading a procession singing the Real Madrid songs and there were a bunch of vendors with temporary vending stalls and tents
-Fans were more subdued than I predicted when the game was being played. The designated cheering section behind the goal was pretty crazy but in general people were just like astutely watching the game.
-People brought in their food and drink and I didn't see any concessions. Most people had a sandwich at halftime.
-An older gentlemen two rows ahead of me smoked one joint each half. No one seemed to mind.
-I was initially worried our seats would be too far (502 level on this seat map) but I wasn't disappointed at all. The walkways were extremely steep but it gave a great view. Tickets were 75 euro and I thought it was a decent value.
-The constant action of futbol is really conducive to the fans being engaged. It felt like way less of a spectacle than US sports games
-There were rows of heaters above us

This guy was smoking a joint the entire half. Then in the second half, he lit another.

Montanejos: Trip III

My favorite swimming spot..even though the water is very cold

As part of our August ritual we had our usual trip to the beautiful Montanejos (Trip I, Trip II).

La Albufera, Valencia

On our way to Valencia we decided to stop at a freshwater lagoon and estuary a few km south of the city. La Albufera is a vast area containing a protected area as well as rice fields. It's a great place to birdwatch and easy to get around. We enjoyed the trip and hope to visit it on our future trips!

Alcossebre (Comunidad de Valencia) Trip III

Walk on the beach

We visited Spain again in August and thus headed to the beach house in Alcossebre (Trip I, Trip II).

Madrid: Matadoro

Matadero

One of my favorite places to visit in Madrid is Matadoro. It's a hidden gem of Madrid that few people know about. A former slaughterhouse turned arts center, the area is expansive and offers a variety of arts activities and exhibitions, all housed in the unorthodox setting.

We were excited to find out that when we were visiting they were having an exhibition about the novel, "A Confederacy of Dunces", a Pullitzer prize winning American novel. We enjoyed a short documentary about the publishing of the book, as well as a Q and A with the directors.

Gumiel de Mercado Trip

Town square of Sotillo

Having spent a few months living in Gumiel de Mercado, I love going back any chance I can. Luckily it's part of our trip since Ana's mother is from there and she loves to go up and poke around the house, enjoy a fine meal at the only restaurant in town, greet some friends, then go back home. We also usually stop at the town just past Gumiel de Mercado, Sotillo, and purchase cheese, sausages and pastries.

This trip was notable in that I tried to have a cultural food experience when we found out the local restaurant had "manitas", which are pig feet. Ana told me they are a specialty from the region though she had never tried them. Her mother got very excited that they were available and immediately ordered them, so I said I would try them. When they arrived Ana's mother excitedly said, "Oooh, all fat!", which I thought I misunderstood, but sure enough, the pig feet were mostly fat. They weren't my favorite and I was more upset that I squandered a great meal at the excellent restaurant in town. Next time!

Manitas

View of Gumiel de Mercado from the top of the hill