Madrid no es como el Sevilla

To all my readers out there, I know I’m overdue for a blog post.  If you read my last one, you know why it was difficult for me to post while we were in Spain; and if you didn’t… well go back and read it then silly!

So my last post while I was in Toledo, I updated you on the majority of what we did while we were in Spain.  Our day-to-day activities really didn’t change much.  There were always weeds that needed pulling, things to be fixed, and a horse to take care of, which of course, it being crazy and hating its stable, ran off while the three of us were in Toledo, so when we arrived back to where she lives we learned that the Spanish can be incredibly stupid sometimes.  First of all, the horse went into Almorox, the little tiny village, and when we asked the police if they had seen her horse, they just replied saying they had… Wouldn’t it have been smart to try and contain the horse?  All sorts of terrible things could happen with a horse on the loose.  It or someone else could have gotten very hurt.  Second, her neighbor who caught the horse and managed to keep it said that it followed a man on horseback who has many stables, and yet he didn’t even think to hold it there until surely someone would start asking about.  Silly Spaniards.

So, given the lack of stimulating events around us, we spent a lot of our time in heavy conversation with our host.  I also managed to read a lot, which was nice and relaxing.  I found that the Spain that I had fallen in love with many years ago as a child varies greatly from one region to another.  Madrid and Toledo are nothing like Sevilla; the people aren’t as nice, the food isn’t as good, and the atmosphere just isn’t the same.  We didn’t see much of Madrid, we merely used it as a means of traveling since it was a bit far away to spend our days off there, but I got enough of a vibe to sense that it was completely different.  Things our host had to say about the difference between central Spain and Andalucía confirmed my hunches too.

That being said, I can’t say we didn’t enjoy our time in Spain.  Our host made for wonderful company, wonderful conversation, and great food.  Oddly enough, a huge chunk of our conversations were frequently about the crazy variety of food we have in America, both the good exciting sort, and the kind you can’t pronounce all the ingredients in.  We managed to teach her Jon’s mom’s “kitchen sink” cookie recipe, which is basically just a standard oatmeal cookie that you throw whatever the heck you want into: chocolate, nuts, dried fruits, coconut, caramel, butterscotch, all sorts of things.  It took some converting and a bit of a struggle to find something that would work for the oats (they aren’t common in Spain of course), but they turned out pretty darn close.  She really enjoyed them too.

Oh, one negative: our time in Spain fully reconfirmed every hateful feeling I have towards insects, and merely strengthened my severely irrational fear of spiders.  I know this is something I’m going to have to deal with at every farm, but I just don’t like them.  Ick.

Here are just a few more pictures that I managed to take after the ones I uploaded already.  I’ll post something about getting to Italy in a day or two, and try and keep you better posted on the events happening here.  The property here is huge, and there are 4 other HelpXers working, so there is a lot of stuff to do, and a lot of socializing to enjoy.  A good change of pace I think.

Adios!

Toledo

An escalator that takes you into historic Toledo. How neat.

Max

Our side of the house

Knut! (Pronounced Kuh-Noot) He wouldn’t look at the camera :(

Tiki!

Her power source

The house

The stable

No puedo creer que me olvidé de mi español!

First of all, I’d like to apologize for the serious time-lapse between this post and my last.  Though the farm we’re staying at in Spain does have Internet, its tricky business and very expensive for our host, so we prefer to save it for important things, like banking, and telling our mothers we’re still alive. That being said, I have so much do update you on, while sitting in the Castilla la Mancha Public Library of Toledo.  They have free WIFI here, and our host had a doctor’s appointment here this afternoon, so we took the bus this morning from her village to town, and then we’ll ride back in the evening with here.  Decent plan, since Toledo is quite beautiful, but very small (at least the parts worth visiting), so that leaves ample time to catch up on things like emails, blogging, Facebook, and the news (which has proven quite active given recent occurrences!).

First, getting here.  Flight from Nice to Barcelona- relatively easy.  Jon had to check his tripod; a little odd considering its just a tripod, but I guess you can hide anything in those expandable legs… Getting from the airport in Barcelona to the train station- piece of cake.  Getting from Barcelona to Madrid…. well that was a little funny.  You see, we were traveling on Monday, the Monday after Easter to be exact, and seeing as it’s a bank holiday in a lot of European countries, the trains were full with families doing traveling for the holiday weekend.  This meant that all the tickets for Monday and Tuesday were sold out; that is, except first class.  After doing some quick mental calculations at the ticket counter, we bought two first class tickets on the high-speed train from Barcelona to Madrid, dinner included (yes!).  We figured we would have spent that in hotel costs staying in Barcelona for two nights until the trains were no longer full, and though seeing the city wouldn’t have been bad either, we had arrangements with our host and were excited to get there.  After a wonderful train experience to Madrid, about an hour of going from one metro tram to another to get to the bus station, and an hour and a half bus ride into the little village of Almorox, we met the smiling face of our first host; a very nice woman in her early fifties from Holland.

I don’t think its necessary to fill you in on all of the things we’ve done around her finca, but I’ll highlight the major things; we’ve prepared a patch to start a veggie garden, got rid of a whole bunch of these pesky poisonous (only if you eat them) plants, and put up an electric fence to get ready for the horse she was given by a close friend.  Yep, given.  Long story short, the horse has been traumatized by something in its past, and the family that owned it felt a little overwhelmed.  He’s a very sweet horse, but very nervous.  She also has three wonderful dogs, seven cats, and a plethora of insects I hope not to take to Italy with me.  The little village she lives near is nothing worth visiting, so we spend all of our time on the finca, which is fine.  She’s also a wonderful cook. I’ve finally done a little bit of souvenir shopping, so Brittany and Cristina, if you’re reading, you’re covered! :)  Some things in beautiful Toledo spoke your names to me.  I hope you like them.  :)

First Class!

Jon didn’t look so excited, but he was.

As was I :)

Yep. This was a hot towel! ITS BEEN YEARS SINCE I GOT ONE OF THESE!

Delish. I can now say I’ve tried bull.

AHHH!!! :D I miss this stuff!

The same chocolate. We received the eggs from our French host. Haha.

Middle of no where can be really pretty.

Sun in the picture. But I like it.

Spanish sun, fields of daisies, and spider webs.

Jon thought he was neat looking.

The house from the field of daisies.

Jon standing on a rock.

My feet standing on the same rock. And my camera strap. Ugh.

Rainy day, but MOUNTAIN!

Very purple.

Love these!

I had forgotten all about the wild poppies! So cute!

We took a picture of the map of Toledo because, as you can see, its easy to get lost.

Pretty church of some sort thats now part of the university.

And the top.

Imagine having these as your neighbors!

Old and the not so old.

He’s upset because I found the sign fitting.

Don Quixote!

View from the top of the Alcazar, where they have the public library!

Difficult to read, but its a map of Toledo with points-of-interest marked. Neat!

EDIT: Pictures flipped! Finally! Tenga un buen día!