I'm currently writing today's update in the kitchen (which doesn't have heating) with a jumper and bobble hat on, warming my hands up with a cup of tea. It's absolutely freezing. It was 5 degrees for most of today and I'm really not sure where that came from... I can't even warm up in bed at the moment because my room is just as cold if not colder. I've probably got damp so my door has been open all day to get rid of the smell, which is just fantastic really. Most of today's post is going to be about Granada where I went at the weekend, but beforehand, just a couple of noteworthy things to have happened within the past two weeks.
I had my first seminar for International Public Law, and the case we had to read for it was absolutely huge. It contained a number of different conventions and court rulings which I tried in vain to find in English (don't judge me, it takes ages and I still don't understand anything more by the end than I did at the beginning), and also 10 questions about the case which need arguments grounded in legal theory/practice in response. To make matters worse, we had a class test on the case - but in a pleasantly surprising turn of events, the teacher said I could use a dictionary and essentially said I could ask him anything I didn't understand! So he must realise that I am struggling which takes a little bit of the weight off my shoulders!
I attended the Madrid student welcome day. And what a waste of time that was. The event, unknown to me beforehand, was essentially a massive freshers fair which had loads of information about housing and trips and bank accounts. This would have been useful information before I came to Madrid, or within the first 2 weeks at most, but 6 weeks into term...?
I went to a fair for the National Day of Spain which wasn't a waste of time. It was just like a crappy amusement park on the British coast which reminds me of home so enjoyed it. Also reminded me of my time spent in Spain when I was little with my grandparents going to do the hook a duck in the evening! And of course what's not to love about churros every 10 metres. One thing that did make me chuckle was how many teenagers were there drinking - I know botellón is a thing but this was a different level of young people encountering their first experiences with alcohol! One or two had had one too many shall we say...
The library is getting very full now which I do not appreciate. And yes I am aware of how selfish this is.
I've finally registered as a resident of Spain! An appointment eventually became available and so that's one less thing on my long-term to do list.
And since my last post I've had my first menú del día at Punto Vegano, which included pumpkin soup to start, spinach ravioli as my principante (I haven't had ravioli in so long because shop-bought stuff always has meat or cheese in and it was heavenly) and pumpkin cake for dessert! I've also been to Delishvegan to try one or their donuts and it was the best I've ever tasted including non-vegan ones! They have so many more flavours to try so I'll definitely be going back. And I accidentally discovered a Spanish fast food chain that serves vegan options - it's called Pans and Company. I had their bbq huera (mock chicken) bocadillo and I was actually considering sending it back at first because I was so convinced they had given me real chicken one it was so realistic...
As usual I've ended up writing more than I was planning on, but nevertheless on to Granada! Got an early train Saturday morning and arrived about 11:00. The trains are super comfortable, which probably helps to explain their extortionate prices... I thought UK trains were expensive! But since learned that you can get a discount card for 50 euros which gives to 50% off tickets if you book a month in advance, which still would have been cheaper than what I paid for a return annoyingly. Anyway, my morning consisted of visiting some Catholic places of worship, starting with the Basilica de San Juan de Dios. Not really sure what I was expecting, but I was absolutely blown away! Words cannot describe how much gold there was, and with an audioguide included for 4 euros it was definitely one of the highlights of the day to my surprise. This was a slight shame because it made the Real Monasterio de San Jerónimo and the Capilla Real de Granada were quite disappointing in comparison. I went to a place called El Ojú for lunch. Now Granada is the home of Spanish tapas, known for its generous portion sizes, but I had no idea of the extent of this. With every drink you get a free tapa from a choice of eight, so for the price of 7.40 euros (the price of a starter in the UK?) I had 2 drinks, a mock chorizo sandwich, a roasted veg sandwich, and a massive slice of chocolate banana cake and I was absolutely stuffed. Didn't even need to order a main! Next I went to visit the summer house of Frederico Garcia Lorca, one of whose plays I studied for A-level Spanish and came to resent the name just like you do with anything to revise for hours and hours of end with, but naturally I had to make the visit regardless. A lovely lady gave a tour of the house and had loads of interesting information, even though I can't remember much of it now. I next walked to one of Granada's viewpoints to experience the amazing views that the city is known for. I think this was either one of the lesser well-known ones, or just the fact that it was a bit further away and more of an effort to get to. I was not disappointed! The views were gorgeous and a German lad was playing some peaceful acoustic guitar to his girlfriend which added to the tranquil mood and sunset lighting. On my way to tea, I hunted out some of the streets I'd previously looked up before coming - Granada has some really artistic graffiti and I'm glad I made the effort to find it! I had the hicuri burger (beyond burger with vegan bacon, vegan cheese and turmeric and orange bread) at Hicuri Vegan Restaurant for tea which came with chips and some absolutely banging garlic alioli. Afterwards it was getting pretty dark and so I headed up to the more well known (and closer) viewpoint to see the city (and the Alhambra) lit up. Even though it was pretty, the sheer amount of tourists (like myself, I know I'm a hypocrite) killed the mood slightly. I finished off the evening with some mango gelato which I enjoyed in a plaza a short walk from my hostel. Whilst people watching, I German hitchhiker came over and offered my some wine as he didn't want to drink alone and we got chatting for quite a while which topped the evening off. I do enjoy travelling alone because I can go my own pace but it is nice to talk to somebody every once in a while! Sunday morning began with another early start as I'd learned the previous day that if you get to the Alhambra early enough, you can buy the leftovers of what haven't already been sold online for that day. So I took my chances and checked out of the hostel at 07:00, had a fantastic beetroot houmous and avocado bagel for breakfast at Wildfood Vegan which conveniently opened super early, and walked for half an hour in the cold, dark and rain to the ticket office. And I got a ticket! The only downside was that my time to enter the actual Palace was at 13:00 which I wouldn't be able to make because I had to catch my train home that afternoon. But I still got to see the Alcazaba (military fortification with some of the best views of the city), the gardens, and the Generalife which all were fantastic! Afterwards I had an hour to kill and some did some window shopping in the city's middle-eastern themed shops due to the city's Arabic heritage, before having lunch at Paprika, which served some good but albeit overpriced quinoa steamed rolls. Overall, an absolutely fantastic city which thoroughly exceeded my expectations!
Monday 21 October 2019
Monday 7 October 2019
Saving the planet, travelling and new food of course!
Just a general update today of the things I've been up to over the last few weeks. Getting straight to it then, not long after my last post there was a climate strike in the centre of Madrid which I went along to! At first I was a little unsure as to whether I'd missed it, as the week before seemingly the rest of the planet went on strike in what were the biggest global climate protests to have taken place so far. But bearing in mind the Spanish stereotype of being laid back and fashionably late to the party, I nevertheless headed over to Atocha which is where the march started. I was not disappointed. There were SO many people! Not really sure why I wasn't expecting the capital of an economically developed country to have thousands participate in such an important movement but hey. I joined the march at 18:30 and we got to Sol around 21:00 - it was pretty tiring as most of the time you were standing still but definitely worth it. The atmosphere was superb and got better as the evening went on, the sun began to set, and the half-hearted instagrammers left leaving the more hardcore protesters. After a while I began to pick up some of the chants too which was good.
The next day I went on a day trip to Toledo with Aluni and had such a good day! The weather almost perfect (it being slightly too hot - typical British complaining I know). The town/city (still don't really know what it is) is really beautiful, and we went on a semi-hike in order to get to one of the old defence posts in order to get a view overlooking Toledo which was most definitely worth it. The only downside to the day was that I was subject to the will of the majority and had to remain with the group the whole day, being unable to wonder off and do my own thing, or enter any of the museums as not enough people wanted to pay the entry fee. Noteworthy parts of the day were the zipwire that goes across the river (super fun, if you go you must try it) and the el Greco museum which we visited in the evening (because it was free if you hadn't guessed).
A week later was another activity with Aluni. We were supposed to be going to a medieval market in Segovia but the event was cancelled for some unknown reason so instead Aluni put on a hike with a bbq. The route itself wasn't particularly hard, but some of the scenery was really lovely. In actual fact in the area in which we were walking had loads of English trees and shrubs, from oaks, pines, to the cherry blossom that I have in my back garden! So that was nice to be a bit closer to home for a few hours. The route finished at a casita (little house) which Aluni had purchased a few years ago which is where we had the bbq. The food wasn't exactly perfect for a vegan, consisting of steak, turkey, chorizo and black pudding, with some grilled veg cooked alongside all of it. But I made do with that and lots of bread. During lunch (which we ate at 17:00, more like teatime I know) I was uncomfortably interrogated about my vegan beliefs in a language not my own, and so struggled to make some of the more sophisticated points which was frustrating. One of the men tried to get me to admit that I'm a hypocrite for eating plants because they feel pain too and there is no distinction between them and animals. ANYWAY. There was also a pool there but we only dipped our feet in because it was freezing! That evening I met up with Pedro and José (my friends from the language exchange) to go for a drink, but was persuaded to buy a ticket for a club crawl because it was infinitely cheaper, being six euros for free entry and a drink at four different places.
Since my last update I've also ticked off a fair few more places off my vegan restaurant bucket list! I've had: an amazing falafel wrap at falafeleria which rivalled (but didn't quite beat) Falafel Munch in Selly Oak; a vegan chicken burger at Thunder vegan food which was the best I've ever tasted; two different flavours of gelato at Acquilina and Heladeria Bellameria; a fried eggplant sandwich (amazing) at Ay Mi Madre; and more cake from Freedom Cakes and Cellioso gluten free bakery. I do do other things other than eat I promise.
It's not all been fun and games, work is still hard at uni, and I'm really struggling to get through all of the required readings, which means I need to try and be more selective with what needs doing and what doesn't. I'd say I'm picking up slightly more in lectures now which is good, but concentrating for 90 minutes straight hasn't got any easier I can tell you! Next Monday we're watching a film in one of my modules after and on which we're getting given a 2000 word essay that's due in a week after... I'm hoping the quality doesn't have to be as good as Bham essays because otherwise things aren't looking good, especially since I'm visiting Granada at the weekend... oh well, at least these grades don't exactly count for my degree!
One random point to note before I round off that I've been meaning to write for a while, the Mercadona really rushes you through the till. It's ten times worse than Aldi! They basically hurl everything at you at once, ask you to pay, and then pack you bags in the wrong order whilst you faff about with your wallet. Very uncomfortable.
¡Nos vemos!
The next day I went on a day trip to Toledo with Aluni and had such a good day! The weather almost perfect (it being slightly too hot - typical British complaining I know). The town/city (still don't really know what it is) is really beautiful, and we went on a semi-hike in order to get to one of the old defence posts in order to get a view overlooking Toledo which was most definitely worth it. The only downside to the day was that I was subject to the will of the majority and had to remain with the group the whole day, being unable to wonder off and do my own thing, or enter any of the museums as not enough people wanted to pay the entry fee. Noteworthy parts of the day were the zipwire that goes across the river (super fun, if you go you must try it) and the el Greco museum which we visited in the evening (because it was free if you hadn't guessed).
A week later was another activity with Aluni. We were supposed to be going to a medieval market in Segovia but the event was cancelled for some unknown reason so instead Aluni put on a hike with a bbq. The route itself wasn't particularly hard, but some of the scenery was really lovely. In actual fact in the area in which we were walking had loads of English trees and shrubs, from oaks, pines, to the cherry blossom that I have in my back garden! So that was nice to be a bit closer to home for a few hours. The route finished at a casita (little house) which Aluni had purchased a few years ago which is where we had the bbq. The food wasn't exactly perfect for a vegan, consisting of steak, turkey, chorizo and black pudding, with some grilled veg cooked alongside all of it. But I made do with that and lots of bread. During lunch (which we ate at 17:00, more like teatime I know) I was uncomfortably interrogated about my vegan beliefs in a language not my own, and so struggled to make some of the more sophisticated points which was frustrating. One of the men tried to get me to admit that I'm a hypocrite for eating plants because they feel pain too and there is no distinction between them and animals. ANYWAY. There was also a pool there but we only dipped our feet in because it was freezing! That evening I met up with Pedro and José (my friends from the language exchange) to go for a drink, but was persuaded to buy a ticket for a club crawl because it was infinitely cheaper, being six euros for free entry and a drink at four different places.
Since my last update I've also ticked off a fair few more places off my vegan restaurant bucket list! I've had: an amazing falafel wrap at falafeleria which rivalled (but didn't quite beat) Falafel Munch in Selly Oak; a vegan chicken burger at Thunder vegan food which was the best I've ever tasted; two different flavours of gelato at Acquilina and Heladeria Bellameria; a fried eggplant sandwich (amazing) at Ay Mi Madre; and more cake from Freedom Cakes and Cellioso gluten free bakery. I do do other things other than eat I promise.
It's not all been fun and games, work is still hard at uni, and I'm really struggling to get through all of the required readings, which means I need to try and be more selective with what needs doing and what doesn't. I'd say I'm picking up slightly more in lectures now which is good, but concentrating for 90 minutes straight hasn't got any easier I can tell you! Next Monday we're watching a film in one of my modules after and on which we're getting given a 2000 word essay that's due in a week after... I'm hoping the quality doesn't have to be as good as Bham essays because otherwise things aren't looking good, especially since I'm visiting Granada at the weekend... oh well, at least these grades don't exactly count for my degree!
One random point to note before I round off that I've been meaning to write for a while, the Mercadona really rushes you through the till. It's ten times worse than Aldi! They basically hurl everything at you at once, ask you to pay, and then pack you bags in the wrong order whilst you faff about with your wallet. Very uncomfortable.
¡Nos vemos!
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