Author: lori977987136

It was sunny and cold again this morning. After waking up at 7:30 and showering in my tiny bathroom, I went to the hotel’s breakfast room. My room is in a separate building from the hotel front desk and breakfast room, so I experienced the cold morning firsthand as I walked next door. As usual, it was a buffet style breakfast, so I filled up on my choice of fruit, pastries, yogurt, and juice, with a hard-boiled egg added in for extra mileage. The hotel is in a residential neighborhood that’s next to the expressway. This is what my 1-minute walk to breakfast looked like.

Around 9:15, I set out to the subway station to go into central Madrid again. My plans for part 2 of my Madrid sightseeing included the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor, and San Miguel Market. I found the Royal Palace first.

Then I walked through the Plaza Mayor, where a Chinese dragon dance was taking place on the other side of some white tents and barriers.

I also found the San Miguel Market, which is a restored indoor market that specializes in selling beautifully made tapas and desserts.

Then I walked by the Prado Museum. If I were an art lover, I might have waited in the very, very long line to get in, but it wasn’t worth it to me. Instead I went next door to the Royal Botanical Gardens, walked right up to the admission window, paid 4 euros and walked in. It’s a large garden that is mostly dormant since it’s still winter. But they also have many bonsai on display that are really striking.

I saw a couple new birds in the garden too, including a robin (which doesn’t look like ours) and a Eurasian blackbird. After more than an hour enjoying the garden, I emerged to find lunch. It was only 1 p.m., so still early for Spaniards. I went into a family-style restaurant called VIPS, which was nothing fancy. But I was seated right away and enjoyed a beer plus an avocado and chicken burger. When I left about 45 minutes later, there was a waiting line out the door.

My feet were getting tired, so I walked to the nearest subway station to return to the hotel, found the station was closed for renovation and had to walk a few blocks further to find an open one. But I also found an ATM along the way, plus a store that could sell me a big bottle of water, two things I needed. The water in the hotel tastes terrible, but the air is so dry, I need to drink a lot to keep moderately hydrated.

Tonight I pack again and get ready for my birding trip start tomorrow morning.

After yesterday’s great presentations by all the Spaniards and a delicious paella dinner at 9:00, we were treated to a performance by Vaughan emcee Pete after dinner. He concocted a powerful drink for the group from fruit, coffee beans, and Spanish orujo blanco, which is brandy that’s 40% alcohol. Then he set it on fire for a while, creating quite a spectacle. It evidently reduces the alcohol somewhat and blends the flavors. Although I just drank a tiny bit because it was so powerful, it tasted good. Then, many of the group (including me) went to the nearby bar, Massimo’s, for a celebration. I just stayed for one drink and then headed back to my room to get to sleep by 12:30.

This morning after breakfast, we checked out of our rooms and had the final two hours of one-on-ones. At noon was the completion ceremony, with everyone receiving Vaughan certificates. The Anglo volunteers additionally received nice key rings. Then it was time for tapas and goodbyes. It’s a little sad to leave the people you’ve talked to and learned so much about over the past few days. Several of the Spaniards left to drive home around 2:00, while the remainder waited for the bus to arrive at 2:30 to take us back to Madrid.

Arriving in Madrid about 5:00, I collected my bags, said more goodbyes, and walked to the subway. It was amazingly warm – probably 70 degrees – and lots of people were on the street after work, probably going to tapas or home. The subway ride to my next hotel went smoothly. After spending a few minutes walking around getting oriented after coming up from the subway station, I walked 10 minutes to my new hotel.

This hotel, not too far from the Madrid airport and next to an expressway, is new and inexpensive. Also it has tiny rooms, so it’s a jolting change from Belmonte.

 It’s time to plan my second day of sightseeing in Madrid for tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

Another hour of free time this morning allowed me to walk up to the nearby windmills. They have been restored from the originals and look quite good from the outside. However, they are locked so you can’t enter.

 

I brought my binoculars along to do some birdwatching and saw a handful of new birds flitting around the nearby fields. Using the Merlin app, I was able to identify them as a Eurasian linnet, European goldfinch, and Calandra lark. But you’ll just have to trust me on those identifications since I don’t have enough skill to take photos of them.

This afternoon at 5 p.m., the Spaniards each have to give a presentation on a topic they were given. They’re nervous about presenting in English, of course, and many of them are using their siesta time to practice. I imagine that we’ll all probably be celebrating with them at a bar after dinner. Dinner tonight is paella, a traditional dish from Valencia. Since there are a couple of Spaniards from Valencia who will judge whether this paella is anything close to authentic, it will be interesting.

Some more interesting tidbits about Spain:

It’s not afternoon in Spain until lunchtime at 2 p.m. Until then, it’s still morning.

Spanish toilet paper isn’t perforated.

This region grows almonds as well as wine grapes.

 

I have an hour of free time this morning, since there are more Anglos than Spaniards, so we get a break occasionally. I have time to write a bit in the blog about yesterday and today’s activities.

It was a full day’s schedule of conversation and conference call practice sessions yesterday. But during the siesta time, Susan, Elizabeth (both Anglos) and I walked 15 minutes up the hill to the castle. The castle was closed so we couldn’t go in, but it’s an expansive view from the top. I read that the movie El Cid with Charlton Heston was shot at this castle.

At the end of the day, there was an entertainment hour with music and a skit, then dinner at 9:00. After dinner, at 10:30, nearly everyone went to a bar in town (a 3-minute walk) that opened specially for us, and Pete hosted a pub trivia quiz. There were 4 teams of 6 people each and all the questions were in English, of course, although there were also music questions and some of the songs were Spanish. My team didn’t win, but it was fun. A group of us left at 12:15 after the trivia ended, but many others stayed to drink more.

This morning, it was lightly foggy outside at first, but the sun is burning that away fairly quickly. At noon today, after the first two conversation practice hours, we’re all going to a nearby winery for a tasting session. The staff members collected 8 euros from each who wanted to attend, and we’ll carpool there in the cars of Spaniards who drove to Belmonte rather than taking the bus. 

Some other miscellaneous information:

Of the 14 Anglos here, 6 are from the US, 6 from the UK, and 2 from Kenya.

Our hotel was built on the ruins of the oldest building in the town, which dated back to the 1300s. It was first the palace of regional ruler, then later was changed to a nun’s cloister, not a monastery as I reported before. It’s immediately next to a very old church.

In the summer, Belmonte hosts an annual jousting tournament where people wear medieval armor, even in the 90-degree heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a fairly restful night last night (fewer jet lag wakefulness periods), I awoke at 7:30 to another sunny morning. 

The daily schedule at Vaughan Town is fun but long. The continental breakfast buffet started at 9:00, as it will each day, and we’re required at all the meals. We choose our meal partners, but there has to be two Anglos and two Spaniards at each table. We eat breakfast in what the hotel calls The Cloister, which is also where we have some conversation activities later in the day.

Starting at 10 a.m., we meet our assigned Spaniard and have a 50-minute one-on-one coversation about whatever we want. There are 13 Spaniards here and 14 Anglos, and by the end of the week, we’ll have had at least one conversation with each Spaniard. At 11:00, we meet our second assigned Spaniard for another one-on-one. Then at noon, one of the Vaughan staff members met with the Spaniards as a group to tell them about the presentations they will have to prepare and give in English on Friday. The Anglos met with the other staff member to get instuctions on how to participate in practice telephone conversations and conference calls.

Then, in the hour befor lunch, we had a group activity in which groups of 6 played Two Truths and A Lie. The group members have to guess which of three statements you tell about yourself is a lie. At 2 p.m. it’s lunchtime, which is served in the restaurant of the hotel by wait staff. Again, 2 Anglos and 2 Spaniards at each table. It’s a 3-course lunch (first, main, and dessert) in which we each have a choice of two dishes. My lunch today was a lentil and pork stew, then some battered cod pieces, then white chocolate mousse. And a bottle of wine is on every table for lunch and dinner.

After lunch, we get a 1.5-hour siesta time. I wasn’t sleepy today, so I went out and took some photos of the town and castle.

At 5, 6, and 7 p.m., we had more 50-minute sessions for conversation and one practice telephone session, in which we’re given roles to play on the phone, each talking from our room phone.

At 8:00, Pete, one of the Vaughan staff, hosted an entertainment hour in which he played the guitar, some Anglos and Spaniards gave a very short skit, and then Pete got 4 of the men to pretend they were a boy band, which was very funny. Then we went to dinner in the restaurant at 9:00. Here we also get 3 courses with a choice of 1 of 2 dishes each, plus a bottle of wine at the table. My dinner tonight was cream of squash soup, chicken wings, and a banana. After dinner ends at 10:00, we’re free to do what we want. Tonight my choice was to write this blog post and go to bed. Tomorrow night, I may walk to a local bar with many of the group. The bar is opening specially for us.

9 of the Spaniards are from Spain’s Guardia Civil, which is evidently like the FBI. 8 men and a woman. It’s been really interesting to hear about their work in conversations. There’s also a Spanish soccer coach from a Mexican team who was recently fired from the team, an HR director from an multi-national car fleet leasing company, and an architect. And did you know that Spaniards are big NBA basketball fans? Basketball is a popular sport in the country.