Welcome to Valladolid Spain - April 2014

We looked up a lot online but you do not really get a sense of what a place is like until you are actually there.  We knew we were moving to a smaller city somewhere in the middle of the country, a few hours from Madrid, but that didn't mean much to us since we knew nothing about this place.  We couldn't even pronounce the name of our city Valladolid.  When I actually understood how it was said I felt like an idiot for the way I had been saying it for the past 6 months.

We had taken the high speed train from Madrid which took about an hour and a half.  I recommend train travel to anyone exploring Spain.  It is fairly inexpensive and you can get places quickly and easily.  There is a bathroom and if you are lucky a snack car as well.  Way better than the bus. I have heard it is like this in most of Europe as well.  I can’t say for certain as I have only been in Spain so far.  I especially recommend this travel in the North of Spain because the scenery is to die for, gorgeous mountains, rivers, forests, and it’s perfect.  Anyone you meet from the North of Spain will tell you it is the most beautiful part of the country and they are right.

Something we have learned about this country is that the cities are a good distance apart from one another.  You pass through a lot of countryside in between places and it can seem as though you might never see civilization again.   Also the middle is a barren wasteland.  OK maybe a bit of a hyperbole but seriously it is so flat and desolate.  I come from a place full of mountains and ocean and rain-forest so this was tough for me to take in.  I just thought where are we going? What part of the country have we committed to living in?  It’s funny because I think a lot of peoples impression of Spain is Barcelona, the coast a wonderful vacation destination!  But they fail to realize (as did we) that the entire country is not this way.  I know how this is sounding but I really want you to understand what I was thinking and yes it was negative.

When we pulled up to Valladolid we just looked at each other with question and trepidation about where we were.  Remember my first thought when getting off the plane in Madrid (Holy Shit what have we done?) Well that was back.  It was flat and very red and covered in graffiti.  Graffiti is probably the thing I have seen most here.  Seriously everything is covered in it.  I don’t think spray paint should be so widely available. I have only seen this in bad neighbourhoods in Canada so it threw me off to just see it all over everything.  And this is every city we have visited, not just where we live.  It is a serious problem here.  But do not let it scare you, you are not in a ghetto I think it’s just the street art.  Ha ha anyway again in a cab on our way to an actual hotel we began to see how lovely it really was.  That was a relief.

Oh the Graffiti

 We stayed in hotels for the first week and a half we were in town while we searched for an apartment.  Luckily Ross had his work pay for half of it since once we found a place to move into we couldn't get keys for 5 days because of holidays and our landlord living in Madrid.  The place we found seemed great.  It was right in the center of town – Plaza Mayor – and was big and bright.  Terraces in every room, laundry in the kitchen and a stove! (Not common in apartments here I have learned).  It came unfurnished which was an issue as we only had clothes but our landlady said we could use the deposit money to go to Ikea and furnish the place.  It worked out well other than the 7 hours it took in Ikea to furnish an entire apartment on a budget and of course the language barrier.  In the end we got a great place for a great price and we are really happy with our accommodations.

 The View from one of the bedrooms

Plaza Mayor - Basically our backyard

Fun fact about our place: we have two bathrooms.  Well, we have one bathroom with a shower and a sink and a closet at the end of the hall with a toilet in it.  I have gotten used to this over time but when I first saw it I was disappointed.  Let me give you a little back story so you understand.  The place we lived in Vancouver had a strange bathroom situation.  The apartment was in a large house which had been converted into apartments.  When this happened there was no space to put a bathroom in our apartment so our bathroom was across the hall.  It was ours not shared but also not in the apartment.  So whenever you needed the washroom you had to leave the apartment.  There were benefits such as privacy from your spouse and friends, however when you are in the shower and your partner comes home and locks you out of the apartment and you are standing in the hallways of your building in a towel banging on the door it gets a little awkward.  So my dream moving here was that we would have a bathroom in our place!  So of course having the strange setup we do hurt a little.  All I want is a normal bathroom!  Someday I hope to have that. 

The city itself is lovely.  There are some gorgeous cathedrals, about a million patios to have a super cheap beer or glass of wine, and a park with peacocks roaming around!  I think if I came here to visit for a weekend I would love it.  San Pablo Cathedral will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first truly spectacular building I saw here in Spain.  I have never seen such intricate detail that has stood the test of time. Living here is a challenge but it will be a great experience in the end. 

 The most gorgeous Cathedral in Valladolid  - San Pablo

Our summertime patio at Pispas Bar.  Love the view here.

Fun Fact about the hotels:  All of my jewelry was stolen out of my bag.  I know they say that you should put all your valuables in the room safe but I never believed that someone would actually go through my bags and steal from me.  The thing that hurts the most about it is that the sentimental value was so much more than the actual monetary value of the jewelry.  I didn't own anything that was particularly expensive but it was my collection that I had been gathering for my whole life.  There were precious things my mom and Nana had given me.  Things you cannot replace.  I am so angry that I did not notice it was gone until we were in our new place and I was unpacking.  I called the hotels and went in to speak to them but they were of no help.   So my advice is always keep it in the safe and check to make sure it is there every night so you know when it went missing.