Simancas - January 2015

There are photos of a bloody dead pig ahead.

You have been warned.

 Simancas from the river

On the weekends Ross and I like to explore places outside of Valladolid.  It is tough with not having a car here so we are limited to places we can get to on the bus and or train.  This is great because there are so many places to go but as we have been here for 10 months now we are running out of places to visit that are suitable for a day trip.  We have now started looking for specific things instead of cities, for example castles!  Which is how we found out about Simancas.

Simancas is a very small town just outside of Valladolid.  From the terminal we grabbed a bus for 1.40 euros and took a fifteen minute trip out of town.  It is so close and we had no idea there was a castle basically within walking distance.  Since we had never been there before we asked the driver where to get off and he said it would be the second stop (Segunda Parada).  Turns out this stop was on the side of the highway which seemed a little strange to us but we got off the bus anyway.

Castle gates

We could see the castle right away from the highway and were excited to be able to check it out.  When we looked online the site said the castle was only open from Monday to Friday so we assumed we would not be able to get in so we were surprised when the gates were open.  This was probably my least favourite castle we have seen.  I know how that sounds but when so many cities have castles you can be choosy about which ones you like.  From the outside it looks ancient and interesting but unfortunately they only let you walk one upstairs hallway and it has all been completely re-modeled so it doesn't even feel like a castle.  Also they use it as some sort of archive for things we could not understand so we were not very impressed. I'm certain if we spoke Spanish it would have been more interesting.   However at least it was open and there was a bathroom.

I want to point out the bathroom was a little strange.  It was a unisex with several stalls.  Some of the stalls had toilets and some had urinals but they were all in the same room.  It made me very uncomfortable.  I like privacy in a bathroom, its weird enough having other females around I don’t think I could have used it if there was a man in there.

Old town charm from the castle

The town itself is beautiful, but quite small and there did not seem to be a whole lot to look at.  We began to think we would be struggling to find something to do until the next bus but then we heard music coming from Plaza Mayor.  We checked it out and got excited because there was a sign that said something about a ceremony that day and there were some food and of course a beer table set up.  The sign said it started in ten minutes from then so we bought a few beer tickets and waited for the festivities.  Lets be real, we bought several beer tickets and it was a good thing because what happened next I do not think I could have handled sober.

It was after the first beer that we noticed in the center of the square, where a small stage was set up, there was a large dead pig.  It had blood all over its feet and was just lying on a table.  I was immediately sickened and thought about leaving but in the spirit of cultural understanding and tolerance I thought I should at least see what they were going to do with it.  I assumed they would slice it up and eat it which disgusts me but I thought to myself that the pig was already dead so I had missed the worst of it.  At least now its death would not be in vain. 

Poor Piggy 

The crowd gathered around to watch the carving of the pig and I was surprised to see how many small children were there watching right up close and running over to the pig touching it and having their parents take photos of them with it.  Such a strange custom that I just do not understand.  I mean I suppose it is better than most people who think bacon comes from the grocery store and completely disassociate themselves with what meat actually is.

Celebratory slaughter tunes

There was a band playing and some speeches before they took the pig, covered it in hay and set it on fire.  I was not expecting that.  They did this several times (as the flames kept going out) and it took me a bit to figure out why this was happening.  They were burning the flesh to make it easier to scrape all the hair off.  It smelled awful and was just sad to watch.

 Pig on fire...

Savage monster about to tear him apart...

After that they proceeded to slice the pig open and pull out its intestines.  Blood poured all over the ground as people snapped photos, ate sausage and drank beers.  I mean people were just standing in the blood and eating sausages.  Now I know what those of you who know me are probably thinking, and its true I am someone who is into blood and gore, but this was just gross and sad.  They treated it like it was nothing, as though it wasn't a living creature just hours before.  It was a spectacle that did not sit well with me not only because I am vegetarian but because I have respect for all creatures and I felt this was far from a respectful way to treat an animal.  After they finished skinning it and slicing it apart they hung it in the sun and everyone wandered over to get more food and drinks.

 Hey kid here's a knife why don't you come slice up this pig with your old man...

 I cant wait to eat this bloody mess...

Lets leave this meat here while we eat the other meat...

Other than the murdering of a pig there was not much happening in Simancas.  We decided we had seen enough of the town and went into a bar to grab a few more drinks before walking back to Valladolid.  It was only a 10 km walk home and it was a beautiful sunny day that we did not want to waste.  There was a cool derelict building by the river that we hung out by and finished off our beers before our walk, and the river is quite nice with a lovely view of the town which sits atop a hill. 

 Beautiful river

Beers beers and more beers by the river...I felt 15 again

The walk itself was boring and it turns out 10 km is a long walk when you are 6 beers in by 2 pm.  It was just  flat countryside with a lot of busted down buildings but we made it fun by exploring the ruins and of course just musing over what we had witnessed in town.  I know that not everyone would think what we saw was anything strange and that is strange to me.  Watching a pig be slaughtered is certainly not something you see every day and for that I am grateful.  It only furthered my desire to remain vegetarian. I used to eat meat but now all I see is a carcass and I'm not into eating corpses. I mean they were eating sausage made of animal flesh while watching an animal be slaughtered?!  

Futbol (which is actually soccer) - January 2015

 One of the many things on my list of things to experience while in Europe was to attend a soccer (Futbol) game.  So Ross and I were really excited when our friend Lloyd told us about a great deal on tickets to see Valladolid play Lugo on Sunday.  There is a shop in town that was offering two tickets and 3 bottles of wine for 15 euros! We gathered a few friends and decided to all make a day of it.

Myself, Ross, Lloyd, Heather, Laura and Kevin all met up early in the afternoon and grabbed tapas and a few beverages at a few small bars up in Parquesol (suburb of Valladolid).  Ross and I were only able to eat tapas at one of the bars since as usual there is meat in everything everywhere.  I was starved after a while but luckily Lloyd had kindly made us lunch reservations at a great Mexican restaurant.  There wasn’t a whole lot we could get (surprise surprise) but they did offer to make us fajitas with beans instead of meat so that was nice.

It ended up being delicious and the restaurant was beautifully decorated and had a killer view of the city.  There is one hill in Valladolid and we were on it!  We drank margaritas and had a typical (not for us but for Spaniards) 3 hour lunch.  It was perfect and we were then ready to brave the cold and sit in a stadium watching Futbol.

I was surprised first of all that you are unable to buy booze at the games.  I fully expected to drink beers while we watched but apparently they no longer allow alcohol to keep people from rioting I guess.  I wish someone had told me this sooner so I could have acted like a teenager and snuck some in my jacket.  So we drank coke with a tiny bit of rum that Lloyd brought and shared with us.

The game itself was about as interesting as I expected.  I have never been a soccer fan, other than watching Italy play in the world cup with my Nana, and kicking a ball around in the backyard with the family.  I do not think it is a very exciting sport.  However it is obviously very popular here in Europe so I knew I had to give it a go.

There were not that many people there but I was assured that when the weather is nicer and it is a more important game the crowds are huge.  Lloyd was explaining that Valladolid is in the second tier of the Futbol league.  They are too good for second tier but not good enough for first.  It is too bad because in second tier they do not get to play teams outside of the Spanish league.  Where in tier one they play teams from all over Europe. The people around us were very into it though (from what I could gather since I cant understand a lot of what they are saying) But I do understand cheers and drum banging and I learned a ton of new curse words! 

The score ended up at 0-0.  But our count of dives was something like 3-4.  There was one injury that seemed legit but it was mostly guys crying over tripping over their own feet.  Overall I had a great time and a really fun day.  I will definitely try to catch a few more games while I am here.  It may not be my favourite sport but I will not be seeing any hockey here so I will learn to love it!

Winter Holidays in Amsterdam, Paris and London Dec-Jan 2014/15

My first kiss under the Eiffel Tower 

Our main objective in moving overseas was to be able to travel and see as much of Europe as possible.  So when planning our winter holidays we knew we wanted to go to multiple countries and get the most out of the experience we could.  We had ten days to adventure so we figured 3 days each in 3 countries would work very well.  It took about two solid weeks of planning and searching for the best deals on flights and hotels (ended up being just under $1200 for 3 flights 3 trains, and 9 nights in hotels, with London being the Bulk of our hotel costs) to book what I think turned out to be an amazing holiday.

Although we do live in a city with an airport it is probably the most useless airport I have ever heard of there are only flights to and from Barcelona and possibly one into France at some point but not even a regular one.  So anyhow in order to actually fly anywhere we have to first travel to Madrid on the high speed train. Its not a big deal to do this but it does add an extra 50 euros a person to the price of the flight with the cost of the trains there and back.  So when planning any trip in which we need air travel we always have to account for that. 

We do our best here to take the cheap airlines so we try to never check any bags as that always add a fairly sizable extra cost to the flight.  So we packed two carry on bags for our adventure.  It was tough planning ten days worth of outfits in a carry on but Ross just insisted to me that it was an adventure and not a fashion show.  In warmer months its not a big deal to travel light but in freezing cold its nice to carry some extra sweaters!  Anyway it worked out just fine.  However when flying with Easyjet they gave us a pretty big hassle about the size of one of our carry on bags (which was totally within the limits) and the fact that I also had a purse and Ross had a camera bag.  I do not recommend Easyjet.  They were cheap but unpleasant to deal with and both our flights with them were delayed and scattered and I did not feel comfortable at all.  Also there were no free drinks or snacks.

On to the actual trip! Our first stop was Amsterdam!  I have wanted to visit this city since I was a teenager (I don’t even want to think about how long ago that was) so I was thrilled that it was finally happening.  We flew out of Madrid at 3 pm on December 24^th (Christmas eve) and landed in Amsterdam around 530 pm.  Quick smooth flight although I should point out that AirEuropa also does not provide free drinks or snacks so when you ask for orange juice be prepared to pay 3 euros for it.  We got a train from the airport to downtown then a cab zipped us over to our hotel.  We were slightly out of the main center but it turned out not to be a big deal.  I mean we walk everywhere anyway and there were also trams right outside our hotel which came in handy for getting to the train with our luggage when leaving.

Iamsterdam 

After we got settled we headed out into the cool night air to enjoy our first evening.  We found a really cool area full of bars, restaurants and a great Christmas fair.  There were tons of people meandering about and music in the air.  One thing we have learned about Europe is they love ice skating.  There seems to be an ice rink in each big town we visit.  Although unlike Canada nobody has their own skates they are all rentals.  It surprises me how much they enjoy ice skating and yet, in Spain anyway, know nothing about hockey. 

Gorgeous canals and more people ridding bikes than I have ever seen.

We were starved and had a hard time deciding what to eat for dinner because, unlike Spain where we cant eat anything, here we had so many options it was overwhelming.  We eventually settled on Mexican food which was definitely the right decision.  After dinner there was a mandatory trip to a coffee shop and then much wandering and delicious deep fried goods from the Christmas market booths.  Our days in the city would continue to be filled with perfect old buildings, Christmas rainbows, canals and of course wonderful foods (Dutch apple pie, Mulled wine, Fries, Chinese take away and copious amounts of coffee and tea)

 Canal streets

The city is full of gorgeous canals.  Seriously I felt like every street we walked down had a gorgeous canal with following it or crossing its path. So there are obviously a million tiny bridges which provide excellent photo opportunities.   No matter if you see the city in the day or evening it is beautiful and the canals are a large part of that.  I always though Venice was the only city full of waterways but apparently Amsterdam has been nicknamed “Little Venice”.  There were many cruises you could take through the canals but it never even occurred to us that they would sell out so be sure to book these things in advance. 

Canals at night

One of the most impactful things we experienced while in Amsterdam was The Anne Frank museum.  I knew I wanted to go and I knew it would be emotional but it was so much more than I imagined.  Hearing about these things is one thing but seeing it with your own eyes and being inside the tiny space brings it so much closer to a reality for those of us lucky enough to never have experienced these horrors in our lives.  I think it is something that anyone who visits Amsterdam should make time to explore.  Not only are you invited into the tiny ‘apartment’ but you get told the story from the quotes on the walls and videos of the people who knew the family and helped them to hide and of course from Annes father who after surviving the concentration camps returned home to learn his entire family had died.  I learned a great deal and left filled with sadness but also a great appreciation for my own life and the lives of my family and friends. 

Family photo with my man and my photo of Nana and Papa I carry everywhere.

This city was everything I could have hoped for.  There is however only so much you can experience in a few short days so we would absolutely go back.  There are tons of museums and exhibits to see and of course just wandering the streets is never dull.  The only thing that I was a little disappointed with was the Red Light District.  I was expecting to see a lot more debauchery then I was actually presented with.  It being such an iconic area I fully expected to see lit up windows full of women but saw only the lit up windows mostly empty.  Perhaps as it was the holidays many of the ladies were at home.  It was still a very interesting area however.  Although not being at home for the holidays was sad I think Amsterdam was a pretty good alternative!  Honestly I have always said New York was the best place I have ever been in the world and I take that back.  Nothing compares to the beauty of Amsterdam.

Best Park in Amsterdam

On the morning of the 27^th we caught a train to Paris!  Flying Amsterdam to Paris is ridiculously expensive and train travel is much more romantic.  It was a 4 hour trip through the countryside and although it was snow covered I imagine it was beautiful.  From the train station (Nord) we caught the subway to out hotel area.  We were again a little outside the main city center but unlike Amsterdam this left us pretty far from everything.  Paris is a huge city and we definitely had to use public transit more than we are used to as we normally walk everywhere.  Mind you we still walked so much our legs felt like they might fall off.  We always joke that our vacations are not relaxing affairs but more we pick a city and walk it.

The Eiffel Tower! There were tears in my eyes the first moment I saw this.

Paris, although not without its charms and brilliant sights, was not what I was expecting.  Now do not get me wrong I had a wonderful time and saw things I have only ever dreamed of seeing, but as with my entire European experience I had romanticized Paris to unattainable standards.  I was expecting it to be a romantic charming place but in reality it is a huge somewhat dirty city that smelled like pee in a lot of places.  Now I am certain if we had more time to explore areas other then the most touristy places and it was warmer I would have fallen more in love with it but unfortunately it was freezing and grey and rainy. 

The Louvre

We did see some great stuff though!  We climbed the Eiffel Tower, went into the Catacombs, saw the Arc de Triomphe, Skipped through The Louvre (ha ha see what we did there) Found the Love Lock bridge, explored the Latin district and attended Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral.  Not to mention we ate more Mexican food, Chinese, Italian and of course had crepes at a huge Christmas fair.  I think for only having two full days to explore the city we saw a great deal and did the best we could in the sub arctic temperatures. 

 More kisses at the Eiffel Tower

At The Louvre

The Arc de Triomphe

Seriously though it was so friggin cold it was awful.  The worst was the day we went to the Catacombs.  So it was below zero that day and for whatever reason the line up to get in was actually the longest it ever really gets.  We waited for 3 hours before we made it inside.  The lady at the ticket booth said the line is normally 1.5 to 2 hours long and was shocked to hear we had been outside for 3 hours.  However it was absolutely worth the wait in my opinion. I have had an insanely strong desire to see this place since I was a little kid.  I find it so fascinating and done in extremely artistic way.  For those of you who do not know there are an estimated 6 million bodies in the tunnel system under the city.  There are hundreds of km of systems you are not allowed to enter for safety purposes but it would be so exciting to see!  The Catacombs themselves are about 2 km long and they estimate it taking around 45 minutes to walk though (we spent a good two hours down there).  Exiting the tunnels was the weirdest part.  You climb the sickly twisty staircase back into civilization and end up in a different part of the city and on some random street completely disoriented.  Then when the door closes you realize it is just some door that is completely unmarked.  If you didn't know what it was it just looks like a door in a wall not a door to an underground tomb.  Also there was nobody at the end to check our bags which I found curious as we were warned not to try and steal the bones because you will be in a lot of trouble but I totally could have had a skull in my bag and nobody would have been the wiser.  Then again how do you explain that when you get on a plane?

 Dem Bones

The Catacombs

I would visit Paris again but I would like to do it in the summer.  I want to see the huge cemeteries and see the different quarters not just he touristy stuff.  It was too big to experience all of it in a short time. 

We caught a flight from Paris to London on the 30^th.  It was so short I hardly noticed it, only an hour and we were in London.  Well we were in Luton which is in the country and had to grab a bus into the city.  The buses are pretty cheap though and take you right downtown to Victoria station.  When we bought our bus ticket we also got a return ticket as it saved us 10 pounds that way.  I of course threw our return tickets in the trash without thinking and on the day we checked out of the hotel we had to run back and ask to go through the trash to retrieve it.  Not the best way to begin a day of travelling!

Very helpful signage although I still always felt nervous I was looking the wrong way.

I cannot say enough good things about London!  Such an incredible place full of gorgeous buildings, tons of historical sights, beautiful gardens, palaces and every store you could imagine wanting and of course food options!  This is of course the best part for me as you might have guessed.  Living in Spain has really been a drag in the food department (if you have read my post about being vegetarian here you will understand) so when we leave Spain my first thought is that I can eat again!  Oh and there was a Whole Foods right around the corner from our hotel which brought me so much joy.  Oh how I have missed Whole Foods.  Yes I am a true West Coast Canadian.

The London Eye

The worst part about visiting London would be the prices.  Eating in restaurants is totally reasonable but shopping, hotels and anything touristy is crazy expensive.  We actually almost didn’t add London to our trip because of hotel prices.  In Amsterdam and Paris we were able to stay for about 40-50 euros a night (70 Canadian) but in London the absolute cheapest place we found was 106 euros a night and it was the most basic no frills place ever!  We had a room so small we could touch all the walls from the bed (seriously) we had only enough floor space to place our bags and have one of us uncomfortably stand at a time while the other had to be on the bed.  The bathroom was like something out of an RV, you were basically showering over the toilet.  Did I mention that we didn't have a window and to get the TV or internet to work it was an extra 10 euros each a night.  But we got to stay in a cool area of the city so we sucked it up and made the most of it.  I do not recommend the hotel for a lengthy stay but a few days is fine.  But shower only if necessary!

 Big Ben.  Pretty big I guess.

Tower Bridge

So as the touristy stuff was super expensive we didn't really go in any of the sights but did manage to see a lot.  We visited Kensington Palace and the gardens surrounding it which were gorgeous, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, The London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral, the winter carnival and Westminster Abby.  London was exactly as I pictured it and I was thrilled.  We went to some pubs with actual vegetarian breakfast sausages for a traditional English breakfast and were able to find some of the best Indian food ever. 

 No Big Deal just chillin at Buckingham Palace

Kensington Palace and gardens

We were lucky enough to be there (ok we planned it) during New Years Eve and had some friends we have met here in Valladolid (Kevin and Laura) visiting the city as well.  We met up and spent the evening together which was awesome.  We had wanted to go downtown to see the fireworks because London is famous for their celebrations but discovered when we arrived in town that this would be the first year the fireworks were a ticketed event and of course they were sold out.  So were google searched another area we could watch from for free.  We discovered Primrose Hill (The highest point in London) and trekked over there with a few thousand other people.  The fireworks were totally visible but too far away to really be appreciated.  It was such a fun night though with all those people just laughing and drinking and having fun.

 Super tourist

Us and Tower Bridge

I would absolutely visit London again.  Ok lets be real I would live in London given the opportunity! 

The entire trip was such a great experience.  I am so grateful and feel incredibly lucky to have done so many wonderful things.  It was a whirlwind adventure with the love of my life.  I am a lucky girl.

I love this man