Our First Weekend in the New Piso

Luke had to work both Saturday and Sunday (boo!) last weekend, but with the late nights that are typical of the Spanish lifestyle, we were still able to enjoy some time together.  Thursday night, we signed the contract for our new piso and the landlords showed us around our new neighborhood, pointing out some of their favorite spots, grocery store, etc.  It was so extremely nice and friendly! We are very lucky to have found this awesome place! After that, Luke and I celebrated with dinner at Boga Bar and an after dinner gin and tonic at a nearby piano bar. 

The remains of our arroz con bogavante, which is a rice and lobster dish. Messy but yummy!

Gin and tonic and live piano was a great night cap.

Spanish singer who dedicated a song to us. :)

On Friday, we finally started to move into our new piso! I brought a couple of bags over early on Friday and then hung around while the new couch and our first of two shipments from home were delivered.  When Luke got off on Friday evening, we met back at the hotel to grab the rest of our bags and head over to the new place together.  Although my sister, Meg, thinks I've had ample time :), our place is still a mess.  All of our furniture (except the couch that we bought over here) is coming in the second shipment sometime next week, and we have boxes and boxes of mostly clothes all over the place.

What were we thinking and where are we going to put all of this?!?!?

Looking out our balcony at Calle de Piamonte. 

Saturday morning, Luke headed to work, and I went to my new gym for the first time and ran a few errands.  For no particular reason, I had a kind of hard day on Saturday and was a little bit emotional, down in the dumps and frustrated by a few things. It's hard being in a new city that speaks a different language and does everything differently than you're used to! Anyway, we decided that what I needed was a laid back night at home.  So we made pizza and enjoyed it on the floor of our new dining room, started some laundry since we haven't done any since arriving nearly a month ago and made our first Spanish tortilla. It was just what the doctor ordered.

My new gym. Women only and extremely nice, including multiple hot tubs and sauna.

Pizza, olives and wine followed by dark chocolate. Perfection.

Our clothes line. So far so good. The worst part is going to be all the necessary ironing. :(

The amount of olive oil used in this was ridiculous. Luckily, it's super cheap over here.

On Sunday, we had breakfast together at a place called Mama Framboise before Luke headed to work, and I headed to El Rastro, which is a huge outdoor flea market that takes place every Sunday in Madrid.  There's a ton of junk and cheap clothing, and you have to be careful because it's known as a place for pick-pocketers to thrive.  But if you brave the crowds, hold tightly to your bag in front of your body and get past all the junky clothing and souvenirs, there are tons of antique shops and cool finds.  On Sunday, I found this awesome box, and I was quite proud of myself for negotiating the price in Spanish. Right now, I'm using it to store a few towels in the guest bathroom.

Love at first sight.

It doesn't hold all that many towels, but sometimes functionality has to be sacrificed.

I also had one more awesome find, but it's a surprise for Luke's birthday tonight so that will have to wait.  However, as I was carrying it around, several people tried to talk to me about it.  Although I couldn't understand half of what they said, I was able to try a little bit, and I had a really good experience.  One old lady nearly talked my ear off and was so friendly and endearing to me! It was exactly what I needed after a rough day on Saturday. When  Luke finished working on Sunday, we met at a nearby place for a drink before starting the week over again.  This floor of this bar was completely covered in sand!

Please ignore the crack in the upper right corner.

Once we get all settled in our new spot and everything, I hope to get on a regular blogging schedule.  There's so much that I want to share, and even though I'm not working, I'm running around like a crazy person all day trying to gather things for our new place, prepare for Luke's birthday, etc.  Everything takes so much longer over here. You can't just run to Wal-Mart, fill your cart and be done, and  I don't have a car so I can't buy too much at one time.  I'm trying to remind myself that it will take a little bit of time, but eventually, this place will feel like our home (at least if I have anything to do with it. :))

Now that I've gotten myself fully caffeinated, I'm off to finish a few more errands for Luke's birthday. Happy 28th to the sweetest husband, bestest friend, and forever my King of Spain. 

So handsome in his new suits, and I'm so proud of what a good, hard worker he is!

Asturias and the Beaches of Northern Spain: 6/28/12 - 7/1/12

Two weekends ago, Luke and I rented a cute little Ford Fiesta,

grabbed the largest to-go coffee we could find,

and headed to Asturias, which is a community in the North of Spain about 5 hours from Madrid.

We took pictures of old, rustic doors,

 and had a couple of close encounters with cows,

horses,

and sheep.

I got my feet wet in the Atlantic,

and Luke did some novice rock climbing in flip flops

while I warned from above to, "Be Careful!"

We posed with more cute, old doors on the misty walk to dinner, 

but nearly cancelled our dinner plans when we picked up our own escargot along the way. 

We sampled fine Spanish wine, 

 

 and enjoyed a beer or two alongside gorgeous ocean views. 

We saw gorgeous, untouched beaches,

witnessed where the river literally meets the sea,

 

and discovered remarkable, yet fleeting, inland beaches that only exist when the tide is just right. 

We were on top of the world. 

If you're interested in learning about the beautiful beaches that Asturias has to offer, you can read more here. 

After our time in Asturias, we headed east along the coastline to San Sebastian. Recap to follow soon!

3 Things I love about Madrid

I figured a good way to end my first full week alone (while Luke brings home the bacon) in Madrid would be to document a few things that I noticed this week and really liked.  So with no further adieu, here we go!

#1:  The parks! Madrid is a lot like any other big city in the states....lots of people and lots of concrete. But there are several big green parks really close to the center of the city that offer lots of shade and great trails for running. Just this week, I ran approximately 20 miles in just 4 runs through 2 different parks: Parque del Oeste and Parque del Retiro.  (Don't worry, Mom, I'm changing my routine! :)) Retiro is pretty big, so it's easy to do longer-ish runs without a bunch of looping back and forth. Plus, since I'm never exactly sure of my location within the park, I don't really recognize it if I am doing the same loop over and over. Whoops! Hopefully, that will change as I become more acquainted with the area.  Oeste is hilly.  In fact, did you know that Madrid is the second hilliest city next to San Francisco? Not really. But it sure felt like it at times in Oeste.  Both parks have lots of trees offering great shade, so even if I don't make it out until 11 or so, I'm not dying in the summer heat. And there are always other runners, cyclists and tourists around so it always feels safe and lively!

#2: The babies! I guess it's because I don't have my own, but I can be a little obsessed about cute babies.  So walking through the city with Luke, I point out all the cute babies, and he points out all the good looking dogs. It's just what we do.  These Spaniards make some of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen.  With beautiful caramel latte colored skin, dark curls, chubby thighs and in fashion clothing, I can't get enough of them! They also have amazing strollers. These kids are rolling around in style in their bugaboos carriages with shade umbrellas attached.  The strollers here seem much more streamlined and less bulky than the ones we're used to at home, but that may be typical of any big city to make them easier to maneuver in tight, crowded places. I'll try to discreetly snap a picture of a cute baby in a cool stroller in the next days to illustrate. 

#3: The Metro! The metro system is so convenient and user friendly. The maps are easy to read, and in the center, you're never far from a stop.  To be honest, I really haven't used the metro all that frequently because I'm new to the city life and am still enjoying being able to walk just about anywhere.  But it's nice to know that if I ever get turned around or way too tired, I just have to find the nearest metro to be headed back in the right direction. Also, the metros have a ton of stairs, and after enjoying all the Spanish wine and beer nearly nightly, I feel like a cheater if I don't take them.  So while I hate this when I'm actually climbing the stairs, I secretly love it and hope it will help keep me in shape. Every step counts!

And many more good things, but I'll save those for a future post. Have a good weekend!

Just Another Madrid Monday #4

After more than a brief hiatus, I'm back for the 4th installment of Madrid Monday, and this time, believe it or not, we're actually in Madrid! After a few luggage mishaps (i.e. the trunk wasn't closed and my carry on including passports and visas for both fell out into the middle of an intersection), lunch with Shelby and Coleman at Chick-fil-A and a tearful "See you soon" with my mom and dad at the airport, we departed DFW around 6 p.m. on Monday, June 18. (Although Luke's parents couldn't see us off, we got to seem them just the weekend before, and though it's never really "Good-bye," tears were shed there as well.)

 After more than 5,000 miles (or 8,300 km for those of you who that actually means something to), we landed in Madrid at approximately 10 am....9 hours later and 7 hours ahead of US Central Standard time. We found our way to our temporary apartment hotel with a kitchen smaller than the size of a normal closet in the states.  For about the first month, we're staying right in the city center in Plaza de Espana. Although we wouldn't want to live this smack dab in the center of things, it's a good temporary location, and we even have a view of the Palace. 

We spent the majority of our first 2 weeks in Madrid searching for a piso (Spanish for apartment) and covering the whole city multiple times on foot.  (My refusal to wear tennis shoes has left me in dire need of a pedicure. Now I just have to get up the nerve to walk in and tell them, "Me gustaria una pedicura por favor.") Luckily, though, we found a piso and put a deposit on it at the end of last week.  We should sign the contract sometime this week and plan to move in on July 12. Once we get all moved in and set up, I'll take some pics and post about it. But for now, here are a couple from the listing that show my favorite things about it.  

Open floorplan, which is not typical of a Spanish apartment.

Original tile floors. Major swoon!

Two big windows with tons of sunlight. Hopefully, this will keep my seasonal affective disorder under control :)

Two updated bathrooms.

Old green shutters used as doors for the guest bedroom. 

So far, the city of Madrid has been very friendly.  From strangers who are more than willing to help us with directions and chase us down when they realize they've sent us in the wrong way to several of Luke's co-workers inviting us out for dinner and drinks and offering to help us with anything that we might need, we've felt nothing but welcome and are looking forward to experiencing all this city (and Europe!) have to offer.   

Dinner with Luke's co-workers.

"Houston, we have a bucket." At La Surena, where there are buckets of 5 beers for 3 euros.

Enjoying a cerveza on the terraza.

In honor of Luke's mom. :)

Drinks with Julie and Miguel. Julie is from Kentucky and speaks awesome English!

Enjoying the tinto de verano that I ordered all by myself. (Note: Ordering is hard. Not because I don't know how to say what I want (because I do), but because it is quite difficult to understand what they say back.) Luckily, I have 18 months to practice.

Nicholas, Jose Carlos, Luke and Miguel being silly with beer caps on their foreheads.

Dinner at Mercado San Anton, which is really cool and super close to our new piso. Can't wait to show all of our visitors!

After finding our piso, we rented a car and set off for the North of Spain last Thursday in order to have a little vacation before Luke's first day. I'll be back soon with posts and pics from that trip, but for now, I'll leave you with Luke's first day of work picture. What a professional!

Playing House

The house.

The car.


The kids.

In early September, my sister, Meg, and her hubby, Jeff, found an awesome flight deal to San Francisco and couldn't pass up the opportunity for a long weekend sans kiddos. Since I wasn't working and wanted to make sure that they'd take advantage of this opportunity, I quickly volunteered to play Mommy while they were gone. So about a month ago, Luke and I packed a few bags and headed over to the Peck house for Sunday through Tuesday.

Since Shelby is in 1st grade, Coleman in pre-school, both kids involved in sports, and Tuesday was picture day for Shelby, we had a busy couple of days. Our mornings started by waking both kids up around 6:30. We had a quick breakfast, dressed and grabbed our backpacks before heading out the door. I was surprised by how non-chaotic the mornings were. (However, if I also had to get myself ready too, it probably would have been much more difficult. All I had to do was throw on some workout clothes and pull my hair back into a messy ponytail before heading to the carpool line.) Both kids woke easily and knew exactly how the morning routine would go. The first morning when I went to wake Coleman up, he had this huge smile on his face. I thought he was just super happy to be awake but turns out he was still sleeping and in the middle of a really good dream (probably involving ninjas or swords.) It was one of the sweetest little faces I've seen.

After dropping both kids off at their respective schools, I did what any good stay-at-home mom would do and went to the gym. Following my workout, I prepped dinner, ran errands, etc until it was time to pick Shelby up at 3:20. My mom laughed at me when I told her that the days went by so quickly. I seriously don't know exactly what I did, but before I knew it, it was time to pick up Shelb, and I felt like I hadn't sat down all day! Haha. Both days I picked up Shelby first and then we went together to get Coleman. Back at the house, Shelby and I did her reading homework before starting our other evening activities. (BTW, she is becoming quite the little reader these days!) Monday evening, the kids and I walked down the street to watch Richland High School's (my alma mater) homecoming parade. The parade wasn't all that impressive, but it was a nice evening to be outside and the kids enjoyed seeing the band, football players and cheerleaders. Tuesday evening, we went to Coleman's baseball game and then met Nonny, Poppy, Luke, Mimi, Jack and Randy for dinner. Our days went by so quickly, and it was a nice little preview of what family life might be like for us one day!

During our time together, the kids said such funny things, and I'm kicking myself for not writing them down. I do remember one little story that I'll share. On the first day in the car pool line at Shelby's school, I couldn't figure out how to unlock the door. So this woman is standing outside of the car ready to help Shelby out, and I can't get the door unlocked! When I finally figured it out and the lady opened the door, she said, "Your mommy just wanted to keep you today!" Then as Coleman and I pulled away, he said, "But you're not really her mommy." He said it in such a sweet little voice, and I think I suspected just a hint of questioning in his voice. Like, please tell me that my mom is coming home, and you're not taking over! Luckily for us all, Meg and Jeff got home safe and sound on Tuesday night. Thanks for trusting us to take care of your family, Meg. We love them so much!

Just Another Madrid Monday #3

Well, with our original plans, we should be leaving for Spain sometime this week with Luke to start work on October 1, but that isn't happening. Long story short; We've been delayed. Our new expected departure date is anywhere between now and January 1, and January is probably the more realistic expectation. Although we're not too upset about the delay, it's a bit frustrating for a couple of reasons.

We found out about the delay one day after leasing our house. We'd known all along that a delay was possible, but because we'd already provided all of the requested documents without receiving any updates or requests for more information, we were operating under the assumption (we all know what happens when you assume) that all was on course and October 1 was still our date. We kept lowering the rent on our house, packing things up, etc... in order to prepare. So it's been a bit of a frustrating process; however, we're still so thankful for Luke's company and all they do to help us in obtaining visas. They have lawyers and translators and all kinds of people to help get all of our documents in the correct form with all the required notaries, jurats, etc...So hopefully, everything will be accepted by the Spanish government the first time through. Seriously, I don't even know how we would begin if we were doing this on our own.

Also, I'd already told my company that I would be leaving around the end of September, and acting accordingly to what I told them, they hired my replacement, who started at the end of August. So despite not leaving until potentially January, I'm out of a job September 29th. Although this isn't ideal, it will give me a lot of time to focus on Rosetta Stone, and I've also filled out substitute teaching applications to maybe help keep me busy until we leave. Everything will work out. And truth be told, I'm not too terribly upset about this. :)

Despite those frustrations, being delayed isn't all that bad. First of, regardless of the timing, we are very glad to have leased our house. Even though we may have been able to get more rent for it if we'd known we had more time before leaving, we're glad that we're no longer stressing about whether or not it would rent before we left. And the family that moved in seems to be very sweet and will hopefully take good care of it. In fact, the husband works in construction and seems to be very handy, so we're hoping they leave it in better shape than they found it! :)

We're also really glad that we will (hopefully) be here for the holidays with our families and get to enjoy all the goodness that fall has to offer with them. And a delayed departure date means a delayed return date. We'd love to have 2 summers over there instead of 1!

As of today, the Global Immigration Services team that is working with us has (finally) received all of our documents with the appropriate notaries, copies, etc. Next up, we have to obtain apostille (which Google tells me is authentication of public documents for foreign use) and certifed Spanish translation of all the documents. Hopefully, this process goes quickly so that we can (finally) send everything off. We're expecting a 4 to 6 week wait once everything is received by the government (although I'm not really sure where that expecation was born from). More updates to follow I'm sure.