Wine Weekend

Sept 25-26. For my first excursion outside of Andalucía I joined a trip organized by MWR to Extremadura (our neighboring region to the north) for a weekend of wine and culture. Sadly, the weekend focused a little more on culture and less on wine than I had hoped but I did put forth every effort to get as many glasses of wine as I could out of the experience.

Our first day was spent in the city of Almendralejo, whose bullring used to house a wine cellar. We were told that it's the only one in the world that can make such a claim and I see no reason to object; after all, how many people would think to place a wine cellar under the stands of a bullring? While apparently it was a clever place to store wine because of the climate it is no longer in use since the containers that held the wine are not up to current health standards.

Inside the bullring

The containers that used to hold the wine

Our next stop was the Museum of Wine Science right across the street from the bullring. I would like to say that I had an intellectually stimulating time at the museum and that I gazed at the exhibits in wonder but no such luck. I can say with all honesty that never have I been so bored doing anything wine related as I was for the two hours we were there. Under different circumstances (like if I’d been able to understand the displays, if our tour guide had spoken slightly less accented English, or if I hadn’t been working nights for the past two months) I might have enjoyed my visit; unfortunately, as things were, it was a disappointment. Thankfully, after the tour we were on to bigger and better things… like wine tasting! The museum staff put on a lovely tasting party for us in their courtyard where we were able to enjoy samples from different bottles they had for sale in the gift store.  Besides getting berated by one of the women leading the tasting because I failed to correctly observe my wine's color before tasting it I had quite an enjoyable time.

The setup

Lauren and Dave

We then rushed from the wine tasting to our hotel where a lunch was being provided for us in the restaurant. Our meal was quite an event. Plate after plate of food was put out before us and glass after glass of wine was poured. I am happy to report that at one point in time I had three glasses of wine sitting before me ready to be enjoyed. Our lunch ended up taking about two hours and then afterward Lauren and I we were so exhausted that we skipped the next winery tour (don’t worry, samples weren’t included) and took a nap before venturing out to explore the city of Almendralejo.

Wine! ...and jamon.



Our second day found us driving to Mérida, a city known for the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins in this city give excellent insight into what a capital city of the Roman Empire was like; I was particularly taken with the theater, which was quite impressive. I would like to tell you more about the site but I didn’t learn much because I escaped the tour group and went exploring on my own so that I could get pictures of the area without people walking into my shots.

Archway leading into the... oh, shoot, I wasn't listening...

The stage

It's two stories. Told you, impressive.

In the stands of the theater



The last stop before lunch was to the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano which, unlike the Museum of Wine Science , was quite interesting and kept my attention for the whole time we were there. I took quite a few pictures of exhibits but I won’t bore you with posting many of them. It’s just that I kept seeing all of these fabulous mosaics that I had to get a picture of, then I’d walk into the next room and see an even more fabulous one that I just had to have a picture of, then I’d walk upstairs and… well, you get the idea. After lunch and an uneventful stop at the Parador (which are historic buildings in Spain that have been renovated and turning into hotels) in Zafra we made our way home. 

Just one example of many!

“Help Me, Rhonda”

On a whim I decided to take a day trip to Ronda back in September and was happy to find two other nurses who had the day off and who were willing to endure the drive with me. As luck would have it, or actually the lack thereof, we ended up spending more time in the car than we did in the city itself. Due to unforeseen circumstances we were only able to spend about two hours in Ronda, most of which were spent searching out a place to eat lunch (because, as it was barely noon, restaurants actually serving anything more substantial than a café con leche were hard to come by). We did, however, spend four hours in the car but thankfully, with the help of Lauren’s iPod, the drive wasn’t too bad… and while we didn’t actually listen to the classic Beach Boys song with the same name as our destination, it was nonetheless playing on repeat in my head for most of the trip.

Even though I only spent two short hours in Ronda, I could tell that it was quite an impressive city. It is situated on either side of a huge gorge and the two parts of the city are connected by three bridges. The newest of which was completed in the late 18^th century and is aptly enough named Puente Nuevo (Spanish for New Bridge).  Although the Puente Nuevo was the only one of the three bridges I saw on this trip I can’t imagine that the other two are in any way as impressive as it was; this bridge is actually rumored to be one of the most photographed sites in Spain. It’s easy to see why.

Puente Nuevo

Overlooking the Canyon

View of the Parador

Hopefully the next time I visit Ronda luck will be on my side and I will be able to enjoy the city and the views from its bridges for more than a couple short hours. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to perusing the many stores that line the streets as you walk to the Puente Nuevo.

Mi Casa Española

One of the things that I worried about most when moving to Spain was having to secure a place of residence. The Navy gave me 30 days in which to accomplish this task. Now, to those of you who can’t appreciate Navy life, this might seem like plenty of time. Sadly, those days go by quickly when you have to start working two days after your arrival and you’re required to do your house hunting with sanctioned housing advisors whose appointment times are booked weeks in advance. Despite these obstacles I was able to see plenty of houses. I saw quaint apartments on the beach, rambling single-family homes with pools, I walked through quintessential Spanish houses with wine cellars and lemon trees in the backyard, toured townhouses with four floors.  I looked at places that used butane gas (known here as butano) for fuel, ones with “master” bedrooms the size of my old closet, and even visited one with central heat and air-conditioning (a real commodity here). I foresaw the difficulty of having a landlord who doesn’t speak English, tried to get my car into the smallest driveways known to man, and saw homes where my neighbors would be horses and donkeys. Mostly I was surprised at the shear size of the houses that I could afford. Surprisingly, though, instead of searching out the largest place my money could rent me I actually shied away from these behemoths and tried to look for more modest accommodations.  The last thing I needed was to have empty rooms that my credit card was itching to help me fill. I wanted to save that money… at least until the first travel opportunity came knocking on my door, wherever that door might be.

Thankfully, after three weeks, and a little undercover work on behalf of myself and my friend, I was able to find a place that I felt comfortable in. It wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned for myself when I first thought of my potential house in Spain; no tiled balconies or ceilings with exposed beams, no orange trees or Moorish style arches… but it does have a bidet, how much more European can you get? Instead I chose a home that came with an English speaking landlord, two air conditioners, window screens, and two full bathrooms. When did I become so sensible? Don’t worry; I don’t think that it’s contagious… or chronic. Just a random, acute attack of practicality. I should be back to my normal impractical self in no time.

I have been delaying putting pictures up of my place because, even after two full months of living here, I still don’t have everything the way I want it.  I really hoped to have everyone’s first look at my home be when it is at its best, but alas, as I’ve already mentioned, I procrastinate (or “procrastino” in Spanish- thank you, Arturo, for so graciously educating me). Instead of making all of you wait until the end of the year, which is my updated goal for finishing my decorating and what not, I have decided to put up some work-in-progress pictures and the before shots. Mind you, if bright, obnoxious paint colors bother you, you might want to skip ahead.  



The front door... see, no arches!





This picture doesn't do the paint color justice. Imagine fuschia and pale yellow.





And after! Much better, if I do say so myself.





Huge by Spanish standards... and yet, so much smaller than my kitchen in San Diego.





First floor bathroom. A.K.A. Guest bathroom.

The upstairs bathroom.

  

Master bedroom. There are no "after" pictures because I haven't started working on this room yet.

  

Guest room. What I like to call Barney purple and lime green. Gross.

 

After.



Did you really think I would let my fabulous guests sleep in a room the color of an obnoxious dinosaur?



Sunflower wallpaper... sad, really, because usually I love sunflowers but they're just ruined for me here.



 My office.



Like I said, most of these rooms are works-in-progress. Once I put the finishing touches (or do anything productive at all) on the rooms I’ll put up more pictures. 

And The New Hobby Begins

I'm sure that most of you have heard me talk about my need to start a new project; something to keep me busy during the 12-hour shifts I often work at the hospital without a single patient for me to nurse back to health. I could be doing so many things with this free time but, as is typical of me, I have decided to do something far less productive than, say, starting on a Master’s degree. The good news is that starting a blog is more constructive than watching countless hours of television, if only slightly.  But, hey, a girl’s got to start somewhere.

I had thought about creating a blog as I began my move to Spain more than three months ago. But, as is also typical of me, I procrastinated. And procrastinated. …And procrastinated. Until sheer boredom finally pushed me over the edge and into action. So here I am, writing the first installment of my blog and commencing on my new project. Let’s see what happens; here goes…