Food / Spotted Abroad

Un Poquito de Homesick

After a jet-lagged week of navigating a new culture, we were bound to feel little bites of homesickness nipping at our heels. I think it’s safe to say after a week of eating out (with one exquisite exception – more on that later), Doer is ready for his own kitchen again. I’m thinking about my family after learning my grandmother passed away. This wasn’t unexpected news, but it’s still very sad, and it lends a bittersweet feel to the days. Even though Spain is very different from where we’re from, we keep stumbling across strange little signs of home. On

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Getting Acquainted / Madrid

Odelay: An Ode(to)Delay

I have been a bit delayed in writing my first blog post from Madrid – we arrived Wednesday – but as we have learned in only a few short days, the art of delay is very Spanish. (On a side note, Doer has written several posts. He’s pretty good at the Doing). Delay is apparent everywhere in Spain, from pedestrians conversing in the middle of the sidewalk to the hotel breakfast diners who linger over the coffee long after the hotel staff begin clearing the room. And unlike the fast-paced tempo of the United States, it tends to relax you – once

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Food / Restaurants

La oreja del cerdo de Van Gogh

What better way to start out detailing our food experiences than this perfect dish at Gastromaquia in Madrid’s Chueca neighborhood, the Wilton Manors of Madrid if you get my drift… and the residents certainly want to make sure you do, from the first moment you arrive at the rainbow-painted Metro station! Gastromaquia was easily our best meal yet in Madrid. Since we went for dinner at 9:30 PM like rubes, we miraculously got a table on a walk-in and watched as everyone showing up after us without reservations was made to wait up to an hour. All of the courses we

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Getting Acquainted

Making your phone work in another country on the cheap

I’m guessing I’ve spent about 10 hours over the past day and a half getting our cell phones to work here without spending an arm and a leg. I’m sure it is just the first task of many that seemed easy in theory, but actually will turn out to be quite complex. To put things in perspective, I remember the last time I was here in 2000, I brought my first iBook (Blueberry, but I always kinda wished I’d gotten Tangerine). It was one of the first computers with WiFi and I had to explain what wireless Internet was to

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Getting Acquainted

Spain, meet Doer and Dreamer!

We’re heeeere… After a great flight to Newark, it figured there’d be maintenance issues with the plane to Madrid. It only added five hours to our journey, which we’re taking in stride at this point. By the way, thanks to United for a $10 food voucher to a food court where a cold sandwich costs $10.25 and for waiting until a half hour before boarding to give it to us… Not that we’re complaining. That’s why they plied us after the fact with a few miles or a small travel voucher, right? Anyway, this put us into Madrid around 2:30pm.

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