#15 Enjoy a pastry from Mallorquina

It had been years since I'd gone to the Mallorquina, even though I pass it pretty often. But then one day a few months ago I had to get a document from the government early in the morning before school, which happened to be near the famous historical pastry shop. I thought, okay I haven't had breakfast, let's get a napolitana, or basically the Spanish version of a chocolate croissant (though not shaped like a croissant). I seriously had forgotten how amazing they are. You'll definitely need a glass of water or coffee to wash it down because it is super sweet, but a melt-in-your-mouth, like nothing you've ever had before sweet.

When I was in the area yesterday and hungry for a snack, I couldn't resist yet again. Even though its such a touristy place, it's absolutely worth it, especially at only 1.30€!

Come mucha fruta, mucha mucha fruta

Spain probably has some of the best produce in the world (in my opinion). The country exports a lot of fruits and vegetables to the rest of Europe, and what stays in Spain is fantastic, and pretty local. Even with a large portion of fruit grown in the south of Spain, most of it reaches supermarkets and fruterías anywhere on the peninsula in a short period of time, making it fresh and relatively eco-friendly!

There are of course some fruits and veggies you can get year-round here, but I've discovered what is in season so much more than in Boston, where you certainly can't get local produce year-round. I've also discovered new things that I'd either heard of but never tried before, or simply never heard of or seen before in my life. (I've also discovered that some seemingly simple fruits have different names for different varieties, for example you can buy peaches by two names: both melocotones - the yellow variety, or fresquillas - the reddish variety. There's also another common variety of peach here that is flat, called paraguaya, which I'd never seen before. Strawberries and cherries also come by two names: fresas or fresón; cereza or picota. These differences, as far as I can tell, refer to the size of the fruit instead of the color.)

My first and newest favorite: figs. The purple ones, brevas come first and aren't quite as sweet as the smaller and rounder green higos that arrive in August. I don't think I'd ever had fresh figs before and wow are they delicious.




Persimmons are another of my favorites. They are so perfectly autumnly orange. There are two major varieties, but the more popular one here is the sweet, crunchy one that you can basically eat like an apple. I'd definitely never seen a persimmon before living in Madrid.



Melons are of course common fruits in the US, but while we have canteloups and honeydews there, here the common melon is piel de sapo, which I actually didn't know until just this minute when I Googled it, is called "Santa Claus" or "Christmas" melon. It's similar in color and flavor to a honeydew, but much bigger and oblong instead of spherical in shape. Eaten with some jamón - this is the perfect summer supper.

One fruit that I'd certainly never heard of or seen in my life is the nispero or loquat in English. It shows up in the spring for literally a few short weeks. The fruit is probably 75% seeds but it's so good that it's worth it.

Golden kiwis. By far the superior variety of kiwis. Maybe you can find these in the US; I've never looked. But I discovered them here and, while they're much more expensive than normal green kiwis, once you try one you'll never want to go back to green. They're so sweet, almost like candy. And the skin is hairless, so you can even eat it without being grossed out by the hairiness.

Another fruit I'd never heard of or seen before is the chirimoya, which I think may have the same name in English though I guess it's also called a "custard apple" due to it's texture. It's green on the outside and white on the inside with massive black seeds that you cannot eat (they're actually poisonous if bitten into). People describe the flavor as a combination of other fruits like apple, pineapple, pear, banana, peach...it kind of reminds me of tutti frutti flavored candy. It's not really my favorite fruit, as the seeds are so big and there is so little flesh.

Lastly, I'd heard of blood oranges before and seen a ton of recipes that I've always wanted to make but before living here I'd never actually seen one. I've only seen them in supermarkets a few weeks out of the year, and they're so pretty on the inside.

La Noche de las Velas (Night of Candles)

Practically year round you can find festivals all over Spain. There are (a lot of) religious festivals or those with origins in religion and saints, festivals to celebrate the harvest of certain products (garlic in Chinchón, saffron in Consuegra, etc.), and other wacky festivals that don't have much to do with anything (ever heard of the Tomatina? - if you like throwing tomatoes all over the place, it's the festival for you).

 One festival that I think is particularly unique and beautiful is the Noche de las Velas in Pedraza, which is a super tiny little town about an hour and a half from Madrid. The town itself is very well maintained, and deserves a visit on its own. However, it's even more charming if you go for this festival, which takes place the first two weekends of July every year. The town puts candles everywhere, in windows, on balconies, in the street, in gardens, you name it. Once it's dark they're all lit (you can even buy a candle to take around to light the ones placed around the town) and it's - for lack of a better word - magical.

They also have a classical music concert that you have to buy tickets to (though it's outdoors an you can hear it if you're close enough). If you go, you definitely need to reserve a hotel or make a restaurant reservation in advance because the town is tiny!

Spanish Cultural Things I Find Incredibly Strange

When I travel what I love to learn about most is cultural differences. In the end, all people are just that: people. But I love learning about differences in daily life, tradition, and cuisine.

Spain for sure has plenty of its own cultural quirks (don't get me wrong - the US does as well). After nearly six years here, these are some of the things that I probably wouldn't get 100% used to even if I spent the rest of my life here.

1. People LOVE to always say “te voy a decir una cosa” ("I'm going to tell you something") instead of just telling you whatever it is they want to say. Come on, just tell me already!

2. They wrap everything in aluminum foil, which is literally the last thing I would choose for wrapping cut-up fruit, a sandwich, etc. I first discovered this working with preschool children, who would bring a cut-up apple or ham sandwich in foil as a snack. Doesn't the bread get stale?

3. People love to always comment on clothing/hair/etc. Kind of as if the person they're talking to doesn't already know about their own clothing or body. Things I'm asked on a regular basis:

Going out in public with wet hair – “You're going to catch a cold!”

“Aren't you cold?” - No, if I were I'd put a sweater on, but thanks for asking.

“You're wearing flats without socks! Your feet must be freezing!” (in October) – No, actually if they were cold I would have worn something different, thanks. Also, 70 degrees out isn't cold.

4. They always wear shoes in the house and parents yell at their kids for going barefoot, even in the summer, as if it's dangerous to go barefoot inside.

5. A meal without bread isn't a meal. This is a pretty Mediterranean thing, though.

6. They think that air conditioning is going to make you hoarse/give you a sore throat or make you catch a cold. Basically anything can give you a cold, according to Spaniards (like drinking cold water in the winter); oddly enough, they never include viruses in their diagnoses.

7. Cookies are a normal breakfast here. I guess there's not a big difference between eating a cookie and a donut, but I've had some people try to convince me that cookies are actually a healthy breakfast choice. Sorry, still not convinced. They also love baguette sandwiches with blocks of hard chocolate in the middle, which I think its just the weirdest combination of textures possible.

8. I love coffee but I cannot drink it without milk. Here though, I've had people give me the weirdest look when ordering iced coffee with milk. Basically, in their eyes, iced coffee (which is generally actually more like a shot or two of espresso with a few ice cubes) is always served solo, without milk. Milk is only for hot coffee. (Though, of course, if you order it they will give it to you. They may just give you a strange look in the meantime.)

My 5 Favorite Day Trips from Madrid

There are, of course, the obvious day trips. Toledo, Segovia, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Avila, Salamanca. All great places with beautiful architecture, winding narrow streets, and great places to eat. But there are other, less well-known places that are certainly worth visiting.

Chinchón

With its beautiful and unique circular plaza mayor, Chinchón is a great place to walk around and explore on foot. Worth visiting is Cuevas del Murciélago, where you can both eat and visit the wine cellars and sample wine. The town is also well-known for its anis and garlic - they have festivals for both in the fall! Not too far away is also Colmenar de Oreja, which also has a charming plaza mayor.

Aranjuez

Aranjuez has many tourist attractions such as the royal palace, one of the earliest bull rings with its museum, an several churches, I love it for the gardens. The palace has extensive, beautiful gardens where you could easily spend hours walking around exploring the many fountains, buildings, and plants. A great way to visit Aranjuez is to take the Tren de la Fresa (Strawberry Train), which includes a round-trip trip in a historical train (!!), and two "plans" once you arrive in Aranjuez: either a guided tour of the palace or of the gardens, along with a few other museums. And, true to its name, you're given fresh strawberries onboard the train.

Rascafria

El Paular & Puente de Perdon

Tucked away up in the Sierra of Madrid, Rascafría is a great place to go in the summer (though it's definitely not an undiscovered place for locals!). Skip the town itself - there's nothing interesting there - and go to the location of Monasterio de El Paular. The area is a charming little place between the Monastery and the Puente del Perdón, an 18th-century bridge. The river that flows by is also a great place to take a dip - the fresh mountain water is always nice and cold!

El Atazar Reservoir

Patones de Arriba

Patones de Arriba (note - you have to walk up here from Patones de Abajo) is a well-preserved ancient little village full of black slate houses. It's so small you can easily walk around in a short time, but you'll want to stay longer because it has such a rugged uniqueness to it. Check out local artisan products like honey, cheese, and chocolate truffles. Also worth a short car ride away is the lookout point of the El Atazar reservoir, where you'll get absolutely stunning views of a landscape void of any building.

Patones

Consuegra

You know how Don Quijote thought he was fighting giants, but they turned out to be windmills? This is the perfect place to see classic molinos of La Mancha. Consuegra is well-known for its saffron, and they have a festival celebrating it in the fall.

Consuegra

Let's face it: I could probably go on and on with great places to visit, but these are my favorites!

My Favorite Unusual or Unique Museums around the World

I am by no means a museum expert. And while I do enjoy the occasional museum, I tend to find them to be daunting tourist attractions that I feel obligated to visit because of their cultural and/or historical importance. I especially dislike art museums - I recognize they are important cultural institutions, but I personally just find most art museums to be tiring and boring. The more I travel, the more I've begun to bypass these places while traveling, no matter how important or famous they may be.

However, there are some museums that I have visited in my travels that are FANTASTIC and should not be missed by any tourist. Of course this list is very limited, but I think it does offer variety and uniqueness.

1. Miniatur Wunderland - Hamburg, Germany

This museum may be best for children. Or nerdy adult train obsessives. I am the latter. I love trains. Train rides, historic trains, miniature train models. You name it. So this museum was incredibly fun for me (and Emilio liked it a lot too). Basically it's full of room after room of extremely elaborate dioramas of all different types - models of real cities, mountain scenes, and probably the most awesome one, a model of Hamburg's airport, complete with model planes taking off and landing (no, planes are not trains...but this was fabulous nonetheless). So. Awesome.

2. Haus der Musik - Vienna, Austria

I've been to this museum twice now because even though I really dislike Vienna (sorry, Vienna), I adore this interactive museum. It's a pretty massive building with several floors, each with a different theme, including one dedicated to the famous Vienna Philharmonic (with a video of the latest New Year's concert), one explaining the science behind tone and sound, and one dedicated to Austrian composers. The best exhibits are the most interactive ones - you can roll dice to compose your own waltz and you can conduct your own orchestra!

3. Teatro-Museo Dalí - Figueres, Spain

I've mentioned many times that I'm not a huge fan of art, but I do love Dalí. The Costa Brava, up in the northeast corner of Spain, is a great place to discover more about Dalí's life and inspiration. This museum is fascinating. I especially liked how it's not a lot of paintings, but rather sculptures, statues and objects. The building itself is pretty wacky with statues and giant eggs all around the roof. He was one crazy dude, that's for sure.


4. Tinguely Museum - Basel, Switzerland

One of the bigger exhibits - EVERYTHING moves!

This is another museum that I've been to twice because the second time I was in Basel with Emilio I had to take him. Jean Tinguely was Swiss artist who is best known for "metamechanics," or basically sculpture machines. The museum tells you about Tinguely himself, but the best part are the original sculptures, which when you press a button, literally come to life. They start moving, making noise, playing music, creating things, you name it. So, so worth a visit if you're in the area (or even if you're not - Basel is a beautiful city!).

5. Museo Art Nouveau y Art Déco Casa Lis - Salamanca, Spain

I never realized that I actually like Art Nouveau until I discovered this museum in a beautiful building perched on the hill of old town Salamanca several years ago. The building has lots of colorful stained glass and is full of Art Nouveau/Art Deco style figurines, jewelry, statues, and other objects. It's not too big so it's not overwhelming, which I always appreciate in a museum.


6. House of Terror, Budapest

This museum is a very interesting an relatively interactive museum about communism and fascism in 20th century Hungary. It's also intended to be a memorial to victims of these time periods. Hungary, like many other countries in central and eastern Europe, was severely affected by Nazi and Soviet influence, and the Hungarian communist regime lasted decades. The House of Terror, located in what was the headquarters of the Hungarian communist party, exhibits all of this in an interesting way. I really learned a lot but wasn't at all bored here. I think it's also important to have a general understanding of modern Hungar
ian history if you happen to already be visiting.

7. Sorolla Museum - Madrid, Spain

Yup, this is an art museum. But as the museum is located in Joaquín Sorolla's own beautiful mansion of a house, the building itself is an important part of the museum. This is a great place to see a bit of Spanish art without getting overwhelmed. While the Prado, Reina Sofía, and Thyssen museums are very very good, they are huge and at least I get overwhelmed visiting them. But the Sorolla Museum is small, the house is lovely, and the gardens, designed to imitate Andalusian mudéjar art and it makes you feel like you're in a mini-Alhambra or Alcázar garden.

8. Hotel Viru KGB Museum - Tallinn, Estonia

The last museum is, yes, part of a hotel. I absolutely love Tallinn - it's such an underrated and stunningly beautiful city. This is another museum that I've visited twice because I brought Emilio there the second time. Basically, Estonia was one of the Soviet states until the collapse of the USSR. The Viru Hotel opened in 1972 and the last floor was a particularly important KGB radio center. As the hotel at the time was designed for important, rich foreigners, the KGB operated here by bugging rooms to spy, as the KGB was meant to do. A few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with the KGB long gone, the secret rooms and devices - literally just dropped and left behind - were discovered and converted into a museum. It's also a reminder that Russia remains a mere 150 miles (or less) away.

Of course there are other unusual or unique museums that I've enjoyed in Spain and around the world, but these are some of my favorites and I would definitely recommend them.

#22 See the Sunset from the Templo de Debod

While the Templo de Debod has always been infamous for the botellón (drinking in the street) that is always going on there, it's also famous for the beautiful sunsets that you can witness there.

This more than 2000-year-old temple was donated to Spain from Egypt in the 1960s. It's really quite impressive, inside and out. During the day you can visit the inside of the Egyptian temple, and though it's quite a small and tight space inside, you can see lots of hieroglyphs, images, and statues. Since entrance is free, it's worth a quick look inside! And, of course, don't forget to go back at sunset on a clear day.

Valle del Jerte - Cherry Blossoms Galore

One thing I love about Spain is its various blossoming fruit trees. The most common are the almond trees whose flowers bloom in February and can be white or really pretty pink colors, and the cherry trees that bloom sometime in March or April, depending on the weather and region.

Now, of course Spain isn't the only place with lots of cherry trees that blossom in the spring, but I still think that Valle del Jerte is a special, special place. For about ten days in the spring each year, kilometers and kilometers of land covered with cherry trees turn white as the flowers bloom. Cherry blossom festivals started in the region 70 years ago and as a result, it's a historic heritage site of Spain. The blossoms alone (because there is literally nothing else in this relatively remote area of the country) bring plenty of tourists during these lone ten or so days each year - and for good reason; it's stunning!

#67 See Goya’s frescoes in the San Antonio de la Florida Chapel

Frescos of the chapel.

I truly know next to nothing about art. I can name you some famous artists (mostly painters) and I can give you a short list of important Spanish artists, but that's really it. Honestly, I'm just not much of a fan of art. Especially portraits and religious paintings. I really find nothing more boring than walking through the Prado passing portrait after portrait of whatever king or queen or duke or whatever of Spain; then painting after painting of Jesus, Mary, or any of the other gazillion saints.

However, there is some art that I do like, and even the art that I don't like I can at least recognize its significance. (Except abstract expressionism - I'm sorry but I simply do not understand this type of painting - I don't care how much  you tell me about dripping paint, or layers of paint, or brushstrokes, or the special meaning behind the color red, it's not art!) Francisco de Goya is one of such painters - the boring portrait type that I dislike but recognize his importance, that is. He often painted people (though certainly not exclusively), including the Spanish royal family, for whom he worked. He died in Bordeaux, France in 1828, but nearly a century later in 1919 his remains were transferred to Madrid and reburied in the Ermita de San Antonio de Florida.

Frescos on the domes.

The chapel was originally built for the saint after whom it is named. What I do like about Goya are the Neoclassical frescoes that he himself painted in just six months on the chapel's ceilings. They mainly (in a nutshell) depict scenes from Saint Anthony's life, as well as images from 18th century Madrid. I personally don't understand the technique or significance behind the frescoes, but they are quite beautiful. Plus, I think there's extra merit to painting a fresco - it can't be an easy or pleasant task to paint a gigantic image standing on a ladder of some sort, craning your neck, half upside-down in order to get that stuff on the ceiling.

#33 Visit Valle de los Caídos

If you've ever traveled in Spain, north of Madrid, you've most likely seen an enormous cross off in the distance in the mountains. It's virtually impossible to miss. After all, that was the purpose of its location (in the Guadarrama mountain range, over 900 meters above sea level) and size (150 meters tall) - it can be seen from over twenty miles away. Seeing as Madrid has an average of over 300 days with sunshine each year, many of which include cloudless skies, that massive cross is in the perfect position for optimal viewing, whether the people of Spain like it or not.

View from only a few miles away during my hike up to it.

This cross belongs to a 3360-acre complex called - if you hadn't already guessed - Valle de los Caídos, which translates to Valley of the Fallen. I could probably go on and on about the place - its history, its purpose, its significance, its position as perhaps the most controversial monument in Spain, etc., but I'll try to give you an abridged version (explained to the best of my knowledge)...ha ha...if that's possible. But anyway, it's because of the last reason I listed - the controversy over the monument, that I think I find it so interesting.

If you didn't already know, Spain, not unlike much of the rest of 20th century Europe, went through a period in which it was under the rule of a dictator. This period, known as Francoism, began in 1939, when General Francisco Franco's regime won the Spanish Civil War, and ended in 1975, when he died. Unlike many other dictators of 20th century Europe, Franco was anti-communist (which led the US to ally with Spain during the Cold War, but that's a tangent I'm not going to get into). Instead he supported a fascist political movement called the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista, and as a result, Spain suffered religious, cultural, and political oppression for nearly forty years.

Cross and basilica. The monastery is on the other side of the hill.

During his time in power, Franco decided to create a memorial to all of the Spaniards who died during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Official records state that 33,700 people are buried there. Franco also ordered that José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Falange political movement, be buried in the basilica built under the cross. The tomb of Franco himself is also in the basilica, although this was not his wish. For this reason, among many others (including the facts that the monument commemorates those who helped support and fight for Franco's political cause and also that political prisoners were used to build the monument in an exchange for reducing their sentences), Valley of the Fallen has always been a point of contention in Spain. I've met plenty of Spaniards who haven't ever visited the monument and some who say they never will because of what it stands for.

Ceiling of the basilica, right under the cross.

Franco's tomb. Many want to relocate it.

In 2009, the government led by then Prime Minister Zapatero closed down the basilica at Valley of the Fallen, saying that many of the statues, including the one below, La Piedad (Catholicism was the only religion tolerated under Francoism), was in serious need of restoration and was therefore a safety concern. This angered many people, some who still support the things for which Franco's government stood, some who consider the monument to be of cultural importance, etc. I find particularly interesting that one particular group called the government "Talibanes socialistas," comparing the situation to the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, because supposedly the removal of the sculpture was destroying its integrity. (I'm not convinced of the correlation.)

"La Piedad."

Anyway, when I arrived in Spain in the summer of 2010, I was a bit disappointed to realize that I couldn't visit Valley of the Fallen. Regardless of the significance behind the monument, I think it's an important part of Spanish history. (I have similar feelings about Nazi concentration camps - they reflect a terrible period in what is still very recent history, but they should be preserved as a reminder of things that should never happen again.) For this reason, when I originally posted my list of 101 Things to Do in Madrid, I wrote that "this one probably won’t happen because it’s been closed since November of 2009 with no reopening in the foreseeable future." However, it was reopened in November of 2011, following Rajoy's election as Prime Minister.

So I decided to spend this past Saturday in the sierra. The only public transport from Madrid takes you to the entrance of the complex, which is at the bottom of a hill 3.5 miles from the actual cross, basilica, and monastery. I think I spent more time walking up and down that road than I did actually at the monument. (Later I discovered if you travel to El Escorial first, there is a bus that takes you all the way to the monument, but it only makes one trip there and back each day. Still, worth it if you're not in the mood for a hike.)

Hall leading to Franco's tomb. There are no windows in the basilica.

Beautiful scenery as you walk out of the basilica.

Anyway, the place is a unique and bizarre mixture of mega creepy/disturbing and serene beauty. The mountains, the scenery, the views from up there - are beautiful. The dark, windowless tunnel in the giant tomb-basilica and the gigantic cross - are, for lack of a better word, creepy. While I'm not sure that I would say that I like the place, I do still find it fascinating (the most interesting things are the things that are most controversial, after all, right?) and worth a visit.