Sangria, Tapas and Bull Fighting...

hey all,

so as you all know, we're in Spain. It has been nice here, both Adam and I have said how gorgeous we think the city is - we just don't like the people. but if you try hard enough, you can avoid people so we're paying out efforts to everything else.

(Plaza de Ayuntamiento in Valencia)

We love the cities - Valencia was just beautiful and the city is surrounded by hundreds and thousands of acres of Valencia orange trees - man do they love their oranges. Barcelona was just amazing too - if we were put there and not told where we were, we'd think we were in Melbourne to be honest. just really pretty. And now we're in Madrid - and it is spectacular. We thought Barcelona and Valencia were amazing, but this is just so Spanish in anyway you could imagine it. and it is super duper hot here! 40 degrees today. But the weather is odd - 40 degrees here is like a 30 degree day for us Aussies - the sun is very different. me and Adam lay out in the sun all day, and wont burn - its just a very progressive tan. we don't even need to wear sunscreen - i know we should, but we just don't burn here! in Aus, you go out in the sun for 30 minutes and you'll start to burn.

(a lake in a garden in Madrid)


but anyways, we also love the food and drink here. The Agua de Valencia is a favourite and tradition of Valencia - freshly squeezed Valencia oranges with Catalonian wine called Cava and a shot of Vodka. Another traditional drink is the sweet 'horchata' made from tiger nut milk and almonds. but we have to say our favourite is the Spanish Sangria's - we cannot get enough of them - we went out to a bar the other night and got the 'grande' for 7 euro - which was 1 litre of Sangria each. I was absolutely smashed. good times.

(Madrid Botanical Gardens)


They also have, of course, Tapas! we have seen shop after shop of tapas, but we're waiting out for San Sebastian - the hometown of Tapas. But whilst we are in Madrid, i am thinking about checking out the bull fighting arena - it just does not follow my beliefs though. its a very cruel sport, but none the less, i respect it is a very important sport for Madrid and part of their identity.

(Just down and around a corner in Valencia)

We have really enjoyed what Spain has to offer - we are just exhausted, and i am still sick. And the people here have a 'Mañana' attitude - meaning 'tomorrow'. so its been frustrating. but we wanted to clarify how much we loved the Spanish cities - they really are beautiful. Its funny actually, that the way you envisage each place, Spain, France, Italy, etc. it is everything and more - that each place does possess that stereotype, and just going through one border to the next country is a massive difference, even in the countryside - from Switzerland being lush with snow capped mountains and riddled with grand lakes, to Italy, being tall, where green meets the sand, and little terracotta houses are just plopped about - then to France, with dense forests in the North, to dry and baron scattered with what looked like gumtrees in the South. And now to Spain - it is all you could picture it as - hot, dry, with sandstone huts amongst fields of vineyards and orange trees, and dusty roads, leading to the floral and concrete masterpieces of their cities.

(We love Spanish food!)


we're off to Marrakech in a few days - we can't wait - but we are loving Spain. Oh, and its great that you can get absolutely anything behind the counter without a prescription!!!



España es hermosa. Espero que todos puedan venir a aquí!


Adórelos,


Ash y Adam en España.x