NYR #48: Ride the Tren de la Fresa

Literally: Strawberry Train. Laura first described it to me as something for kids at the train museum, so I had a picture in my head of one of those mini-trains that they have at amusement parks, or a little train car in miniature that kids can explore. I don't really know.

Needless to say, it's not like that at all, but rather is a really old-school train car (think wooden benches for seats) that makes the trip from Madrid to Aranjuez (the path of the very first train line in Spain) ONLY DURING STRAWBERRY SEASON!!!!

The hosts dress up in period (mid-19th century, maybe??) dress and pass out small cartons of deliciously fresh Aranjuez strawberries, while reciting Spanish poetry. The poem they recited while we were on the train was calles, "La chata en los toros", and is about Isabel de Borbón, the daughter of Queen Isabel II. She was really popular in Madrid because she was kind of a party girl and really loved going to bullfights, and this poem is all about her and her ladies-in-waiting getting ready.

Sadly, the views out of the train weren't particularly spectacular, but it was a lot of fun to do once, and the train is super-pretty and old. I rode the train with Max and Ashley when they were here, and we had LOADS of fun. Perhaps a bit too much fun, because on the way back, I conked out on Max's shoulder for the entire trip.

NYR #7: Take a photo at the statue of the Oso y el Madroño

If you've been paying attention to the news in Spain recently, you'll know that the very center of this city, Sol, has been occupied with a whole bunch of people protesting.

By camping out.

Seriously, there was like a mini-city inside the city. (And though there was some form of civic organization within the spontaneous tent city, there wasn't so much that it didn't make me really appreciate the existence of government and the rule of law. So thank you government. I know I rag on you a lot, but when it comes to building infrastructure and maintaining sewage systems, you're kind of hard to beat.)

Sol is also where one of the most famous images of Madrid is located: The statue of the Oso y el Madroño (literally: bear and strawberry tree--but I don't think strawberries grow on trees). I'm fairly positive that I've covered it elsewhere on the blog.

Luckily for me, I took all the pix of the statue that I needed to long before the protesters set up camp. (get it? they were actually camping out!!). It's served me well as a great meeting point right in the center of town (on any given weekend night, there are probably hundreds of people who agree to meet up at the statue, and somehow, they all manage to find each other in the crowd), and I'm kind of glad the protests are mostly done so that I can have it back (metaphorically speaking).

NYR #42: Start a day with churros from San Gines

This is another one from WAY back in March (but it gets repeated with just about every visitor that I have had, so it counts that I haven't written about it until now).

So when I was a child, Saturday mornings, my dad and I would go get donuts at Winchell's. I always had a very specific donut request: strawberry with strawberry icing, or plain with sprinkles.

Winchell's has long since gone out of business, and frankly, the thought of eating donuts kind of makes my stomach turn a bit (they're just TOO sweet). But churros in Spain...those never go out of style.

Pure awesomeness

Let me introduce you. The churro: straight-up fried dough that you can coat in powdered sugar and dip in chocolate. Or just dip into chocolate. Or dip into coffee, if you're into that sort of thing.

The first time I ate at San Gines, with Aubs, I wasn't able to finish the chocolate. The second time, I finished my chocolate. The third time (with Vica) I finished mine and maybe had a little of hers. The fourth time, with Max and Ashley, I definitely finished my chocolate and about half of Ashley's.

Basically, it's delicious. And I want to go back right about now. 

NYR #60: Take a photo of the Torres Kio

I think that technically, this one is supposed to be taken while lying down in the grass, but I was kind of lazy. 

The Torres Kio are the world's first skyscrapers that were built on a diagonal. At first, I didn't really get the importance of their structure, because they're not particularly tall, but that's when you realize that buildings normally don't look like they're about to kiss each other.

Thanks a lot.

My current blog obsession. It's a blog full of thank-you notes, to the most minute details of life.

Why didn't I think of this???? I write thank you notes all the time, but they're generally not this short nor humorous. Although I have to admit that the ones that don't ever get written down are to things which are just as mundane as driving on the freeway or riding the subway.

Dear thxthxthx:

Thank you for reminding me that even a short thank you note is worth writing.

D

NYR #22: See the sunset at the Templo de Debod

So. WAY back in MArch, when Aubs was here, I took her to see the sunset from the Templo de Debod. Back in the 60s,  Egypt was building a dam, and the area that was to be flooded housed this lovely temple, amongst others. 

In thanks to Spain for helping to save the temples, Egypt gifted the country with the largest of them.

It's really really pretty, especially at sunset. 

I would attach a picture of the two of us, but I think Aubs has all of them. So I leave you with these. Some of them are from when Vica came to visit, too.