Back in Madrid!

With the last days of university officially behind us Annie, Cat and I set off on our Madrid reunion trip to stir up old memories and enjoy the sunshine. (Unfortunately at the last minute Annabel had to stay behind but was with us in spirit!)

I flew out a couple of days before the others to spend the weekend with my old housemate Katrina in her new flat in Embajadores. Setting foot in Madrid again was such a strange experience; so many emotions and memories came flooding back. The smell of sunshine and cigarette smoke hits you in waves as you step off the plane and it wasn't long before I was rattling along on the metro towards Sol. A few couples passionately making out on the platform, a beggar forlornly holding out a cup in my direction and a call of "ehhhh mami!"from a darkened doorway, along with the requisite kissy kissy noises, meant there was no mistaking where I was...

Saturday and Sunday were spent in a happy blur enjoying afternoon drinks in kerbside bars, exploring the centre again and finding my feet in the city I used to call home. On a stroll through Retiro Park we came across the rose garden or rosaleda; something I'd missed last year:

 

 

 

This is a gorgeous space, overflowing with flowers, surrounded by a low hedge towards the edge of the park. Perfect for a romantic walk or just to get away from the hustle of the city for a while.

Cat and Annie arrived on the Monday and we found our Airbnb apartment near Malasaña. Three days of sheer relaxation followed; I didn't think about work or grades or job hunting once. We took advantage of the brands that can't be found in the UK and shopped til we quite literally dropped. Lying on our picnic blanket under the shade of the trees in Retiro we shared a feast of tortilla, empanadas, apricots and tomatoes. The birds chirruped above us, a pair of squirrels fought tooth and claw over some tidbit and the hot sun left everyone lazy and lolling about.

 

As I sunk through the clouds to hit the runway back in Luton it felt like coming back to earth in more ways than one. I've had such an incredible last few days; our Madrid trip, finding out I'll be graduating with a First Class degree from Southampton in July and tonight we're heading off to a summer ball at the top of Portsmouth's Spinnaker tower. What's more in just under 48 hours I'll be in Cuba for our summer holiday!

It will probably take me a little while to sort through all the squillions of photos I'll be taking while away but I'll get a post up as soon as I can when we get back.

Spanish Wildlife!

Before I went to Madrid for my year abroad I was already really into photography. The only thing that's changed is that now I take more photos of actual people! Growing up I've always enjoyed wildlife watching and photographing the nature I found in my garden. I remember showing my dad my holiday snaps from Corfu, Greece and (after the 20th photo of a hermit crab) he asked me if I had any photos of the family at all or if everything was going to be either a twig or a snail!

Spain was a fantastic opportunity to test my photography skills and with so many gorgeous things to photograph I gradually expanded my repertoire... My love of nature remained though and here and there throughout my blog you can find the photos to prove it. I thought I'd put together a post with some of my wildlife snaps all in one place. So lets dive in!

Spain is of course not that far away from England so there is a lot of cross over in terms of the birds you can find. Here's a sweet little bluetit from Segovia:

And his mate the goldfinch:

This blackbird was warbling in the setting sun in Seville:

Spring springs early in Spain so the blossom was out in Toledo in full by early March:

There are some more exotic birds to see in Madrid as well - here are some of the quaker parrots that spend their days squawking in Retiro Park:

This Black Redstart was watching the world go by on the sea wall at San Sebastian:

There were also little wading birds scurrying along the beach:

A bird I was particularly happy to see was the Hoopoe - I first heard of this bird while playing a kind of top trump card game with my family when I was very small, I always wanted to see one with its huge crest and bright orange body with black and white stripes.

Córdoba was one of my favourite places that I visited while in Spain and this Gecko watched us one night as we ate dinner:

A gorgeous blue butterfly was sipping nectar in the garden of the Alcázar:

 Back in Madrid this was one of the splendid winter roses in the cemetery across the street:

Here's one of the hundreds of sleepy terrapins from Atocha train station:

And finally this little Sparrow was sheltering from the sun in a tree by the river on one of the hottest summer days I experienced in Spain!

I hope you enjoyed this collection of some of my wildlife shots from my year in Spain. I'm thinking this will be the start of a series of posts with roundups of the architecture, landscapes, food etc that I saw while away.

To see more of the photographs of all the wonderful things I saw in Spain then make sure to follow me on instagram @madridadrift!

Córdoba - La Fiesta de los Patios

The second stop on our Andalucía trip was Córdoba. I remember seeing pictures of La Mezquita (Córdoba's giant Mosque-Cathedral) back in a Spanish lesson in year 8. Then while I was working at the Museo Sorolla here in Madrid one of the staff told me about the huge flower festival that takes place there in May and I was desperate to go!

After only a two hour bus journey from Granada, Chris and I arrived and found our new home for the next couple of days. It was just a family house but had a lovely patio of its own and a sweet little old Spanish lady to show us in.

 

 

 

 

We were starving so headed out for some food. Following a small procession and the smell of incense through the streets from the small church at the end of our road we came across a Roman Temple...

 

 

...and its resident cats:

 

 



 

The streets around the temple are full of little bars and we had a lovely evening that ended in a Jazz Café on the way home.

 

 



The next morning the search for Patios began! La Fiesta de los Patios lasts for several weeks throughout May and is one of the prettiest festivals around. Families fill the patios of their houses with as many flowers as they can fit in and set water features and flamenco soundtracks going ready for the public. This was the first one we saw, complete with terrapins intent on escape...

 

 

 

 

The next one we found is definitely one of my favourites from the whole two days:

 

 

 

Next stop that morning was La Mezquita which is down in the old jewish quarter of the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The building has been in turns a Mosque and a Cathedral and then both. Nowadays it serves as a Catholic Cathedral and the moorish architecture blends seamlessly into the Christian half.

 

 

 

 

After La Mezquita we hopped over the Guadalquivir river and across the Puente Romano or "Roman Bridge" for a quick drink in the shade.

 

 

 



 

 

After lunch we headed to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos which is just a little way along from the Mezquita.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also go underground to see the Arabic baths:

 

 



 

 

The view from the roof takes in the Caballerizas Reales or Royal Stables and the Alcázar's gardens.

 

 

We popped into the stables a little later and saw them exercising the horses:

 

 

 



The gardens of the Alcazár are just like all gardens in Andalucía in May; absolutely lovely:

 

That evening we just wandered about and went for a meal of roast lamb at a restaurant called El Rubio. The sun was setting and the city looked beautiful in the dusk.

 

There were lots of happy geckos scampering about the restaurant's lamps:

 

 

 

 

The next day we devoted to seeing the rest of the patios. I'd heard that the best ones were to be found in the Judería (the Jewish Quarter) and down by the Alcázar so we followed the map we picked up at a stand in the centre. La Fiesta de los Patios is definitely my favourite Spanish festival so far - I have never seen so many gorgeous flowers!

 

 

I'm so glad I was able to make it to Córdoba for the festival as I've been desperate to go for months. The city is typically Spanish; all cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings with coloured shutters and tiny churches. If you go anywhere in Spain next year make it Córdoba in May - you won't regret it!