Spain (Madrid and Ibiza)

After spending a few unexpected hours more than we had planned at the Zurich airport (we'd got our flight times mixed up a little due to a waitlisted flight we didn't quite make) we finally boarded our plane to Madrid to begin our Spanish experience. We took a taxi to our hotel and settled in, before deciding what we would do for the night. We discovered that one of Madrid's longest running Flamenco shows was at a place just around the corner from our hotel, so we decided to venture off there.

After finally finding the place (it was harder to find than we thought even though it was just around the corner!) we settled in for a nice dinner and show at the Cafe de Chinitas. It was a fantastic way to start our Spanish holiday ... authentic traditional Flamenco music and dancing along with a really tasty Paella-like rice dish with chicken and vegetables which was fantastic along with some traditional Sangria (a fruity alcoholic drink made mainly from red wine, honey (or other sweetener) and chopped/sliced fruit mixed though it). We thoroughly enjoyed the show, the food and the experience overall. The place also had some rather unique door handles! (see below)

The next morning we left our hotel and ventured off towards Madrid's main Catholic cathedral, La Almudena. Plans to build the cathedral were discussed as early as the 16th century but construction did not begin until 1879 and due to various delays (not the least of which was the Spanish civil war) construction was not finished until 1993, well over a century later. On the way we strolled through the park near the cathedral and looked at the many statues and manicured gardens that were beautifully presented there.

We then stepped inside the cathedral to see the magnificent site that presented itself. Wonderful sculptures, statues and shrines adorn various parts of the cathedral, and outside there is a statue of Pope John Paul II. We attended Mass there - our first for this trip in a foreign language! - and then had a look around all the parts of the cathedral.

We then went on to have a look at the Royal Palace of Madrid, just north of the cathedral. We were not able to take photos inside, however. But the interiors were quite impressive, even if it lacked the continuity and organisation of Buckingham Palace. There is quite a mix of different styles and levels of "ornate-ness" that various kings over the centuries have employed in the various additions they made to various rooms. But it was very impressive, nonetheless.

From there we walked a short distance to a cafe nearby where we had lunch. It was an outdoor cafe, and on such a hot day it was a welcome addition to have mist sprays of cool water that would periodically go off to cool the diners down (without getting you or the food too wet, of course).

After that, we went in search of a traditional Spanish specialty... "chocolate con churros". The "churros" are a fried dough-based pastry which are served with a cup of hot chocolate. You then dip the churros in the hot chocolate before eating them. It's the salty mixed with the sweet that gives it it's distinct flavour. The ones we had were ok, but we think they could have been made a lot nicer ... so we may try our own version when we get home if we get the chance.

After some souvenir shopping, we went to a "tapas" place for dinner. The usualy thing in Spain is to have a big lunch as the main meal of the day, then have the "siesta" in the afternoon, then just very light meals or "tapas" in the evening - typically similar dishes as to what we would often have for appetisers or for finger food at cocktail functions.

The next day the first job on our list was to go in search of a laundromat (or "lavanderia" in Spanish). After unsuccessfuly following a lead from our hotel and then getting directions from somewhere else that we couldn't really understand (although the man was very nice and did his best!) we eventually trusted a lead on Google maps from Ryan's phone that led us to a place that was run by a very helpful lady who didn't know much English but was able and very keen to help us, so that made our task so much easier. Of course, with all the running around, from leaving the hotel to getting back it was around 2-3 hours of our day gone.

We then went off to do some sightseeing in the afternoon. On the way we encountered an interesting busker who was playing well known songs on wine glasses (filled with different amounts of water to make the different pitches) - so that was rather entertaining!

We then went in search of the main statue of the emblem of Madrid, the bear and the strawberry tree (or "'El Oso y el Madroño"). Google maps had been successful for us with the laundromat, so we decided to trust it with finding the statue. Unfortunately, it was only a user-defined entry for the statue that we could find on Google maps, and that led us up the garden path (quite literally). We ended up in a park with some nice statues, fountains and gardens, but could not find any statue resembling a bear and a tree anywhere near the point specified on the map. Eventually we found out the Spanish name and searched for that, and then came to the realisation that it was in a very different position. So, a subway trip or two later, we were back in the centre of Madrid and finally tracked down the statue and got some pictures of it. We then went off for tapas once again.

That evening, we decided to go for a walk down the main road near where we were staying ... the Calle Gran Via. After 2 kms of walking we made it to one of Madrid's main parks - Retiro Park (or "Parque Del Retiro"). This is a very large and beautiful park in the city of Madrid where many families were walking around, people riding bikes or rollerblading, and lots to see and lots of activity with a very family-oriented atmosphere. We had an enjoyable and leisurely walk around the park before catching the subway (from the Metro station "Ibiza", interestingly!) back to the station near our hotel.

Needing somewhere to eat before settling down for the night, we went into a buffet place that also did "a la carte" that we had walked past several times over the past few days. All we wanted was something small and wholesome, so we ordered the vegetable soup. When it came out it looked fantastic, but when we tasted it, we couldn't discern whether it was one cup or two cups of salt that must have been in just the one bowl that was served up (or so it tasted). Worst vegetable soup ever! The next morning we left our hotel and went to the airport for our flight to our next destination, Ibiza.

Ibiza (pronounced "ee-bee-tha") is one of the "Balearic islands" off the coast of Spain, the largest of which is Majorca (Christopher Skase's escape destination, for those of you who remember him). It's known somewhat as the "party island" with many of (mainly British) tourits coming to run rampant... but that wa not the reason for our visit, and we would be staying mostly clear of those areas during our four night stay. Ryan has family friends there... Angela is an English woman who became friends with Ryan's mum many years ago when she was working in London, and they have kept in contact ever since, even after she met and married Antonio and moved to Ibiza. Ryan and his parents last visited them and their son Agustin (then about 4 or 5 years old) in 1987 when Ryan was 11, and it was around 1991 when Angela, Antonio and Agustin had last been to Perth, so it was great to have an opportunity for Ryan to catch up with them all again and, of course, introduce his wife!

Angela and Agustin met us at the airport to drive us to their house. Last time Ryan and Agustin had met, Agustin was only a boy and Ryan a teenager, so it was great for them to meet up again and see how they had both grown up! And it was of course great for Ryan to see Angela after so many years.

On the way from the airport, Angela took us past a few sights of the island, including the salt flats and one of the beaches there where people were sunbaking, swimming and sailing.

When Ryan was last in Ibiza in 1987, Angela and Antonio lived in an apartment in Ibiza town. But during that visit, they took them to see the foundations of the place where they were building their home for retirement. It was only about 5 years ago that they finished it and moved in, and this was where we'd be staying with them for the coming days, so it was great to see the finished product! A lovely Mediterranean (of course!) style house in the countryside of Ibiza.

We also got to meet their dog, Bessie - who was very friendly and talkative

Upon arriving at the house, Angela had there for us one of the many delicious Spanish/"Ibithan" specialities that we would get to try during our time there. The first of these was a lovely moist almond cake made from one of the local bakeries - it was just beautiful. After settling down into our room, we went for a nice swim in their pool which was at an ideal temperature at that time of the day. We then had a barbequed lunch, with the barbeque being more like the South African "brie" we had experienced about a month earlier - i.e. cooking on a wire grill over hot coals to smoke the meat. It was very tasty. We also had a traditional Mediterranean entree - melon with prosciutto. The salty mixed with the sweet taste is what gives it its uniquely refreshing flavour as a starter before meals.

Later that afternoon we were introduced to Cristina, Agustin's girlfriend. They then took us into Ibiza town (the main town or capital of the island) to have a look around and to walk up the old fort walls to the Cathedral. It is located on the south side of the island. We could see the fort walls with the cannons there as well as fantastic views of the town and the Mediterranean sea. It took quite an effort, but it was worth it.

We came back down weaving our way through the old town and looking at some of the shops and some of the stranger side of Ibiza (as Agustin said ... you can pretty much wear anything and fit in, as there will always be someone weirder than you!) We visited a candy store and bought quite a few nice looking treats, and then later had an icecream while overlooking the harbour before heading back home.

The next morning, Agustin and Cristina were once again our guides - this time to take us to the "Hippy Markets", which were on the east side of the island. They were very busy, and getting around without losing each other was a bit of a task! But the quality of items available for sale was certainly much better than the average market. There were also quite a few performers in the streets of the markets, especially of the "still statue" kind.

We bought a clock as a souvenir and also some jewelry, plus a simple Spanish fan to help cool down (as it was very hot in the sun and with so many people around). We grabbed a sandwich and a Coke there as a mid-morning snack and then after having a bit more of a look around, headed back home.

After another refreshing swim in Angela and Antonio's pool, we had another fantastic home-cooked lunch - fish this time, with Gazpacho soup as an entree (a traditional Spanish soup served cold with chopped capsicum, spanish onion, croutons, and tomato pieces which you add yourself to garnish). To top this off, we had a delicious "flaon" (tart) which was a cheesecake type dessert with mint (actual chopped mint) which was a typical Easter dessert in Ibiza.

We had a nice restful and lazy afternoon, lazing around the house and outside next to the pool reading books and also catching up with some stuff on the internet like booking airport/hotel transfers and catching up on this blog. That night, we showed the family our wedding DVDs and the limited collection of photos we had brought before going to bed.

The next day we had a nice sleep in and a lazy morning, where we tried some aniseed-flavoured donuts called "bunuelos" that Angela had bought for us. We then had a beautiful chicken lunch (with choice of prosciutto and melon or gazpacho for entree) and some very nice and rich danish-type pastries with custard.

After a bit of a lazy afternoon, we took off quite late for our afternoon expedition and therefore decided to visit the west part of the island and save the north for the next day (having explored the south and east the previous two days). So Angela and Antonio took us for a drive to explore the west part of the island. We saw many fantastic views of the coastlines and beaches of the island. One of the sites we saw was "Es Vedra", which is pretty much a huge rock just sticking up out of the middle of the sea. There are many myths and stories surrounding Es Vedra, as it is considered somewhat of a mystical landmark by many traditional Ibithans. It is also said to be the third most magnetised place on Earth, after the North Pole and the Bermuda Triangle, due to extremely high concentrations of metals and minerals in the rock. It certainly looks an impressive sight just on its own there with the smaller Vedranell next to it but both completely detached from the main island.

After sunset we then moved on to have a drink at a small cafe where a full moon was moving between the clouds and the night air was nice and warm. The sangria we had there wasn't the best, but the company was good and after a bit of a rest we headed back home, encountering one of Ibiza's many lizards running around on the outer wall of their home (which is why one of the main emblems of Ibiza is the lizard).

We got a slightly earlier start to the day for our last full day in Ibiza, this time to explore the North side of the island. We travelled to a nice little rocky beach where we went for a swim in the clear Mediterranean waters where the sea bed varied from shallow to deep and was a rocky mixture of seaweed and other plant-life. You had to be careful when swimming as there were rocks/reefs just beneath the surface in some places. It was very relaxing and serene. There were many topless or totally nude bathers in these areas, which isn't too uncommon for Ibiza so it didn't seem all that strange. We then ate at the nearby cafe, including having some traditional Spanish paella (rice dish with seafood). Nearer sunset, we visited some other coastal locations including one where we could get a lovely shot of the sunset through a narrow bay pointing westward.

After doing a little souvenir shopping where we bought a lizard souvenir and where Angela bought us some nice mosaic house numbers for our new house, we went home and stayed up late swapping travel photos from our trip and from some of the family's recent trips. Since we were leaving for the airport early in the morning though, we said our goodbyes to most of the family before going to bed.

The next morning, Angela took us to the airport and we said our goodbyes and thanked her very much for her hospitality and the fantastic and relaxing time we'd had in Ibiza. It was then time to board our return flight back to Madrid in time to catch the flight to our next destination ... Paris.