Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Saturday
A nice relaxing start to the day - I woke late and read my book for a while, before venturing out for a walk. I am getting to know the neigbourhood now and I wandered down to where I had breakfast on my first day = but the cafe was crowded so I headed back up the street and went into a quiet little bar. Most of the bars are small with standing room at the counter and only two or three tables.
There was a big billboard outside showing a meal - steak and chips, with salad and an egg. That looked like a pretty good meal, and so I pointed to the picture and said I'll have that please. But the waiter brought me the menu (all in Spanish of course) and needed me to point to what I wanted. Not a lot of good as I didn't understand a word of it. Out came the phrase book again- Lot of use that has been - I have only found about three or four words that I have needed so far - so I just point to what I think is beef and assume that ensalada is salad and he nods and comes back quickly with a transalation on his phone - yep I've chosen beef fillet and salad. I nod enthusiastically and within a few minutes I have a meal in front of meal. A snitzel type piece of meat - but very tender and delicious - covered with olive oil and garlic and pepper. Delicious - and the salad was just lettuce and tomato with a balsamic type vinegar dressing - also very tasty and washed down with a beer. Not bad for my first drink of the day - I can't make a coffee in my hotel room as I still haven't found anywhere to buy coffee or even tea bags. I justify it by saying it is after mid-day afterall.
Suddenly this quiet little bar becomes very noisy - the TV is turned up loud and a family come in with two incredibly noisy children who yelled at the top of their voices and ran around in and out of the chairs and under the tables, whilst their parents sat and drank and ate their tapas. What a hell of a noisy place it was.
From here I head back to the hotel to repack my bags and get ready for the tapa night
I'm the first to arrive - no surprises there - and others soon arrive and the noise level in the room goes up as we all start introducing ourselves to each other and work out who is going to Gredos and who is going to the other venue.
Yummy tapas, drinks, lots of chatter, and a few instructions from the organisers about what will happen tomorrow. I sat with a very interesting woman (and already I have forgotten her name as she was going to the other venue) in the bar with the locals watching the football match. Of course I don't know which team is which, and there are a few cheers early in the game, but the group becomes decidedly quieter - so it would appear the locals are losing the game. I have met some amazing women on this trip so far, and this lady has travelled extensively in Africa, and on her own. Makes my little GoGranny Adventures seem extremely tame in comparison. And then suddenly it is time to make tracks and get some sleep - we have to be up and ready to go at 8.45am
- comments