Festive inspiration

There's nothing quite like seeing the first Christmas ad on TV. Although it has got a bit out of hand in the UK with Christmas adverts premiering, it's not really as much of a thing here in Spain which makes me sad.

Anyway, thank God for youtube. This way I've been keeping up-to-date with Coca-Cola, Baileys, Debenhams, John Lewis, M&S and in fact all the supermarkets...

This one is probably my chosen one for the year. They have ones like this every year and it reminds me of their 2010 advert when I fell in love with that dress at the end. I want my life to look like this. Not gonna lie.

However, for a place in my heart, I'm not sure anything will ever, ever beat this.

OYSHO

Something we are definitely missing out on in the UK? The branch of the gigantic Inditex tree (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka etc.) that is Oysho.

It has cute pyjamas, underwear that's always matching, knitted jumpers, cosy dressing gowns, fluffy slippers and just everything that is silky or soft. Ok, it does also has gym wear - but I don't venture into that section (as you know, going to the gym is definitely not my thing).

Maria, my roommate, says never goes into Oysho without leaving with something new. The other day actually, I was feeling ill and she came home with some pompom-ed bunny bed socks. Made me feel unimaginably better.

All and all though, it's a very nice shopping experience, even if you bank account might suffer a little (only a little though with their prices - luckily). The staff are very well-mannered and far more attentive than in Zara, the changing rooms are pristinely white but with a homey feel, and it's laid out with the ethos that you can touch every item. I may be living in a Zara Home house in the future, but what I wear in said house will be Oysho.

Year abroad lessons learnt - take two

So two and a half months in...

1. Loving not having to leave a tip ever, joy of all joys - no, that's not actually sarcastic.

2. Everyone here has a pueblo and come puente (bank holiday), Madrid empties. But it's not a wealth or class thing; having a second home, a village home, is basically the norm here.

3. Macedonia doesn't refer to the country, it means fruit salad. Yes, when I saw it on the menu, I too was confused. I take it that historically it comes from Macedonia, or it's just some weird coincidence.

4. I used to make fun of people who wear sunglasses in winter. Turns out only in England does it look ridiculous, here it's a necessity because even at it's coldest (we've already had snow) Madrid is still always blindingly sunny.

5. Fanta limón is definitely missing from the British beverage market. It's one I'll miss on coming home. Especially for mixing copas, a typical girl's drink going out here is not 'vodka cranberry' but 'vodka limón'.

6. I will never understand the oh so popular yogurts here that you open up to find a semi-solid gelatine with water on top. I will not mix my own yogurt. This should be done for me. Get on it Spain.

7. Working at a school I'm weirdly up to date with what's cool for kids. Rolling school bags seem to be a thing... who needs a Easyjet allowance sized wheeling suitcase for the one book they bring to class? Confused.

8. Shower gel containers are always at least 500ml. Finding a normal sized bottle is strangely impossible. They last you for months though (while taking up half the space in your shower).

9. Here drinks are served in these goblet cups at bars. I feel like Harry Potter or a royal every time I go out for a vodka limón (see 5).

10. Little old man happy in the company of his tiny weeny chihuahua, you make my day every day when I walk past you on my way home. Below is the only photo I have of him.

La Latina

It's not as if the area's Rastro (flea market) on a Sunday is even the reason for most of the people around to be there, no - it's just the excuse needed because La Latina has been buzzing with life every time I've been there. A great place to go for tapas, a drink, or just to hang out and appreciate some secret-but-incredible churches.

Here are some of my photos from a Sunday there with some work friends.

A man just playing his wine glasses. As you do.

This is Spain: churches, just plain churches, not even cathedrals, are gigantic and insanely beautiful.

The place to go for a meal, is definitely La Musa. We stumbled across this place behind the Iglesia de San Andrés because I noticed the pinterest-looking rustic white gate and chalk board.

It was just me and Ger, and for two, they have the degustación menu which is very good value for money and means you get to try a little of everything.

Makipan is something I'd never seen before. A sushi concept, but made with bread rather than rice. Delicious. I always love a bit of fusion gastronomy.

They give you just the right amount of everything.

Definitely go if you find yourself in La Latina, or actually, go out of your way to get there. I would. Luckily there's one in Malasaña as well. It's probably one of my favourite restaurants in Madrid at the moment.

Chanel

As a blog is just a string of random thoughts pieced together on the internet, I thought I'd share with you, lovely readers, how I miss French. I was never that great at it to tell the truth. I did A-level but let's put it this way, I did French for at least 8 years longer than Spanish while at school, yet I'm doing Spanish (and just Spanish) at university.

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. In an attempt to refresh my français, I decided to watch Coco avant Chanel and (importantly) without subtitles. It was more difficult to understand than I had remembered when I first watched it at the cinema in London but still, I like the film. At almost two hours, it is pretty long though so with the need for concentration for translation, not a one to watch when sleepy. You have been warned, I ended up watching it in two shifts as I almost fell asleep watching it at the end of a working week.

I liked this second time I watched it mostly because Audrey Tautou is just a very good choice for the part and is just very French, but also because visually, I think the film is very interesting.
I'm not really talking about the costumes, although the revelation of the pieces we recognise as very Chanel walking down that amazing mirrored staircase is exactly what the end of the film needs to lift it back to life again.......

I'm actually referring to the use of colour - well shades (black and white) if we're being picky - in the picture as a whole. Even from the very beginning at the school, where the scene is all black and white with the hospital-white beds, and Gabrielle's drab uniform contrasting with the twin girls in rich burgundy in their parents' arms, and later on another contrast between the garishly embellished monstrosity of a party dress bought for her in keeping with the fashion of the age and the outfit she ends up making for herself to wear to said party, we are given a hint at Chanel's 'future' designs and how a basic colour scheme is not necessarily plain but simple and chic.

Anyway, watch the film and decide for yourself. It's not one I think I'll ever buy on DVD because it can be a bit slow-going, but will certainly watch it if it's on TV - particulièrement pour pratiquer le français encore.

Someone stop me rambling. Here is a Chanel video that I came across on a friend's Facebook. A little midweek inspiration. I'd love to know how to make design videos like this.

Azotea

A few weeks ago I went on a recommendation, with a group of friends, to the roof terrace (azotea) of the Círculo de Bellas Artes. It is a great place to go for views of Madrid. You can look over the city, including Palacio de Cibeles opposite and the iconic Madrileñan Metropolis just across the road.

You have to pay for entry and the drinks are a little pricey but I think it's worth it, especially at sunset for champagne or at night for a cocktail. We did the latter.

With the huge cushions to sprawl out on, it's perfect for good weather so when it's starts to get warm again - I may have to wait a few months (meh) - you will find me there!

I even went back when showing Madrid to a friend, as with the price for entry, the museum are free. However, the queue was so long for the lift that we bailed on the views and just saw the exhibitions instead. Català Roca's black and white photos were particularly interesting, showing us 20th century Spain through his lens. I was very pleased with myself, managing to recognise most of the photos taken in Madrid. I really am getting to know the city... I will never want to leave at the end of the year.

niMÚ

For steak tartare, wine and dressing a little dressier, niMÚ down on Goya is a lovely place to go. Germán took me there for our anniversary and as he had an exam until 9.30pm - meaning our time was somewhat limited - I was very happy just to go out for dinner. It is small but sophisticated. I particularly liked the metal-backed menus, and the service was exceptional.

I also discovered my newest obsession, sorbete. Combining desert and a cocktail? Genius. I had a mojito sorbete and while Ger's had was lemon and tequila.

Yahuh. I'm liking Madrid so far.

Cerveza por favor

Considering post-work cañas. Mahou or San Miguel, that is the question.

vs.

Date Night

Being a lovely girlfriend, I found an architecture exhibition in Madrid and took Ger. It was at the Biblioteca Nacional which in itself is interesting in terms of architecture. Here's me being the language geek that I am - Alfonso X, my good friend.

We then ambled over to where the museums are, Paseo del Prado, Madrid's Exhibition Road. By night, I snapped with my iPhone until it died. Blogger total mode.

Caixa Forum.

The Reina Sofía lifts.

Place to go for Picasso.

You know it.

Chao for now...

Firsts

I am so slow with this blog, I do apologise dear readers but I wanted to write to you about how the weekend before last we had our first house guest and first party. Both were lovely, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
So it was Dafydd who came to stay with me and Maria for the weekend, a friend from Oxford who does Spanish like us but also Portuguese so is in Portugal, in Coimbra, this term. Follow his blog here.
I don't think Maria and I did too badly, acting as tour guides in a city we actually barely know ourselves. We went to our classic Lateral, also to Tommy Mel's (American diner feel), shopped in Barrio de Salamanca, had a copas (party) to introduce our friends, and wandered around Madrid.

This was a feria of old books that we stumbled upon by Recoletos on the Sunday. It had stalls with novels, comics and even 1920s postcards from different European countries, some of which had been written on and sent, which I was very tempted to buy just to read the stories they told. I ended up buying a second-hand Agatha Christie book in Spanish so as to practise my language without it feeling like work. Haven't got round to that one yet though hmmm....

We went to lunch in the Mercado de San Antón which is a architecturally a simple concrete block of a building. The ground floor is a market which the building looks into as an internal courtyard with your typical breads, hams and cheeses. The first floor is divided into tapas bars, funnily enough we came across one that was completely deserted in spite of the fact that the others were all a tope (packed), so it turns out that one only had vegan and vegetarian food. You shouldn't ever try to take meat away from a Spaniard, even the vegetable dishes are flavoured with jamón. Finally the top floor is a restaurant and terrace which seemed to have a good ambience. We ate at the restaurant and I had a delicious truffle pappardelle, which I would definitely recommend, although the place is a tad pricey.

We then had fro yo at this place around the corner in Chueca. I love these kinds of finds. Check out the eclectic decor.

A leettle homesick

I'm missing lots of things about London, although I am having a good time in Madrid. I've realised that the two things really aren't mutually exclusive. Not that I'd be there anyway if I was in the UK since Oxford term has begun but whatever. These are a few such things from a great article.

LIVE IN LONDON

ABC Serrano

So this is where our nearest supermarket is. Feel like I'm living a very glamorous life but it is actually just Mercadona (queue the great Mercadona jingle played in there every five minutes). It's the old ABC newspaper building from 1899 and from the Castellana side, this façade is what you see.

Oh and here's a cool video I found of some bloggers on the ABC Serrano website while looking up the opening hours. I was actually asked by a very hipster looking blogger yesterday on the street whether he could take a photo of me for his 'Street Style in Salamanca' post and well, we'll see how that one turns out.

ABC Serrano Tendencias Verano from cupofcouple on Vimeo.

First month done and done

Wow, it's only taken me a month but I finally have the triple threat for any student here: my NIE, Spanish phone and home wifi.

I've now been here for 34 days and hombre, I've learnt a lot. Therefore amiguitos, I thought I'd make a list of year abroad lessons learnt and add to it each month! First twenty, here goes...

1. I've found that I can sleep absolutely anywhere - in the car on both the way and way back from school, on the desks in the staff room and even on the bus full of shouting children.

2. Everyone in Spain appears has been to London and/or Brighton. No idea why on the Brighton front but well I now know far more about the seaside town.

3. Spanish beaurocracy is impossible  - the quest for a NIE became the bane of my existence and it was easier to get a job out here than it was been to set up a bank account.

4. In Madrid? Not sure where to go for dinner? Lateral. Every time.

5. Being at school to teaching at a school, nothing changes. My first day was spent with all the women (the teaching staff in primary is about 80% female) discussing the one or two men considered attractive (mostly just because they're there).

6. I quickly learnt ITV is not the TV channel but the Spanish MOT. Bit of an anti-climax that one.

7. You begin to get excited for just about anyone's birthday because they treat everyone to something in the school, whether it's biscuits, cake or an empanada. Yummm.

8. Alcohol is cheaper than you can ever even imagine. You can buy a good bottle of wine, which would cost at least six pounds in the UK, for three euro. If that's not incentive enough to live in Spain, I don't know what is.

9. Spain is lacking 'the meal deal' in supermarkets. Although in most bares you can get a pretty cheap fixed menu option for a meal, it's just not the same.

10. Spaniards just function on less sleep. It's madness... We got home from a birthday party last weekend at 9am. Yes - as in 9 o'clock in the morning. 

11. You'll learn vocabulary and expressions that will never (ever) come up in exams, such as ser chungo (a colloquial way to say something is bad, complicated, weird or dodgy), or donde tengas la olla, no metes la polla (a pretty inappropriate way of saying don't get involved with somebody you work with).

12. Spaniards are sadly not really dessert people... But they do make up for that by almost always having a starter and main course.

13. The metro may claim to be air conditioned but they really need to up their game. The hot, sticky air hits you as soon as you come into the station. However, at least it is less busy (and probably less sweaty) than the London tube.

14. Spain is crazy for Fernando Alonso. Not only do I see a cardboard cut out of him every time I go to the bank (Banco Santander) but he's in cologne and watch adverts and even on the side of a building by the motorway on my way to work.

15. The word ánimo, as an interjection, needs to exist in English! 'Cheer up' or 'come on' are neither the same nor nearly as concise.

16. This is vital advice for living in Spain in general, people ask "¿qué tal?" (how are you?) sort of as a form of hello, without ever expecting an answer and lots of the time you look like a fool if you answer them. Oh and this works the other way round to, don't expect an answer because you will undoubtedly be left hanging!

17. Madrid in September/October is incredibly confusing weather wise. Morning to afternoon in terms of the temperature could be the change from Winter to Summer in the UK. How on earth does one dress to leave the house when it's 10 degrees but to survive the day when it reaches 27. Although it's far better than English weather so I'm not complaining!

18. Never enter into a Britain vs. Spain argument. It will never end (well).

19. Despite the fact that I didn't turn around when people called me for the first couple of weeks, I have finally got used to being either the Spanish Rosi or the English pronounced Rosie.

20. Last but not least, I have begun a new obsession, Zara Home. I could live there with the pristine white sheets and heavenly smell. I have even had a dream about my future Zara Home-filled home.

Hermès at Cibeles

The weekend before last, Germán, Helena, Chiara, Claudia, Manu and I went to see the Hermès exhibition on at the moment, 'Esencia del cuero'. After a delicious lunch at Sushi Shop - yes, I went back there again, I loved it that much - we ambled over to Palacio de Cibeles.

None of us were sure what to expect but I imagined something quite small, like the Dior exhibition in Harrods last year. I was wrong, it was gigantic.

As we came in I immediately thought of Norman Foster's roof at the British Museum. I love that style, bathing the space with natural light so that you have the feeling you're outside when you're in.

The exhibition was divided into rooms, each one very well done and each one telling a different part of the story. The first room gave us a chance to feel the leather and suede from different animals. A favourite was a blue-dyed ostrich leather.

We then had the opportunity to watch one of the craftsmen make a bag. It's a long and intricate process that I could watch all day long.

Next came various different rooms explaining the history of the brand, helping us to plot the trajectory of ideas that leads us to their place in fashion today. Each room had a distinct theme and design.

This included a North African refuge complete with desert sounds and sand.

A take on a silent moving picture.

A room for Hermès' sueños hechos realidad whose entrance was floor-length hanging strips of leather. There was even a pretty upmarket leather lunch box for your apple and pen knife.

There was even a room with Hermès saddles, stirrups and riding boots, which went so far as to *smell* like a stable.

The photo below is just too good to go unseen.

I leave you with their homage to Spain, bags mechanically dancing flamenco. It was all so well done, down to the extensive knowledge of those there working. If you can go, do. The exposición is on until the 13th October.

See Miss Fidalgo's blog for some more photos.

Kike Keller

A week ago today I went with friends for a drink at Kike Keller, after dinner at Whitby (another great place you should try). Granted this post is pretty late in the day so why write it? Well, the bar is definitely worth it. I've been telling anyone and everyone I meet that they have to go for a gin tonic there - and yes, Spaniards for some bizarre reason omit the 'and'.

This is the website and they have a super artsy blog. To be honest it's way too cool for me, thankfully Manu and Germán donned their hipster glasses so we didn't look too out of place!

Here are some photos I took of the bar which is a combination of interesting pieces of art and design.

 The boyfriend and I.

 A particularly creepy lamp.

Crate chairs which really work with the warehouse of the exposed brick and piping at the bar.