Summer!

Back in the business of blogging. With a hearty “welcome to summer!”, and with extended travel plans in my present and future, I thought I’d dust off the “Far Kreie” blog and hit the keys again. Sure, I’m not living internationally anymore, but I’m still a far cry from home - this time on a summer-long travel adventure/vacation in Europe, starting off in the lovely and quite familiar country of España. So, let’s jump into summer and dig in.

My sister, Maria, and her husband, David - born and raised in Madrid - began forming summer plans a few months ago. They often return to Spain - to visit family and friends and to vacation on the beaches of southern Spain. Covid-19 put a semi-hold to those plans, and this summer, for them, would be their first return to a summer vacation in Spain in four years. Knowing that I was also planning to spend time in Europe this summer, when I found out they’d be renting an apartment in Playa de la Barrosa (near Chiclana and Cadiz) for two weeks in June, and that their kids, Santi and Eva and Eva’s boyfriend Keiran would also be joining, it was an easy decision for me to buy my tickets and make plans to tag along. I’d been to La Barrosa on two other occasions. Once in 2009 and again in 2014, both times with the whole family. Both trips had been memorable, and I had quickly fallen in love with this little beach community - part sun, surf and sand and part bar and restaurant-lined boardwalk. It’s a great mix of the nature of the ocean the culture and community of southern Spain. With not another American in site, it’s a true immersion into the vacation experience of sun-worshiping Spaniards. (Okay, and the odd German and British family thrown in for good measure. That’s a true part of southern Spain beach culture, too.)

As I’m writing this, I’m at a table on our little patio - trying my best to take in the music of my  “Chill Beach Music” playlist coming from my bluetooth speaker over the sounds of home remodeling - sawing, sanding and pounding - from the next patio over. It’s not the most “chill” of vibes, but I must say, I’ll take it any day over my windowless office at EP High School. The sun’s shining and time seems to have come to a stop. So, all in all, not too bad.

I arrived in Madrid on Monday, just two days removed from my last day of school. I was greeted at the airport by friend of a friend, Yesi, who even created a little sign to welcome my arrival. Yesi is a friend to Kenia - they actually refer to one another as sisters - who I met and got to know thanks to my travels to Hogar Tierra Santa in Honduras over a decade ago. Kenia lived all of her childhood at the “hogar” and we forged a friendship when I became her “padrino” on my second visit to Honduras. I visited her twice more in the following years, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since, including a visit from her while I was living in Munich two years ago. Kenia followed Yesi, in search of a more prosperous life, to Madrid many years ago, and now both of them are successfully navigating their lives as transplanted Spaniards.

My first day of vacation, and my first day in Madrid, proved to be a full one. Around 10:00 a.m., after getting my bags and jumping on the metro, Yesi and I first stopped off at their apartment, then waited for Kenia to return home from work. After Kenia was back we shared a happy “hello” and I enjoyed a beer, some olives and some jamón. As we chilled a little, it was tempting to ask for time to rest and possibly take a nap, but I knew the best thing for me and my impending jet lag would be to get on my feet and push through the day. So that’s what we did. We hit the streets of Madrid, stopping at Puerta del Sol (for the obligatory photo next to “El Oso”), enjoying “menu del día” in a bustling restaurant just off Gran Via, and slowly strolling back to Kenia’s workplace near “El Retiro” park. Actually, this walk started as a slow stroll, but when Google Maps did us dirty, we got off track and ended up lost, then had to run to get Kenia back to work on time. We made it there successfully, just one minute past 6:00.

So, then, you might think Yesi and I would next go in search of a place for dinner. Oh, not more wrong could you be. Dinner time in Spain was still several hours away, so we took to more strolling. Yesi had a surprise in store for me and kept it to herself until we arrived. It was this amazing roof-top bar on the 25th floor of Hotel Riu, overlooking the Palacio Real de Madrid and Plaza España to the west and Plaza Mayor and central Madrid to the south. It was spectacular, and super fun - a busy, lively bar with happy Madrileńos at every table. We stayed for a long while, and we took muchos, muchos fotos. Muchos. It was an awesome evening, watching the sun creep toward the horizon and spending time getting to know Yesi. We managed our best to communicate - all the while teaching one another certain words and phrases in the other’s mother tongue. I should say we more than managed. It was a really nice time.

After the hotel, we wandered though Plaza España, and to a park containing Templo de Debod, a 200 BC temple gifted by the Egyptians as thanks for Spain’s assistance in saving numerous UNESCO sites in Egypt in the 1960s. We continued walking, past the palace and finally back to Yesi and Kenia’s neighborhood near Puerto Toledo. Remember me saying that Spanish dinners are nowhere near 6:00, well, silly me, it never actually dawned on me that we hadn’t eaten dinner yet. As it was 11:00, and as I was beyond exhausted, I had wishfully and wrongfully assumed we were going up the apartment and heading to sleep. Oh no. Yesi was hungry, and dinner-time in Madrid was still in full swing. Wow, I wasn’t sure I could do it - that is, without falling asleep in my plate of paella. But, we did it - and I did it - scarfing down a shared dinner of ensalada mixta, anchovies, croquetas and calamari. Then, finally, bed time. Fifteen hours after touching down in Madrid, and about 35 hours since waking up a day earlier in Minnesota. Jet lag - you’ve been defeated!