Ceramic shopping in Puente Del Arzobispo

Holy Cow!!!!! Long time no hear/see from me. The good news is that we have been busy seeing and doing many things around Europe.  The bad news is that I am WAYYYYYYY behind in telling all of you about our great adventures. I am going to approach this catch up blogging as I would a scrapbook.  I am going to start with the most current and go backwards.  It has been over a year since I blogged last...so I have A LOT of catching up to do. :-)

I am not sure what you think of when you think of Spain.  I don't even remember what I thought of before I moved here.  Unfortunately, most European countries are not really in the "Marketing" business.  They don't recognize their "treasures" because they have done their certain trade for generations and generations.  It is just their way of life.  Living in Madrid now for just over 18 months, we as foreigners, hone in on these "treasures" pretty quickly and the American in us wants to business plan for them because we recognize how unique their products are.  They don't see it as such.  The "treasures" I have discovered while living here so far: olive oil, wine, jamon, olives, Manchego cheese and ceramics, to name the highlights.  This time around I am going to tell you what I know and love of the ceramics here in our region of Spain.

This past week some friends and I took a trip to one of our favorite places to buy ceramics.  If you didn't know about this "treasure" of a place you would never in a million years locate it.  It is in a little town called Puente del Arzobispo located about an hour and half south of Madrid. This unassuming little town is full of ceramic shops...(and cake, well that is for another day).  There are actual storefronts, and then there is De la Cal.  Now, when it comes to the ceramics in Spain you can almost tell where a piece is from just by the design and colors. Each family has its own unique pattern and style of painting...yes all these pieces are still painted by hand.  De la Cal has their own pattern and depending on where they are shipping the items depends on the colors.  For instance, the little town of Segovia, located about an hour north of Madrid, gets some of their pottery from De la Cal and they have their own color scheme called...wait for it...Segovia. :-0 

 

 Here is the glamourous entrance to De la Cal.  See what I mean...would you ever in a million years be able to find this. Never judge a book by its cover.  What lies inside this faded, rusty gate will knock your socks off.  Let me give you a little background on De la Cal...well...as much as I know.  They are a family of five generations that have hand painted and still hand paint beautiful pottery. They do have some large clients.  They do ship all over, but I am sure you would have to order enough to make it worthwhile for them.  One of their big clients is Columbia Restaurant in Florida.  Now, I may be mistaken, but I think this restaurant is the oldest restaurant in Florida.  If you google Columbia Restaurant and go to their shop tab...you will see De la Cal's Sangria Pitchers made just for them.  I of course have a picture as well below.  These were getting ready to be shipped out.  The woman in charge now, Ana, is phenomenal and the sweetest thing going. What I always notice from these types of families is that their work ethic is outstanding.  They work extremely hard and are very accomodating.  In the winter their factory is freezing cold and in the summer it is excruciating hot. I am sure they do all they can to keep costs as low as possible.

 

 

Now to show you and tell you about their "treasures".  What I especially love about De la Cal and what makes them "unique" to me is that they will customize any of their pieces in whatever colors you want...and if it is a successful color scheme they just might name it after you.  The color schemes that I know came about because of  the "Americans" and I think one "Brit" are the Tiffani, Ashleigh and the Belinda.  The first time I went to De la Cal I brought pieces of my current dishes for them to match.  Though, of course, it turned out beautiful, it just wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

 

 

 So, this was my first round.  I still love these pieces and will use them, well have used them, but wait til you see the others.  I will save that for in just a little bit.  I want to show you a little of their warehouse.  It is located on, what appears to be, a little farm. When you come in this big green gate they have chickens and dogs pinned up.  It is just so "typical" really.  They might live right on the property, I am not sure.  You walk up a fairly long dirt driveway to get into their warehouse.  When you arrive in their warehouse there is pottery everywhere.  They have pieces that are formed and drying, pieces waiting to be painted, pieces waiting to be fired, pieces that have been ordered and are waiting to be picked up and pieces waiting to be shipped out...all on this main floor of the warehouse.

 

 

They also have an upstairs.  On the upper floor they have pieces that you can purchase right there...I suppose you could think of it as an "outlet" or maybe even the "seconds" so to speak.  Maybe these are pieces that didn't pass their quality control test to be sent to a customer or maybe the customer decided it wasn't to their liking or maybe they are "discountinued" patterns or types of pieces or have some small defect.  I am not sure, but it is always fun to go up and look around upstairs.  It is extremely dusty up there, but you never know what you will find.











 

I cannot even put in words how much I love this place.  You can sort of tell by these pieces what their signatures are.  The flower on the vase on the right is one.  You can also see this flower in my platter above.  Another signature are the arches with a design within the arch.  This is seen throughout their sangria pitchers, vases and copas.  Some traditional pottery designs of Puente del Arzobispo are bird and hunting scenes.  De la Cal does these as well.  I believe their signature colors are blue and yellow, which you will see below, but like I said that have created some amazing pieces for us "Americans".  If you were to go to their website you would see mostly these types of peices:

This is a sort of fancy filigree design.  It looks very regal to me.  I bet it is quite the story to hear about how they came up with their "signature" design.  Speaking of designs and colors...many of the "Americans" or foreigners in Madrid, per se, order the Tiffani style.  Tiffani was an American whom lived here and wanted a design that reminder her of Spain.  She basically started with the idea of the colors of the Spanish flag and left that idea with the painters and designers at De la Cal.  The pattern and colors have evolved over the years and, of course, each piece is different.  My most recent pieces are a little different from the pieces people have gotten a few years ago.

Sangria pitcher, personalized, along with copas

Tres pisos frutera.  Three tiered.

Close up of the Sangria Pitcher.

 WOW!!!!!!  If this doesn't scream, "I am from Spain" then I don't know what does.  Isn't this one of the most beautiful sights ever... The pattern seems to have evolved to be more colorful throughout the years.  I am guessing because people have requested all sorts of color combinations and they are not about to waste their resources, so they start to use the colors they have, to make it even better.  As we spoke to Ana this time she mentioned to us that we have an "exclusive" color scheme.  She does not offer these color choices to her mainstream clients, though she should becasue they are beautiful.  You have to know what the color scheme is named in order to place your order.  I suppose Europeans are not as flashy as Americans so they are drawn to the much more subdued tones.  What is the saying...Go big or go home. 

Here is an example of the Ashleigh:

Again...holy cow are you kidding me...beautiful.  This color scheme came about when "Ashleigh" was ordering pottery for a wedding gift in the colors of the wedding and now she has a pattern named after her.  Pretty cool!!!! 

Another fun little fact about the pottery in Spain is that each piece has the idea of a signature.  I like to think of it like art...each piece is signed, in one way or the other, by the artist.  The signature basically is the family name or business name and the region or location.  Here are two examples of what De la Cal does:


 

Here you see Ceramica De La Cal (family), Puente Del Arzobispo, Toledo, Espana (location) and Hecho A Mano (Made by Hand).  I have just recently noticed this stamp on their items. It may be new or maybe just on larger pieces.



 

Again...De la Cal (family), Puente and Espana (location).  These are hand painted on most of the pieces that I have.  I only have one piece with the stamp.  We shall see what comes on the pieces that I just ordered.



One other favorite stop of ours when we are in Puente is Cruz Ceramica.   At Cruz you cannot special order items and if you are there and see something you like you better buy it because it might not be there next time and they might never make it like that again.  The Cruz store we go to is run by two sisters.  There storefront is filled with beautiful things, but if they really like you, they let you go to the back warehouse where they house all of their "treasures".  I think if you just walked in off the street, again, you might never know they have a warehouse full of all kinds of things in the back.  We literally pull up cushions and sprawl out on the cement floor digging through the stacks of platters and bowls and whatever we feel like, looking for the "perfect" piece for us.

Here are some Cruz pieces that I have:

Notice right away the difference in both pattern and color designs. Cruz is very intricate and we actually got to observe one of the sisters hand painting a platter.  It is very time intensive as you can clearly see.  The more times we go back it is apparent that they are training the next generation of painters.  The younger generation is a bit more "free" as in the square platter, yet the older generation likes their clean lines and symmetry.  Also notice the CRUZ signature.  They don't specify their location, but most signatures do.  Another little detail on all the platters and some bowls I have noticed, is they are designed with little holes on the back, within the base, for hanging on a wall.

The ceramics are by far one of my favorite things here in Spain and I am sure to leave with quite the collection.  Like I mentioned before, depending on where you purchase the ceramics, the colors and styles will vary.  I will save a comparison of pottery from different regions for a later post.  Today you have just visited Puente Del Arzobispo.  I don't want to overwhelm you all.

Coming from a country where just about everything is mass produced or made in China it certainly is a breath of fresh air to see these amazing small businesses in Spain that are still deeply connected to their roots.

Until next time...

Jamon, jamon and more jamon

When it comes to "jamon" here in Spain the Spaniards DO NOT MESS AROUND!!!!!!  "Jamon" is basically cured ham, but there are many types and characteristics that put all these "jamon's" into different categories.  According to Spaniards...and Wikipedia...the best of the "jamon's" are called "Jamon Iberico" which is made from Iberian pigs.  Often these pigs are specifically black iberian pigs.

Here is what Wikipedia says:

The black Iberian pig lives primarily in the south and southwest parts of Spain, including the provinces of Salamanca, Ciudad Real, Cáceres, Badajoz, Seville, Córdoba and Huelva. It also lives in the southeast parts of Portugal (Barrancos), where it is referred to as porco de raça alentejana.
Immediately after weaning, the piglets are fattened on barley and maize for several weeks. The pigs are then allowed to roam in pasture and oak groves to feed naturally on grass, herbs, acorns, and roots, until the slaughtering time approaches. At that point, the diet may be strictly limited to acorns for the best quality jamón ibérico, or may be a mix of acorns and commercial feed for lesser qualities.
The hams from the slaughtered pigs are salted and left to begin drying for two weeks, after which they are rinsed and left to dry for another four to six weeks. The curing process then takes at least twelve months, although some producers cure their jamones ibéricos for up to 48 months.
In particular, the ibérico hams from the towns of Guijuelo in the Salamanca province and Jabugo in the Huelva province are known for their consistently high quality^{[citation needed]} and both have their own Denominación de origen. Almost the entire town of Jabugo is devoted to the production of jamón ibérico; the biggest producer is 5J Sánchez Romero Carvajal. The town's main square is called La plaza del Jamón.

The hams are labeled according to the pigs' diet, with an acorn diet being most desirable:

• The finest is called jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn). This ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called la dehesa) along the border between Spain and Portugal, and eat only acorns during this last period. It is also known as jamón ibérico de Montanera. The exercise and diet have a significant impact on the flavor of the meat; the ham is cured for 36 months.
• The next grade is called jamón ibérico de recebo. This ham is from pigs that are pastured and fed a combination of acorns and grain.
• The third type is called jamón ibérico de cebo, or simply, jamón ibérico. This ham is from pigs that are fed only grain. The ham is cured for 24 months.

Jamón ibérico on a jamonera

Additionally, the word puro (pure, referring to the breed) can be added to the previous qualities when both the father and mother of the slaughtered animal are of pure breed and duly registered on the pedigree books held by official breeders.^[1]
The term pata negra is also used to refer to jamón ibérico in general, and may refer to any one of the above three types. The term refers to the color of the pigs' nails, which are white in most traditional pork (Sus domesticus) breeds, but black for the Black Iberian breed. While as a general rule, a black nail should indicate an Ibérico ham, there are cases of counterfeits, with the nails being manually painted.
Bellota jamones are prized both for their smooth texture and rich, savory taste. A good ibérico ham has regular flecks of intramuscular fat (marbling). Because of the pig's diet of acorns, much of the fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol.
The fat content is relatively high compared to jamón serrano, thus giving a rich taste.

Okay...so there is a little background on this treat that Spain is so famous for.  Now that the holidays are upon us this commodity is a hot one.  This is a common gift given during the holidays or common just to have ready for guests.  We noticed these legs of ham hanging on the walls of the supermarkets when we arrived this summer.  We were a bit awestruck at the bizarreness, the smell and the number of these hanging on the walls.  Depending on the category these "jamon's" fall into depends on the price.  These things run from about $40 per kilogram to about $170 per kilogram.  This is crazy.  This all brings us to today.  We had to run to the Carrefour (similar to Walmart) and they have tons of salespeople roaming around with their "product" they are trying to sell...just like Costco, because it is the holidays.  Well their was a representative there today from 5J, which is the biggest producer of these glorious hams.  The sales rep shaved off a little slice of the leg and it literally melted in your mouth.  This was so incredibly delicious that we had to bring some home.  So...of course...just like everything else there are a gazillion choices.  We, obviously, took a packet of the one we just tasted and decided we wanted to see if price "really" did make a difference or were they selling a name.  So the packet we knew we would love was 129 euros per kilo...we only bought a .9 gram packet which was around 12 euro.  We had to pick another kind so we could conduct our test...so we also bought a packet that was 99 euro per kilogram.  I think we got about the same size packet for around 9 euro.  Trying to make our choice was very difficult because of how many types there are.  We decided to stick with the jamon iberico de bellota category.

We got home super excited to conduct our own taste test.  Hands down the pricier jamon took the cake.  The other one was good, but you really can tell a difference.  We like to eat our jamon with queso (particularly manchego...which is another thing Spain is famous for).  The pricier jamon we discovered, that we didn't want to eat it with anything, but itself for fear of masking the awesomeness that it was all alone.  Tanner even had his conclusions.  He loved the expensive one by itself, but admitted that he liked the second one with manchego versus all by itself.  I love that they are starting to understand and distinguish some of these cultural differences.

Now, this is mostly a Spain and Portugal treat, but for those of you in the United States I believe you can order this at latienda.com or maybe you may get lucky in a local Spanish or international type marketplace.  The price truly reflects the quality and is just amazing.  I hope that you get a chance or opportunity to try this lucious appetizer and it would be worth a trip to Spain just for the jamon alone.  Some jamon iberico, manchego, baguette and a glass of red wine...now that is a spanish slice of heaven.

The jamon's line the walls.  There is actually the equivalent to an entire Walmart size aisle dedicated to all of the jamon's.

You can sort of see the "goo" on the outside of these legs.  This is basically a greasy mold type substance.  You obviously cut that off, but they smell terrible.  They have special canvas bags that they place these in when purchased.  They are bags shaped like a ham leg with a handle.

Here are a few legs that have been partially carved.  After speaking with some Spaniards these really don't go bad.  Because of the curing process they can last for months in this state.  The Spaniards say that it really isn't a problem, becuase they don't last long.  Once you start cutting on the leg you just cover it with plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry out.  The key is to shave off the meat in paper thin slices.  This is a true art form and is just amazing to watch.

SEGOVIA!!!!!!

A few weekends ago Hubby's work organized a trip to Segovia.  Segovia is an easy day trip from Madrid and I would say is a must see for anyone visiting here.  There are many things that Segovia is known for.  The few that we saw were the Aqueduct, the Alcazar, the Segovia Cathedral, the Walls of Segovia and Suckling Pig.

The Aqueduct:

The aqueduct is an incredible piece of architecture and engineering.  This was built in the late 1st century or early 2nd century.  The aqueduct is 9 miles long and up to only a few years back was functional.  It brought water from the mountains to the city.  I think the most amazing facts about this structure is that it was built by hand with around 25,000 granite blocks and held together by pure engineering.  There is no mortar whatsoever in this structure.  There are over 170 bows (arches) in the structure.

Incredible.

The next sight we saw was the Segovia Cathedral.  We weren't able to go in because we weren't Catholic and they were having mass.  We went on a Sunday.  You can pay to go in when there isn't mass and we will certainly do that next time we are there.  I must say that buildings here are just so impressive.  When you think about the construction practices back when these buildings were constructed you just stand in awe of what was produced.  These were all done by hand and the detail is just amazing.

After being mesmerized for a bit looking at the Cathedral, we walked through the incredibly tiny streets where you wouldn't think people could walk and drive down...but this is Spain...so they absolutely do.

These incredible streets took us past little shops and vendors and ended at the Alcazar of Segovia.  They say that Walt Disney was inspired by this castle and created Cinderella's castle through this inspiration. This castle was first documented in 1122, but it easily could have existed earlier.  Again...we didn't go inside the castle this trip, but do plan to go in next time.  We were with a big group and we didn't want anybody to feel obligated to pay the entrance fees.  This castle was the residence of many royals and was devastated by fire in 1862, but was rebuilt.  This sight now houses the sight of an Artillery Museum.

Our final destination in Segovia was to have the famous suckling pig. Now...I probably shouldn't have read about this before we went, but I was determined to try it.  A little background...A suckling pig is basically a piglet that is fed strictly on it's mother's milk until slaughtered at about 21 days old.  Oyyyyyy... here we go.  This appeared to be a specialty in Segovia.  It was offered on many, many of the menus here and 2 of the most well know suckling pig restaurants are here. 

The meat of the suckling pig is extremely tender. They say that when these come out of the wood ovens that they cut them with a plate because they are so tender.  I would agree the meat is this tender, but the skin was extremely crisp so I don't know if that is true.  We didn't see them cut the little piglets. It was very tasty and an experience to say the least.

We had a great day in Segovia and hope to go back soon when we are not with a large group and can just wander without losing anybody or worrying about places we need to be by a certain time.

Until we meet again...

More rules of the Spaniards...

I am sure throughout the next 3 years here there will be many postings depicting things/actions that I come across as bizarre/inappropriate/just plain strange that the Spaniards do.  Because I have noticed on more than one occasion these behaviors I have dubbed them as Rules of the Spaniards...such as their driving...here are a few more.

Our stay thus far here in Madrid has required/allowed us to get around using public transportation.  The great thing is that the public transportation here is incredible.  You truly can get anywhere you need to go without any trouble.  A consequence of using public transportation is that you are around other people all day long as you travel to where you need to be.  I posted a post a while ago about the women of Spain.  How smartly they dress and how you don't see them running errands in their pajamas.  This is still true, but as the weather has turned extremely warm a trend of wearing white has emerged among the Madrilenos.  Now...here is where their rule comes in...It must be a Spanish rule that if you wear a white shirt you MUST wear a black bra and if you wear white bottoms, such as slacks, skirts or shorts that you MUST wear some brightly colored underwear.  Being the fashionista that I am (hehehehehe) I find this totally bizarre.  Am I the only one that knows when wearing white you wear nude colored undergarments, not even white undergarments.  It just boggles my mind...do they not see themselves in a mirror before walking out the door.  Now, you may be chuckling, but I am stunned at how many women I see in a day abiding by this RULE!!!!!!  Stacey and Clinton...Madrid needs a What Not to Wear - Undergarments show.

Another rule that I have observed is that when out in public you MUST show as much PDA (Public Display of Affection) as humanly possible.  This one just makes me uncomfortable.  If I knew how to say "Get a room" in spanish I might get to the point of yelling it out at the top of my lungs.  Just today on the Metro ride home a young couple were totally going at it.  Now, when I say going at it, I don't mean a little peck here and there, but full blown, noisemaking, making out.  I find this terribly disturbing.  I try to appreciate that they are in love and expressing that, but I really feel there is a time and a place.  That place is certainly not sitting next to me and my two children on the Metro.  Almost everyday we ride the Metro we experience something of this nature.  Whether it is making out on the escalators, as they wait for the Metro, in the parks...EVERYWHERE!!!!  This, again, may be one of those European things, but I really don't like it and I certainly don't appreciate this RULE.

Until next time....

Spanish Drivers Make their own Rules!!!!!

On the eve of us receiving our car I thought it would be appropriate to talk a little about how the Spaniards drive and park around the city and for you to gather a bit of an understanding as to why I am terrified to drive here.

Now I consider myself a pretty experienced driver.  We have driven through too many states to count.  I have driven through major cities such as Denver, St. Louis, Seattle, Louisville and many, many others.  I have driven in weather of snow, ice, blizzards, rain and flash flooding rain.  Through all of this experience, I realized the moment that we were passengers in a vehicle headed into downtown Madrid that I was certainly going to get a run for my money.

One of the things that I am not experienced at driving in is these crazy roundabouts.  We had a few in Colorado Springs, but they were tiny compared to the ones here.  I also am not sure if it is a European thing or a Spain thing, but the roundabouts are everywhere.  They certainly don't believe in a 4 way stop sign or stop lights for that matter.  They use these roundabouts at just about every intersection.  Now...in the Springs we would have 4 streets come into a roundabout.  Here they have like 8-10 streets coming into a roundabout.  The roundabouts in the Springs had basically one lane.  One car would enter after yielding to the right away car.  Here...all friggin 8-10 lanes come in at once and it becomes a free for all.  There are no lane lines painted in the roundabout.  Literally the cars come in and do as they please.  You would think that if you are going to exit at one of the next streets coming up, you would be in the closest lane to the exit.  Ummmm...not so much.  These people literally exit from the inner most lane closest to the ginormous fountain or statue that usually sits in the middle of these roundabouts.  It is just crazy.  You have to be on your toes at all times.

Lets jump to the topic of lane lines.  Lane lines here...mean nothing.  I am not even sure why they bother.  They are sort of a suggestion, but people drive wherever they want to.  A car can easily be taking up multiple lanes for no apparent reason.  What you don't see here is people on their phones or texting while driving.  Truly, the reason for this is that they really don't have time to do such a thing.  Because you never know what the person in front of you or beside you is going to do, you have to be both an offensive and defensive driver at the same time.  Drivers here use their horns all the time.  I feel like in the States we only use our horns when we are ticked off. Either somebody has cut us off or done something totally stupid.  Here, they really use their horns as a form communication.

Just as oblivious whilst driving they also just park wherever they want to whenever they feel like it.  They do put on their flashers and that seems to make it ok.  You see people stopped in the most bizarre, most unlikely and obvious non parking places.

Here is an example.  This is a roundabout and this black Mercedes just parked on a tiny curb within the roundabout.  We watched her park, put on her flashers and jump out.  You think to yourself...Why on Earth would she park in such a bizarre spot.  Ohhhhh...Because all the tiny curb space on the other side of this street were taken and she needed to get to the ATM machine.  Are you kidding me????  This is just CRAZY!!!!!!

Here you can see cars entering and exiting the roundabout around where the Mercedes is parked.

Another view of the car.  I am standing on the sidewalk where the lady was running to the ATM.  The Land Rover there...Yep, just parked.  It just boggles my mind.

Talking about parking space.  People not only park in these bizarre tiny curb spaces, but they also double park...ohh...and put on their flashers.  I swear, they think that if their hazards/flashers are on they can do whatever they need to do.  This same day we were having a coffee and watching a driver next to the cafe totally double park.  The owners of the car that he blocked in just honked their horn when they were ready to leave and the driver of the double parked car ran out, backed up his car, the blocked car went and he took their spot.

Parking spots - WOW this is a whole other challenge.  We own a Honda Odyssey and lets just say that we probably will not be able to park that van anywhere on the street in Madrid.  The streets are tiny and we would stick out to far.  Parking garages can be hit or miss.  Our parking spot here at the apartment is basically between a wall and a cement pole.  There is absolutely no way the van could maneuver to get into that spot.  There just isn't any clearance anywhere.  Plus, you have cars parked behind you, in front of you and next to you.  Hubby was able to get a borrowed car equivalent to a Dodge Neon in the space.  He did, however, have to do about a gazillion point turn and I truly didn't think he would get in.  Once he did get in I was for sure he wouldn't get out.  He did get out, but I wasn't there to witness the fiasco.  It was just too much to bear. :-)

So on the eve of us taking possession of our vehicle after 2 months of no car, we certainly have mixed emotions.  We are excited for the freedom to have a vehicle to travel around, but I think we will still depend on the Metro system when it comes to travelling within the city.  People here have warned us that it won't be too long until we have "earned" our Madrid racing stripe, which translates into a huge scrape down the side of our vehicle.

Until next time....

House Hunting in Madrid

House hunting in Madrid...this has been quite the experience.  Being Americans in Spain we started off this process knowing that we not only wouldn't get what we were used to in America, but also that we didn't really want anything like we could get in America.  We are in Spain for 3 years and want to fully experience Spanish living.  We wanted a home with Spanish character and charm, plus a pool never hurt anybody, right? (hehehe)

We started off the hunt a little closer to the Madrid city center with homes that were more of a row house style.  Now don't get me wrong...these homes were huge compared to what we could get in the States.  Our first house we looked at was a row house (so connected to other houses on both sides), but it had about 4,800 square feet of living space.  Are you freakin kidding me?  Even though there were houses on either side of us and we would share walls...would you even hear them in 4800 square feet?  I don't know, but it was incredible.  This particular one had been completely renovated inside and was absolutely gorgeous.  The downfall was that though it had a huge pool, the yard was just a tiny strip and with two children this just would not fit our needs.  We saw a gamut of homes ranging from old and dated to ultra modern and made completely of cement with state of the art appliances and amenities.  After the first couple of days we quickly realized that with children and our lifestyle we did need a little bit more outside living than the city type places offered. So we headed to the burbs.

On a side note...we have a friend who is living in downtown Madrid.  They actually have an apartment just next to the opera house in an incredible location.  They look out one window on the Opera House and another window is the Royal Palace.  Don't be fooled when you think of downtown like you would a downtown apartment in New York City.  Their apartment is just over 3,000 square feet and has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with a formal dining room, formal living space with a salon type area off of that.  Tons of storage, built ins and 10 foot ceilings.  Amazing...but again not a place we would be comfortable in with 2 smaller children and no yard space.  Just an FYI.

Some interesting features in just about every home we looked at was the servant quarters.  Most homes in Madrid have many floors or levels, they range from 2-4 floors and the basement area is never really factored in.  The basement level is strictly for storage and service employees.  The service quarters usually have a bedroom and bathroom connected, but are just at the lowest level of the home so the service isn't really seen.  In many of the homes we looked at there were actually service employees not only living in the space, but cleaning and such when we were there.  I thought it was very awkward, but the realtor explained that this was not only completely normal, but a pretty good deal for the worker.  They had a place to live, free of charge, and got a small wage to go out on the town on their days off.  All these homes would also have a service entrance, usually into the kitchen area. 

The kitchens....this is a whole other issue.  In the States we are so used to having huge kitchens that open up to the rest of the house so that we are always connected to our guests and the family areas.  Well in Spain...this is definitely not the case.  Hubby and I were discussing this issue and came to the realization that because the service or chiccas, mainly do the cooking, or that is how it used to be, the kitchens are a bit isolated and not open to anything.  Again, so they wouldn't be seen.  So strange to me, but a much different way of life here. 

The bedrooms were pretty normal size.  They were a bit smaller, but that is because instead of a closet per se they would have wardrobes.  Now a wardrobe is sort of a closet/dresser in one.  There was closet space to hang things, both short and long, and then built in drawers.  This totally eliminates the need for dressers and that sort of bulky furniture.  Brilliant if you ask me.  We now just need to find space to store our dressers because we really won't need them.  This would be a piece of advice that I would pass along to somebody coming here.  The storage is just unreal.  It seems like in every wall they put closets.  They definitely embrace the season they are in.  They use all the storage closets to put their winter clothes when it is summer and so on. Again...my sort of style.

The Spanish really focus on family and friends and use their homes to live like this.  Bedrooms are not the size of living rooms and kitchens are not connected to the social areas, but they don't live in the kitchen or isolate themselves in their bedrooms.  They live in their common areas and treasure their time with each other.  Children are right in the middle of everything all the time, they are not shunned to a playroom or to their bedrooms.  We look forward to embracing this in our new casa.

If you ever want to look at homes abroad...just for fun...a website called www.idealista.com is what we used in Madrid and it is just fun to see how other countries live.

Until next time....

Las Mujeres de Espana (The Women of Spain)

It is morning time here in Madrid and I am the only one up...so I have brewed a cup of coffee and thought that I would talk about one of my observations here.  Forgive me if I have spelled a spanish word incorrectly here and there.  I know some words and once they go plural I am not exactly sure how they are spelled.  I am totally winging it here. :-)

The women of Spain are such an interesting thing.  Unlike the States, the women here, well at least the ones I have seen thus far, are extremely sophistcated and put together.  They seem to have a respect  and confidence for and about themselves that American women do not have.  Even on the metro on a Saturday afternoon they have their hair and makeup done, they are wearing an actual outfit and not their pajamas or sweatpants, they have a fancy shoe and fabulous handbag.  I love this.  For those of you that know me, you know that I wouldn't be caught dead outside my house in anything more than put together.  Occasionally I would take the kids to school in my yoga clothes or if we were home cleaning or what not I would be in "grubbies", but I would NEVER go to the store like that.  I wish American women would embrace this.  I think if they did they would have such confidence in everything that they do.  There is just something that happens to you when you have "the look".  It will be interesting to see if they have the types of crimes against women here that they do in the States, such as domestic violence.  They probably do, but I would like to bet that it isn't as common.  The reason I think this is becasue when you feel confident and look it you are less likely to have self esteem issues and feel dependent on what another person thinks about you.

The clothing that I have noticed isn't much different than in the states.  They seem to have the same sort of styles, but kicked up a notch.  I have only noticed a few items that seem a bit strange to me.  I also have noticed, though the younger generation does go for items a bit on the short side, I haven't found myself saying, "She SHOULD NOT be wearing that".  I felt like everytime I went out in the Springs there would be many people that have squeezed in to things that just were not flattering.  I also really haven't noticed any "weight" issues.  You have the "plump" grandmas, but not to the point where they have scooters at the Carrefour for those that cannot walk through the grocery store.  Now, again, we have not even been here a week and I certainly have not been everywhere and seen everything, but just found it so interesting this little lifestyle aspect.  I am not sure why these women are so fabulous, but I love it and I hope someday that this "way of life" can make it to the States, even if just in little waves.  I would love for American women to have a sort of "control" because of the way they feel each and every day.

Until next time...