Meg's Birthday Weekend

I have just returned from a fabulous weekend in Spain. Jean-Paul, Andre and I flew to Madrid together to celebrate with Megcita on her 31st birthday. Meg did her usual fabulous job planning everything for the weekend, so that our trip included visits to the towns of Salamanca, Avila, L'Aberca, and Patones. These Castillian pueblos are situated within a reasonable driving distance of Madrid amongst the Sierra mountains. It would of course be much better to see them by bicycle, as the roads and views are most spectacular, but having a rental car is a very efficient way to get to some of the more out of the way places and we were obviously limited to the weekend.

Friday, we arrived from London in the late morning and met directly with Meg in La Plaza Santa Ana, one of our favourite lunch spots in the Spanish capital. We had a lovely lunch of some traditional Spanish favourites. Chopitos, chorizo al vino tinto, patatas bravas, and settas. And of course, some cervezas! Then we bolted to Atocha train station to pick up our rental car. The drive to Salamanca was easy enough and quite enjoyable, aside from the traffic in Madrid, caused by the Madrilenos running for the exits anticipating the long weekend rush. We booked rooms at The Parador of Salamanca which turned out to be a very modern, stylish hotel overlooking the city and its two magnificent cathedrals. What a view from the lobby! We freshened up a bit and headed out to check out the centre of this amazing old city at night. We began with a look at Spain's largest contiguous "plaza mayor." This old central square was absolutely impressive lit up at night and filled with people heading out for tapas. And that is exactly what he did next! We went into a great little wine bar, got stuck into a corner table, and ordered some of the local favourites and a fine copa de vino tinto del Ribiera del Duero. Following our tapas, I absolutely could not resist the temptation to find a restaurant to consume a gorgeous piece of Spanish beef. Very little hunting revealed a place where I could order "Solomillo de Ternera con Salsa de Roquefort" (Filet Mignon with Blue Cheese Gravy) in a quaint dining room built for Spaniards from the Middle Ages. I managed to avoid the ceiling beams just long enough to enjoy a fabulous dinner! And the meat was some of the finest I have had in Spain.

Saturday, we woke up late, following the most spectacularly restful sleep I have had in years (the tranquility was astonishing in the Parador, especially so I think for having lived in central London for nearly a year now). Breakfast was a Spanish smorgasbord of breakfast specialities. Croissants, danishes, queso manchego, zumo de naranja, cafe and chocolate caliente! What a feast! Meg focused on opening some birthday presents and I just focused on the food! Ha! Following breakfast we walked back to central Salamanca to have a better look at the cathedral. There is a great view from one of the upper balconies that we climbed up to take a look across the Castillian plain. It was really pretty, and a great start to the day. We were side-lined for a little while when Andre became obsessed with locating "la rana de Salamanca." There is local folklore that says that to those who are able to locate this little carved stone frog, perched atop a skull, somewhere on the immense facade of the cathedral, it will bring them good luck (and especially for students, good grades)! Needless to say, the only place we found it was on a postcard! Andre was upset. We had a quick cafe and headed out in the car for a lovely drive to L'Alberca for lunch. L'Alberca sits in the cozy confines of the Sierra de Francia. Nestled into a kind of trough in the mountains, it's craggled hand-laid stone streets and facades, and cooler climate make it a big draw during the summer months. As a result it is a bit touristic, although at this time of year, a very worthwhile journey. The buildings themselves are quite unique and almost look as though they have been transported from the French Alpes or somewhere similar due to their odd construction. We made away with haste from out little mountain retreat and wound our way through the Sierra de Francia back toward Avila as it was getting fairly late. The ride back, some three hours or more, was painless enough and yielded some absolutely gorgeous vistas of the sierra and countryside around. If that wasn't already an action-packed day, when we arrived back to Madrid we had a full night ahead all planned out! Suffice to say, after 4 tapas bars and a restaurant, and with Meg still urging us on, we called it a night (or a morning, depending on how you want to look at it). Pedro and Jordi came along for the fun, and so as it turned out Meg had her husband, and four of her "male entourage" to celebrate with her on her 31st birthday!!!

Sunday featured a big sleep-in after our late night out, and then a quick one hour blast out to Patones for a long, late lunch with Vicky, Pablo and Pedro. Andre and Jean-Paul stayed in Madrid to check out the city by foot. Patones was incredible. The most "Tim Burton-esque" place I think I have ever been. And I was really kicking myself that Patrick and I did not venture out in this direction during the year on our bikes. It would have been epic! Again, some amazing food, and a walk around in the town were enjoyed by all. Now, Patones is simply known as a great weekend getaway for Madrilenos, but the town has the unique distinction of having once been a kingdom. The story goes something along the lines of Napolean, having been unable to receive taxation money from the people of the area that is now referred to as Patones (actually simply the last name of the largest family in the area) he sent out his troops to "find them." Well, they couldn't. They had hid themselves away in the sierra for so long, no one knew where they were! So, as a face-saving maneuver during his control of Spain, he granted them their own kingdom, thus exempting them from taxation in the capital (or something like that!). Patones was an extremely enjoyable spot and I am sure we will be back on day - hopefully on a bike!

Monday was a bit of mad scramble to get our bikes into their boxes in preparation for our return trip to Vancouver at Christmas, and see a few folks I wanted to see before leaving Madrid. After accomplishing the packaging of the bicycles, we rushed like mad to see Elen and Bart, and the new addition to their family Sana! Meg's friend Merve joined us there, and then we rushed back to La Plaza Santa Ana to meet Jordi and Andre for lunch before bolting to the airport! A botched attempt at taking the bikes with us left me a bit stressed out, but we managed to make it back to London quite comfortably! I was nice to have Andre along for the return tripped as we recounted the events of one of my best Spanish experiences! It was just a great weekend, enjoyed immensely by all!