Going to Vaughan Town

I woke up early in my dark hostel dorm room on a Sunday morning.  Quietly I slipped from my bed, stripped the sheets, slipped my pack on and headed out the door.  It was the first time I had set an alarm clock on the trip and wasn’t happy about it, but I was excited for the journey ahead.

I caught the subway and got on a car that slowly emptied out as it moved along.  I then had a very creepy encounter with a guy on the train, which I will not go into details about.  I saw something I didn’t want to see, and luckily I packed light enough to run with my backpack.  I pushed the button at the last second for the door to open at a station before the train left the station. 

I sighed with relief when I saw I hadn’t been followed and waited for the next train.  On the next train there was a large group of young guys leaning on each other singing.  I found it hard to believe they had been up all night drinking and were still awake, but I recalled my younger days when the pulse of dance music kept me going till the sunrise. 

View of Hotel from back yard.  My room was the dormer in the roof on the left.

As I sighed at the realization of the passing of time, I found myself finally at my stop.  I was off to meet up with the bus for Vaughan town.  This is a volunteer program a friend had written about in her travel blog the year before.  I had planned to stay at least an extra week in Spain just to give it a go.

I found everyone on the sidewalk by the bus, sleepy but excited to go on the journey as well.  We were headed to a small hotel in El Barco de Avila, just a few short hours from Madrid, tucked in a valley between snowcapped mountains. 

The purpose of the program is to practice English conversation with Spaniards who’ve been studying English for the past couple months.  For my part, it was easy, there was no script, I was just supposed to talk and keep the conversation going.  The only guideline was to avoid testy subjects, such as religion and politics. 

My cute attic room.

Well, it was also pointed out that Spaniards tend to be very chatty, so we were not supposed to let them dominate the conversations.  We were told to try to make it 50/50 so they practice listening as well as speaking.  Everyone in the group, especially the Spaniards laughed when this was pointed out. 

I was seated with a Spaniard on the bus, so we could chat during the bus ride.  My job began immediately, but after my experience on the Madrid subway a distraction was most welcome!

Several hours later, we arrived at our lovely hotel, which appeared to be a great old house converted to a hotel.  There was even a side building that used to be stables or something, with very modern rooms installed within.  I was enchanted by the property and couldn’t wait to explore, but we were sent straight to work.  We went to have a group activity first, before checking in to our rooms. 

View from my room.

But let me clarify, that I never felt like I was actually working.  For a social being like myself I had fun at every activity.  We each had our own rooms.  Volunteers, who were all native English speakers from all over the world, were given free rooms and meals. 

Our meals were on a regular schedule in the hotel restaurant, where we had tables of four.  We had to sit 2 Anglos and 2 Spaniards at all times.  I was provided a vegetarian sign to put by my plate, because each meal was a fixed menu served to us.  This was the first time I really had to adjust to Spanish meal times.  Lunch was 1-2 and Siesta 2-4.  We had activities after 4 and then we didn’t eat dinner until 9!

Zoomed in on some snow caps from my room.

By the end of the week I was very used to napping in the afternoon and eating dinner late.  In addition, I was introduced to Spanish dishes I would not have picked out on my own.  It was such a great cultural experience for me.  The Spaniards also got to see how Anglos do dinner conversations.  It can be a bit harder to understand one another when you’re speaking quickly between bites. 

I taught all the Spaniards my business meals trick, for remembering what side your bread and water are on.  You just make a B and D with your fingers on both hands and you should see the B on your left hand and the D on your right.  That means your bread is on the left and your drink is on the right.  I explained to them that I learned this trick the hard way, by stealing a boss’ bread at a business meeting.  All of them found the tip very useful and easy to remember.  I was happy to share, especially since most of them were learning English to help them in their careers. 

Our closest neighbors.  Bunch of cute red heads!

My room was very cute on the top floor of the main house, with a big dormer window facing the mountains behind the house.  I felt like I was in a fairy tale, while I would stand in front of my windows and swing them open to feel the wind coming off the mountains, blowing clouds down into the valley over the snow caps.  I breathed in the fresh air, as best I could with the cold I had picked up in my Madrid hostel and looked forward to an eventful week.

Camping in Assateague with the Wild Ponies

I recently had the pleasure of going camping at Assateague Island National Seashore.  I went with a hiking group off meetup.com and we had over 100 people.  We took over one group site and had a bunch of individual sites on the same ocean front loop.  

The ocean front camp sites are the perfect location, tucked behind the dunes which protects you only slightly from the constant breeze blowing off the ocean.  You can hear the waves crashing in the background as you enjoy the wildlife around you at these sites.  There are plenty of interesting birds that love to chirp and visit your site, and they aren't sea gulls!  

We went camping in late April to beat the mosquitoes.  There can be a mosquito problem if you go later in the summer, so just come prepared!  

Paddling through the mist on the bay side.

It was misty and foggy the first day I arrived.  It was not raining, but it was like the clouds had dropped from the sky and were floating across the island.  

I made friends with some of my camp neighbors and we decided to explore the island and see what there was to see.  We walked over to the bay side and found beautiful views from a boardwalk trail.  We could see people in the distance on stand up paddle boards.  

In the distance behind the paddle boarders we could see wild ponies on the narrow peninsulas.

We saw a pair of mother and child ponies.

Itchy ponies

A cloudy misty beach.  

Dogs were having a blast on the large open beach.  After exploring the island, I setup my camp chair on the beach and enjoyed the beach as well.  


Later that night, we all go together for a bit of a potluck and everyone grilled their meats on one big grill.  We enjoyed a beautiful night on the beach under the stars.

Camping under the stars!

I couldn't help but wake up and watch the sunrise, with my tripod in tow.  

Our tents for the "group" camp site were nestled among the dunes.

Sunrise over the dunes from my camp site.

Beautiful boardwalk trail leading to the bay.

Kite Surfer enjoying a perfect day on the bay.


At the end of a perfect day, hiking and socializing with the group I headed south for a journey to the Low Country, but that's another story!

Spanish Constitution Day

Fountain on Plaza de Colon

               December 6^th is Dia de la Constitucion in Spain.  They don’t have fireworks like in the USA, but they do like to party all day!  After Nicole and I took our siesta naps, we got ready for a walk about the area of Madrid called La Castellana.

                Very close to our hotel we came across Plaza de Colon with a bunch of large block sculptures for Christopher Columbus.  There was a long line of familes on the sidewalk waiting to ride the open top Christmas lights tour buses. 

Children playing the lights around the Christopher Columbus monument

                During December in Madrid all the streets are decorated with Christmas lights in different colors and patterns.  It’s very beautiful and helped me distinguish different squares and streets.  We walked past designer clothing stores and window shopped a while, before we headed to Chueca which is the gay district.

                A friend of mine had told me it was her favorite area, but when we arrived in the main square for Chueca, decked out in rainbow lights, it was very quiet and desolate.  Perhaps it was too early in the evening, or maybe the hot spots were hidden off on the side streets.  But we were not impressed, so we headed over to the streets around Puerta del Sol where we found crowds of people strolling through the lively streets, with tapas bars one after another.

Chueca - Gay District

                We hopped around the bars and wove our way through the streets enjoying the sights and sounds, snacking on tapas and sipping on vino.  We walked down one street lined with outdoor tables and were invited by a group of four guys to join them.  One of them spoke good English, but they spent most of the time speaking to Nicole in Spanish, while I sat quietly enjoying my drinks.

                They explained the holiday and how they celebrate it, which mainly entails drinking all day.  They were all but one married, they just wanted good company.  The unmarried single guy was actually Ukranian and his family had moved to Spain when he was in high school.  He spoke a little English and we tried to talk, but he usually didn’t understand what I was saying. 

Me at a bar, sitting next to a pig leg.  They have Jamon on display at all the bars! 

                Eventually, we all decided to move on and find a new bar.  They joked about running out on the check.  I kept telling them jokingly to let me go first since if that was the plan… but they were good guys and paid the check before we left. 

                We wandered the streets, joking and making fun of people dressed in strange costumes.  There were a lot of people in wigs to celebrate the holiday.  We eventually picked a jazz bar to walk into.  It was super crowded and the band was about to start.  There weren’t any available tables, but Nicole and I decided to stand by the bar and stay for the music and we said good bye to the guys. 

Jazz Club in Madrid

                The live jazz band was good and the female lead singer was singing and American jazz song in English, but would occasionally mispronounce a word or say it funny.  It was interesting to listen to her sing and I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the song the audience actually understood.  We finished our wine, enjoyed the music, and decided to head back towards the hotel. 

                But of course, we had to finish the night with churros and hot chocolate.  We found a crowded 24 hours churros shop and went in.  Nicole ordered 3 churros and a hot chocolate.  We dipped pieces of the fried dough into the Spanish hot chocolate, which is thicker than and not quite as sweet as American hot chocolate.  When we finished the churros, Nicole said that you’re supposed to drink the hot chocolate. 

 

                I didn’t believe her, I wanted to drink it, but I thought it was a trick.  So I sat, looking around to see if anyone else was drinking it.  I finally saw someone else take a sip, so I drank the whole thing!  Nicole didn’t want it, but I love chocolate!  It was very yummy and the perfect treat before bed.