I'm Not Soria Bout The Amazing Weekend I Had!

So, I spent this weekend in the city of Soria with my host family. Don’t know where Soria is? Never fear – I’ve encircled it in green for your convenience.

We were heading up there to celebrate my host grandfather’s birthday!

Day One

The drive was a couple of hours long, though with some nice views of the Spanish countryside along the way.

We met up with Isabel’s parents in a town called Morón. (Yes, I did have a giggle at the name.) We stopped off to have a look at the town square, which was absolutely beautiful...

...and to have some tapas at the local bar. Mmmm, pork crackling.

We eventually got to Soria, and – after dropping our bags at a hotel – headed straight off to check out a local monastery. This was especially exciting, because Isabel’s great-grandfather made the monastery gates! Here they are.

The monastery was amazing. It’s no longer used, and so is open to the public. It was built over some caves, and so quite a lot of the monastery actually has cave instead of wall!

There were some incredible religious paintings and portraits of monks inside, but I wasn’t allowed to take pictures. There was also the most amazing chapel, with brilliantly painted walls and ceilings, and a huge circular window with gorgeous view of the river, but again – no photos. Sigh.

After our visit to the monastery, we took a walk along the banks of the Rio Duero. This included walking along this bridge.

You can’t really see them too well in this picture, but there were hundreds of padlocks fastened to the rails along the bridge. After my inquiring, my host grandmother took it upon herself to tell me about this particular tradition in Soria. I’ll summarise.

How To Ensure You And Your Travelling Companions Are ‘Eternally Bonded’:

1. Buy a padlock.

2. Engrave the names of those you wish to be ‘eternally bonded’ with into said padlock.

3. Lock padlock onto bridge railings.

4. Throw the key into the Rio Duero.

This resulted in hundreds of locks like so:

My host grandparents even showed us a lock that they put there together, over forty years previously! Naw.

Our stroll along the river was interesting. There are lots of sculptures, climbing frames, plaques, and monuments. We had some fun pushing around a giant water mill, which was originally designed for horses. We also climbed on a large sculpture.

As we walked, it became night. We headed into the city, for my first real taste of nightlife in a Spanish city.

This photo was taken at about 8pm, it got a lot busier and a LOT noisier. Buskers were everywhere, shops were open, and street venders were packed with customers. My host mother, my host grandmother and I did some window shopping in some boutiques while the others looked inside a giant toy shop!

When it hit about 10pm, it was time for dinner. We visited the most extravagant buffet I have ever experienced. The restaurant was three floors high, and you gradually wormed your way down – the top floor for entrees, the second floor for main meal, and the ground floor for dessert and payment.

It is somewhere I will never take my family, for fear we’d never leave.

Day Two

We headed out to a town called Tajahuerce. Tajahuerce is an ancient town of about fifty residents, situated about half an hour out of Soria. At this time of year, the town is completely abandoned by its residents, who choose to vacate it for warmer houses on the coast.

So, basically, we were visiting an abandoned – though architecturally stunning – little village.

What then, I’m sure you’re wondering, was the attraction? Well, ‘Tajahuerce’ is the last name of my host family!

Many novelty pictures, such as the above, were taken with signs. There was also quite a large playground that we had some fun on.

At this point in the day, my camera battery ran out. Which is unfortunate, because close by to Tajahuerce is a ruined castle. We spent the afternoon exploring the ruins on our own, and that night we took a (rather spooky) night tour!

Day 3

Was today, Monday, and so we had to head home. We did stop off in a little pub for brunch before we left. The pub food was nothing compared to a good ol’ chicken parma, but the pub did have a large flying fox on offer!

Aaaand I was back in Colmenarejo in time for a few periods of school. Ugh.

Picspam 3 - Mi Jardin (¡Casi!)

I'm going to repeat myself - I have been so, so lucky when it comes to my exchange experience. Not only do I have an amazing host family, wonderful friends, and all the other things I've already told you all about - but I live right next to a national park!

Our back fence has a gate that literally opens up onto a gorgeous stretch of mostly untouched Spanish wilderness. There are a few dirt paths that wind through it, and we take walks most days with the dogs.

I absolutely love it.

Without further ado, have some pictures of my gorgeous backyard!


In a bonus bit of exciting news - I'm going away for the weekend! A couple of hours drive North-East to Soria, to celebrate Isabel's father's birthday. It's Isabel's favourite place in Spain, and apparently full of amazing architecture. It's also meant to have some incredible attractions for history geeks such as myself. Woo hoo!

Words On Words

One of the many things I'm finding absolutely fascinating about living in Spain is the language barrier.

I'm sure my fellow exchange students will agree that being thrust into a world where you suddenly can't speak to people, or can only speak to them on a very basic level, can be hilarious, terrifying, infuriating and sometimes lonely.

Things I wouldn't even think twice about at home - checking the time with someone, small talk, reading a notice in the classroom, paying for groceries - suddenly take all of your concentration and energy. It can be exhausting.

On the bright side, my ability to mime has certainly come forwards in leaps and bounds. You should all bags me for your charades teams when I get back!

When it comes to learning Spanish I have been very lucky. My eldest host brother Daniel speaks incredible English, and my host mother Isabel isn't bad either. They're both remarkably patient with me, make sure I never feel left out, and are so willing to help me whenever I need it.

Daniel actually sat with me a few nights ago and helped me translate my History notes for over an hour. He's absolutely fantastic. I've promised him Tim Tams in return!

School is a whole different story. While I've made some absolutely wonderful friends, and most of my teachers are lovely, it can be so difficult to follow along. In class, I'm generally fine as long as things are written down. But actually speaking to people - friends, teachers, the headmistress - is intimidating and so difficult.

It can also make you ridiculously paranoid. I'm constantly wondering whether people are talking and laughing about me!

When you're stuck behind a language barrier, you start noticing things you never would have before. This is one of the things I've found so fascinating. I've become so much more in tune with people's facial expressions, body language, and tone. I've communicated with people simply with high-fives, thumbs ups, and enthusiastic nods. I've learned that a smile can go a long way.

Learning to speak a new language has certainly highlighted which words I use most often in day-to-day conversations. While the obvious are all there - yes, no, please, thank you, but, and, can, need, want, etc, etc - there have also been a few surprises. Turns out I say random words like 'country' (pais), 'okay' (vale), 'car' (coche), 'play' (jugar), and 'tired' (cansada) a lot more than I would have thought!

It's so difficult, but don't get me wrong. Me encanta español. Y voy ser capaz de hablar correctamente! (Con tiempo.)

Don't Live In Spain If You Don't Like Dogs

I am definitely a dog person.

If you're reading this, I'm sure you know of/have met my ridiculous, good-for-nothing, wonderful dog in Perth, Torres:

When I found out I was going to have not one but THREE dogs in Spain, I was super excited! More puppy playtimes for me! These are the three gorgeous dogs that I'm sharing my house with; Rufi, Bagi and Blanca.

They're pretty typical dogs, really. They like to roll around in mud, love walks, and will be overly affectionate with you forever if you pat them as you walk past.

What I have discovered is that in Spain, or at least in Madrid, having three dogs is not all that uncommon. In fact, I have yet to meet a single Spaniard that doesn't have at least one dog at home. (And I've met a lot of Spaniards recently.) Every family in my neighbourhood has two or three dogs, never just one.

Dogs are everywhere in Madrid. People take them into shops, let them run wild through the national parks, even take them on play dates so they can hang out with one another! At about 8pm each night, my neighbourhood explodes in barks as the hundreds of dogs that live nearby demand their dinner.

As a dog lover through and through, I'm having a blast!

But if you're allergic, or not a fan of canines, maybe think twice before coming to live in suburban Madrid. All of my clothes are absolutely covered in dog hair!

In other news, I've had a pretty awful bout of the flu this past week that I'm finally getting over. I had to miss a total of four days of school, one party with my friends, and one hockey game. I'm feeling so much better now, though - well enough to participate in class sport tomorrow morning. Ergh.

A Weekend Of Epic Proportions

Friday afternoon saw me drafted in as a substitute for a sick man in the local hockey team. As those who are aware of my sporting abilities might have guessed, I was just a little bit nervous.

Turns out, however, that the league is an all ages, just-for-fun type thing. I had a blast and actually scored one of three of our team's goals! (Yes, it was a fluke - I thought I'd heard the whistle and play had stopped, so just whacked the ball aimlessly... it sailed through the goalkeeper's legs.)

I'm hoping to go back and play again next week.

On Friday night, it snowed! Actual, real flakey snow!

My host siblings and I took the chance and had a giant snowball fight in the street, at about 10pm. It was some of the most fun I've ever had.

On Saturday morning the snow hadn't quite melted, so Isabel, Maria, Antonio and I took a walk into the centre of Colmenarejo. It was lovely. We really need to introduce this 'snow' phenomenon to Perth.

(That's my host mother, Isabel, by the way. And one of our three dogs!)

Saturday night was carnivale. In Colmenarejo, the carnivale celebrations consist of a big parade, in which everyone wears costumes or bright clothing, and then a big talent competition.

(When I say bright clothing, I mean BRIGHT.)

The big fiesta-slash-talent-competition is supposed to take place outside, but - lo and behold! - it started to pour with rain as soon as the parade finished. Never fear; the entire town just quickly shifted to the local gymnasium!

The costumes were excellent, though my photos of them are not. I blame the dodgy lighting.

I had a lot of fun dancing with everyone I knew - my host family, my friends and my neighbours. The music was a weird (but fabulous!) mix of traditional Spanish songs and pop music (think Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake) played by a big brass band.

Up next - the talent competition. My neighbourhood entered the talent competition with a dance routine to 'Geisha Dreams'. Impressively enough - they won! I have to say, I was quite proud. And not only because I was helping organise rehearsals all of last weekend. Here's the triumphant group shot.

To celebrate, we all went out after the official carnivale celebrations were done. The only place open was a little Chinese restaurant in Galapagar. (I think the people who worked there were a little affronted when we all showed up still in costume.) Much beer was drunk, and much delicious food eaten.

We were out until about 1 in the morning, and so most of Sunday was spent snoozing.

So there you have it - my crazy weekend. And now I'd better get down to my Maths homework.

I'd Forgotten How Much Fun Excursions Are!

Today we had a class trip! To Plaza Mayor -


- a big square in the middle of central Madrid.

Our mission? To interview English-speaking tourists about their accents for a presentation in English Conversation Class.

Did we choose to accept it? Well... for about 30 minutes of the 3 hours we did. But I'm a new, Australian kid in Madrid! Was the right thing to do our assignment, or to have my friends show me around? I think you know the answer.



We hung out with some buskers, including this guy whose job it is to blow enormous bubbles (so jealous!) -


- and this headless man, who took a liking to Alejandra.


We had a nice chat to some policemen, too, and met their horses. They kindly consented to be interviewed despite being born and bred in Madrid.


Then it was time to introduce me to the famous delicacy of Plaza Mayor - a squid sandwich! (Which, I must say, was actually delicious.)

We bought them from a lovely little establishment which I get the feeling may have been a pub -



- not only because of the poker machine in the corner.


It was nice and warm in there, and the barman/waiter told me some amusing Spanish jokes. It was full of smoke, though, so we decided to sit outside. While we were eating, a caricature artist approached us and offered to do a sketch of the group!

Here she is, with Carlos looking super awkward alongside.


And here's the caricature! (You may or may not be able to see that she spelled my name 'Grais'. 'Grace' is NOT a common name here. No one can pronounce it!)


So yes, that was my day!

What's happening down under? Update me, y'all!