My favourite place to eat (and the best toilet) in Madrid

October 17, 2016 / helenstasa / 2 Comments

When I first visited Spain 4 years ago (2012! Can you believe it?), the offerings for people like me with Coeliac disease were a bit limited. I could buy bread and pasta from the pharmacy (!), but that was about it.

Two years later, when I came back again, things were better, and there were lots of gluten free products in the supermarket.

But this time, things have REALLY improved, because a Spanish chef who has Coeliac disease has opened up two new cafes in Madrid which only sell gluten free products. This is the website.

This is the cafe on Calle del Barquillo

And, miracle of miracles, the things there actually taste decent. Well, more than decent. I am scared to say it, but they are GOOD. This is a pretty major achievement, given that the majority of gluten free food has the taste, texture, and general appearance of a piece of soggy cardboard. Not that I’ve eaten soggy cardboard myself, but you get the idea…

Since a friend showed me these cafes on my fourth day in Madrid, I have been back five times.

The first three times, I had cupcakes, but then I decided to branch out with the lasagne:

And the steak sandwich:

Everything I’ve eaten has been great. Apart from the coffee, which is absolutely appalling. I guess I can’t have everything.

But all this pales into insignificance when we get to the pièce de résistance– the toilets. See, the cafe on Calle del Barquillo is next to a five star hotel, and because it doesn’t have its own toilets, diners are “forced” (although that makes it sound like we’re suffering here) to use the hotel’s facilities.

And let’s just say, they are somewhat palatial.

Sneaky shot of the toilet entrance that I took yesterday.

In order to get to the facilities, you have to walk through a lobby, which is filled with comfy chairs and with bottles of champagne on the table (perhaps they know that the coffee in the cafe is undrinkable?). You then casually press a mirrored door, which opens to reveal this fancy pants bathroom, which is all posh tiles, waterfall taps, and expensive fittings.

It’s fantastic.

In fact, I would even say that it is worth visiting the cafe simply to use the toilets. They are THAT good.

So next time you’re in Madrid, and looking for somewhere nice to go (“to go”- see what I did there?), all I can say is, remember Celicioso on Calle del Barquillo 🙂

A problem…

October 16, 2016October 17, 2016 / helenstasa / 2 Comments

I’m not too sure if anyone remembers my previous blog, where I wrote about a particular issue that I kept experiencing in Sydney, namely, people assuming (wrongly) that I am a lesbian.

I had expected that when I came to Madrid that this issue would dissipate. (I should add a disclaimer here that I am not, in any way, unhappy to be mistaken as being a lesbian. If I was one, I would be delighted! But the problem is that I am not, but people seem to believe that I am, and I honestly don’t know why).

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Case in point. The other day, I was catching the Metro to my school, when a lady sat down opposite me. There was lots of space in the carriage that day, but I didn’t really care. However, as the journey went on, I became aware that she was watching me. Very, very closely. I looked up, and she smiled at me. So I smiled back. Then she raised her eyebrows at me, invitingly. I didn’t know what to do here, so I smiled away. She kept looking, and raising her eyebrows, until I realised that she was trying to make a move, and I looked away.

Then, tonight, I went to a conversation exchange meet up. I was talking with an attractive English lady, and in the course of the evening, no less than three men came up to her and offered their numbers. They totally ignored me. It was as if I was a non-person. The only person who came to talk to me was a lady who declared herself to be (you guessed it) interested in other ladies.

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Look, I am flattered. I love that people are interested! But I honestly don’t understand WHY! Why do some people seem to assume that I am a lesbian, when I’m not? Is it my hair? My clothes? My general attitude? Some other inaccurate cliched idea? I honestly don’t know, but it’s fascinating that the same thing seems to happen in Spain as in Australia.

I’m not upset by this, but I would love to know what it is that I’m doing that is repelling the men, and attracting the ladies! Any ideas very welcome 🙂

My Saturday excursion

October 15, 2016 / helenstasa / Leave a comment

(Today’s blog post is a bit different, as I realised that I am taking lots of photos but then not writing about them! So I had to address that…).

Last week, when I was haunting the tourist info centre in search of exciting places to go, I picked up a brochure about Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. I read Don Quixote last year (it took me FOREVER), and although I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite book ever, historically, it is very interesting, and Don Quixote’s escapades are endearing in a way (he’s also incredibly annoying, and numerous times, I almost gave up on the book as he did yet another ridiculous thing).

Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza

Cervantes was born in a town called Alcalá de Henares, 30 kilometres from the centre of Madrid, and the house he was born in has been turned into a museum. So today, as I wasn’t doing anything, I decided to go on a little excursion there.

I walked to Atocha, the central train station, then caught the first service to Alcalá de Henares.

This is the corner of my street, Calle de Santa Engracia

Statue outside Alcala de Henares station, commemorating the victims of the Atocha railway bombing

I then walked up to the Cervantes birthplace museum, getting somewhat lost along the way (it wouldn’t be a proper excursion without at least one moment of blind panic that I don’t know where I am).

Bedroom

Cool light

The surgery

Courtyard

The inside of the house was really interesting, as they had set it up so that it was just like it would have been when Cervantes was born in 1547. It was particularly intriguing to see the room which was set up like a doctor’s surgery, as Cervantes’ dad used to run a medical clinic, specialising in “blood letting” (not too sure what this involved, but it doesn’t sound particularly pleasant).

Afterwards, I had to pose for my obligatory tourist shot with the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza statues. (Random observation- it seems like statues which you can pose with are quite popular in Spain. There was a big queue lining up for these ones, so I had to sneak in quickly, thrusting my camera at some friendly fellow tourists as I did so).

I then wandered around the rest of the town, which has some very impressive architecture.

Then I caught the train back to Atocha, and walked home again.

Seriously, how amazing are the buildings? These were opposite the Retiro Park.

Overall, it was a really good day, and now I can say that I’ve seen the birthplaces of both Federico García Lorca and Miguel Cervantes. Maybe I should do a Spanish literary birthplaces pilgrimage?

Why are Spanish people so good looking?

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 / helenstasa / 2 Comments

Call me superficial. Call me pathetic. Call me whatever you want, but one thing which became readily apparent to me in the first five minutes of arriving in Spain is that almost everyone here seems to be incredibly attractive.

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Both men and women look like they’ve come from some sort of fashion show, despite the fact that it’s 7am in the morning, and most ordinary mortals look like me (namely, ruffled, crumpled, and a complete mess).

I think part of it may be because the Madrileños know how to dress well. The women have perfectly fitting jeans and always look as if they’ve just come out of a hairdresser. And the men are able to wear coloured pants without looking as if they’ve failed an audition for the circus.

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What’s particularly interesting is that even though it’s getting cold, and they’re wearing loads of layers of clothing, they still manage to look incredibly sexy.

This just isn’t fair!

I used to think “Wow, Elena Anaya is so beautiful!” (I was going to put Penélope Cruz, but I think Elena Anaya is more attractive) and “Antonio Banderas looked really good in that film” (I know, I know, Antonio Banderas, lots of people don’t think he’s good looking, but for some reason, I do). However, since coming to Spain, I have come to realise that the vast majority of the population look like Elena or Antonio WITHOUT EVEN TRYING!

Elena Anaya

Antonio Banderas

There is simply no justice in this world.

But the most bizarre part of the whole thing is that one teacher at my school seems to think that I am the Australian Elena Anaya equivalent (I WISH!). She keeps telling me that my eyes are “sooooo pretty” (because they’re light in colour), that my hair is “soooooo curly” (I haven’t seen anyone with hair as curly as mine yet), and that my Spanish is “sooooooooo funny” (not sure if this is meant as praise or an insult).

I DO NOT look like this!

I think this teacher needs to book an urgent appointment at her optometrist, as her glasses clearly aren’t strong enough. Or maybe it’s simply the case that people tend to find difference attractive? Who knows? There’s probably a PhD in this for someone, and let me just say, I definitely think that investigating differences in attractiveness around the world would be much more interesting than a lot of other PhDs…

Any takers?