Flamenco February

Isn't February always a somewhat dreary month? To be honest, I didn't remember what I had done in February - aside from our trip to Tunisia - until I looked at the pictures we took. Well, for one, it was not so dreary here; the weather was actually uncharacteristically mild and sunny, although we did have our fair share of cold and unpleasant days. For another, in spite of the occasionally inhospitable weather, we did still meet up and do quite a few fun things. We had several more menú del día meet-ups, where we tried some more delicious restaurants.

Menú del día meetings

One day we stumbled upon a celebration of Chinese New Year after having brunch and wandered around for a while. It was a bit silly, but it made us crave some bubble tea, so we went to a nearby café in an area with a large concentration of Chinese immigrants (it's probably the closest thing to a "Chinatown" in Madrid) to slake our thirst.

China-themed day

I witnessed some beautiful sunsets and rainbows in some random parks:

Without a doubt the most exciting/interesting thing to happen in February was the flamenco show we went to. I decided one day to revisit my Madrid guidebook to see if they had any recommendations for things that I had not done yet, such as museums or restaurants. I took special note of the "Live Music" section, and discovered that a bar I had been to several times actually had live flamenco performances every Sunday evening for only 12€. I had wanted to check out a flamenco show before, but they are usually quite expensive and I had never had time to search around for an affordable place. After discovering this cheaper venue, I convinced my roommate to join me one week and we went to check it out.

It was mesmerizing! I had only been to one Flamenco show several years ago in Granada with Elizabeth (my sister) when she came to visit me, and I didn't remember it as making a very big impression on me. We didn't have any recommendations and had simply stumbled upon a place which was probably quite touristy. So the show in BarCo (the name of the bar here in Madrid) took me by surprise. I have since been back several times and my roommate and I both have taken friends and family who came to visit. There are always five performers: a guitar player, a singer, two dancers, and a guy who plays percussion and occasionally the violin. The dancers change every week but the musicians are always the same. I especially loved how small and intimate the space was, in a cellar-like room with a curved ceiling underneath the main bar. No matter where you sit, you feel close to the action and connected to the performers.

Flamenco is now a popular part of mainstream Spanish culture, but it originated in the gypsy communities, especially in Andalusia in the south of Spain. The brightly-colored dresses historically were associated distinctly with gypsy women, and the rather bold, abrasive dance movements, as well as the intense style of singing and often depressing lyrics arose out of the harshness of life as part of a marginalized class. The singing, I believe, must have also been influenced by the Arabic culture which was historically so strong in the south of Spain, because it often has a quality very similar to much Islamic singing, especially the call to prayer (Google any flamenco song and then a "call to prayer" and see if you don't hear any similarities). Although I used to think that flamenco was primarily about dancing, in reality singing, guitar playing and syncopated clapping are all equally, if not occasionally more important.

In flamenco, when a performer is truly inspired, you say that he or she has duende, a Spanish word which doesn't really translate but which is kind of like saying that a gospel singer has "soul;" it does not come from technical skill or rehearsal but from a certain spontaneous passion which arises in the performer and communicates itself to the audience (you can find a really interesting article about it by a famous Spanish author if you Google "Federico García Lorca duende"). The dancers at BarCo almost always have duende (especially the one I photographed above), and their dance, along with the evocative music, have really captivated and moved me every time I've been. It has been an experience that reminded me how awesome Spanish culture is and that I ought to try and take as much advantage of it as possible during the rest of my time here!

Tunisia

If you're like me, your first reaction to hearing about someone who went to Tunisia is probably something like this: "What? Who goes to Tunisia? Is it safe? What is there to see there?" It never would have occurred to me either, until Tunis showed up when I was searching different sites for the cheapest destinations on one of our long weekends. My first reaction was the one above - Tunisia!? - but after doing some research, I quickly became convinced I should go. For one, the long weekend was in the middle of February, a terrible time to travel anywhere north of Spain (aka all of Europe) because of the miserable weather. For another, I discovered that the ruins of Carthage, a huge collection of Roman tile mosaics and many beautiful Islamic buildings were some of the top attractions in Tunis, and after talking with my roommate and our friend Melanie, we decided to give it a go!

A panoramic view of "downtown" Tunis from a rooftop bar

Tunisia is in Northern Africa, between Libya and Algeria. If you read my post about Marrakech, then you can imagine it being somewhat similar in culture and history to Morocco. Most people speak French and Arabic and practice Islam. But Tunisia is actually one of the most non-conservative, non-traditional Muslim nations in the world - so much so that, according to our new Couch Surfing friend who we met there, hard-line countries like Saudi Arabia hate them almost as much as they hate "the West" because they see Tunisians as misrepresenting the religion. Our experience seemed to confirm this assumption: we saw a few bars where people seemed to have no qualms about drinking alcohol, very few women wearing headscarves, and most people dressed in more or less Western-style clothes, a big contrast to Morocco, where many people wore "traditional" outfits and alcohol was difficult to find.

Some pictures of "downtown" Tunis

If you have an idea in your head of Tunisia being unsafe, chances are it might be due in part to something you've heard about all the so-called "Arab Spring" revolutions which shook many North African countries a few years back, and which have made countries like Libya, Algeria and Egypt questionable travel destinations. But Tunisia, as you would quickly learn upon doing some research, has had a very different trajectory from these other countries, and has been hailed as the exception. Tunisia was actually the first country to spark these various revolutions; a Tunisian man led to desperation and fed up with the government's abysmal policies set himself on fire and sparked mass protests, later called the "Jasmine Revolution," and which eventually led to the ousting of the dictator Ben Ali. Perhaps because they were the first, or perhaps for some other reason, Tunisia has been one of the only countries to come out more or less safely (and relatively quickly) into a new "stable," "democratic" government. The reality may not coincide exactly with this nice media-painted idea, but in general Tunisia is no longer racked by conflict and strife and, until recently, has had almost no incidences of terrorist attacks.

An image from Google of the "Jasmine" Revoluation

We were actually quite excited to see a country at such a pivotal moment in its history - granted, the revolution was four years ago, but needless to say its effects are still being negotiated and unraveled today. However, the reality was not so pleasant. On the ground, at least as a tourist, the main effects which you see of the revolution are not an improvement in justice or the economic situation, but rather a disintegration of basic social mores: traffic is horrendous and terrifying, with nobody respecting stoplights or basic rules of driving; so many streets, public squares and parks are absolutely disgusting, filled with piles and piles of refuse. According to people we talked with, it did not use to be like this. When everyone was terrified of the dictator and his harsh punishments, people respected the laws; now, when they know they can simply pay off a corrupt police officer to drop the charges, they do whatever they want with no fear of legal consequences. The picture of trash below is from Google, but it accurately depicts what we saw while there - it may look exaggeratedly bad, but sadly we found it to be the rule rather than the exception. Piles like this or worse were absolutely everywhere we went.

A picture from Google of a filthy street in Tunis

I don't want to dwell too much on negative things, but unfortunately these circumstances, among others, did color our trip for the worse and, without our desiring so, befouled our impressions of the beautiful things which we did see. The one thing I will say was that everyone we met was incredibly nice. We had multiple offers from people on Couch Surfing to meet up and show us around, and we ended up hanging out with one guy named Alâ every single day we were there. He guided us around and shared his extensive knowledge of the country's history, acting as our own personal tour guide, which was incredible and incredibly nice of him. But everyone else was friendly as well: from taxi drivers to our AirBNB hosts to random people we interacted with on the street. Not only were people friendly, but they seemed very concerned about their country's international image. "How do you like Tunisia?" was almost always the first question everyone asked, with great anxiety lest you should say something negative. Perhaps this is because they are proud of their country, or perhaps it's because tourism is a huge part of the national economy and they are concerned about people not coming, but either way it was probably the most positive thing I found in Tunisia, which at least in part made up for the other less ideal things.

The Arab Palace

Photomontage of the Arab Palace

One of the highlights of our trip was probably the amazing AirBNB where we stayed. It was an old palace of the kings of Tunis which has been converted by two French designers into a gorgeous bed and breakfast style lodging. They called it an "Arab Palace" online and we truly felt like royalty while staying there. They fed us an extensive and delicious breakfast every morning, and even made special things for our friend who is gluten intolerant. Its extremely chic, designer vibe also made us feel like we were living inside a fashion magazine, and inspired us to take lots of silly pictures, which you can enjoy below.

Imitating photos in the Arab Palace

Elvis in the Arab Palace

Being silly in the Arab Palace

The Bardo Museum

The most famous tourist attraction in Tunis is without a doubt the Bardo Museum, and at least for me, it did not disappoint. The museum's collection, while immense and extensive, consists almost exclusively of Roman tile mosaics, something which might sound strange to you if you think about it - Roman ruins in North Africa? I thought the Roman Empire was in Europe?

A portrait of a patroness, almost perfectly preserved

One thing I learned in one of my college courses, and which kind of blew my mind, was that North Africa was not only part of the Roman Empire, but was actually the cultural and artistic center in the centuries following Jesus' death, while Europe became a backwaters. Thus, some of the most amazing Roman art and architecture today is not in Europe at all but in countries like Tunisia, Libya and Syria.

More incredibly detailed mosaics

In addition to their collection, the building itself was breathtaking, as it had once been a palace and therefore boasted gorgeous, intricate decorations in many of the rooms. The very distinct, Islamic style of adornment reminded me a lot of certain buildings in Morocco.

The beautiful interior of the Bardo

The museum was impressive to me both for the remarkably intact state the majority of the mosaics were in, as well as for the sheer mass of them - they were literally everywhere, on the floor, on the walls, and in many places spreading across multiple stories of the same wall, and/or across multiple walls of the same room because they were so enormous. Considering that most of these works date from the first to sixth century after Christ, it was so incredible and amazing to me that there were so many of them and that they were so well preserved!

Mosaics everywhere!

Carthage

More Roman ruins! When I first learned that the ruins of Carthage were in Tunis, I was super excited about seeing the remains of a non-European civilization, something I've never really experienced before. I did some research before I went, downloading a few podcasts on Carthage's history, and soon learned that the original city was completely and utterly obliterated by the Romans. So, unfortunately, what you see today are actually just more Roman ruins like what you can see in Italy or throughout Europe. OK, I can't complain about that, but it would have been cool to see something from a civilization which you don't often hear about.

The ruins of Carthage

The ruins were nice, albeit much smaller than we were expecting and not exactly well preserved. Similar to our experience in Morocco, we found Tunisia's approach to preservation and museumification questionable and a bit disconcerting. However, you can't argue that the views were pretty incredible! There was also a 19th century cathedral dominating the hill next to the ruins, a leftover from the French colonial days.

Cathédrale de Saint Louis

Sidi Bou Saïd

My favorite part of Tunis was the small seaside village of Sidi Bou Saïd, with its picturesque whitewashed houses and striking blue shutters. There is actually a strict ordinance in the town that forbids people from painting any building in a different color scheme, so that the full effect remains untainted.

Sidi Bou Saïd is known for being a slightly bohemian, alternative village, which has attracted artists and craative types, both Tunisian as well as French, throughout its history. It has a really nice feel and, aside from the lovely buildings, also boasts beautiful views of the Gulf of Tunis, which we were fortunate enough to see at sunset.

Sunset over the Gulf of Tunis

More beautiful views

We also visited a cool place called Dar el Annabi, an old house that has been converted into a museum of Tunisian culture, with displays of traditional outfits and home decors which were used historically in the country.

Being silly in Dar el Annabi

They also had a lovely area where you could drink tea:

Drinking tea in Dar el Annabi

...and an awesome rooftop with amazing views of Tunis off in the distance.

Rooftop view in Dar el Annabi

La Médina & La Marsa

We spent our last day exploring the medina, or historical city center, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and which boasts tons of mosques and other interesting governmental buildings. We enjoyed taking silly pictures and buying some yummy Tunisian sweets, but unfortunately most things were closed as it was Sunday.

Scenes from the medina

More medina scenes

Finally, we headed down to La Marsa, a small stretch of public beach which is usually popular, but was fairly deserted due to the chilly, cloudy weather. And that was more or less the end of our trip.

On the beach at La Marsa

In spite of the many things that put a damper on our trip, I can't deny that we did get to see a lot of beautiful things. Even if there were some things we didn't like that much about Tunisia, in the end it all makes for some interesting stories and a very enriching glimpse of a country completely unlike any I've ever seen before.

More Menú del Día

Aside from my two trips to Morocco and Valencia, January was a fairly uneventful month. Well, I guess it depends on how you define eventful; one awesome thing about living in a foreign country is that even just staying at home, getting to know a new part of the city or trying out a new bar or restaurant can be an "event," depending on your perspective. Sometimes even going to the grocery store you can find interesting things, like this wine-tasting machine my roommate and I found (and enjoyed) one evening:

Wine-tasting machine in the grocery store

The main highlights of January were the meetings of our menú del día food group. One night we met up for "fancy ramen," a culinary experience which is apparently very popular right now. The place was so crowded that we had to put our name on a list and wait 2 hours! But it was OK, because in the meantime we went to a famous sangria bar nearby called Cuevas sésamo, a very old bar which has welcomed the likes of Ava Gardner, Ernest Hemingway and Jean Cocteau, to name a few. There we enjoyed the traditional Spanish drink made of wine, fruit and soda to the accompaniment of atmospheric - albeit mediocre - piano music. Needless to say we felt very classy and like we had been transported back in time.

Cuevas del Sésamo

The ramen, when we finally got our table, was also quite scrumptious, albeit a bit overpriced.

Fancy ramen

Our best menú del día meet-up, however, was right after winter holidays. The first weekend back after Christmas break, our token Spanish member Maria suggested we all meet up for a "little drink" to catch up after break and to ring in the new year. Little did we know that this "little drink" was actually an entire tapas tour which she had planned out, just to show us some historical and special places in Madrid!

Our group enjoying the drinks and tapas

She took us to a total of seven bars - at least I think there were seven, but to be honest I lost count at some point - and each one had some special story behind it. One bar was known for having the best "tira," or draft-pouring technique; another was a quirkily-decorated bar called Maceiras which specializes in food and drinks from Galicia, a region in the north of Spain above Portugal. There we drank a dry white wine in cuencos, the little white bowls you can see us holding in the picture below.

Drinking wine from cuencos in Maceira

We also went to a bar which started in the 1930's as a small store specializing in cured sausage, and which was frequented by Madrid's high society of the time. Maria helped us select some special red wines, and they were all exquisite!

Delicious wine

We also visited one of the oldest bars in Madrid, a place with atmospheric dark wooden panelling and giant barrels of sherry lining the wall. Sherry is not only their specialty, but is just about the only thing they sell. If you've never had sherry, it's a very dry, very strong wine which is actually from the south of Spain, from a region called Jérez. When the wine was exported to the UK and became popular, some businessmen had the marketing idea to change the name to sherry, which is much easier to pronounce for English-speakers than the throaty "j" of Spanish.

Sherry in one of the oldest bars in Madrid

Unfortunately, in spite of looking very fancy and sophisticated, we all found the taste of the sherry to be absolutely abysmal. Because it's so strong, it tastes like you're drinking a liquor rather than a wine. None of us were fans, but we struggled through it anyway so that we could enjoy the atmosphere.

Our reaction to the sherry

Later in the night, we visited Casa Granada, a rooftop bar which is hidden at the top of a residential building. When you walk by on the street, you're almost guaranteed to miss the sign unless you know what you're looking for. And even if you find the sign, you are likely to be puzzled about how to get to the bar, as the door seems to lead to the lobby of an apartment building and not to any sort of commercial establishment. You feel like you're trespassing in someone's private property, but when you get to the top floor, you find the bar with its lovely terrace. Unfortunately the outdoor seating was full when we went, so we just had one overpriced drink and then headed out.

Casa Granada rooftop bar

We ended the night at a bar called Txirimiri (pronounced "chi-ri-mi-ri," tx in Basque makes a "ch" sound) specializing in food from the Basque Country in the north of Spain. We tried some black rice, which is made with squid ink! I found it a bit odd, but enjoyed trying something new. It's a very famous dish in Spain and everyone else really liked it.

"Black rice" with squid ink

In the end, Maria's "little drink" turned into an entire evening of drinking and eating our way across the city center of Madrid. It was particularly cool for me because it's only the second or third time I've gone out in the truly Spanish style, drinking and eating a little in several bars over the course of many hours. It's a very different approach to going out and an important part of Spanish culture, so obviously something I should take advantage of while I'm here. Plus, we had a great time hanging out together and getting to try so many different places!

Valencia

The last weekend in January, I took a rather impromptu trip to Valencia, on Spain's east coast. Valencia is best known for its beaches, so January is obviously not the most recommended month to go; however, I had wanted to escape the cold weather in Madrid for a while, and having been told that Valencia was always warmer, I decided to go. That's one great thing about Spain - it never gets that cold, and when it does you can just take a 3 hour bus ride and be in 60° weather again!

One of Valencia's beaches, deserted as it was winter

While the weather was not exactly scorching, it definitely felt nicer than Madrid, and the best part of the trip was that it reminded me how much I love traveling last-minute and on my own! I kept going back and forth about whether or not I wanted to go, and didn't actually make the final decision until late Friday night, when I booked a shared ride on Blablacar and a bed in a hostel for the next morning! Talk about last-minute...

The Town Hall of Valencia

But it turned out to be a great trip! Beginning with the very friendly driver of my ride-share, I met lots of really cool people, even though I was there for slightly less than two full days. The first afternoon, I met a German guy at a vegetarian restaurant who was in Valencia on exchange - I quickly learned that it is a huge destination for study abroad students from all of Europe. After we finished eating, he showed me a very neat part of the city called El Cabanyal with lots of old buildings boasting lovely tile facades. It has always been a somewhat unsavory neighborhood, and there have been threats recently to tear it down in order to make way for big developers. Hopefully these plans will not succeed, however, because the buildings were really lovely and full of charm!

Some lovely facades in El Cabanyal

That night, I discovered a "bookstore-bar" that sounded cool by simply putting "cafe bookstore" in Google maps. It was in the midst of what people had described as the "hipster" neighborhood, so I knew I'd like it. They had a very nice atmosphere and lots of delicious craft beer, which was especially nice considering how uncommon it is in Madrid. I spent quite a long time enjoying a salad and a few beers while reading a book; it was a perfect way to spend the evening as a lone traveler.

Ubik bookstore-bar

The next day, I did a free walking tour in the morning with a group I had found online. As always, I really enjoyed it and found it to be a great way to learn more about the history of the city while also getting some great tips from locals and meeting cool people. We saw many traditional, historical things, such as the main cathedral, a building which used to house the silk market (important thanks to the city's advantageous location on the Mediterranean), and part of the old city walls.

Silk Market, Cathedral and Serrano Gate

And we also saw some strange and quirky things, such as one of the narrowest apartment buildings in the world, a wall with heads and bodies of old statues pastiched into it, and my personal favorite, masturbating gargoyles. This latter, by the way, was part of the exterior decoration of the former silk market, which also included carvings of men humping trees and allusions to bestiality. The guides unfortunately could not offer any explanation to this rather atypical decorative style.

Masturbating gargoyle, narrow building, statue pastiche

Valencia actually has quite an interesting history, having been an independent kingdom for much of the Middle Ages, like most of the different regions of Spain. It seemed to me like a mini-Barcelona: another beach-side city, similar architecture and they even speak Catalan, although they call it Valencian. The Borgias, who are now famous thanks to the TV series, were actually from Valencia, and there were several buildings with their names on them or with statues representing them. There were also lovely tile mosaics on the sides of many buildings.

Beautiful tiles

On the walking tour I met a German girl and a Dutch guy who I then hung out with for the few hours I had left before my shared ride back to Madrid. We had horchata, a drink which I always associated with Mexico but which is actually from Valencia! Also, the horchata here is completely different, as in Mexico it's usually made with rice and here it's made with a special root called chufas in Spanish and tigernuts in English. Allegedly it has so many nutrients and vitamins that it is a super-healthy drink, and known in Valencia as a fool-proof hangover cure. It's traditionally eaten with pastries called fartones, which were also amazing.

Horchata and fartones

As I said before, it was a short trip, and while Valencia was maybe not the most exciting or wowing city I've visited in Spain, I had a great time enjoying some sunny weather and meeting a lot of interesting people. Hooray for last-minute trips, and for traveling on your own!