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Published: July 30th 2009
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Steph and I made our way to my favorite town in Spain, Valladolid. After a 7 year absence, it was time to get reaquainted with the city where all of my ideas about traveling got started. As Steph and I headed north through the heart of Castilla y Leon it was like a complete time warp for me ... possibly for Steph too but she was sleeping during the entire time we were in the train. In 2002 I counted 9 times that I made the trip from Madrid to Valladolid so it was a route with which I am quite familiar. We made it to Valladolid around 6:45pm and I was excited as I have been this entire trip for a couple of reasons. First, I really wanted to show Steph Valladolid, the one big mistake that I made my first time in Spain was not taking Steph, my dad and my sister to Valladolid when they came to visit me. Now looking back on it I realize how much fun that would have been. So this would be Steph´s first time seeing my former stomping grounds. Second, I wanted to see if I could figure my way around the
Near form tackle
no better place to meet up with old friends than the plaza mayor! city without a map. I really doubted myself because I could not quite picture it ... after all it had been 7 years and I knew that there were a couple tight turns to make.
As much as I doubted my ability to find my way back, I was gladly greeted with Cristobal Colon monument right after getting out of the train station ... I knew that that was enough to orient myself towards the Plaza Mayor. After arriving to Plaza Mayor I was able to lead us to the Plaza Universidad and then Calle Lepanto. It was quite dramatic, at least for me, imagine Indiana Jones as he made it through the final 3 tasks to get to the Holy Grail.
So after all of that the next event on the list was to meet up with Jesus and Rodrigo, my 2 very good friends that I met in Valladolid in 2002. We met in the Plaza Mayor around 8:30 and of course it was pure excitement ... I basically form tackled them to show how excited I was but I was able to hold back. Steph did not did form tackle them as she thought it
would be a weird first impression.
Friday night we met up with the girlfriend of Jesus, Eva and then they invited us to a restaurant in a little pueblo outside of Valladolid. It is run by the family of Iban, another friend of mine from 2002. I joked with Jesus, telling him that that I was so disapointed that he brought me to Spain´s version of TGI Friday´s. The reason that it was a joke was because the restaurant that we went to was pretty much the most authentic type of place you could imagine. I think that every one there knew everyone else there ... except of course for us who were probably the only American´s that had been there in 2009. What was to follow was one of the great gastronomic events that we had ever experienced. Imagine how kings are treated when they go to a new city ... that is pretty much how Steph and I felt. First plate Serano Ham and Sheep Cheese, then comes the vegtable salad, next up a skewer of BBQ lamb, think you are done ... not yet a skewer of BBQ pig. And of course, the best for last,
rabo de toro ... translation ... bull tail! It may sound weird but it is actully one of the most tasty parts of the bull, the meat around the tail bone is very tender. Steph and Jesus took on the European sofisticated philosophy when eating the rabo de toro which entails of course knives and forks. Eva and I however perscribed to the USA Chicken Wing philosophy of 2 hands ... a more savage but more fun approach! After a great night of eating and getting caught up Jesus and Eva drove Steph and I back into the city around 1am.
The next day was all about discovering and re-discovering Valladolid. We stopped by the fruit market in Plaza España to get breakfast, then we checked out some areas around the center and followed that up with lunch in Campo Grande ... this is our traditional Ham and Cheese sandwich where we buy all of the food to make it from the Corte Ingles. After that I thought another amazing event was going to happen, we went to Calle Lepanto and I tried to buzz in to see if my host family was around. Unfortunatly, no such luck. They
Muy bien
To cure hunger for less than 4 = baguette, ham, spanish cheese and of course Oreo cookies may be on vacation as are many Spaniards during this time of year. I guess that just gives me another reason to return! But I showed Steph my old school and some other places around where I lived.
At night we met up with our Spanish friends again and went to a neat bar right outside of the Plaza de la universidad. This is where Jesus and I had our final battle in 2002 ... a chess match ... it was a battle of knowledge and patience ... and the apprentice lost to the master as is usually the case. There was no chess match this night, but we some how found a way to have a good time. Then after that we went to a bar that was decked out in honor of the great work of Cervantes, Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. Here again we dined like kings, great atmosphere and great spirit ... every table had a name of a character from Don Quijote y Sancho Panza and also each table had a tap where you could pour your own beer instead of having to go up to the bar to order ... great concept! It
Great times
This is how to go out to eat castilian style was another awesome night, I could not imagine a better way to spend a weekend in Valladolid than hanging out with our friends and going to the places we went.
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Cramer
Sarah Cramer
HOW EXCITING!!!
This blog gave me chills! I am so pumped you got to go back-SUCH an inspiration!!! Glad to hear it was a wonderful weekend! Hasta muy pronto, B ps-I jus learned about Don Q in my clase...COOL!!!