It has been FREEEEEEZING here. So cold most of Mallorca received some of that white stuff. More snow beauties coming your way:
Category: spain
Nieve en Barcelona
Though it is causing some major chaos on the highways, it is still undeniably beautiful.
sweet valley high ~ spanish style
Driving home tonight, the moon was low in the sky and fuzzy. Fuzzy from the clouds and fuzzy from my cold sake, it was sushi night with the Gomez Gil twins. They’re so cute, they are like my Spanish equivalent to the Sweet Valley High (SVH) twins.
Did you ever read those books? My God, I was obsessed. Constantly wanting to be Jessica because of her daring attitude and every guy dying to be with her. But Elizabeth was cool, she was smart and sly, and had a hot boyfriend, who was such the gentleman. I read through at least book 100. And I just have to mention that I still knew the twin’s names without having to look it up. I am very disturbed by that fact.
Also, a bit disturbing is that I decided to drive the back way home. It is a very winding narrow road with potholes and tall weeds growing from both sides. Normally, I find it quite peaceful when coming home late and driving on this dark deserted road where you rarely see another car. But this night I was a bit spookified. A few weeks ago my online Mallorca Daily Bulletin (MDB) had a story headline that read “Missing Bolivian found dismembered in Sa Rapita”.
There are two problems (if not more) that I have with this headline.
1. MDB will publish headlines at the top of the post but you have to wait until the next day to read the story. The site is free, why would you need to lure me here another day? Please MDB, I read you daily – as I should since it is part of your name. I had to wait a full 24 hours before I could find out about a woman dismembered in my neighborhood.
2. Dismembered? Not something I was expecting to happen in my sleepy lil town of Sa Rapita. Who could do that to a human body? Truly horrifying.
Finally I read about what happened. A man who goes by the initials of Q.Q. (an Ecuadorian) killed this Bolivian woman in her home in Palma and then put her body into his car and drove it out to his place here, in Sa Rapita. Using his construction tools to dismember the body, he then threw the body parts out randomly, while driving around. And this back road I mentioned, would be perfect for doing just that. It is uninhabited, but there is a fence along the road so animals cannot go onto (or off) the land. Some of the body parts were found on his property, but not all.
And what is still missing? Her head. This has been haunting me terribly.
SVH had many evil plots, don’t you remember. What about the very first book where there is smoking and drinking, later books have death and drugs, not so sweet now…. The evil sneaks in from all directions doesn’t it? So, yes, it’s quite possibly Sweet Valley High, Spanish style.
And people nowadays say Twilight is not good for their daughters to read. Why? Because Edward is the perfect man? Which of course, he isn’t. Or wait…..
So driving back home through the cool, foggy air with twists and turns in the road where the weeds can touch your car, I pictured her. This poor woman who lost her life and was brought here, to my peaceful neighborhood. I waited to see a ghostly figure in front of me with each turn, but it brought me only another turn, more weeds sliding by, whispering good night.
Not really the direction you thought I was going with this post? Just keeping it real, yo. And you thought I was all about silliness…
almond joy
Between January and February the island of Mallorca takes on a spectacular beauty. The almond trees are blossoming. The fields and hills are awash in white, pink and light green. And it is one of my favorite ways that Mallorca shows us, spring is just around the corner.
MADRID Olé Olé Olé Olé
In typical Kimberle fashion, I managed to arrive in Madrid a full day ahead of my friend. Those tricky airline itineraries when you fly from the states to Europe, I always forget to add that +1 day. Last time I booked a flight from Madrid to Mallorca the day before I arrived.
I really CAN be smart, really. After some choice words directed towards myself I realized something. You know what? A day alone in Madrid can never be bad. And with that, the cloud vanished.
DAY ONE MADRID:
Checking into the Hotel Asturias was easy and got a room with a balcony to boot! Nice.
The day was looking good. The hotel was prime location, in the centre. I walked towards Plaza Mayor and sat listening to groups of men singing songs to their fellow comrades. A large group had already consumed an entire outside bar area and every few minutes another group would march around the corner singing and the large group would sing back. Let me tell you, it was much better than watching the sad Mickey Mouse try to make balloon animals for frightened children.
Finally tiring of the antics I walked a bit further and found myself at the Mercado de San Miguel. I wandered in and drooled: fresh fruit, sausage, cheese, mouth-watering sandwiches of all kinds, seafood, tapas, wines, champagnes. Quadruple YUM ( i would go higher than quadruple but not really sure what is after that), made a mental note to come back with friend for food and wine.
DAY TWO MADRID:
The birthday girl has arrived! Not the actual bday yet but when it’s your 40th you get the entire week …… or is it month?
We set off for café con leche by the Parque del Retiro where an old waiter dude mumbled something in spanish after we asked for la carte and then only ordered coffee. Que pasa? Maybe there was something tempting for my tastebuds? Grumpy old man.
While birthday girl worked through the jet lag we cruised down Calle de Alcalá where we spied an Annie Leibovitz Exposition. And it was free! Isn’t Annie going through bankruptcy? How is this free? Whatevs. I’ll take it and run. It was filled with the usual famous, gorgeous celebrity photos plus a lot of her family and her lover, Susan. And I never knew Annie had a baby at the age of 51! Wow. There IS hope!
Next up, lunch at Mercado de San Miguel. My step quickened at the colorful array of vegetables in the windows. We settled on oysters and an appetizer with green olives, pickled onions, sardines and pepperoncinis. The first drink? A crisp white wine from France. Heaven.
Dinner was close by the hotel, a wonderful mixture of tapas. And afterwards we were bombarded with free drink cards from every calle corner. The card said “Free Caipirinha” which turned out to be the tiniest shot in the world. But we were already in the door and there was an open booth. Three Caipirinhas later, we stumbled out the door to our home for the night.
Now, I am not one for violence, however I must admit I can be a bit sharp tongued when threatened or angered…. and um, have had a cocktail or two. A large group was a bit too close for comfort and I spun around and mouthed off a bit while birthday girl almost fell flat on her face cruising over the cobblestones. She jumped up, yelled “I’m up!” and mumbled “heart, heart” while making the heart symbol over her chest. We giggled all the way “home”.
Day three was rainy and cold. We wandered around in hopes to spy the prostitutes on Calle de la Montera, which we did see a group of four. I think, it could also have been teenagers dressed in their normal day clothes. And then we caught a taxi for the airport. The smiley taxi guy played Olivia Newton-John’s oldies but goodies, we sang all the way to the airport.
A few more pics of Madrid. Enjoy! (Click to enlarge)
GOING NINETY MILES 