28.01.06
Posted in
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at
12:05 pm
by
Andy
I booked Friday off work and headed up to the sierra north of Madrid for a day on the slopes. The Valdesqui resort is small but perfect for a days skiing or snowboarding for beginners and intermediates. At the weekend it is so packed that you have to queue for every lift, the slopes are packed and collisions are common, hence going on a weekday.
(Take a close look at the Where Is Andy header image above. Look at the left hand side below the “Where” and you can see several lines linking down to a central point. That is the Valdesqui resort.)
I was accompanied by, Pete (Espe’s old flatmate and pub quiz master) and we were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather. All week its been a bit cloudy and hazy but we had clear sunshine all day giving stunning views over the snow capped mountains and Segovia. It was great fun and good to know that I haven’t forgotten how to do it. My only regret is forgetting my camera…
On our way home we visited an English food store and stocked up on such delights as real sausages, real bacon, pies, curry sauces and, of course, Jaffa Cakes.
As is becoming habit after trips to the mountains, Pete and I decided to hit the Taj Restaurant for a good curry in the evening. We were joined by Espe and surprisingly Chris who is up from Mazarron for a Dive Exhibition (who as it happened, celebrated his Birthday with us come midnight).
Needless to say I’m suffering today. It feels like every muscle hurts, and on top of that I’m incredibly tired. We got in at about 3am, but were woken up at 8 by the road works. I guess they started so early as the sooner the finished the sooner they started the BBQ… No word of a lie, a BBQ on one of the coldest days in January (you’d be forgiven for thinking they were English).
One has to ask what they were celebrating though. Its a long way to go before the works will be finished. And why weren’t we invited? We’re the ones who have been suffering as a result. Probably just as well really though, as it degenerated in to a drunken, violent affair leaving nothing but a smashed up, blood stained Ford Transit this morning…
25.01.06
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General
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12:38 pm
by
Andy
Espe and I had the pleasure of being invited to the opening and prize ceremony of the Medico del Mundo annual photo exhibition at La Casa Encendida.
We both love photography so an opportunity to check out another exhibition was not to be missed, but we were pleasantly surprised by the food and drink we were served while wandering about.
The photos, as expected, were amazing but at the same time quite disturbing. They served to illustrate some of the pain and suffering seen over the last year. Unsurprisingly the Tsunami and genocide in Sudan featured strongly.
We stayed for the prize givings, accompanied by an excellent jazz band, that for me was the highlight of the evening.
23.01.06
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4:29 pm
by
Andy
An excellent series all about American paratroopers role in World War 2. I got this for Christmas after a recommendation from Niel while out in Poland.
Very well made, based on many true facts, characters and stories from survivors. Although hard hitting its been really entertaining until the penultimate episode where the truth suddenly hit home when they stumbled across a concentration camp.
I must admit to being hit harder by the reality of what happened, than by actually walking around Auschwitz. The most striking part of this was seeing and sharing the feelings with the soldiers who walked into this in oblivious…
Many people had said that Auschwitz would be as full on as it gets, but for me, the last 20 minutes of this episode seemed even more real.
22.01.06
Posted in
Food
at
11:54 am
by
Andy
Even if I do say so myself, I cooked another excellent dinner last night… Despite having done a huge shop a few days previous we were a little short on substantial ingredients. Looking over a few cook books Nigel Slater, once again, came up trumps…
90 minutes later I’d prepared an incredibly simple, yet very tasty dish:
Ingredients
- 3 Potatoes
- 1 Onion
- Handful of Mushrooms
- 4 rashers of streaky bacon
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 50g butter
- Shed load of Thyme
- 100g Cheese (the softer the better)
First off I sliced up the potatoes and then fried the onions in a large saucepan with the butter and olive oil. I then lowered the heat as low as possible and added the potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and thyme.
I left this to fry on a low heat for 50 minutes adding the bacon and mushrooms after 20 minutes or so. After this it was just a case of adding the cheese (in slices) and leaving this to melt over the rest of the ingredients for a further 5 minutes.
So simple, yet so good. I’ll have to remember that one for the next time Chris is up to visit, as without the bacon it makes an excellent vegetarian dish.
Talking of Chris, just looking over my previous posts I don’t think I mentioned that he was up in Madrid to stay for 4 days just after new years. I’d completely forgotten that I’d offered him accommodation until he phoned a couple of hours before arriving. Great to see him again and actually have time to chat (unfortunately its always a very different story when we go diving in Mazarron as he’s always so busy).
20.01.06
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2:48 pm
by
Andy
I’ve had quiet weekend / week, with the exception of meeting up with Ros and Carlos for Dinner on Saturday evening. Then, as always, two invites came up at once. Espe and I were invited to two birthday meals last night.
Initially we popped along to see Klaar. Nice to catch up with her and her friends. Nico bought her a really funky Buddist ornament, that when used correcly emits a soothing humming sound. Reminded me of one of the temples we visited I Mongolia. Got to get myself one of those.
Its a real shame we weren’t able to stay long but we’d already agreed to meet Pete in a restuarant comically named “The bubble that smiles”. First time I’ve met a lot of Pete’s friends. Mostly English… and part of the large Madrid ex-pat community, yet suprisingly few were English teachers. Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of these guys as they play football on Saturday mornings. It’ll kill me to start with but I need the exercise.
09.01.06
Posted in
General
at
12:13 pm
by
Andy
Check this out: What happened on the 2005 Mongol Rally.
Cool! So what’s next? The Rickshaw Run maybe?
08.01.06
Posted in
Food
at
7:14 pm
by
Andy
Being on call all weekend I knew a quiet weekend was in store. I planned a Sunday Roast for Saturday evening, and then decided to invite Philippe, Ana, Jon and Pete along to try and dispell the myth about how terrible English cooking is.
Even if I do say so myself, it turned out very well. Roast Chicken with roast potatoes, sausages, bacon, (home made) stuffing, carrots, brocolli, peas, sweetcorn and gravy.
So here is how I did it:
- Made the stuffing. Minced up 4 pork(ish) sausages with 120 grams of breadcrumbs and a table spoon of parsley and sage. (When I was younger I used to dislike stuffing. If only I’d been told that it was just sausages and bread crumbs!)
- Heated the oven to 190 degrees.
- Cleaned and seasoned the Chicken with olive oil salt and pepper then covered with streaky bacon. Placed in the oven in a covered baking tray.
- Peeled the potatoes.
- Removed chicken to baste (spoon the oil back over it) after 30 minutes.
- Boiled the potatoes for 10 minutes then battered them about a bit to give them fluffy rough edges (all the better for roasting them).
- Added the potatoes and basted them and the chicken (60 minutes after starting the chicken).
- Added the stuffing (I cooked this seperately based on several recommendations online (To keep the chicken moist a lemon was stuffed inside instead).
- After 75 minutes, added the sausages and and basted the whole lot.
- Just over 90 minutes after starting I removed the Chicken to allow it to “relax”, leaving the potatoes, sausages and bacon to finish. A tip from Delia.
- It was then just a question of cooking the veg, carving the chicken and serving all together.
A good evening, and an excellent meal.
Oh, and yes, I cheated with the gravy. Bisto out of a packet… Having made stuffing for the first time I didn’t want to tackle doing “proper” gravy on the same day.
04.01.06
Posted in
General
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6:01 pm
by
Andy
I’ve started to notice a trend with these posts. When I’m having a good time, I don’t stop to update the page. When I’m in a foul mood, I write as a form of therapy.
So yes, I’m pissed off again. Guess what… road works, landlords and Spanish traffic, but I won’t go into that in detail. All I will say is that we were about to sign a contract on a flat yesterday (one we’d been working toward for the last 6 weeks) when we discovered a new construction, building a block of flats, had started up next door. Needless to say we won’t be moving there.
So what about the positive things that have kept me from updating the site for over two weeks?
Well, what can I say. An excellent Christmas!
For the third year running I went to O’Niels in Harrow for xmas eve. Not a great place, but normally a good laugh cos of the people. I always seem to bump into randoms who I’ve not seen in ages (this year it was Simon who I’ve not seen in 7 years… fond memories of raving in Bagleys Film Studios).
Christmas day and Boxing day, as ever, were family days. Great roast dinners with the obligatory Turkey, parsnips, sprouts, roast spuds, stuffing, gravy, white sauce etc (over indulgence at its best!). Great to see everyone again, especially my cousins who are getting bigger (but no less crazy) every year.
The remaining time I had in London I was able to run around and catch up with the likes of Anthony, Nathalie (see look I can spell it), Paul, Marc and the erm Eastcote Massive (gotta love a bit of Eastcote Tandoori), Stan, Darren and Nina. We also had a little Mongol Rally reunion with Jon, Richie and Sam.
Not a bad effort although there were a few people I didn’t get a chance to see properly. Namely Kenny, Nimesh, Ketul, Tina.
So with Christmas over with, it was back to Madrid for New Years Eve and back with the one I love. A special day for that reason alone.
In the evening we headed down to Lutz and Isabel’s flat for a feasting and a party. Philippe had four like minded Belgian friends over which guaranteed for a good night out. A shame that I was so tired after the preceding week. Still after a good feeding, Lutz stepped up to the decks (their flat is a perfect party flat) and proceeded to mix for the next 6 hours. Choon after Choon after Choon (as they say) yet incredibly diverse all the same.
I started to get a bit creative with the camera, as I always do after a few beers, and was commended on how great my camera must be to take such good pictures… hmmm.
A cracking night, slightly tarnished with the hassle of getting a taxi home… and the following day? Not a lot, but after being incredibly surprised by my gift from Espe (and the accompanying card), we settled down to watch some of my Christmas DVDs to work off the hangover.
So what does 2006 hold? Hopefully many opportunities and experiences, but before that we have to find a flat (looks like I’ll miss the Madrid skiing season for the second year running) and get away from these damn roadworks!
