26th August
Today was a bit of a funny one. We started the day off worrying about what time we were being picked up. So we decided to drop Abilio a text. He didn't reply so we went to the bus stop at 12:15 like we thought originally, turns out we were wrong. We got a phone call saying he was the at 11:15 and we wasn't, oops! No problem tho as it is down for us to work at 4:30 anyway. We arranged good old santos to run us in then.
With our spare time we decided to wash our clothes for the 3rd but couldn't work out how to get the washer going as the previous times we had done the wash we had just fluked it and pressed loads of buttons. Mar, the owner, was in doing some house work so we asked her. She came to help only to see we had one of her blue towels in with our white wash. Oops again. So she sorted that out for us explaining how to do a wash as if we didn't already know (Lee didn't know but then again Sarah put a blue towel in so maybe she didn't know either )
We got into work and had a laugh about the whole confusion thing before we got taken into peñafiel for tea at las claras. We did work in between though. We got to las claras but food wasn't on until 9 so we had a few drinks and some pinchos to put us on. We got our tea and asked if we change the big jug of red wine included for a vodka and coke and a Malibu and lemonade, very Spanish of us.
We got home and thought we would carry on drinking as we had really got drunk the whole time but then Sarahs tea decided to make a second apperance! She had ate too much, but to be honest at 40€ each we should of had it twice.
This called for bed time! It was our weekend tomorrow which was greatly anticipated.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
24th August
24th August
Today we both were very tired. The long working days were really starting to take its toll on Lee and Sarah. Both agreed they are ready to go home. But only another week wasn't too bad, especially brightened up by the fact they found the perfect spot to catch some rays whilst on there siesta! We were gutted we didn't find it earlier!
We both planned that for the remaining days we would turn our pasty white bodies into tanned golden brown Spanish natives!
Today we both were very tired. The long working days were really starting to take its toll on Lee and Sarah. Both agreed they are ready to go home. But only another week wasn't too bad, especially brightened up by the fact they found the perfect spot to catch some rays whilst on there siesta! We were gutted we didn't find it earlier!
We both planned that for the remaining days we would turn our pasty white bodies into tanned golden brown Spanish natives!
When we arrived home we realised that we had left the mince in the freezer so no spag bol for us! Sarah saved the day by making plenty of her delicious Tuna Tagliatelle which we saved some for our dinner the next day.
23rd August
23rd August
Today was a busy but average day, we started off by finishing the typing up of what we had written down with the now correct words and not the ones we had made up to sound like what the audio guide lady had said.
After we typed up everything we went on a tour to take some pictures that would go with the booklet that we were making.
Lee had more pressing matters on his mind as it was his dreaded night to (attepmt to) cook fajitas! Sarah was very brave to trust Lees cooking. When night rolled around and he got round to cooking, with a few tips and prompts from Sarah, they actually turned out alright.
Success! A celebratory beer was in order! Shame there was none in the fridge.
Today was a busy but average day, we started off by finishing the typing up of what we had written down with the now correct words and not the ones we had made up to sound like what the audio guide lady had said.
After we typed up everything we went on a tour to take some pictures that would go with the booklet that we were making.
Lee had more pressing matters on his mind as it was his dreaded night to (attepmt to) cook fajitas! Sarah was very brave to trust Lees cooking. When night rolled around and he got round to cooking, with a few tips and prompts from Sarah, they actually turned out alright.
Success! A celebratory beer was in order! Shame there was none in the fridge.
22nd August
22nd August
Today we started off typing up our translated version of the castle tour, this was quite difficult as it didn't really make much sense in English so we had to change a lot of it.
After a few hours of typing, we asked Estella (who can speak quite good English) to go over it with us and make sure the information we had changed is correct.
We decided we would try and make it into a small booklet for when English speaking people visit the castle, as the tour is only in Spanish. We sat down and planned what we wanted to do, we agreed that we would take pictures tomorrow and insert them into the booklet.
We then got on to the subject of Football as Barcelona and Real Mardrid were playing tonight.
When work had finished we got a lift to the bus stop, but we decided we wanted to go to the cafe for our tea as we liked it so much last time. We tooked into our food and watched the football and then got Santos (the local taxi man) to take us home.
<<< Surprisingly this didnt make the booklet
Today we started off typing up our translated version of the castle tour, this was quite difficult as it didn't really make much sense in English so we had to change a lot of it.
After a few hours of typing, we asked Estella (who can speak quite good English) to go over it with us and make sure the information we had changed is correct.
We decided we would try and make it into a small booklet for when English speaking people visit the castle, as the tour is only in Spanish. We sat down and planned what we wanted to do, we agreed that we would take pictures tomorrow and insert them into the booklet.
We then got on to the subject of Football as Barcelona and Real Mardrid were playing tonight.
When work had finished we got a lift to the bus stop, but we decided we wanted to go to the cafe for our tea as we liked it so much last time. We tooked into our food and watched the football and then got Santos (the local taxi man) to take us home.
<<< Surprisingly this didnt make the booklet21st August
21st August
Today was our last day off work so we had planned to do nothing apart from sunbathe all day in the back garden, until we got woke up by banging on our front door. Lee answered the door to find it was Javier our work friend.
He decided he was taking us to Valladolid for a Chinese, I had only just got out of bed so had to get ready really quite which was quite difficult, I ran down stairs with no make up or hair done and jumped into the car.
When we arrived in Valladolid we got a guided tour of the town centre, it was very warm, but we enjoyed looking round at the old building which he was showing us. Then he took us to a bar and ordered us some potatoe bravas and 3 small beers, Although I don't drink beer I didn't want to look ungrateful so I slowly drank the beer and when Javier wasn't looking passed it over to Lee so he could finish it off.
Then we set off to try and find a Chinese restaurant, we walked all around the town to find it was closed then we set off to find another one, we found it around 10 minutes later but this one had been shut down.Javier then took us back to his car and drove us to another restaurant which was open :)
.
Once again we had trouble reading the menus, we ended up with fried rice for our started with a " thousand surprises", and then for our main meal with had sweet and sour chicken and beef with onions but no rice, as they gave it us for our starter.
When we had finished our Chinese we headed back, which I was really happy about because I had a blister on the bottom of my foot and couldn't really walk properly.
We then spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun in our back garden :)
Today was our last day off work so we had planned to do nothing apart from sunbathe all day in the back garden, until we got woke up by banging on our front door. Lee answered the door to find it was Javier our work friend.
He decided he was taking us to Valladolid for a Chinese, I had only just got out of bed so had to get ready really quite which was quite difficult, I ran down stairs with no make up or hair done and jumped into the car.
When we arrived in Valladolid we got a guided tour of the town centre, it was very warm, but we enjoyed looking round at the old building which he was showing us. Then he took us to a bar and ordered us some potatoe bravas and 3 small beers, Although I don't drink beer I didn't want to look ungrateful so I slowly drank the beer and when Javier wasn't looking passed it over to Lee so he could finish it off.
Then we set off to try and find a Chinese restaurant, we walked all around the town to find it was closed then we set off to find another one, we found it around 10 minutes later but this one had been shut down.Javier then took us back to his car and drove us to another restaurant which was open :)
.Once again we had trouble reading the menus, we ended up with fried rice for our started with a " thousand surprises", and then for our main meal with had sweet and sour chicken and beef with onions but no rice, as they gave it us for our starter.
When we had finished our Chinese we headed back, which I was really happy about because I had a blister on the bottom of my foot and couldn't really walk properly.
We then spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun in our back garden :)
20th August
We had paid to have breakfast in the hotel but because we didn't have a really good sleep, we over slept and missed it :(
When we checked out we got a bill for the water and the wifi, the water costing 4.35 and the wifi was 5, I don't think Lee will ever buy anything from a mini bar again.
We then headed back into Madrid so we could have some breakfast and hopefully find Andrew (Sarah's boyfriend) a Real Madrid shirt. We found a nice restaurant a bit like a spanish Subway, we had a nice salad and a BBQ chicken sandwich. We then set off to the stadium shop, we looked at the price tags on the shirts and saw that they were 96 euros each so I decided I didn't love him that much haha.
We still had a few more hours until our train came but we headed for the train station and watched " we bought a zoo" on my iPad to kill the time.
When we arrived back into Valladolid we had a few drinks while we waited for the bus back home.
Finally we got home, and we headed straight for bed.
When we checked out we got a bill for the water and the wifi, the water costing 4.35 and the wifi was 5, I don't think Lee will ever buy anything from a mini bar again.
We then headed back into Madrid so we could have some breakfast and hopefully find Andrew (Sarah's boyfriend) a Real Madrid shirt. We found a nice restaurant a bit like a spanish Subway, we had a nice salad and a BBQ chicken sandwich. We then set off to the stadium shop, we looked at the price tags on the shirts and saw that they were 96 euros each so I decided I didn't love him that much haha.
We still had a few more hours until our train came but we headed for the train station and watched " we bought a zoo" on my iPad to kill the time.
When we arrived back into Valladolid we had a few drinks while we waited for the bus back home.
Finally we got home, and we headed straight for bed.
19th August
Today we went to Madrid to watch Real Madrid and Valencia play their first match of the season.
We arrived at the bus stop with plenty of time to spare so we didn't miss it, we were very anxious as we haven't had much luck with the busses in the past.
Once we got to Valladolid we found a place where we could have something to eat as we had quite a long day travelling. We then had the difficult task of trying to translate the menu into English, this is one thing we are finding quite a problem while being here in Spain as we don't know what we have ordered.
Once we boarded the train it went quite fast and we arrived in Mardrid In exactly 1 hour. We had worked out our hotel was only a 7minute walk from the train station but without having a map or wifi it was quite impossible to find, so we opted for the easy option and got a taxi.
When we arrived at the hotel we were quite surprised, before I could open the taxi door, a member if hotel staff opened it for me and then the same with the hotel door. The hotel inside was very posh. We defanitly felt a little bit out of place.
We went up to our room, put our bags down and headed straight out for the pub, so Lee could watch Manchester City play. We managed to find a bar close to the ground, a member of staff noticed Lees City top and after a short conversation he agreed to put it on the TV for him which he was really pleased about because he didn't want to miss it. We headed straight to the bar and ordered our drinks, 1 large beer and a can of sprite ( I had a water bottle full of Malibu so I didn't have to buy any) and it came up to 9 euros. We couldn't believe how much they charge but we stayed there anyway and met a few English speaking people, one being a famous DJ in Spain called DJ Daniless he was very nice and told us he was playing in Manchester in February and he wanted us to have free tickets for us and our friends. (DJ Daniless and his new best mate Lee>>>)
After the football had finished we were both really tired so we headed back to the hotel, Lee found the mini bar and decided it would be funny to lift all the flaps as they had my credit card details and it said "lifting the flap will charge". The room was very hot even with the air con so Lee said he would buy a bottle of water from the mini bar.
We had wifi in our room so I rented a film on my iPad (we bought a zoo) hoping I could watch it in bed but as it started to download i knew it would ever be done in time. As expected it took a grand total of around 10 hours to complete.
We arrived at the bus stop with plenty of time to spare so we didn't miss it, we were very anxious as we haven't had much luck with the busses in the past.
Once we got to Valladolid we found a place where we could have something to eat as we had quite a long day travelling. We then had the difficult task of trying to translate the menu into English, this is one thing we are finding quite a problem while being here in Spain as we don't know what we have ordered.
Once we boarded the train it went quite fast and we arrived in Mardrid In exactly 1 hour. We had worked out our hotel was only a 7minute walk from the train station but without having a map or wifi it was quite impossible to find, so we opted for the easy option and got a taxi.
When we arrived at the hotel we were quite surprised, before I could open the taxi door, a member if hotel staff opened it for me and then the same with the hotel door. The hotel inside was very posh. We defanitly felt a little bit out of place.
We went up to our room, put our bags down and headed straight out for the pub, so Lee could watch Manchester City play. We managed to find a bar close to the ground, a member of staff noticed Lees City top and after a short conversation he agreed to put it on the TV for him which he was really pleased about because he didn't want to miss it. We headed straight to the bar and ordered our drinks, 1 large beer and a can of sprite ( I had a water bottle full of Malibu so I didn't have to buy any) and it came up to 9 euros. We couldn't believe how much they charge but we stayed there anyway and met a few English speaking people, one being a famous DJ in Spain called DJ Daniless he was very nice and told us he was playing in Manchester in February and he wanted us to have free tickets for us and our friends. (DJ Daniless and his new best mate Lee>>>)
Lee made us miss the kick off as he wanted to watch the end of city, we then had to run to find our seats, we went through a security check and they found my "water bottle" and tried making me down it but I said it was ok just to put it in the bin as it was straight Malibu and was already feeling the effects. Not only we was late we then couldnt find our seats and asked about a million people before we found then, and a random person was sat in mine.
Although I didn't understand the football, we both had a really good time and the atmosphere was really exciting.
After the football had finished we were both really tired so we headed back to the hotel, Lee found the mini bar and decided it would be funny to lift all the flaps as they had my credit card details and it said "lifting the flap will charge". The room was very hot even with the air con so Lee said he would buy a bottle of water from the mini bar.
We had wifi in our room so I rented a film on my iPad (we bought a zoo) hoping I could watch it in bed but as it started to download i knew it would ever be done in time. As expected it took a grand total of around 10 hours to complete.
18th August
We finalised the parts of audio guide an made it make sense in English. A lot of the Spanish words that were say and translated were written down phonetically so we wasn't quite sure what they meant but this was a job for another day when estella and carmen were back in who speak some English. They would be able to help us get the words down instead of what we had written down. E.g pottyhead ... Which translated to Votijas (which is pronounced like bottihas, so we wasn't far off haha)
Valentin also came with his daughter and brought us our train tickets, which was very kind of him.
We went down into Peñafiel for our tea this night at the cafe where Javi took us earlier on in our experience. The food was gorgeous! We had already made plans to go back before finishing our mains. After trying our best to order a taxi, the owner said he would run us home, everyone is unbelievable nice in this little town. (other than the bus drivers, they don't seem happy at all)
When we got home we packed up ready for an early start into Madrid!
Valentin also came with his daughter and brought us our train tickets, which was very kind of him.
We went down into Peñafiel for our tea this night at the cafe where Javi took us earlier on in our experience. The food was gorgeous! We had already made plans to go back before finishing our mains. After trying our best to order a taxi, the owner said he would run us home, everyone is unbelievable nice in this little town. (other than the bus drivers, they don't seem happy at all)
When we got home we packed up ready for an early start into Madrid!
17th August
Today we decided to translate the script for the tour and write down what is said in the audio guide to make a booklet or English tourists who visit the castle!
The audio guide was very bland and boring and you could tell a lot of it was translated literally word for word so It didn't flow as proper English.
So after pressing pause and play over a million times we have all of the sections written down.
We then booked our hotel and printed off the reservation for our trip to Madrid :)
Lee caught up with his mum by phone and his dad and family via face. Sarah caught up with her family who had gone to a spa weekend that they changed to try and accommodate Sarah but with her jet setting life style she couldn't make. (which she was gutted about)
The day was brightened up by Javis dancing lessons to Sarah.
The audio guide was very bland and boring and you could tell a lot of it was translated literally word for word so It didn't flow as proper English.
So after pressing pause and play over a million times we have all of the sections written down.
We then booked our hotel and printed off the reservation for our trip to Madrid :)
Lee caught up with his mum by phone and his dad and family via face. Sarah caught up with her family who had gone to a spa weekend that they changed to try and accommodate Sarah but with her jet setting life style she couldn't make. (which she was gutted about)
The day was brightened up by Javis dancing lessons to Sarah.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
16th August
Up bright and early again, and off to work.
When we arrived, there was an English family visiting the castle so we thought it would be a good idea to go on the Castle tour with them and tell them some interesting information as the tour is only in Spanish. The family, like the others were very interested in why we was here and enjoyed taking to us.
Then we sat down and started to plan our trip to Madrid on Sunday to watch Real Madrid and Valencia play football.
While Lee tried to book the train tickets, I started looking for hotels close to the stadium as it would be a really long night and wouldn't be able to get back too Penafiel.
I quite enjoyed looking at hotels and found a really nice one called "Melia Castilla" , which is only a 10 minute walk from the stadium. Once the hotel was booked we got quite excited but then realised we couldn't buy the train tickets online. But panic over Lee spoke to Valentin to asked for some advise, he kindly offered to buy the tickets for us and we could give him the money back.
Before we knew it, it home time :) Javier gave us a lift home which was really nice and then we sat down to eat our not so nice Pizza for tea.
When we arrived, there was an English family visiting the castle so we thought it would be a good idea to go on the Castle tour with them and tell them some interesting information as the tour is only in Spanish. The family, like the others were very interested in why we was here and enjoyed taking to us.
Then we sat down and started to plan our trip to Madrid on Sunday to watch Real Madrid and Valencia play football.
While Lee tried to book the train tickets, I started looking for hotels close to the stadium as it would be a really long night and wouldn't be able to get back too Penafiel.
I quite enjoyed looking at hotels and found a really nice one called "Melia Castilla" , which is only a 10 minute walk from the stadium. Once the hotel was booked we got quite excited but then realised we couldn't buy the train tickets online. But panic over Lee spoke to Valentin to asked for some advise, he kindly offered to buy the tickets for us and we could give him the money back.
Before we knew it, it home time :)
Javier gave us a lift home which was really nice and then we sat down to eat our not so nice Pizza for tea.
15th August
Today is the day we have been looking forward too the Bullfight. We originally had the day off work so we could go to the festival, but we got called in at the last minute.
We got ourselves ready and walked to the bus stop to meet our work friend Abilio who takes us to the castle every morning. We was quite surprised when we left the house because believe it or not it was raining and very windy, we was quite worried that the festival would be called off.
Once we arrived at work we got stuck straight in and translated a few documents. It was really hard to concentrate as we were both very excited for tonight.
We had to wait for Valentine before we could go down the village as the bulls are let outside the ring and we needed some local knowledge. After waiting for what felt like forever Valentine finially arrived and without any messing around we both jumped into his car and set off.
When we arrived at the village we could hear the crowd but couldn't see a thing, as we followed Valentine through the small winding streets we arrived at the main strip leading to the Bullring.
The atmosphere was amazing, everybody was having such a good time, as I looked around there was people from all different generations babies to grandparents. I could definitely tell this was a huge festival for the local people. Everywhere you looked there was people jumping around, singing and dancing. We managed to squeeze our way into one of the bars so we could get a drink. Valentin and Lee both had a large beer while I settled for a martini (which I don't drink) as there was nothing I liked on offer. We then headed for the bullring ready for the upcoming event. Valentin disappeared and returned with half a sunflower head, he insisted we tried the seeds and showed us what we needed to do, I didn't think they tasted like anything to be honest but we carried on eating them any way.
All of a sudden the band appeared into the bullring to kick of the event, everyone went wild.
Then the bullfighters appeared and walked around the ring before the bulls made an appearance.
Although I couldn't watch the bull fighting because I didn't really like it, we all had a really good day :)
Below are pictures of the full day... Enjoy.
We got ourselves ready and walked to the bus stop to meet our work friend Abilio who takes us to the castle every morning. We was quite surprised when we left the house because believe it or not it was raining and very windy, we was quite worried that the festival would be called off.
Once we arrived at work we got stuck straight in and translated a few documents. It was really hard to concentrate as we were both very excited for tonight.
We had to wait for Valentine before we could go down the village as the bulls are let outside the ring and we needed some local knowledge. After waiting for what felt like forever Valentine finially arrived and without any messing around we both jumped into his car and set off.
When we arrived at the village we could hear the crowd but couldn't see a thing, as we followed Valentine through the small winding streets we arrived at the main strip leading to the Bullring.
The atmosphere was amazing, everybody was having such a good time, as I looked around there was people from all different generations babies to grandparents. I could definitely tell this was a huge festival for the local people. Everywhere you looked there was people jumping around, singing and dancing. We managed to squeeze our way into one of the bars so we could get a drink. Valentin and Lee both had a large beer while I settled for a martini (which I don't drink) as there was nothing I liked on offer. We then headed for the bullring ready for the upcoming event. Valentin disappeared and returned with half a sunflower head, he insisted we tried the seeds and showed us what we needed to do, I didn't think they tasted like anything to be honest but we carried on eating them any way.
All of a sudden the band appeared into the bullring to kick of the event, everyone went wild.
Then the bullfighters appeared and walked around the ring before the bulls made an appearance.
Although I couldn't watch the bull fighting because I didn't really like it, we all had a really good day :)
Below are pictures of the full day... Enjoy.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
14th August
Today we had the day to ourselves with no plans to do anything. So we both did exactly that, nothing. Just soaked up the rays.
Lee doesnt usually tan and surprsingly, although he lives in sunny England, he had burnt himself. The funny thing was that he it was just his left eye. He had a burnt on eye patch, it looked like Sarah had been forcefully keeping him in line.
When the night came we both went into Peñafiel to have something to eat, without realising there was a big festival on. We ended up going to a kebab shop and seemed to be stood there for ages as every time he said who is next in Spainish we didnt realise what he was saying so people kept going infront of us. Eventually, we got the crustiest nuggets ever with some chips in loads of sauce and a chicken wrap. Sarah didnt fancy risking the nuggets so they were left and we just ate the wrap and chips.
Lee doesnt usually tan and surprsingly, although he lives in sunny England, he had burnt himself. The funny thing was that he it was just his left eye. He had a burnt on eye patch, it looked like Sarah had been forcefully keeping him in line.
13th August
Our first full day off, Aaaahhhh. Just what we needed. We both took to the garden to do some sunbathing again before heading into Peñafiel for some dinner and to get stamps to send our postcards home. We went back to Javi´s favourite cafe and had lunch there. Lee watched the highlights of Citys victory over Chelsea in the community shield again and Sarah caught up with her sister on facetime. After our dinner we went to the supermarket to do a shop for the week. We dropped Santos, the taxi man, a text and he was there in no time to take our shopping home.
Sarah bravely propositioned Lee into making the Fajitas for tonights tea, regardless of Lees lack in cooking experience. After unpacking all the shopping and just waiting around the time had come for Lee to possibly burn the house down. Sarah helped Lee in showing him what to do as the instructions were all in Spanish.
Despite Lees worries the Fajitas turned out to be really nice. We both just talked all night and then got some kip before another free day to do nothing and top up on our midnight tans.
Sarah bravely propositioned Lee into making the Fajitas for tonights tea, regardless of Lees lack in cooking experience. After unpacking all the shopping and just waiting around the time had come for Lee to possibly burn the house down. Sarah helped Lee in showing him what to do as the instructions were all in Spanish.
Despite Lees worries the Fajitas turned out to be really nice. We both just talked all night and then got some kip before another free day to do nothing and top up on our midnight tans.
12th August
Today was sunday, Domingo, and was a half day for us as the castle doesnt open until the afternoon. We both got up to wave Jo off as unfortunately it was her time to go home.
We both took full advantage of the free time we had and sunbathed for as long as possible to try and get some sort of tan. 4 o'clock soon came around and it was time for Abilio to pick us up. We set off to our meeting point and he drove us into work.
The castle got very busy at the start but when we said that it was busy in our best Spanish and sign language they said that it gets alot busier than this and it was only quiet. Abilio took us both back home so we didnt have to wait for the bus to come before we could get home.
Sarah knocked up some tomato and potato salad which started off as an experiment but turned out to be really nice. Even though towards the end the spice from the overload of paprika had burnt our taste buds away.
We both took full advantage of the free time we had and sunbathed for as long as possible to try and get some sort of tan. 4 o'clock soon came around and it was time for Abilio to pick us up. We set off to our meeting point and he drove us into work.
The castle got very busy at the start but when we said that it was busy in our best Spanish and sign language they said that it gets alot busier than this and it was only quiet. Abilio took us both back home so we didnt have to wait for the bus to come before we could get home.
Sarah knocked up some tomato and potato salad which started off as an experiment but turned out to be really nice. Even though towards the end the spice from the overload of paprika had burnt our taste buds away.
11th August
Today was another day at work. we arrived around 11 oclock and went straight on a tour of the castle. We both tried to see how much we could match from what we had heard on the English audio to the Spanish being spoken.
After this we translated all the shop items in the gift shop area so that labels could be made for the English tourists. When we finished Javier pulled us over and shown us both google translater. It was like a gods send for him, he was amazed. although it did take ages for him to type anything because he could only use one finger to press the keys (like old people do).
He had translated that he would like to take us to his favourite cafe. so we had our lunch and then he bought us both a coke while he had his coffee and baileys. The cafe had wifi so we were conversating using the translation app which made everything alot easier and very funny.
Peter pan fits him very well, he is just a big kid.
When we finished work we went down into Peñafiel to meet Jo and have our last night as a three. We treked round to find a resturant until we came across Las Claras. We got on the wifi and sat down, the waiter gave us the menu and we disected every last bit using our translation apps but we got some very weird results. After ordering and getting the food we expected, which was really nice and reasonably cheap, we headed in to see what the festival was about that was going on. Lee and Sarah decided they were too tired after working very hard so they went home and Jo stayed until later on and partied the night away.
After this we translated all the shop items in the gift shop area so that labels could be made for the English tourists. When we finished Javier pulled us over and shown us both google translater. It was like a gods send for him, he was amazed. although it did take ages for him to type anything because he could only use one finger to press the keys (like old people do).
He had translated that he would like to take us to his favourite cafe. so we had our lunch and then he bought us both a coke while he had his coffee and baileys. The cafe had wifi so we were conversating using the translation app which made everything alot easier and very funny.
Peter pan fits him very well, he is just a big kid.
When we finished work we went down into Peñafiel to meet Jo and have our last night as a three. We treked round to find a resturant until we came across Las Claras. We got on the wifi and sat down, the waiter gave us the menu and we disected every last bit using our translation apps but we got some very weird results. After ordering and getting the food we expected, which was really nice and reasonably cheap, we headed in to see what the festival was about that was going on. Lee and Sarah decided they were too tired after working very hard so they went home and Jo stayed until later on and partied the night away.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
10th August
We both set our alarms for 9am, which wasn't very nice as we were so tired from the long day yesterday.
Lee decided to wear a pair of shorts and a vest top today because it was so warm and we knew we would have to go on the castle tour again. Jeans and 40 degrees heat do not mix very well.
Today is our second day of work, we were both very excited to come in today because we had such a good time yesterday. Everybody is so friendly and helpful.
We started the day by reading a few bits of material regarding the castle, the information was very interesting and we learnt quite a lot.
We were asked if we would like to go on the castle tour, we went on the tour 3 times yesterday but didn't want to sound rude so we smiled and said yes.
Much to our surprise along came an English family from York, we started to chat to them telling them why we was here. It was really nice to have a proper conversation with English people.
Later on that day a couple arrived and asked if they could do some wine testing. This is something we hadn't seen, so I asked if we could watch, the couple were very surprised with the generous serving of wine, and couldn't finish it all because he was driving.We started a conversation with them in Spanish and then the man worked out our accents and told us he was actually from Birmingham. We also explained to him why we were in the castle and he was very interested.
When home time arrived we got a lift to the bus stop, the staff will be taking turns during our time here to drive us to the bus stop, as the castle is based on top of a huge hill and there is no way we could walk down everyday.
Lee decided to wear a pair of shorts and a vest top today because it was so warm and we knew we would have to go on the castle tour again. Jeans and 40 degrees heat do not mix very well.
Today is our second day of work, we were both very excited to come in today because we had such a good time yesterday. Everybody is so friendly and helpful.
We started the day by reading a few bits of material regarding the castle, the information was very interesting and we learnt quite a lot.
We were asked if we would like to go on the castle tour, we went on the tour 3 times yesterday but didn't want to sound rude so we smiled and said yes.
Much to our surprise along came an English family from York, we started to chat to them telling them why we was here. It was really nice to have a proper conversation with English people.
Later on that day a couple arrived and asked if they could do some wine testing. This is something we hadn't seen, so I asked if we could watch, the couple were very surprised with the generous serving of wine, and couldn't finish it all because he was driving.We started a conversation with them in Spanish and then the man worked out our accents and told us he was actually from Birmingham. We also explained to him why we were in the castle and he was very interested.
When home time arrived we got a lift to the bus stop, the staff will be taking turns during our time here to drive us to the bus stop, as the castle is based on top of a huge hill and there is no way we could walk down everyday.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
9th August
Today was our first day of work, we were up bright and early so we could get ready and make our lunch to take with us. Lee wore his jeans that he picked out the day before thinking they felt pretty thin and late so they should be fine. He couldn't of been more wrong. We walked to the bus stop and stood with the thousands of flies that persistently flew into us, no matter how much we swung our arms around!
Abilio (companero y trabajo) our work mate picked us up after what seemed like an eternity thanks to our airborne friends. Abilio spoke no English what so ever so the conversation was very hard and we stopped a few times so he could explain with his actions. After driving round the maze of one ways and stop signs that makes up Penafiel restarted the climb up the hill to the castle.
At the top of the hill stood the castle and 'Keko' the security guard, we were introduced and then given a bottle of water that we were urged to constantly fill and drink because of the scorching sun. Abilio dropped us off with Javier, carmen, yolanda and estella. Once we had given out all our greeting kisses we got to take a tour round the castle with the audio guide in English. Javier who was taking the tour (who also spoke no English) dragged us both to the front and introduced us to the masses on top of the castle.
The Spanish sun was getting to Sarah because it was too hot to handle even in her linen pants and vest top. Lee was basically a puddle of the man he was. Jeans and a polo shirt do not go well with 38+ degrees.
Melting in the hot sun seemed to make the time go by very fast as our first real siesta came around quicker than we thought. But by 2:30 we were both starving seen as our usual dinner time is usually at 1. The 2 hours free we had was just what we needed to catch up with our families once we had been shown where the wifi was.
When our siesta had finished we got to go on the tour again which was as hot but a bit better because there was some bits of shade cast over the roof. We then went on the tour round the wine museum, the cool air conned in door wine museum. As you would do we took our time to get in all the information, but mainly to cool off as much as possible.
Towards the end of the day we went on the castle tour again but without the audio guide to see how much we could match with what the tour guide was saying. Not a lot but we blame how fast the Spanish speak! The day ended and Javier drove us down to the bus stop, luckily there was a bar behind it so as we had half an hour to kill and was incredibly hungry we went to go get some food. Sarah tried to order a little snack in Spanish from the menu, then she asked the bar man to describe it. She could not comprehend what he was trying to say until he described it in a way any person could understand, he snorted "oink oink" ... So we gathered that it must have been beef. ;)
The bus arrived late but that gave us time to make sure Sarah had enough money to pay for the both of us because Lee had left his bag in his locker. And also enough time to try and remember the name of our village. When arrived home, hungry, tired and ready for bed but with enough energy to tuck into Jo's spag bol. We soon went to bed and fell asleep straight away thank to our very long day.
Abilio (companero y trabajo) our work mate picked us up after what seemed like an eternity thanks to our airborne friends. Abilio spoke no English what so ever so the conversation was very hard and we stopped a few times so he could explain with his actions. After driving round the maze of one ways and stop signs that makes up Penafiel restarted the climb up the hill to the castle.
At the top of the hill stood the castle and 'Keko' the security guard, we were introduced and then given a bottle of water that we were urged to constantly fill and drink because of the scorching sun. Abilio dropped us off with Javier, carmen, yolanda and estella. Once we had given out all our greeting kisses we got to take a tour round the castle with the audio guide in English. Javier who was taking the tour (who also spoke no English) dragged us both to the front and introduced us to the masses on top of the castle.
The Spanish sun was getting to Sarah because it was too hot to handle even in her linen pants and vest top. Lee was basically a puddle of the man he was. Jeans and a polo shirt do not go well with 38+ degrees.
Melting in the hot sun seemed to make the time go by very fast as our first real siesta came around quicker than we thought. But by 2:30 we were both starving seen as our usual dinner time is usually at 1. The 2 hours free we had was just what we needed to catch up with our families once we had been shown where the wifi was.
When our siesta had finished we got to go on the tour again which was as hot but a bit better because there was some bits of shade cast over the roof. We then went on the tour round the wine museum, the cool air conned in door wine museum. As you would do we took our time to get in all the information, but mainly to cool off as much as possible.
Towards the end of the day we went on the castle tour again but without the audio guide to see how much we could match with what the tour guide was saying. Not a lot but we blame how fast the Spanish speak! The day ended and Javier drove us down to the bus stop, luckily there was a bar behind it so as we had half an hour to kill and was incredibly hungry we went to go get some food. Sarah tried to order a little snack in Spanish from the menu, then she asked the bar man to describe it. She could not comprehend what he was trying to say until he described it in a way any person could understand, he snorted "oink oink" ... So we gathered that it must have been beef. ;)
The bus arrived late but that gave us time to make sure Sarah had enough money to pay for the both of us because Lee had left his bag in his locker. And also enough time to try and remember the name of our village. When arrived home, hungry, tired and ready for bed but with enough energy to tuck into Jo's spag bol. We soon went to bed and fell asleep straight away thank to our very long day.
7th August 2012
We began our day after a long needed sleep. We got up and finished off last nights omelette before being picked up in Valentin's fancy BMW. He took us into Penafiel to show us where the local super markets are, long with the butchers, bakery and the bars. Whilst at the bakers he kindly bought us some bread and croissants.
Valentin decided that it would be nice to show us around the now finished bull ring before the festivals began on the 15th. After a few broken sentences in different languages and the use of his phone app we worked out that the 'toros' will be inside and outside the ring! Without many places to hide!
When then proceeded to our work placement up a mountain of a hill, where stood a magnificent castle. Valentin introduced us to all of the staff present and we were greeted by the Spanish customary kiss on both cheeks. Very alien when compared to a simple hand shake.
After Valentin dropped us off we quickly unpacked all of our shopping and then we gave santos a call, the local taxi man. He drove us back into Penafiel where we walked round for a few hours exploring before finding what seemed to be the only open bar for some food. We sat down and ordered before discovering the place had wifi. Sarah got the chance to speak to all her loved ones via FaceTime which was heart warming for all of us.
After the food, Lee kindly offered to get the round of drinks in. Trying to order the drinks all together turned out to be a task that he under estimated. The round came to 14.70€, none of us could figure out why. Then, the waitress who spoke some English came to the table and explained that it was only 4.70€, and by pointing to the table from across the bar to explain why he was ordering White wine, Rose and a beer all together, he had actually bought a man sat at the bar a glass of red wine. Which sent us all laughing our heads off before returning home and getting some rest.
Valentin decided that it would be nice to show us around the now finished bull ring before the festivals began on the 15th. After a few broken sentences in different languages and the use of his phone app we worked out that the 'toros' will be inside and outside the ring! Without many places to hide!
When then proceeded to our work placement up a mountain of a hill, where stood a magnificent castle. Valentin introduced us to all of the staff present and we were greeted by the Spanish customary kiss on both cheeks. Very alien when compared to a simple hand shake.
After Valentin dropped us off we quickly unpacked all of our shopping and then we gave santos a call, the local taxi man. He drove us back into Penafiel where we walked round for a few hours exploring before finding what seemed to be the only open bar for some food. We sat down and ordered before discovering the place had wifi. Sarah got the chance to speak to all her loved ones via FaceTime which was heart warming for all of us.
After the food, Lee kindly offered to get the round of drinks in. Trying to order the drinks all together turned out to be a task that he under estimated. The round came to 14.70€, none of us could figure out why. Then, the waitress who spoke some English came to the table and explained that it was only 4.70€, and by pointing to the table from across the bar to explain why he was ordering White wine, Rose and a beer all together, he had actually bought a man sat at the bar a glass of red wine. Which sent us all laughing our heads off before returning home and getting some rest.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
6th August
6th August
Today soon came around and we are both looking forward to the adventure ahead. We all met at the Vicarage to start our long journey comencing with a taxi to Liverpool. Feelings were mixed because we wasnt exactly sure what we would be doing or how anything will pan out. After the taxi, we went into the John Lennon airport and after a full english each we hopped on our plane to sunny Spain. Sarah wasnt to keen on flying but after a nervous take off we got our heads stuck into a game on her iPad whilst Jo read her book, the time just flew by (pardon the pun).
We arrived in Spain and headed straight for the metro which seemed like an enternity to walk to with our cases. We then got our train tickets, all got a bite to eat and Jo wisely bought some croissants for when we arrived at the accomodation incase there were no food and the shops were closed. After that we got on our train and headed for Vallodalid where was greated by Valentin. Valentin helped our suitcases into the car and we were off moving again. The european way off driving and the narrow streets didnt seem to mix well to our left sided English way.
After a long 12 hour day of constant travelling we was presented with a palace like accomodation. This old style village where we would spend the next month was filled with beautiful old fashioned houses and an out of place stage which was soon to be a street party. Mar, the land lady, Alba the daughter in law and her friend Laura who luckily spoke some English gave us a welcome tour around the house and showed their hospitality with some food and drink they had prepared for us earlier including a huge omlette and a giant pan (circle loaf of bread). Considering the long day we had and eating on the move this was heaven.
Mar treated us all to a drink before taking us around the village and into the local archilogical exhibit. The exhibit was filled with artifacts aged over 2000 years. The most strange but interesting one had to be the bones which we soon found out was a baby. Lastly, they shown us the shop, more importantly twinned with the local bar.
We all went back to our house and tucked into the omlette and bread before heading to bed for a good nights rest to prepare us for another long day ahead.
Today soon came around and we are both looking forward to the adventure ahead. We all met at the Vicarage to start our long journey comencing with a taxi to Liverpool. Feelings were mixed because we wasnt exactly sure what we would be doing or how anything will pan out. After the taxi, we went into the John Lennon airport and after a full english each we hopped on our plane to sunny Spain. Sarah wasnt to keen on flying but after a nervous take off we got our heads stuck into a game on her iPad whilst Jo read her book, the time just flew by (pardon the pun).
We arrived in Spain and headed straight for the metro which seemed like an enternity to walk to with our cases. We then got our train tickets, all got a bite to eat and Jo wisely bought some croissants for when we arrived at the accomodation incase there were no food and the shops were closed. After that we got on our train and headed for Vallodalid where was greated by Valentin. Valentin helped our suitcases into the car and we were off moving again. The european way off driving and the narrow streets didnt seem to mix well to our left sided English way.
After a long 12 hour day of constant travelling we was presented with a palace like accomodation. This old style village where we would spend the next month was filled with beautiful old fashioned houses and an out of place stage which was soon to be a street party. Mar, the land lady, Alba the daughter in law and her friend Laura who luckily spoke some English gave us a welcome tour around the house and showed their hospitality with some food and drink they had prepared for us earlier including a huge omlette and a giant pan (circle loaf of bread). Considering the long day we had and eating on the move this was heaven.
Mar treated us all to a drink before taking us around the village and into the local archilogical exhibit. The exhibit was filled with artifacts aged over 2000 years. The most strange but interesting one had to be the bones which we soon found out was a baby. Lastly, they shown us the shop, more importantly twinned with the local bar.
We all went back to our house and tucked into the omlette and bread before heading to bed for a good nights rest to prepare us for another long day ahead.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Sunday 29th July
Home Time!!!
Carah was very excited as she was going to see her daughter, Gemma was very excited to see her niece and her friends, Sam was gutted and I couldn't wait to see my mum and dad.
We all got ready and sorted our things out and made sure that we had left the apartment in a good condition. We left a bottle of wine for Javier and Cruz for their kindness and being friendly. Javier said he was sad to see us go as we had been very good guests, we are really going to miss 'Danny' ha
We packed all our suitcases up in our car and waited for Xabi to arrive. When he did me, Carah and Gemma got in his car and made the start of our journey into Valladolid for our train. The journey didnt take very long, we thanked Xabi for helping us and went into the train station for some breakfast - we had to get rid of our euros :D They did proper coffee something which we had all missed so that was a plus!
The train pulled in and we got on car 7, after seeing people sat in our seats we checked our tickets again only to notice we were in car 10 so we had to maneuver our suitcases through 2 carts only to find people sitting in our seats again!! We had to try and inform them in Spanish that e had reserved our seats (well Jo had but..). The train journey took just under an hour and we soon saw the city of Madrid coming into view ... We arrived in Madrid at 12.30pm and our flight wasn't until 18.40 :/ We decided to stay in the train station and kill some time. We all took turns to explore the shops in the train station and Sam and me finally found our English newspapers and magazines .. Yay!!
At around 2.30pm we decided to travel to the airport and find somewhere to get something to eat. We found it surprising easy to get our tickets and get to the airport after figuring out which trains to get!
We arrived at the airport and had to walk miles again to get to the right Terminal, we was in Terminal 1 and had to get to Terminal 3. After about 20 minutes we arrived at our terminal at 3.30pm and still had 2 hours left until we could check in! We had something to eat at the restaurant in the airport which was as you would expect, very expensive. We were all feeling restless as we had been waiting around most of the day and just wanted to get home.
Check In time came quite quickly and we checked our bags in and Carah's and Sam's were overweight and we were flying with Ryan-Air so there was no chance they would let them through ... after sorting their bags out and putting more stuff in their hand luggage they were allowed through and finally got through to look up our gate.
Our gate was A14 and we were at gate C30 so we braced ourselves for another 20 minute trek across the other side of the airport. Me and Gemma wanted to go in Duty Free so Sam and Carah continued on to the gate, only to find 100 more Duty Free shops along the way LOL
We all arrived at the gate and settled down to wait, as it was a Sunday none of the bar were open so we couldn't have a drink to calm our nerves. Sam and Gemma went to the vending machine to get drinks while me and Carah sat down and chilled out, we heard an announcement but didn't listen to it but everyone where we were sitting got up and started rushing off in the direction we had just come. Carah asked a man and he informed us they changed the gate for the flight to Manchester!! So off we were again to gate B2. When we arrived we were right at the back of the queue and were annoyed. After a few minutes we heard another announcement that they changed the gate again to B10, there was a mad rush to get to the gate, but we were pleased as we had got nearer the front of the queue this time :D
I said 'imagine if they changed it again!' and lo and behold they did the next gate was B30 and we couldn't run through laughing, Sam ran ahead and got us a place nearer the front again this time :D We were happy but getting tired of moving, due to the gate changes take off time was 10 mins behind schedule.
Eventually we got onto the plane and got seats altogether, the pilot came on to make an announcement that due to congestion at Manchester Airport we will be delayed 1 hour and 50 mins!!! We was not happy at this point - especially when we noticed a sign earlier than said 'RyanAir - The Ontime Airline' ha ha
I phoned my mum to tell her, Carah texted her boyfriend, Gemma phoned her friends and Sam phoned his friend to inform them. Just as we all sent messages and spoke to loved one's the pilot came on again to inform us that there is good news, we will be taking off in 10 minutes!!!!
The flight went quite fast and we kept looking to see if we were back in the UK, we flew over Tameside on the way back and noticed some familiar places, getting giddy as we would see our loved ones very soon. The landing was very smooth and while waiting to got through customs we could see our bags going round and round the carousel. We eventually got our bags and went through to arrivals very excited to see our families and friends :D
We throughly enjoyed our experience living and working Valladolid. We will miss the friends we made and the atmosphere of Rioseco where we stayed. We will never forget this experience, it has shown us another way of life and taught us a lot about ourselves and the challenges we are able to face. We have all bonded together as friends and supported each other when one of us felt low or homesick. We have had lots of laughs and giggles, and would recommend taking part in Leonardo projects to anyone. We will definately be visiting Medina de Rioseco again!!!!
Carah was very excited as she was going to see her daughter, Gemma was very excited to see her niece and her friends, Sam was gutted and I couldn't wait to see my mum and dad.
We all got ready and sorted our things out and made sure that we had left the apartment in a good condition. We left a bottle of wine for Javier and Cruz for their kindness and being friendly. Javier said he was sad to see us go as we had been very good guests, we are really going to miss 'Danny' ha
We packed all our suitcases up in our car and waited for Xabi to arrive. When he did me, Carah and Gemma got in his car and made the start of our journey into Valladolid for our train. The journey didnt take very long, we thanked Xabi for helping us and went into the train station for some breakfast - we had to get rid of our euros :D They did proper coffee something which we had all missed so that was a plus!
The train pulled in and we got on car 7, after seeing people sat in our seats we checked our tickets again only to notice we were in car 10 so we had to maneuver our suitcases through 2 carts only to find people sitting in our seats again!! We had to try and inform them in Spanish that e had reserved our seats (well Jo had but..). The train journey took just under an hour and we soon saw the city of Madrid coming into view ... We arrived in Madrid at 12.30pm and our flight wasn't until 18.40 :/ We decided to stay in the train station and kill some time. We all took turns to explore the shops in the train station and Sam and me finally found our English newspapers and magazines .. Yay!!
At around 2.30pm we decided to travel to the airport and find somewhere to get something to eat. We found it surprising easy to get our tickets and get to the airport after figuring out which trains to get!
We arrived at the airport and had to walk miles again to get to the right Terminal, we was in Terminal 1 and had to get to Terminal 3. After about 20 minutes we arrived at our terminal at 3.30pm and still had 2 hours left until we could check in! We had something to eat at the restaurant in the airport which was as you would expect, very expensive. We were all feeling restless as we had been waiting around most of the day and just wanted to get home.
Check In time came quite quickly and we checked our bags in and Carah's and Sam's were overweight and we were flying with Ryan-Air so there was no chance they would let them through ... after sorting their bags out and putting more stuff in their hand luggage they were allowed through and finally got through to look up our gate.
Our gate was A14 and we were at gate C30 so we braced ourselves for another 20 minute trek across the other side of the airport. Me and Gemma wanted to go in Duty Free so Sam and Carah continued on to the gate, only to find 100 more Duty Free shops along the way LOL
We all arrived at the gate and settled down to wait, as it was a Sunday none of the bar were open so we couldn't have a drink to calm our nerves. Sam and Gemma went to the vending machine to get drinks while me and Carah sat down and chilled out, we heard an announcement but didn't listen to it but everyone where we were sitting got up and started rushing off in the direction we had just come. Carah asked a man and he informed us they changed the gate for the flight to Manchester!! So off we were again to gate B2. When we arrived we were right at the back of the queue and were annoyed. After a few minutes we heard another announcement that they changed the gate again to B10, there was a mad rush to get to the gate, but we were pleased as we had got nearer the front of the queue this time :D
I said 'imagine if they changed it again!' and lo and behold they did the next gate was B30 and we couldn't run through laughing, Sam ran ahead and got us a place nearer the front again this time :D We were happy but getting tired of moving, due to the gate changes take off time was 10 mins behind schedule.
Eventually we got onto the plane and got seats altogether, the pilot came on to make an announcement that due to congestion at Manchester Airport we will be delayed 1 hour and 50 mins!!! We was not happy at this point - especially when we noticed a sign earlier than said 'RyanAir - The Ontime Airline' ha ha
I phoned my mum to tell her, Carah texted her boyfriend, Gemma phoned her friends and Sam phoned his friend to inform them. Just as we all sent messages and spoke to loved one's the pilot came on again to inform us that there is good news, we will be taking off in 10 minutes!!!!
The flight went quite fast and we kept looking to see if we were back in the UK, we flew over Tameside on the way back and noticed some familiar places, getting giddy as we would see our loved ones very soon. The landing was very smooth and while waiting to got through customs we could see our bags going round and round the carousel. We eventually got our bags and went through to arrivals very excited to see our families and friends :D
We throughly enjoyed our experience living and working Valladolid. We will miss the friends we made and the atmosphere of Rioseco where we stayed. We will never forget this experience, it has shown us another way of life and taught us a lot about ourselves and the challenges we are able to face. We have all bonded together as friends and supported each other when one of us felt low or homesick. We have had lots of laughs and giggles, and would recommend taking part in Leonardo projects to anyone. We will definately be visiting Medina de Rioseco again!!!!
Saturday 28th July
This was our last day in Medina de Rioseco so we decided to go on the boat in the morning ... We helped out on the wine cruise and enjoyed spending our morning as a team and also with Roberto and Miguel :D We went to the 7th Lock on the Canal and back again which took 2 and a half hours, and was the perfect way to spend the morning. There was a horse show on in the main park right next to the Canal, there were horses everywhere just walking down the street, there would be a show later on that evening.
We then went out to lunch with Roberto, Miguel, Gonzalo and Segunda for goodbye drinks. Roberto brought us a speciality cake of Rioseco which looked like a vanilla slice without the vanilla, it was very nice :D He also gave Carah and Sam cuban cigars as they both smoke (a grand gesture as they are expensive)
Afterwards he gave Gemma and Carah a bottle of wine each and a photography book of the canal as a present off the staff.
Virginia (Gemma and Carah's supervisor) phoned to say she would meet us at the canal at around 4.30pm so we decided to go to Matallana and say goodbye to Rosie and the staff.
We got to Matallana and as we had been worried about the journey to the train station in the morning Xabi, Rosie's husband said he would drive us :D which we thanked him for immensely!!
Beatrice was there and it was the first tie that Carah and Gemma had met her, she is a very lovely person and was chatting to us about what we have been doing and if we are coming back, we said yes!
Rosie gave all four of us cheese that had been made at Matallana from the sheep they have there and also jam which Rosie made herself, she also gave us books and pens to remind us of our time here :D
We lost track of time and had to hurry back to the canal as Virginia was waiting with her daughter to say goodbye ... We went to one of the local bars and had a few drinks, and watched people walk by on their horses ... very surreal! Virginia's daughter was called Paula and was a very lovely little girl playing peek-a-boo with us all, and she took a shine to Sam :D
We then decided to go back to Grego's for our last meal in Rioseco, he kindly took pictures of us and wished us well with our trip, on the way back to the apartment Rebeca phoned to see if we wanted to meet her to say goodbye as we didn't see her at Matallana. We met her at the horse show and said our last goodbye's ... it was very sad that we would be leaving here and the friends that we had made, Rebeca also looked upset :'(
We watched the horse show for a while and saw Rosie's son Marcos take part, the horses were dancing to flamenco music, something we will never forget!
We went back to the apartment for our last night and made sure we had packed most of our stuff and had an early night! We was all missing home, except for Sam - he wanted to stay!
We then went out to lunch with Roberto, Miguel, Gonzalo and Segunda for goodbye drinks. Roberto brought us a speciality cake of Rioseco which looked like a vanilla slice without the vanilla, it was very nice :D He also gave Carah and Sam cuban cigars as they both smoke (a grand gesture as they are expensive)
Afterwards he gave Gemma and Carah a bottle of wine each and a photography book of the canal as a present off the staff.
Virginia (Gemma and Carah's supervisor) phoned to say she would meet us at the canal at around 4.30pm so we decided to go to Matallana and say goodbye to Rosie and the staff.
We got to Matallana and as we had been worried about the journey to the train station in the morning Xabi, Rosie's husband said he would drive us :D which we thanked him for immensely!!
Beatrice was there and it was the first tie that Carah and Gemma had met her, she is a very lovely person and was chatting to us about what we have been doing and if we are coming back, we said yes!
Rosie gave all four of us cheese that had been made at Matallana from the sheep they have there and also jam which Rosie made herself, she also gave us books and pens to remind us of our time here :D
We lost track of time and had to hurry back to the canal as Virginia was waiting with her daughter to say goodbye ... We went to one of the local bars and had a few drinks, and watched people walk by on their horses ... very surreal! Virginia's daughter was called Paula and was a very lovely little girl playing peek-a-boo with us all, and she took a shine to Sam :D
We then decided to go back to Grego's for our last meal in Rioseco, he kindly took pictures of us and wished us well with our trip, on the way back to the apartment Rebeca phoned to see if we wanted to meet her to say goodbye as we didn't see her at Matallana. We met her at the horse show and said our last goodbye's ... it was very sad that we would be leaving here and the friends that we had made, Rebeca also looked upset :'(
We watched the horse show for a while and saw Rosie's son Marcos take part, the horses were dancing to flamenco music, something we will never forget!
We went back to the apartment for our last night and made sure we had packed most of our stuff and had an early night! We was all missing home, except for Sam - he wanted to stay!
Friday 27th July
Well this was our last full day of working in Valladolid ... Me and Sam set off for Matallana with flowers, champagne and wine for Rosie, Rebeca and the staff. Rosie popped off the champagne and we posed for pictures with our new friends. Carah and Gemma went to the Canal for their last day on the boat and hiring the canoes out, they bought Gin for Gonzalo and Rum for Roberto and Miguel as a thank you for their kindness, they were taken aback and surprised but thanked them for teaching them more english :D It was very sad to think we would be leaving Rioseco, but exciting that we would be going home very soon to see our families!!!
We wanted to go out and celebrate making it through the month in a different country without the people that usually support us, but in true Manchester style it stormed and stormed and poured down so much that the road into the town got flooded!!! We thought that the weather knew we was going home soon so was preparing us for the inevitable RAIN!!!!
We stayed in our apartment instead and thought of home while watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics, which we thought was quite good :D
We then went to bed having only 2 more sleeps left until we go back to Manchester!!
We wanted to go out and celebrate making it through the month in a different country without the people that usually support us, but in true Manchester style it stormed and stormed and poured down so much that the road into the town got flooded!!! We thought that the weather knew we was going home soon so was preparing us for the inevitable RAIN!!!!
We stayed in our apartment instead and thought of home while watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics, which we thought was quite good :D
We then went to bed having only 2 more sleeps left until we go back to Manchester!!
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