New Projects In London

Just a quick self-promoting post now that I've moved to London and set to doing some more writing. If you enjoyed this blog, you might also like...

London Talking: In which I attempt to have conversations or even conduct mini-interviews with complete strangers on public transport as I travel round London. One catch, I can’t tell them about the blog. This is probably the best idea I've had. I've done one so far and it was very awkward!

The Question: I ask people a very simple open ended question around an area of London and record their responses. This is designed to fit the amount of free time I've got but I'm quite pleased with the result.

If you're really keen you can also follow me on Twitter, on which I occasionally say interesting things. I resisted using Twitter for ages but it seems that they don't let you into the media, which is where I probably want to be going, unless you're on it.

Thanks, over and out.

Highlights And Regrets

I started writing this blog (what feels like a very long time ago) partly because I couldn't find the kind of information I was looking for on the internet when I was planning my move to Madrid (although there are actually many other good blogs about moving to Spain too!). With that in mind and the benefit of hindsight now that I'm back in England and have a bit of perspective on things, here are some of the things you should not miss if going to Madrid (to live or for a holiday) as well as some things I would have done differently. I never understand those people who say they have no regrets. To me it just sounds like a lack of imagination! Let's get them out of the way first.

Regrets

Learning Spanish – there are a few things I could have done in order to learn more Spanish. I should have had classes but aside from that I suppose I think it was a mistake not to live with Spanish people. Having English friends is all well and good but I think if you lived with Spaniards you would learn a lot more day to day. I had the opportunity to move in with a Spanish-speaking Brazillian with only a little English when I was in my hostel but I passed it up.

Hours – For the first three months or so that I was in Spain, I didn't have nearly enough hours. I should have pushed for more from my agency or got more private classes through the internet. Private classes can actually be much more fun than agency ones because you can be more relaxed and do your own thing. If I'd have done that, I would have come out with a lot more money as well, rather than just about breaking even as I did in the end. Still, you can't complain, there is a global recession on after all.

Shopping Around for Apartments – Our apartment was pretty grotty, dark and in a area seemingly soley populated with people over the age of 65. I never did get the balcony that I wished for either. That said, €233 a month is very, very cheap and it was only a 10-minute walk from Plaza Mayor, and the recently completed park that runs by the Manznares river has made that area a lot nicer. With hindsight though, Lavapies would have been my ideal area to live in.

Segovia – I never went. The roman viaduct looked amazing.

There you go, nothing too major. And now the best bits...

Highlights

Roof Terraces – There are some great hidden roof terrazas in Madrid. Gaudeamus in Lavapies on top of the library on Calle Tribulete is great, and there's a super-secret one in a residential building on Tirso de Molina which you would never find unless someone took you up there. There's also a very swish (and probably expensive) one on top of the new market in Chueca which I only had a quick glimpse of. Also, many blocks of flats, including mine, have accesible roof terraces. Sitting up there watching the sunset, the palace and cathedral in the foreground, the mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama as the backdrop while the swallows swooped and screeched among the rooftops, was breathtaking and the perfect antidote to our dark and cramped flat.

Casa de Campo – Casa de Campo is the big forested area on the west of Madrid. It's huge and very easily accessible from the city, walking or by metro (Lago). One of my favourite moments in Madrid was cycling up the hill in Casa de Campo at dusk in Spring during a quite intense time with work and speeding back down, whislting through pockets of hot and cold air with the whole city out in front of me.

Malasaña – a trip to Madrid is not a trip to Madrid without a Malasaña bar crawl in my book. It's Madrid's hipster district, always packed with people ducking in and out of it's countless bars and botellon-ing (sitting round in squares drinking) in the summer, the atmosphere is electric. Clubs around Plaza de España or Chueca are easy walking distance too.

Toledo – only half an hour from Atocha station by high speed train, if you were wondering where all the old building were in Madrid, this is it. Toledo was the capital of Spain before it was moved to Madrid 400 or so years ago. It's a beautiful old city, perched on a meadering bank of a river and is well worth a visit. Toledo goes to bed early so don't expect a party, but as a romantic weekend getaway, it's pretty ideal.

The Mountains – The greenery and scale of the Sierra de Guadarrama make an great break from the crowded, dry and hectic city. They are qutie spectacular too and the little mountain train from Cercedilla to Cotos gives you some fantastic views

The Rastro – The vast Sunday morning market that stretches across southern Old Madrid is a must see. You've never seen so much wonderful junk! Pay a visit to the old tosta shop, El Capricho Extremeño, at the bottom of the hill near Parque del Rastro and get traditional Madrid tostas (toasts) with different toppings, including the Madrid delicacy gulas – eel featuses.

So there you go. Those are just some of the best bits, but of course there were many more, more personal, great times (you'll have to read the rest of the blog for those). All in all, I had a great time in Madrid and it was a really good decision to go. I feel like I learned a lot about myself, turning up in a strange city not knowing anyone or even speaking the language. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's at that stage where they don't quite know what to do with themselves yet. Living abroad for a year gives you perspective on both your life and where you come from as well. Teaching English gives you some good working experience too, and looks good on a CV. It's the first proper 'business job' (where I've had to dress smart) I've had and has made me much more confident in an office environment.

It also made me appreciate how valuable my friends at home are to me though, and how important cultural connections can be. It can sometimes be very lonely living abroad. The thought of going to Barcelona and starting again from scratch, even with Kate this time, has seemed less and less appealing since coming back. Various friends we thought were going to be there now aren't either and so we decided, it's London instead! As soon as we'd made the decision, I felt a great sense of relief. I'd only ever planned to go away for a year and seeing everyone again just made me want to stay. It felt like I'd be drifting further out of people's lives if I did another year and it was beginning to feel more like exile. Maybe I'd go away for a year again later but straight after just felt like too much.

So I'm incredibly excited to be moving to London! I've never lived there before, and it seems like a natural next step, especially as almost all my friends from university are there as well as an increasing number from home too.

And so, I suppose, that brings me to the end of this blog's life. I've really enjoyed writing it and reading comments by people, please email me at barney.guiton@gmail.com if you have any questions or want any advice about Madrid. I'm planning on writing a few different things when I go to London, a bit more orignal than this blog, and I'll post them on here when they're up and running.

But until then, thanks for reading and hasta la proxima!

The Journey Home

Having packed my two cases full to bursting, I had to lug them plus a big backpack across the metro system to Chamartin station where the Paris-bound tren hotel leaves from. Typical Spain, they waited until about 15 minutes before departure to display (and probably to choose) the platform it would be leaving from. I was a bit surprised when I got on to find I wasn't in a sleeper compartment but the (apparently only) carriage with reclining seats instead. I'm not quite sure how I managed that, maybe I was just assigned it when I booked. Anyway, there was plenty of room and the seats were comfortable enough. No power sockets though, disappointingly.

Off it chugged, north out of Madrid, leaving the four towers in the distance, through some beautiful mountain scenery in the evening sun, before emerging onto wide yellow plains that made for a pretty spectacular sunset. One thing was that it wasn't as smooth a ride as I'd expected. Walking down through the many, many carriages (about 8) to the buffet car, I had to hold onto the walls to keep my balance.

This turbulence didn't stop me from getting a pretty good nights sleep though. It was comparable to sleeping on an aeroplane I suppose, but with more room and more recline on the seats. I felt quite fresh when we were coming up through much greener France the next morning. No breakfast or anything by the way. I don't know if that's only for people in the sleepers but I saw no evidence of it.

The train arrived in Paris about half an hour late, turning the time pressure up a bit. I had about 40 mins to get from Austerlitz station to Gare du Nord in time for the 30 minute Eurostar check in. Unfortunatley, I'd forgotten that the Paris metro doesn't really do escalators and it was hard work heaving my suitcases up and down stair cases. I've only just got rid of the pain in my shoulders and blisters on my hands! I made it in plenty of time though, it only takes about 20 minutes if you are halfway decent at navigating your way through metro systems.

Boarding the Eurostar, (listening to a woman booming into a mobile "Yes, this is Mrs. Smith, I'm calling for Mrs. Johnson! Yes, Johnson!" in the Queens finest posh English accent- nearly home!) for a while, I thought I'd mistakenly booked myself onto first class. The Eurostar is seriously nice: big seats, power sockets, breakfast, but that's all just standard class. It was nice and everything but I couldn't help wishing it were a little less fancy and a little easier on the pocket. At £130, this part of the journey had cost more than the Madrid-Paris leg, and I don't really need Tropicana orange juice and ye olde English jam with my croissant. I'd rather sit on the floor and pay £30, but maybe that's just me. Maybe they should just have one paupers carriage where they pack you in?

Arrived in London at about 11am feeling pretty pleased to have made it with all cases etc in tact (I'm not good at catching trains on time) and after breezing through customs (they were on strike), I set off with my suitcases on our third capital city metro system in 24 hours. Luckily for my hands and shoulders, I wasn't going up to Sheffield (where my parents' house is) that day but just dropping the cases off at a friend's in Archway and then going straight to work at a festival (hence the delay in writing this).

All in all, I've got to say, it was quite a pleasant trip. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but then again, not quite as romantic as I'd hoped either. I also realised, after taking Kate to the airport in Madrid, and having to do some comical last minute bag 'weight adjustment' ("I'll wear that and that, chuck these!"), it would have costr me a fortune to take all my stuff back by air. On Ryanair your checked luggage is limited at 15kg, and it's €20 for every additional kilogram. Mind you, I did struggle with the cases and it's not an option everyone would want to take (although my suitcases were old and not particularly fit for purpose).

For me, the train was definately the nicest way to travel. I like the journey, and don't like flying for environmental reasons. Also, I find airports quite stressful, and the restrictions annoying. The coach on the other hand, although considerably cheaper, was a little too long, and much less comfortable than the train.

So anyway, it's good to be back and I've been enjoying some much missed pleasures of England (fish and chips, bangers and mash, beer than isn't Mahou), catching up with friends, as well as spending a lovely evening in a picturesque Kent beer garden overlooked by some old hops chimneys.

It took me a while to take in the fact that everyone here speaks English. I found myself muttering and gesturing at waiters and cashiers in supermarkets for a couple of days but once it sunk in, the lack of any kind of language barrier has been great too, chatting away to barmen, taxi drivers and check out assisstants at will.

Catching up with friends and family (and gossip) has been amazing as well. People have got girl/boyfriends, split up, got jobs, changed plans and so on while I've been away and it feels weird to have been out of everything for so long. I also just went to visit my sister and see my nephew who was born while I was out there, which was pretty special. It's definately been the hardest thing for me, and it makes me wonder if I can do another year abroad already come September. Decision to be made very soon!

Hasta Luego España!

So I'm all packed and ready to leave for my train at 7pm. Amazingly everything seems to fit in my two suitcases and backpack, despite having bought loads of stuff here too. I went over the the Tabacalera squat/community centre in Emabajadores earlier to donate some old clothes and bits and bobs to the free shop. I haven't been there in ages and it's really come along a lot. It's an massive and fantastic old tabacco factory that was squatted and then given legal status. The bar area is now really cool, with loads of great little creative touches. It's only €1 a beer as well (with a €1 glass deposit too). Just a very lighthearted and free atmosphere in there as well.

I know, I know, I said I'd write my last post in Spanish back when I arrived, hey, at least the title is. Unfortunately my Spanish just isn't good enough to write anything interesting, which is my main regret from this adventure. I arrogantly thought I could pick it up without taking classes, and clearly haven't. I was using Rosetta Stone, which was good if a little slow, but a couple of months ago I just lost motivation really and haven't used it in ages. That said, I arrived here with absolutely nothing whatsoever so I have improved a lot, and I know loads of vocabularly but I can still only really speak in the present tense. I think I'm going to work on my grammar over the summer and then try and take some classes in Barcelona in September. I won't be turning up there penniless this time either (hopefully!) which meant that I couldn't afford classes straight away in Madrid.

So adios Madrid and hasta luego Spain! It feels very weird, but definately real now that most of my stuff is packed up. As I said to Kate as she was leaving yesterday, it's a real end of a certain phase of our lives for everyone leaving. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach.

This isn't it for this blog yet though. I'm going to write up my journey home by train, and compare it to the other two methods I've used, plane and coach, then when I've got a bit of time at home, I'm going to do some summing up of my trip and some 'best of Madrid' tips. Now, to think of a blog title for Barcelona: ideas for things that rhyme with 'homage' or 'Vicky Christina' are welcome.

Completing The Bajas

Kate's brother's been over from Ireland this weekend and so we've taken the opportunity to show him some of our favourite sights, bars and places. It's always great when people come over to stay because it feels like you're on holiday too and you get to do all the fun stuff you normally only do once in a while. It's like living in fast forward. Unfortunately this also applies to the amount of money you spend. I think when my 6 friends came a couple of months ago I went about €200 over my weekly budget. It was worth it though of course.

Last Thursday was one of those great 'puente' (bridge) holidays where you only have to take one day off to have a four day holiday. It's such a good idea, I don't know why they don't do it in the UK. I didn't take the Friday off, it was my last proper day teaching, but on Thursday (and Sunday) we took the opportunity to go and cool down at the outdoor municipal swimming pool near Lago. It keeps getting hotter and hotter and this last week it's been pushing 38C, and 21C at night. I saw a bus stop sign saying 43C but they're not very reliable. Either way, it's bloody hot and the pool is a perfect way to refresh yourself, only open in June July and August though. It's a really nice pool, clean and very deep. I'd also read that it's popular with Madrid's (large) gay community and the number of tanned, waxed, muscular men standing around in Speedos chatting seemed to confirm this.

Less relaxing has been getting my tax return and 'baja' (unenrolling) forms for social security and income tax sorted. Spain is infamous for its bureaucracy, as I had discovered enrolling as an autonomo in the first place (although not as much as some other people I know!). The tax stuff seemed beyond my comprehension, and Spanish, so I went to a gestor. A gestor is basically someone training in the intricacies of afore mentioned Spanish bureaucracy, who sorts it all out for you. They are usually small practices and don't seem to advertise on the internet much, so I found myself with one who didn't speak a word of English. She also seemed incapable of putting things in simple Spanish, and wrote in a style that Google Translate couldn't make head or tail of (sample sentence: "If given low in wealth and social security, you know that starting in July and could not purpose of exercising economic activity that was exercising.").


Basically, if you're an autonomo, you're required to make a declaration of income (this is for 2010) and so I needed to get a certificate confirming this from both companies I had worked for. Also, the Social Security office and the income tax office are two separate things and apparently do not co-operate in any way, so if you want to stop paying tax (because you're leaving the country for example), you need to fill in 'baja' forms for both. It looks like this would be a nightmare to do yourself (I've also found the people who work in the tax offices pretty unhelpful) and so I'd recommend saving yourself some grief and going to a gestor if your Spanish isn't tip-top.


Anyway, it was actually quite fun and we eventually muddled through with all the paperwork done and just my declaration of income to take to the bank. It cost €60 in total, and I'm getting €200 tax back from 2010. Leaving on my second visit there, making sure this was definately all I had to do, the gestor ushered me out the door with a friendly "Vas al banco y tranquilo en Inglaterra!" (Go to the bank and relax in England!).


Only 2 days left in Madrid. It still hasn't really sunk in that I'm leaving I don't think, although I know I am. I always think it's strange living your life when you have these deadlines looming that change everything completely. Having a goodbye dinner with some friends tonight and then Kate leaves tomorrow and me the day after. Looking forward to the train journey though, and arriving back. I think I might head straight for a greasy spoon for a full English breakfast and a pub for a pint as soon as the sun's over the yard arm.

A Festival (during which I apparently become a music critic)

Last Sunday, I went to a little heavily Heineken sponsored music festival at the Matadero Madrid venue in Legazpi. I had no idea what the Matadero was until I just looked it up now, a nice group of quite ornate, low warehouse type buildings with a large courtyard between them. Turns out it used to be a slaughterhouse. Only in Spain.

Anyway, the weather's been scorching here and Sunday afternoon was no exception. It must've been getting up to 35C, and so when we walked into one of the indoor stages just in time to catch Lykki Li playing Dance Dance Dance, the heat was intense and the atmosphere sweaty in the extreme. Looking across the crowd, it looked like each person was accompanied by a large moth because of all the flapping fans, programmes and in some cases just desperate hands. Lykki Li and her band didn't seem fazed and were pretty tight, and the two percussionists work well with her occasionally beating on a cymbal herself as well. To me, her black cape get up and wrapping-herself-in-a-black-curtain schtick seemed a bit put on and try-hard though.

Having purchased an €8 'mini' of beer (actually a litre – beware ordering a mini spirit and mixer!) from the roaming beer man, we left gasping for air after she'd finished. What we'd really paid the €15 ticket price to see though, was Janelle Monae. They'd put her on in the sunset slot on this fantastic evening and it was a great setting to see any band (although this all seems a bit dark now I know what the place used to be!) but I did doubt that Janelle Monae had the tunes to carry off a festival slot, her album being pretty experimental and uneven. When one of her nattily besuited band members took to the stage and declared “The following is a motion picture presented to you by Janelle Monae” however, it was clear this was going to be more of a performance. This was only confirmed when more and more band members arrived on stage, completed by three cloaked figures, hoods up, for an atmospheric introduction before Monae sprang from one and launched into 10 minutes of energetic brilliance. I counted 15 band members, including horn and string sections, backing singers and dancers, all immaculately turned out in smart black and white and giving it their all. Each song seemed to work its way to a frenzied crescendo before neatly seguing into another. After what I think was a slight technical problem forced her to sing a more downbeat tune only with guitar accompaniment, she won other the unsure Spanish crowd with a pitch-perfect cover of the Jackson Five's I Want You Back. Even her odder numbers like Mushrooms and Roses were really brought to life and sounded very fresh, in that case with her painting a canvas live while singing. I began to think that the singles Tightrope and Cold War might feel a little lightweight in comparison to the rest of her material that really comes to life on-stage but they too built into greatness, Tightrope ending with a shower of black and white confetti and Monae crying, James Brown style, “One more time for the Tightrope!” Bang! “One more time for the Tightrope!” Bang bang! When they returned for an exstatic encore, both crowd and stage erupted to a bounce-tastic version of Come Alive (War Of The Roses) until she was piggy-backed off stage by another ebullient band member to rapturous applause. One of the best, tightest and simplistically creative live acts I've ever seen. If you have the chance this summer, see her!

Unfortunately, the other band I wanted to see, Caribou, were never going to live up to that, and although I can see the logic behind it given their latest dancy album, Swim, they did make quite odd and rather melancholy headliners, and sitting in and inward facing circle, at times it felt a bit like more of an experimental jam session than tight headline set. Leave that overdrive pedal alone will you? It's a cool venue though, the Matadero, and lovely on a hot, clear Spanish evening with the sun going down. Not so much the indoor stages however, especially now that I know what they were previously used for!

On Saturday, me and Kate had gone for a walk in Casa de Campo which has changed dramatically since spring when it was all greenery and soft grass. It's now dry and golden, but still a beautiful escape from the bustling city, right there on our doorstep. Walking through the golden grass in the afternoon sun was really fantastic, although beware the seeds and burrs which stick in clothes and blankets like hooks.

Why walking and not cycling though? Well, I've already sold my bike! Having bought it for €90, I optimistically put it up on segundomano.es for €140 on Tuesday, having fitted new tyres, pedals and replaced the back brake cable. A few emails and calls later it was being cycled down the street by a man named Alvaro by Friday evening. I think in total that means I spent about €50 to have pretty decent a bike for about 5 months. Not bad!

I don't think I quite emphasized enough in the last post (not quite the last word as it turns out) how much travelling around Madrid is involved in being a freelance English teacher (which is really what I am, getting some classes through the agency and some myself). This gives you the opportunity firstly to be late several times a day, and secondly to obtain thighs as hard as a leg of jamon from all the metro staircases and escalators you run up trying to avoid the former. This picture of my knackered shoes (new when I arrived) should illustrate this adequately.

Lastly, while I'm rambling, if any fans of the TV show Lost are reading, I can reveal where the sound effect guys found the ominous ticking sound made my the 'smoke monster'. It is in fact the noise made by the receipt printers in Madrid taxi cabs, which has been known to make me get a little jumpy when walking past a taxi rank.

Word of the Day: Matadero - Slaughterhouse

Teaching English: The Final Word

I only have a week left teaching after tomorrow, and to be honest, it won't be soon enough! As I've said before, I've not found teaching English particularly thrilling. It's not very creative, co-operative or fulfilling in my experience. That said, by far the best thing about it are the students. I taught a couple of them their last classes today and it was pretty sad really! I've been teaching the students at my main company for two hours a week since October, and that's a lot of time to spend with people. Maybe it's the companies that I've been teaching in, but I've found almost all of them pleasant and fun to work with, and in most cases we've developed a good rapport - I even got invited to one of their weddings (I really wish I could go but unfortunately it's in July so I can't).

 Just because I haven't enjoyed it that much though, doesn't mean I haven't benefitted. Since Easter I've had more hours each week and I ended up with a more or less steady 30 a week, including a couple of private classes. At €20 an hour, that's not bad money, and yesterday I transferred another lump over to my English bank account to pay off the rest of my overdraft. What I would say is don't believe a company saying they'll get you 40 hours a week. I only got to 30 by the end of the year and you spend a lot of time shuttling around between companies too, making a 40 hour week quite difficult. In hindsight thoyugh, I should have pushed to get more hours earlier on, or sought out more private classes, instead of getting the job with the worse paid 'language school', although that was good for making friends.

Also thinking about it the other day, I realised that I have picked up a few skills from this job as well. I didn't have the faintest clue about English grammar before I did this, and I've been constantly learning as the year's gone on. Valuable for anyone that has ambitions to do any kind of writing. A friend came over recently to make a presentation in a boardroom environment and commented that he was quite nervous. I realised that now I wouldn't have the slightest worry about doing something like that, no matter who I was presenting it to. You have to get over nervousness about that kind of thing teaching people older, more experienced and more important than you in their own offices. The fact that you have your mastery of English over them makes it a good training ground for gaining confidence in these situations and now I just have an automatic setting for it I think. The method used by my company is very up front and in their faces as well, with you leading the class so you just have to get used to it.

So I don't know, I can't say I fully recommend teaching English, but it certainly has some benefits, not least of which is the pay!

As I was writing the last post about the camp in Sol staying through the rain, it turns out they were voting to take it down and go home. This was mostly a tactical decision though I'm sure, and a good one too I think. People's patience seemed to be wearing a bit thin, and the businesses around Sol complaining that they were hurting their revenues wasn't helping. The movement is still very much going though, spreading out to neighbourhoods more. Walking around in the evenings, you'll see mismatched groups of all ages and appearances sitting in circles in squares debating with someone taking minutes. One indignato, however, recieved some rather good news on going home - he discovered that he'd won the lottery to the tune of €1.35m!