Getting into a routine, and new discoveries

Now just after a few days we are getting into a routing.  Maybe I will blog weekly instead of every two days.  Looking through my pictures I realize now that I have no new pictures of the boys, but the boys are in school all day, doing an activity in the evening, and staring at their phones until bed.  Not terribly exciting.

Wednesday morning I went to get transport cards for the three of us.  The boys are going to be spending a lot of time on public transport and they have a great deal where anyone under 26 can travel in the whole system for 30 days for just €20.  Viva Europe!  But to do this I had to jump through a few bureaucratic hurdles.  I had to go to the local transport office, and when I got there, there was a line of at least 20 people.  I waited and waited with no movement in the line and eventually someone came out and down the line to see what everyone wanted.  When I told him I needed transport tickets for me and my kids, he told me to give him the passports and return the next day after 09.30am.  I was a little dubious, but I handed over my passports and headed off home.

On the way I stopped at Mercado de San Ildefonso.  I had read this was another food hall, and wanted to check it out, but it seemed more of a tourist trap than an actual market.  There were about a dozen tiny food stalls lining the walls, and the food wasn't cheap.  I had a small plate of seafood paella and a glass of sangria.  I don't need to go back there.

Disappointed from that market I went to my Mercado de San Anton before heading home.  I went to the 2nd floor and had one little toast with herring and a squirt of avocado on top (arenques con aguacate) for €1.  Delicious.  I'm starting to like my market more and more.

After some work at the house, I spent plotting my trip for the afternoon.  There is a great app I stumbled upon when trying to figure out how to take public transport to Alcobendas, where Markus plays soccer.  It is called MoovIt.  Google Maps is hopeless in Alcobendas, and the MoovIt app works really well with local bus lines.

I took the #5 train from Chueca to Alonso Martinez, and the #10 from Alonso Martinez to Santiago Bernabeu.  From there I wanted to Celltec to pick up Andreas's phone.  They did a great job.  As I left there I found a key copying place, Copia tu Llave (Calle de Orense, 42) and made copies of the keys (they provided only two sets).  The guy was super nice, worked fast, and the keys actually fit when I got home.  The hardware store I used in Fort Greene was kind of a mess with keys.  They never worked.  Invariably I would have to find some random tool to start filing down the keys to get them to work.  

From there, I walked to Plaza Castilla where I was going to meet Markus.  Markus usually takes the bus to Casa de America, but through the miracle of technology I found a bus on Moovit that takes us right from Plaza Castilla to the field in Alcobendas.  We found each other easily, and went to the subway platform to one of those photo booths to have pictures taken for his team.  €5 for 8 pictures.  Why are passport pictures such a rip-off in the US? 

There are two different lines to Alcobendas, and I chose to try #159 since the platform was above ground (nothing worse than underground bus gates - nightmares of the Port Authority bounced in my head).  We paid €2 each and the bus roared off.  We got there in no time, hustled to the field, and arrived just as practice started.  Next time we will try the #171 since it leaves us closer to the field.

I had thought about going swimming while Markus was in practice but I was wiped out.  I had been hustling all afternoon rushing from this to that, and waking up at 06.30am to get the boys moving was taking its toll.  I had a cup of coffee and watched the game.

After practice we found that the #827 departs across the street from the field, takes us directly to Canillejas where we can take the #5 metro to Chueca.  45 minutes door-to-door.  I'll do this once more with Markus and then he can do it by himself.

We got home around 10pm and I wanted to try the local Vietnamese place, but it looked relatlively fancy and Markus was still in his soccer togs.  We instead whent to Kung Fu Noodle (Costanilla de Capuchinos, 3).  When we arrived there was no one there, no one came in while we ate, and we left the place empty when we left.  Not a great sign.  Food was ok but we can't expect Asian food in Madrid to be as good as it is in NYC.  We just needed something quicky, filling and cheap, and it fit the bill.

There is a little sandwich place with weird hours on our block that I wanted to check out coming home.  It is called Granjero Busca Campero (Calle Barbieri 13).  The place is ridiculously tiny, and we chatted with the couple who works there.  They actually live right on the next block.  They make "deliciosos bocadillos calients en pan de mollete XXL tipicos de Malaga".  The sandwich below that Andreas ordered is nealry the size of a frisbee and costs only €4.50.  They are open most days 12.00pm-04.00pm and 08.00pm to 12.30am, but on Friday and Saturday they are open until 06.00am!  If the boys get hungry in late at night this is where I will be sending them.  

Thursday morning after shipping the boys off I did some work then hustled off to the transport office to get the transport cards and (hopefully) my passports back.  Again, a line of about 20 people.  I waited about 45 minutes and then again someone came to work the line and he recognized me.  He pulled me into the office and I got my transport cards.  Now I have to take them to the metro station to fill them.  The boys wlil be warned not to lose these things.

I did some work at home and stopped by a coffee store just around the corner for the apartment.  I managed to buy a French press and some coffee.  I am sick of the pods and the drip, and this is easy.  I really thought I was doing a great job in Spanish and then when I got home I realized the coffee was whole bean.  OK, partially this is my fault for not speaking Spanish well, but you would think the guy at the store would have offered to grind the beans for me.  I am really having trouble with anything coffee related.

I had leftovers for lunch.  Finally I have enough food in the fridge to eat leftovers for lunch.  Leftover chicken in pepper tomato goop, and I threw in an egg for good measure.  Yum.  Although it was a big production to bring my dutch oven with me, I'm thrilled I have it.  I used it all the time in Brooklyn and I didn't want to have to store mine and then go out and buy one here.  It has been weird cooking on an induction range.  Seems to work fine, and cleanup is easy, but weird nonetheless.  

I haven't attempted to use the oven yet.  It has all sorts of symbols which mean God only knows what.  I have to pull out the manual, and then start thinking in C instead of F.  Even the microwave has a lot of buttons.  There are 5 different power settings, and symbol showing that you should put a metal spoon in drinks before microwaving.  A metal spoon???  I had to look this up it sounded ridiculous.  Apparently because there are no pointy parts of a spoon you can do this and it will prevent the liquid from boiling over, but a fork won't work because something very complicated will happen at the tines.  Was I the only one that didn't know about this?

In the afternoon I explored a bit, heading to a health food store La Nodriza (Calle de los Caños del Peral, 5).  I was looking for Farro and Flaxseed Oil.  In the last few months I was in Brooklyn I found a great Farro Salad Recipe which is amazing, I made it multiple times, but I'm not a good enough cook to make Farro Salad without the farro.  The lady who worked there spoke great English and we had a lively discussion about Farro vs Spelt.  I don't know much but I know these aren't the same thing.  I needed the flaxseed oil to reseason my cast iron pan which got banged up on the trip (you can see why we had 400lbs of luggage).  She didn't have either but said they would be in next week.

From there I went back to El Corte Ingles where I bought more hangers (!), a napkin holder gizmo, a wide pan, and a salad spinner.  All the salad spinners seemed designed for children but I bought my favorite brand Zyliss.  When I got home and tested it however, it didn't work so I have to go back and replace it.  We'll see how easy that is.  It isn't a big inconvenience because I see myself going there at least twice a week for while.

I came home, and the boys came home.  Markus has a massive tear in his school uniform pants, pants he has worn only 4 times.  I went out to the tailor who recognized me; I told her I would be back frequently.  Then Andreas and I went to Fuencarral for a tennis lesson.  We filled up the transport cards at the station and headed off.  His lesson was 07.30pm-09.30pm, and he is set to play Tue & Thu for now.  The trip was easy and once he settled in and found his coach I went home to cook dinner, Smothered Chicken, something that I could do on the stove in my new pan.  This is another easy recipe I like.  I didn't have a lot of time and I didn't want to study the oven manual.  Andreas came home, he was starving, so I whipped up a salad while the chicken was finishing.  I kind of rushed things and the chicken could have spent more time in the pan, but it was good nonetheless.

The boys went to bed and I worked until about 01.30am.  It was REALLY loud outside, between the revelers and the garbage men.  I mean REALLY loud.  But I like it.  People having a good time drinking and carrying on, nothing negative.  All the bedrooms in the apartment are in the interior so you can't hear it when sleeping.

Soon the weekend!