The Travel Junkie Travels Again

It’s almost shameful… it feels like it’s been ages since I’ve traveled at all, much less gotten a new stamp in my passport! Fortunately that dry run is about to end, and I can finally post something on the Travel Junkie blog that’s actually about travel! (And maybe even update those “feet” photos to the right.) Go figure…

As any regular readers know, I’m about to leave for a trip to Singapore, then Hong Kong. The Singapore trip has filled up amazingly well—other than the conference I’m speaking at, I’m leading two photowalks (one with over 40 people attending!), doing some Aperture 3 training, possibly speaking at a major corporation on small-flash lighting techniques, and shooting a group portrait of the entire conference attendees on the last day.

Hong Kong is a bit quieter though… one small photowalk in the works, plus a TWiP listener was kind enough to arrange a gathering of like-minded professionals for a casual meet-and-greet. Other than that I suppose I’ll have a suit made and stuff myself on the local street food!

The Things I’ll Eat…

In honor of this upcoming trip, I wanted to share a couple of old photos. The second you’ve seen before; it’s from the Beijing Olympics when I ate something… odd… at the Donghuamen market. The first is a photo my father scanned and sent me from an old photo album, dated 1985. I was 11 years old in this photo, taken in Gijon, Spain. Some things never change.

Pretending to eat a live crab (I hope I was pretending!) on July 19, 1985 in Gijon, Spain. I was 11 years old.Eating (actually eating this time) fried scorpion at the Donghuamen market in Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics

Singapore and Hong Kong

Here’s a shot from my last trip to Singapore. It was taken from my hotel room as a storm rolled in just before sunrise.

Early morning lightning Storm, view from Pan Pacific Hotel

And a couple from previous trips to Hong Kong.

A hotel view

Ahhh, you see, now THIS is why I travel!More will follow!

Last of the Seal SOUL Europe galleries

The last ten Seal galleries went up on my blog recently. Here’s a highlight from each show… as before, click on any image to open the gallery for that city. Enjoy!

Horn section up close and personal in Montreaux, SwitzerlandMark and Marcus dig in in Lucerne, SwitzerlandSeal plays in a medieval castle in Carcassonne, FranceSeal plays First century colosseum in Nimes, FranceSeal enthralls a young fan at the first show in Monte Carlo, MonacoAudience waves the white flag of appreciation at the second show in Monte Carlo, MonacoA rare view of Seal in Madrid, SpainSeal feels the moment in Valladolid, SpainSeal hypes up the audience in Cascais, PortugalThe final show of the SOUL European tour in Albufeira, Portugal

Last day in Madrid

OK I never got back to posting about the final day in Spain, so here's a litany of photos and scattered comments to fill the 'missing day'. I spent my last day in Madrid wandering the streets, visiting El Museo del Prado, picnicing in the park, and enjoying the Spanish sun.

Fantastically colorful posters outside of El Prado

And some pretty paintings

I had to buy some local art from the artist

Ah, a picnic in the the Parque del Retiro

And a walk by the royal lake, Estanque del Retiro

EuroBasket07; European Basketball. Wait, Where's Slovenia??

Sushi & Pasta… are you f'ing kidding me???

Free hugs for all!

Salad with tuna, roasted red peppers and olives

I'll, erm, let you translate that one. A Mexican bar in the middle of Madrid. Love it!

Royal buildings, royal food

Cafe con leche. Zumo de naranja. Cereal.

I extracted the badly mangled, waterlogged, photocopied map from my back pocket and looked for something in the area to walk or metro to. The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) was not too far away, and seemed a good place to spend my morning. The metro was an exchange away, or I could walk to the another station La Latina for a direct line, which really was completely unnecessary as it was only one stop from there, but since I'd paid for the 5-day tourist metro pass, I felt I should give it a go at least once or twice!

The Opera station lets out in front of the Royal concert hall, which oddly enough completely obscures the palace. It isn't until you walk around the other side of this building that the magnificent structure emerges.

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As I wandered past the empty cafes facing the grand structure, I approached the fountain that sits front and center to the palace. At least three tourist groups surrounded it, but what caught my eye (or rather, ear) was the guitarist playing Spanish flamenco music sitting in the small courtyard surrounding the fountain. I found a shady spot, within ear of the guitarist, and sat to write.

Palacio Real de Madrid

Mmm, Roman soldier (?) for lunch!

Laying about for 250 years

Right, don't piss off Fernando 1!

Yep, me

Once the grumbles in my belly overpowered the strums of Spanish guitar, I made my way from the Palace to find something to eat. As I wandered away from this regal venue, playing Frogger with Spanish traffic, I spotted a little tapas bar with promise, called La Mi Venta. As I ducked my head in, my heart lept… this was finally the type of place I'd been looking for! Large drying legs of Jamón Ibérico hanging from the ceiling, a small asador in the corner, and a few grumpy old Spanish men running the place. Perfect!

Hanging Jamón Ibérico

Gorgeous food counters

The food here did not disappoint. The food counter illuminated a trip down memory lane, with tortilla, boquerones, caracoles, and even… yes there they were… pimientos de padrón! [link - because they are so good yet so few people outside of Spain know them]

Boquerones en vinagre

Jamón Ibérico

Pimientos de Padrón

This place was so good, I vowed to return.

La Mi Venta

Plaza de la Marina Española, 7

28013 Madrid

+34 91 559-50-91

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rating: 5 feet

verdict: superbly authentic and delicious. Maybe a little pricey, but what the hell… you're on vacation!

After this belly filling lunch, I wandered many of the smaller streets rising above the palace until I stumbled back into Puerta del Sol. The streets of Madrid are a veritable maze, but I was finding that I knew my way around quite quickly. Perhaps the Spanish street names were proving easier to remember as they tickled a part of my brain barely used for nearly 25 years, or maybe I was simply so enthralled with Madrid that committing it to memory was to be expected, but I found that I could very quickly find anywhere I'd been on the map, or find my way back to the hostel from any random street I found myself on. Simply put, the meanderings of the day always comfortably led me back to Calle de la Cabeza.

The last two days...

It´s been an amazing last two days and there is so much to write, I haven´t found (or more accurately, haven´t been willing to sacrifice) the time to write. I board my long fight(s) home in a few hours, and will endeavour to write there.