2008-09-11,12 First Couch Surfing ctd. - Valladolid, Spain

(back to setting up our first couch surfing experience)

After a perfect flight with candid view we arrived to Valladolid airport ten minutes ahead of schedule, which is not at all a Spanish thing to do. You might think that Luton is small, but Valladolid airport is a larger bus station, really. And it was by bus that we got to the very centre of the city, which was some 40 minutes away. We stepped out of the bus into more than we could imagine.

From 2008-09-11,12 Valladolid

You see, there is a completely different world once you leave London for Northern Spain. Especially when you enter the city through Campo Grande, Valladolid's central park located just at the doorstep of the bus station. It was a bright sunny day, and we walked to the park almost precisely at noon. The surreal Mediterranean vegetation provided shade and a small lake in the centre of the park provided enough fresh air for us to breath out and relax after a journey that started early in the morning.

Compared to the rush and pulsating life of London's parks during sunny days, Campo Grande was sleepy and strangely comforting. As you can see from the pictures I took in the park, we could count the creatures we met in this new environment on fingers of our hands - a peacock parading down the lifeless paths, a goose making its way without waking a tramp occupying a nearby bench, an old man dressed as a sailor maneuvering a small boat ("La Paloma")in a small pond, a family quietly enjoying watching birds.



Leaving the winding paths of Campo Grande, we have discovered more curious aspects of a city both modern and festive (during the fiesta nights), historic and calm(during) siesta. Take for example the first structure we have laid our eyes on:"The unfinished Cathedral, commissioned by King Philip II and designed by the architect Juan de Herrera in the 16th century, following a mannierist style perhaps influenced by Michelangelo. The church is unfinished due to financial problems {apparently he got a better job in another city}and its nave was not opened until 1668. Years later, in 1730, Master Churriguera finished the work on the main front." (wiki) As you can see, the cathedral has not been finished by now - and in contrast with the one in Barcelona - it might just never be.

Nevertheless, we have enjoyed a short walk throughout the city streets, before we met with a Czech student Tomas who took us to an apartment he shared with more students, one Czech and one Hungarian. With astonishment we have learned that he had in fact just arrived to Valladolid days earlier for his 6 months Erasmus study stay. Despite this and despite us being his first couch surfers (and him being our first host), he had prepared a place to stay for us, where we could prepare a snack, take a shower, and relax. In the evening he showed us to city centre, which was far more livelier than during the day.

The highlight of the evening was the concert of Spanish group Dover, promoting their album "2" at the Plaza Mayor, which I believe was part of a special fiesta celebrating 100 years of the city hall building, housed here (Martin, on the other hand, says they were connected with CristóbalColón - Columbus) Of course, everybody took part in the local celebrations - families, local youth, musicians, shop owners, city clerks and even the olds - each in their own fashion, sharing common space. The night had left us dehydrated from all the dance, sangria we drank and peanuts (free with our sangria - very tasty, very very salty).

From 2008-09-11,12 Valladolid

In the morning however, Kika and I managed to get up early enough to do some exploring of the city. There were many things that had taken us by surprise. We had a hearty laugh over the local kitchen-percussionists, we were taken aback by seclusion and stillness of a beautiful market (as my former summer school mate explains in his blog Englishman in Madrid, it is very Valladolid), fortress-like look of the San Benito Monastery, picturesque portal of the San Gregorio college, the Gothic/Romanesque style of Santa Antigua Church, desolateness of Art Noveau Merkado Del Val market and by other notable sights.

Among the things we saw, The National Sculpture Museum in San Gregorio College resonates most within me. The polychrome sculptures of crucified Christ and his disciples were moving beyond belief, with their mix of realism and even expressionism. A perfect antidote to this procession of passion and pain was a 15th century craftmen's Betlehem, full of extraordinary detail and handiwork put in by the craft guilds of that time.

Our day of exploration just wouldn't be complete without a proper fiesta night. We had met with Martin and his host Jesus, and at the Erasmus bar Sotabanco we were also introduced to Tomas's co-students from different, mainly Spanish speaking countries. A great bilingual exception was a Puerto-Rican Sasha, who was very talkative and with whom we had arranged to meet the next day in Salamanca, the medieval heart of Castile. A certainly entertaining night continued with Jesus jokingly asserting that if we leave before 4AM, we would be returned to the bars in the city centre by the police.... (to be continued)