Tyler’s Travels: Spain

Tyler Shea Stupor
Sep 4, 2018 · 5 min read

¡Buenas noches, mis amigos y familia!

Alright, that’s about all of the Spanish that I can offer you (and to all of Madrid, as the past 6 days have proven). Welcome to Tyler’s Tour of Spain.

As some of you already know, Raven (my bestest bud) has been living in Spain for the past 10 months with her father, Colin, who is originally from England. She lives in a village called Los Molinos, which is a little less than an hour away from Madrid’s city center via train.

On my first day in town, Rave and Colin took me to their usual breakfast joint, La Senderuela. We sat outside, and I immediately understood why this restaurant has become their daily go-to. It’s a buzzing hub of the town, where it is transparent how close-knit of a community Los Molinos is, as every single passing stranger engages with each other, exchanging the customary Spanish double kisses, hello’s, and “¿cómo estás?”

After breakfast, Raven gave me a walking tour of town:

Churches are quite common in Los Molinos. The one on the left was built in 1737, and is still used for services today.
A main plaza in Los Molinos. It’s a lightly populated town, where residents all seem to know one another well, which was a treat to observe.
The woman that owns the local bread shop has met Raven a few times before. Though she doesn’t speak English, she gestured for us to come in when she saw us walk by, and offered us free croissants. They were sincerely the best croissants that I’ve ever had. Granted, everything tastes better when it’s free, but these were unbelievably decadent with enough butter to even make Paula Dean proud (left). This is my favorite pal in town, Kermy, the precious pup of a nearby gardening store. I met his owners at La Senderuela (right).
Enjoying amazing food, live music, and company at our favorite dinner spot in town, La Taller de la Cerveza.

The next day, we went to a lake near their home. We’d planned to simply sit outside and enjoy a cool breeze, but my Inner Golden Retriever was too tempted by the water to resist a dip. I hadn’t packed a swim suit, but thankfully, there was no one around, so I happily abandoned my dignity, discretion, and dress. I dove in and frolicked around in the perfect-temperature, clear water. Needless to say, I was in complete bliss.

I should probably pause here and preemptively apologize to my future children, if they ever read this blog: Hey, kiddos. I hope your therapy isn’t too expensive. Now, go brush your teeth, talk to strangers, be a kind human, opt for hugs over handshakes, open doors for others, ask “how are you?” and truly mean it. You know, all of that mom mumbo jumbo. I love you.


The following day, Raven and I went to a nearby national forest, Parque Natural de Peñalara. The hike was absolutely stunning, offering us an endless array of trees, little waterfalls, and best of all, countless passing strangers. For those of you who have spent more than 5-minutes with me in-person, you know how obnoxiously outgoing I am — when I’m out and about, I can’t resist the desire to connect with anyone in sight. Though, with the language barrier, I’ve had to rely solely on smiles.

On the hike, I could quickly change “hola”s and “¿cómo estás?” before my Spanish-speaking ineptitude was revealed. At one point, I was even able to ask a couple if they wanted a photo together by relying upon what little Spanish I know, along with Charades by pointing towards each of them, then gesturing taking a picture. They excitedly accepted my offer, and that was one of my favorite moments of the day, as it was a perfect reminder of our ability to connect with one another, in spite of barriers.

Here’s a glimpse of the stunning scenery from today (ourselves included, of course). Re: Please note my constant use of sarcasm.


The following day, we ventured to Madrid for a day of embracing our roles as camera-happy, constantly-smiling tourists. Here’s where we wandered:

Plaza de España, a plaza built in 1928 (left). Temple of Debod, a temple from Egypt built in 200BC (right).
Puerto del Sol (left). Palacio de Cristal in Retiro Park (right).
A promotion for the TV show, Spain’s Got Talent, being filmed near the Royal Palace (left), A typical, beautiful walkway near Plaza Mayor (right).
The Royal Palace with two grinning and giddy American girls.

Well, my verbosity-prone self has already composed a novella here, so I’ll pause now to spare you all my effusive ramblings. In sum, Spain was splendid. I’m grateful I was able to visit the actual city of Madrid, in all of its grandeur architecture and other endlessly stunning sites. Though, it was also such a treat to stay in and explore Los Molinos, which was the perfect immersion into a more local perspective of life in Spain, made even better by the numerous kind, sincere souls that I was able to share time with.

Overall, the true highlight (to no surprise, for those of you who know my incorrigibly social self) was interacting with others. Even with substantial language differences, I was continuously surprised and amazed by the ability to connect, whether via non-verbal gestures, swapping words that we knew in one another’s native language to piece together a conversation, playing the frequent game of Charades to substitute a missing word or two, or simply sharing a smile. It was honestly such an incredible experience to engage with this “buffer,” as it was the perfect reminder of the universality of humanity.


Anywho, I hope that you’re all having dandy days. We just landed in Berlin, Germany, so I’m going to continue to embrace my inner-grandma and happily disconnected from the online world to connect with this lovely, real-life one. Though, I will attempt to post about my unbelievably perfect past week in Milan, Florence, and Venice, Italy, as soon as possible.

Virtual hugs,
— Tyler Shea Stupor
💛

Tyler Shea Stupor

Written by

I'm a Human Golden Retriever // Strangers as friends yet to be made. 💛

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