Adjusting to Life in Spain: A Weekend Trip to La Adrada

Click here to read the previous post, Adjusting to Life in Spain: Celebrating My Birthday like a Madrileña

The first time I really feel like I live in Spain and not just visiting is when I take a weekend trip out of town.

Actually, the first time I really feel like I live in Spain is when I do laundry. It’s such a banal chore and one I have never done on vacation, so it definitely feels like real life. (Don’t worry, I’m not going to write a blog post about sorting my whites and colors!)

My friend L invites me to stay with her for the weekend, and I’m excited for several reasons:

I’m taking my first out-of-town trip
I’m going out to the country
I’m doing this on public transportation

The public transportation system in Madrid – nay, in Spain – is excellent, or so people tell me. It’s easy to get around Madrid without a car and it’s convenient to travel across the country via train (well, unless you’re going to a small, off-the-beaten-track pueblo).

Public Transport in and Around Madrid

From what I understand (and I’m still learning!), there are three main types of public transportation in and around Madrid:

Metro de Madrid: This is the subway system that operates within the city of Madrid, and it covers fairly extensive routes.

Autobuses Interurbanos de la Comunidad de Madrid: These are interurban buses that connect Madrid with surrounding towns and cities within the Community of Madrid (one of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities).

RENFE Cercanías de Madrid: These are commuter trains operated by RENFE (Spain's national state-owned railway company), which provide service between Madrid and other towns in the region. The Cercanías network is an extensive commuter rail network.

And then, of course, there are high-speed trains known as AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) that connect major cities across Spain. As of July 2024, Spain’s high-speed train network is the longest in Europe (3,966 km / 2,464 mi) and the second longest in the world (China is number one).

Back to My Trip to La Adrada

At 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, I take a taxi (“You give us this whole power point presentation on public transport and then you take a cab??” What can I say? My capacity for small, crowded spaces with strangers is limited.) to the Estación de Autobuses Madrid Sur (Madrid South Bus Station), one of the main interurban bus stations in the city.

*Anxiously looking for where to board the bus.*

I arrive at 10:30, half an hour before departure, giving myself plenty of time because this is all new to me and, quite frankly, new things tend to make me anxious.

A few days ago, L helped me purchase the correct bus ticket online, so I don’t have to worry about that, but I do wind up asking for help at the ticket window after 10-15 minutes of wandering around the station looking for where the hell I’m supposed to board the bus. By the way, the 1.5-hour trip costs €8 ($9 USD / $12 CDN), which seems very reasonable to me (of course, what do I know? I’ve never taken an interurban bus before).

Fun fact: For the first time in my life, I pay to pee. The public bathroom at the bus station costs €1 and for that rate I take my sweet time and use plenty of toilet paper.

I’m finally in my (fairly comfortable) seat and headed out to a small town near La Adrada in the province of Ávila with a population of about 400. A little while after leaving Madrid behind, we drive through the countryside, and I divide my time between staring out the window at the greenery – fields, trees, bushes – and reading my book.

*No bus station in a small town, just a sidewalk!*

There’s no bus station in this pueblo; the greyhound-type bus just pulls up alongside the curb on a narrow street, passengers hop on or off, and the bus lumbers off down the street.

L takes me back to her house long enough to drop off my backpack, and then we immediately go out for a walk, talking, laughing and catching up. We don’t pass many people, but those we do always stop to talk to her or at least say hello by name. And I can’t decide if I would like that or not. (Community connection: yay! Everyone knows your business: nay!)

Since L is a Spaniard, I spend two days with her — two days!! — speaking non-stop Spanish. Well, some stops. Okay, by the second day there were large pockets of conversation in English because my brain went on strike. But still, this is waaaay more Spanish that I speak on a regular day.

The main reason for this visit is just to spend time with a good friend, but second to that is to experience a pueblo-style festival. It’s no surprise to me that Spaniards love to be social and enjoy life, but L tells me that different towns in Spain have their own local festivals in addition to all the national celebrations. Even a pueblo with a population of 400! Some festivals are religious in nature, while others celebrate historical events or local customs or the fact that it’s a Thursday.

The one I will be attending tonight/tomorrow is the Fiestas Patronales en Honor a la Virgen de la Oliva (Patron Saint Festivities in Honor of the Virgin of Oliva). Note on the program below the start time of the orquesta (which I thought meant “orchestra” – and it does, linguistically speaking – but in this case it refers to a pop band). The night kicks off at 23:59, one minute before midnight. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but usually by midnight I am asleep in bed.

We arrive in the center of the town where the small plaza has been transformed from a quiet public square surrounded by modest apartments and a couple sleepy bars into an outdoor dance and carousing floor. Every other person we come across, of course, knows L and when they stop to chat I look around.

What I love about this fiesta, this celebration, is that everyone is here to have a good time, from little kids running through the plaza to senior citizens slow dancing to fast music.

Finally, after we finish our Mahou beers, the music beckons us so L and I go out to the dance “floor.” At first we are the only ones dancing, but do I care? No sirree! It’s been way too long since I let the music flow through my veins and just let go.

After a couple songs we start to head back to the table where L’s friends are, but the singer says into the mic something like, “Hey, where are you two women going? Stay here and keep dancing!” Who are we to argue? We stay and keep dancing. Soon enough, we are surrounded by a crowd of people who are dancing and laughing, too.

We wind up grooving out there for probably three hours straight, and by about 3 a.m. we and everyone else are finally starting to get tired.

That night I fall asleep easily and the next day the muscles in my legs are tired – but the good kind of tired, the tired that comes from having fun!

CLICK HERE TO READ the next post, ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN SPAIN: [TBA]

Note: All photos taken or created (using DALL-E) by Selena Templeton, unless otherwise noted.

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