Spain Week 2 - Madrid

While we are in Madrid we are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to have two lots of family to stay with. 

To the left is a photo of my Tio(uncle) Cesar who has been helping Kyran with his learning and pronunciation of Spanish. 































Above: Kyran with Tia Ester where she showed us the Rio Tajo which is on the bottom side of a dam known as Entrepeñas.



Entrepeñas is a reservoir located in the Lower Barren plateau of Guadalajara.

Because the dam is between two towns (Sacedón and Auñón) the dam is all
 "Entrepeñas" which sort of means between towns or tribes. 

The dam was opened in 1958.

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MADRID
In the center of Spain you can find the capitol Madrid. The region has somewhere between a subtropical and a warm-temperate subtropical climate.

The summer in Madrid can get very hot, the months of July and August are the hottest months (right now dammit!).

The daytime temperature will rarely get below 30°C and it is not uncommon to have temperatures above 40°C. I think this week has been mostly 35-37°C.

The summer also brings on the dry season, the lowest rain fall of the year occurring between July and August.  

The days are also longer during the hotter summer months with around 15 hours of sunlight and 9 hours of night.

















SPAIN - Vegetation
The map below shows the vegetation types that are typical for the areas in Spain. These vegetation types are represented by the flower pictures that are posted above and below.

 

Above: There is no shortage of food in Spain, this is a black berry bush that was growing wild around a dam wall. The ripe berries can be seen as the black dots in the photo, the red berries are not ripe yet.

 
At Entrepeñas where we stayed there are various types of water sports on offer, here we were doing wake boarding with my cousin Adei. 

I myself did not try wake boarding, but I climbed aboard the boat as a spotter.



In a nearby town of Pareja (which translated means "couple") the story goes that they were not allowed access to the water of
Entrepeñas so they decided to wall up their own section of one of the tributaries to the dam. 

The dam can be seen in the photos below. to the left is the overflow for the dam and to the right is a photo across the dam with the town of Pareja in the background.

 
















The dam has a concrete beach that leads to the water. 
The only problem is that algae has grown on the concrete making the surface extremely slippery. 
So people that say "I just want to put my feet in" usually end up going for a full body immersion. 

Right: A dog with one blue eye and one brown eye.

FUN FACTS
Heterochromia iridium is the condition of having two different-colored eyes within a single individual.

Brown eyes are rich in melanin deposits, and blue eyes indicate a lack of melanin.

Two genes control eye color: EYCL3, found on chromosome 15, which codes for brown/blue eye color (BEY), and EYCL1, found on chromosome 19, which codes for green/blue eye color (GEY)
(For more info) 
















Above: A trip to one of the local towns near Entrepeñas known as Sacedón found us wondering around the town. 
Where I am standing would normally be covered in water if the dam was full, but you can just see in the background where the water level is at now. In the foreground you may notice I am chewing on a piece of grass, the white bit of the grass is edible although it doesn't have much flavor but it is high in water content. 

Above Right: We were surprised at how cheap the alcohol retailed for in Spain some things were half or three quarters less then in Australia.

 Above:  As far as parks go there are parks for everything, but this park seemed one of the most useful parks I've seen in awhile.  This park is for old people to keep their motion and coordination skills working. in the background there is a simple ramp and step exercise, then there's a seat with bike pedals so they can sit relaxed and pedal. In the foreground are exercises to ensure mobility and functionality in the forearm and hands.

 

And finally some photos for your amusement. After a weekend of being out and about i got burn like sausage and look like a prawn. 

So my Aunty put together a mixture of clay and water to remove the heat from the burns, followed by a lacquering in lemon juice and olive oil to sooth the burns. 

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That's all from the Findlaters for this week, until next week.

 Over and out !