Paula Barnes (00:00.483)
I don't intro anyone anymore. What I do is I get them to introduce themselves. So we'll start with me asking you, so how did you get to Madrid and, you know, a bit about yourself, that kind of thing. So do you have any questions before we start?

Kristin (00:16.909)
no, I don't think so.

Paula Barnes (00:18.829)
No? Okay. You have a lovely voice by the way. Okay. So let's get started. Okay. So today's episode, I'll be chatting to Kristin about a destination I've not been to. So I'm really excited to hear all about it. It is on actually on top of my bucket list destinations. But first of all, let's find out who you are, where you've come from, and how did you get to this destination, which I'll let you uncover.

Kristin (00:21.291)
thanks.

Paula Barnes (00:48.613)
for the audience. So welcome.

Kristin (00:50.734)
Sure. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. So, hi, my name is Kristen Montgomery and I am an international teacher. I'm originally from the US and I've been kind of teaching and traveling around the world for most of my adult life, I guess, after I graduated. I am here to talk about Madrid, where I'm currently living. And I actually lived in Madrid for a year.

almost 20 years ago, right after I graduated from college, there is a pretty famous assistantship program that they have here. So if you're a native English speaker from a few different countries, you can come over for a year and work in a school as an English assistant. And so I did that program and loved it. It was wonderful. It was a really great time in my life to be here and explore.

Paula Barnes (01:20.846)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (01:37.507)
Kristin (01:47.67)
Madrid and then I eventually became a teacher and taught in, let's see, it was Switzerland, Singapore, Colombia, Germany, the US, and now I'm here in Madrid doing a master's degree in teaching Spanish.

Paula Barnes (02:09.115)
Well, one of my questions was, do you need to speak Spanish? But yeah, I mean, need to speak the local language, but I guess you're learning another language altogether. So how does that work out in terms of do you know German at all?

Kristin (02:23.854)
I had to learn a little German when I lived in Germany, but I did not speak it very well at all. So it's nice to be back here where I'm doing a master's in Spanish and I already speak Spanish. It's much easier, obviously, to get around. But I do think for tourists, compared to other European countries, especially in

Paula Barnes (02:32.268)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (02:39.983)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (02:50.427)
I'm gonna stop you there. don't know. I'm gonna stop you there for a second and cut all that out. I don't know why I said Germany. I said German. I said German. Let me start that again. I don't know why I said that. Sorry. Let me start one more time. I'll ask that question again. I'm so embarrassed. That's what happens when you're all over the place. Okay. That is super interesting. So do you need to speak the language to be able to get around there? Because obviously you're fluent in the language.

Kristin (02:56.052)
no, it's okay. I was gonna say, I don't know what she's thinking. Sure, problem.

Kristin (03:20.428)
Yeah, in Spain, I would say it's one of those countries where it definitely helps. There's maybe not a great reputation for speaking English. I think Madrid obviously is so used to tourists that you'll be able to get around in English. No problem. But if you're trying to do bigger things, know, administrative things, then it becomes a lot more difficult. So obviously speaking Spanish is definitely recommended.

I would say, you know, if we're looking at the level of English compared to like Germany or Scandinavian countries, it's definitely much, much lower here.

Paula Barnes (04:02.542)
That makes sense. And is it hard to get around? I mean, do you need to have a car or is public transport okay in Madrid?

Kristin (04:12.686)
So Madrid is definitely a walking city. It's all about walking. You do not need a car. I would definitely not recommend a car. Even the day trips that you can go to have great public transportation. So if you're going to base yourself in Madrid, there's really no need for a car. The public transportation here is very, very good. There are buses. There's a very reliable and quick metro system also.

Paula Barnes (04:16.068)
Okay.

Kristin (04:41.56)
But if you're right in the main center of the city, there are a lot of spots where it's just old and the streets are small and narrow. so walking is usually just the best option.

Paula Barnes (04:55.448)
That's good to know. And if if someone asked you what is Madrid famous for, what would you say?

Kristin (05:03.574)
So Madrid, this is always a hard question that I think of when I try to really compare Madrid to other European capital cities, for example. I would say Madrid is all about the vibe and it's really about la movida, which is kind of this concept that happened after the fall of

the dictatorship in the seventies and it's called la movida, which is like the, the movement, the, the, I guess the, the vibe of, of people moving and living and being out in the streets. And so it's, it's a place where there are a lot of great things to see, but it's really more about being here and

living life and enjoying the food and enjoying the sunshine and that kind of thing compared to some other cities where you really go to see the specific attractions. That being said, things that you want to see, it's the capital of Spain. It's the biggest city. So it's very much the governmental, the business heart of Spain. The Prado Art Museum is one of the best in the world.

has all kinds of art and sculptures. Probably the best Spanish art museum for sure. Retiro Park is a giant green space in the middle of Madrid. And that's a great place to go to people watch and you can rent a little boat. And there's just lots going on there. They even have flamenco performances. It's a place where it's like,

Paula Barnes (06:53.722)
Bye.

Kristin (06:56.456)
you're still discovering all these little corners of this park.

Paula Barnes (07:02.464)
If just just start touching on that is is that the best place or area to stay if you're coming to visit near the park?

Kristin (07:13.218)
Let's see. So where would I recommend to stay? Probably not. The problem with transportation by Retiro Park is that there's no transportation that goes through it or metro lines that go under it. So it kind of separates the city. So most of what you're looking at would be on the other side. So I would probably recommend to stay closer to the center.

Paula Barnes (07:28.227)
Okay.

Kristin (07:45.026)
or kind of by Recoletos, which is like a bit in between the center but would have good public transportation connections there.

Paula Barnes (07:58.477)
Okay. And when would be the best time to visit?

Kristin (08:04.194)
So the best time to visit would be spring or fall. Summer is very, very hot. So hot that things kind of shut down and the time changes a bit. And the sense that, you know, in the late afternoon when it's the hottest, people are not out. They're home escaping the heat. Winter is pretty chilly compared to some other parts of Spain. I mean, still nothing terrible.

Paula Barnes (08:17.241)
Yeah.

Kristin (08:34.074)
I'm from the northern US and so it's wonderful for me. It's all me. can't ever complain. it's not as good obviously in winter. Although the exception to that would be if you come at Christmas. I would highly recommend coming at Christmas time if you want to see Christmas lights because the whole city is decked out in beautiful Christmas lights and there a lot of special events like

Paula Barnes (08:52.154)
Of course.

Kristin (09:00.296)
at El Corte Ingles is the major department store and they always have some amazing displays on their building for children and all sorts of other events.

Paula Barnes (09:04.729)
Mm-hmm.

Paula Barnes (09:14.906)
And do you, is there festivals through the year? So there's a month that you should go for a particular festival?

Kristin (09:21.208)
There are lots and lots of festivals. Some are very interesting. For example, there was one that was a festival to celebrate nomadic peoples that were like shepherds and goat herders. So they had a whole flock of sheep in the fall, marching through the city. that was very interesting. That's something I expected.

Paula Barnes (09:36.235)
okay.

Kristin (09:47.788)
Other festivals, Semana Santa, so Holy Week around Easter. There are big festivities. what else? Yeah, mean, lots of like every national or international festival day, there were some things for Carnival recently. And in May, there'll be another big festival.

Paula Barnes (10:16.708)
Do they have a national day? Like a festival for a national day? Yeah.

Kristin (10:18.831)
Yeah, that's when they're, well, their saints' day, I believe it is. Yeah.

Paula Barnes (10:23.32)
Okay. And what month, do you know what month that is? that is in May. Okay.

Kristin (10:27.746)
That's in May, yeah. So that's the time where everyone will dress up in the kind of traditional Madrid dress. So that can be fun to see, especially little kids getting dressed up. Yeah.

Paula Barnes (10:41.12)
if there was a dish because obviously Spain has different regions, different flavors, is there a dish you would suggest that someone has to try if they're in Madrid?

Kristin (10:46.317)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (10:52.086)
Madrid is about ham. There is ham in everything. And that's all of Spain, definitely. But I feel like especially Madrid, just because it's not on the coast, so it doesn't have the seafood that some other places in Spain have. So yeah, you'll learn all about the different levels of ham and the different quality and the best.

Paula Barnes (10:57.041)
okay.

Kristin (11:19.976)
got it right is the ham that is acorn fed pigs. So, bellota. And so that is kind of the most expensive type of ham. So there's ham everywhere. it's not a great place if you're a vegetarian. I ordered a, a vegetal sandwich, like a vegetable sandwich the other day at a

Paula Barnes (11:26.818)
okay.

Paula Barnes (11:33.86)
you

Kristin (11:48.298)
a restaurant and I was eating it and I was like, yeah, of course there's ham in the vegetable sandwich. Good thing I'm not a vegetarian.

Paula Barnes (11:59.515)
So does that mean that there is a particular drink that you need to try in the region?

Kristin (12:04.45)
There is, the thing that has become super popular right now that was not popular when I was here before is actually vermouth, which I never would have expected because it's not a drink that I had really had outside of Spain, but it's actually wine, like red wine, but darker and kind of more like, almost like molasses-y.

Paula Barnes (12:13.274)
Kristin (12:33.154)
And yeah, they serve it usually with ice and with an orange slice. So that can be really nice even in the summer. The other thing in the summer is called a tinto de verano. And that is instead of sangria. So the saying is that the tourists drink sangria and the the madrileños drink tinto de verano. And so it's red wine and

Paula Barnes (12:38.159)
Okay.

Kristin (13:00.408)
kind of like a Sprite or 7up type soda. So it's nice and refreshing, very cold, lots of ice.

Paula Barnes (13:05.476)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (13:11.354)
Sounds good. It sounds good. And so in terms of souvenirs, I'm not talking magnets, I'm talking something completely different. If you had a visitor, what would you recommend them buying as a souvenir?

Kristin (13:12.501)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (13:20.226)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (13:28.182)
So the thing that I would recommend is actually to buy a fan, like a personal folding fan. And the reason for that is it is actually very cultural. You'll see lots and lots of people, women, generally in the summer pulling out their fans in the metro and when they're sitting because it's hot and you want one. So I would recommend instead of buying...

Paula Barnes (13:34.606)
Yeah.

Kristin (13:53.325)
like a $2 one, you know, at a cheap shop to buy something that would be more of a memorable souvenir. And there are special places that you can go. One is called, I think Casa de Diego. That's kind of near Plaza Mayor, no, Puerta del Sol. And for that, they have fans that are starting at, I don't know.

30, 40, 50 euros. But you can buy a piece that's handmade and that is following the tradition. So I would recommend that.

Paula Barnes (14:24.27)
nice.

Paula Barnes (14:27.918)
That's lovely. I love taking something a bit special home with me rather than the magnets. I don't collect magnets, so yeah.

Kristin (14:34.398)
Definitely, definitely. And then that's something that you can use in Spain and you could display on your wall or something when you get back.

Paula Barnes (14:41.05)
or you could definitely use it in Singapore. could use it right now. I do actually carry a fan around with me in Singapore. So yeah, you could carry it anywhere in Southeast Asia. So if a visitor was to come and stay with you, what would you say in a three day itinerary would look like that's a little bit different to what the tourists do, I guess?

Kristin (14:44.622)
Yes.

Kristin (14:51.182)
Definitely.

Kristin (15:05.122)
Yeah, so first day, I would recommend, as I mentioned, going to the Prado Museum, the art museum, going to Rotiro and having a picnic there, and then walking around the kind of fancy shopping district that's Salamanca. And then at night, I would recommend a food tour.

Paula Barnes (15:27.779)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (15:33.609)
So they have a lot of great food tours here that you can do. And I always love a food tour because it's like, you get a little bit of the history, but you also get the food. It's a great chance to really interact with the people that are working at the restaurants. And then if you're in a tour group, especially like I usually travel solo, it's a great chance to chat with other people that are in your tourist group too. So they have some tours that will take you around here. One that I did when I first got here,

We went to a place that is famous for its mushrooms. So that was really interesting. And then what else did we have? We had vermut at one of the places. We had manchego cheese is also very famous. It's sheep cheese. So it's pretty dry, but it's very, very good.

Paula Barnes (16:09.386)
okay.

Paula Barnes (16:24.803)
Okay.

Kristin (16:29.87)
and there are a number of other really old restaurants around the city that you can eat at.

Paula Barnes (16:36.898)
Nice. Do you have many Michelin star? I'm getting off track here.

Kristin (16:40.468)
I don't know. I've never eaten at a Michelin star, to be honest. I know there are, but I'm not sure. One thing that would be a tip is places in Madrid that have been in business for over 100 years have a little plaque on the ground outside their door, a little gold plaque. And so if you walk around, you can look for these places and...

Paula Barnes (16:44.836)
Yeah. Okay.

Paula Barnes (17:00.727)
Kristin (17:06.988)
you know, it's not always 100 % sure that it's going to be a great place, but if they've been in business for over 100 years, they're probably doing something right. So that's a good clue. And it's not just restaurants, it's also like pharmacies or different clothing stores. Yeah, so it's kind of a fun thing to look for.

Paula Barnes (17:24.758)
a good tip. Yeah that's a really good tip. And so what would you do on day two?

Kristin (17:30.841)
So day two, I would go to Bain Thas, which is a little bit farther out. I mean, not far, you just take the metro, but not right in the tourist center. And it is the bull ring that is very famous here. And they still do bullfights, and obviously that's controversial and the popularity has decreased. But in Madrid, it's definitely still...

Paula Barnes (17:48.292)
Okay.

Kristin (17:59.789)
I guess, more popular. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend seeing a bullfight, but the building itself, the bull ring is beautiful. It's a neo-Mudejar architecture, I believe, which is kind of the new style of what the Moors had built when the Muslims were in Spain hundreds of years ago. And so it's like this brick.

Paula Barnes (18:02.5)
Mm-hmm.

Paula Barnes (18:20.73)
Kristin (18:26.447)
brick style and there's a museum there too so you can kind of learn about the history of bullfighting.

Paula Barnes (18:32.884)
okay. So could you do a tour inside the ball ring? Okay. I guess as long as there's no ball fights going on.

Kristin (18:35.991)
You can. Yeah, you can.

Yeah. And those are usually, there's a certain season, I think it starts in the spring, but I can't remember. And on Sundays also. yeah, stay away from the Sundays if you want to see it. And then go to...

Paula Barnes (18:49.784)
Yeah. Okay, that's all right.

Okay.

Paula Barnes (18:59.309)
Okay.

Kristin (19:03.277)
Let's see, well, Puerta del Sol is the main area, kind of the heart of the city, and they call it Kilómetro Cero, so kilometer zero where all of the roads kind of in Spain radiate out from, since Madrid is really in the center of Spain. So just kind of seeing that, there's a very famous statue of a bear in a strawberry tree, climbing a strawberry tree.

Paula Barnes (19:29.636)
Huh.

Kristin (19:31.055)
For whatever reason, that's kind of become the symbol of Madrid there. And at New Year's, that is the place where everyone gathers for celebration and the of the clock ticks down. And actually people eat 12 grapes is the tradition at New Year's. So as the clock chimes 12, you eat one grape for every.

Paula Barnes (19:32.28)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (19:54.814)
I did.

Kristin (20:00.247)
every second of the clock. Yeah. Interesting Spanish tradition. So, real close to Puerto Sol is the Plaza Mayor, the biggest square. And that's another place that you have to just walk through and see. everything, like all of the restaurants that are in the square there are overpriced. So I wouldn't recommend eating there.

Paula Barnes (20:02.505)
wow. Okay, that's something new.

Paula Barnes (20:29.485)
Okay.

Kristin (20:29.953)
necessarily, maybe get a drink if you really want the ambiance, but definitely a place to see there's a lot of just, you know, things going on there, people playing music. And then also you're close to the Royal Palace, so I would recommend seeing that. There, yeah, you can visit it on a tour. And then there's also the Cathedral.

that is right next door to that, the Almudena Cathedral. Although I will say that cathedral is not nearly as famous as other cathedrals in other places in Spain.

And then actually, let's see.

Kristin (21:20.215)
What else? So then at night, that night, would recommend either, it kind of depends on if you're going to other places in Spain or not, I would recommend a Flamenco show if you are not going to Andalucía, because Andalucía in the south is where Flamenco is from. So if you can see it there, but if not, there are tons of places in Madrid where you can see a great show.

Paula Barnes (21:36.162)
Okay.

Kristin (21:46.799)
or if you speak Spanish to see a play or a show because there are a lot of really great theaters and musicals that are going on too.

Paula Barnes (21:55.589)
Okay

Nice and so day three what would day three look like?

Kristin (22:02.541)
So day three, I would recommend doing a day trip to either Segovia or Toledo. And these cities are both pretty close. They're about an hour by public transportation by the time you get on the train and walk. I like Segovia better. That's the one that I would recommend. It's a little smaller city. It's a little more manageable, but they both have beautiful cathedrals.

Paula Barnes (22:08.611)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (22:32.531)
absolutely amazing cathedrals. And then they also both have a type of Alcázar, which is like a castle. The one in Segovia I really like, was I believe one of the models for the Disney castle, where inspiration. And the other thing to see in Segovia is the aqueduct.

Paula Barnes (22:43.404)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (22:50.495)
Yeah.

Kristin (22:58.975)
It's one of the best preserved aqueducts in the world. And aqueducts are where they have water. The Romans built it and they used it to bring in water. So you have these kind of like double arches. And it was used until fairly recently actually for the city. it's really a marvel. Yeah, of engineering. So.

Paula Barnes (23:02.499)
What? I'm not sure what that is.

Paula Barnes (23:07.33)
Yep.

Paula Barnes (23:13.145)
Paula Barnes (23:22.815)
I know what you're talking about. Okay.

Wow, that's very cool.

Kristin (23:29.799)
I would recommend seeing that. If you're really into medieval things, Toledo is, I don't know how it got this reputation, but it's the place to go for buying swords and kind of like reenactment things. So yeah, if you're into that, that would be a place to buy a sword or a knife that's been professionally handcrafted.

Paula Barnes (23:35.373)
Mm-hmm.

Paula Barnes (23:48.435)
okay.

Paula Barnes (23:58.363)
Yeah, that's very cool. Would you spend the evening there?

Kristin (23:59.407)
Yeah. Yeah. And then... Go ahead.

Kristin (24:08.507)
probably not. So if you do Segovia, you could, you could definitely do it in like a little more than a half day trip. You could be back before suppertime. And of course, supper in Madrid is very late, usually never before eight o'clock. Even eight o'clock is probably tourists. So you're talking nine or 10, especially in the summer.

Paula Barnes (24:18.009)
Okay.

Kristin (24:31.873)
So I would recommend coming back to Madrid and then a fun place to go for sunset is actually an Egyptian temple. So this temple, it's called the Temple of Dubod and it's pretty near the city center. So you don't have to go too far, definitely walkable. And it's kind of on a hill and it's the best place or one of the best places to see sunsets.

because it looks out to the West. And so it's actually this temple that the Spanish government kind of helped with some projects, restoration projects decades ago in Egypt, and then kind of got this temple as a thank you. So they, yeah, there's a full real Egyptian temple that they brought back to Spain and reconstructed.

Paula Barnes (25:01.882)
Mm.

Kristin (25:30.831)
from what had been kind of destroyed. was all just different pieces in Egypt. So it looks a little bit out of place in Madrid, but it's on this park that's up on a hill. And so you can see that. And then everybody kind of comes there to watch the sunset. I was there the other day and there were so many people there just playing music and hanging out and enjoying the sunset. So that's a good place to go.

Paula Barnes (25:57.774)
was gonna ask you, cause I was in Poland last week or the week before last and I noticed even in winter, it's so busy. Like everyone's eating and stuff. Is it like that in Madrid, even in winter? Okay.

Kristin (26:07.033)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (26:10.765)
Yes, yes, it's always busy. People are always out in the streets. People in Madrid really are about living life in the streets and enjoying the outdoors even in winter when it's a bit chilly. Places will have heat lamps, but it's still popular to eat outside. And at any time, day or night in Madrid, there is stuff going on and you'll find people in the streets.

Paula Barnes (26:40.846)
That's good to know because I think sometimes as a tourist you don't really go in off season because you don't think there's going to be much around. But I find more and more Europe seems to be embracing any season.

Kristin (26:41.135)
So it's.

Kristin (26:55.201)
Yeah, yeah, and it's warm enough in Spain that, you know, I personally don't love eating outside in the winter, but many people are doing it. And just the fact that people are out and about all winter. I mean, I lived in Germany and compared to Germany, where it was like everything shut down in the winter. And in general, just people, you know, you would not be out on the streets, whereas here, like you can go out on a Sunday night and the streets are packed.

Paula Barnes (27:21.978)
wow, this still. And so what was your heart moment? Because I think everybody when they first moved to a place or before they moved to a place and they visited it, they're like, okay, this this feels like why I've moved here or why I want to move here.

Kristin (27:24.622)
Mm-hmm.

Kristin (27:40.975)
I think like I just said, it's really the nightlife. It's the movida. If you go out Friday or Saturday night and you walk around, it's like at 10 o'clock at night, you'll see families with children. Where I'm from, you'd never have little kids out at 10 o'clock at night. And so it's just kind of a different timeline.

Paula Barnes (28:02.763)
Yeah.

Kristin (28:09.167)
You are out at one o'clock and literally the restaurant is packed and like the bars on the square will be packed at one o'clock in the morning on a Saturday night. There's, yeah, so much that you can do. I feel like people just really enjoy life, enjoy chatting. One thing that I think has been

A reminder that has been hard for me to adapt to is the space issue, kind of. So it seems like the bars are very small.

And it almost seems like the smaller the bar, the more popular it is. And so, you know, you go in and you're sitting next to somebody that you don't know on both sides. And, you know, you could barely hear the person across from you. You're often sitting on little stools, like even at coffee shops. I had to laugh the other day because I was at a little bit bigger place, this tea place that I like on the corner. And I was sitting at a nice table with a chair.

Paula Barnes (28:52.743)
Hahaha!

Kristin (29:18.297)
couple chairs, and this group of older people came in and they sat at a table with these little stools and you know they're in their 60s or 70s and I was like, gosh, if you want to sit at my table, like please feel free. And they're like, no, that's nice of you, but no, we really get here. So, you know, that's something that I think is very different culturally.

Paula Barnes (29:42.905)
And so the bars and the restaurants are small or you just find like the, is it just the bars?

Kristin (29:48.591)
I mean, more so the bars, restaurants too. If you're in the center of any European city, it's quite different than Australia or the US in the sense that there's just not very much space. So yeah, something to get used to. But I think the other thing that's kind of cool about the bars is often people will spill out into the streets. So some of the places even have like a window so you can kind of order a drink from outside.

Paula Barnes (29:58.959)
Yeah.

Paula Barnes (30:12.323)
I

Paula Barnes (30:17.825)
Yeah, that's very cool.

Kristin (30:17.835)
So that makes it kind of more popular, I guess. You know, can tell where the good bars are, because you'll see people spilling out into the streets.

Paula Barnes (30:23.83)
Yeah.

Paula Barnes (30:28.525)
That's a very good tip on that. Do you have any tips for anybody thinking about coming to Madrid?

Kristin (30:39.371)
Yeah, so like I said, the heat is intense in the summer. So be ready for that. Drink lots of water and hat, sunscreen, obviously very, important. The other tip I would give is that Madrid, lots of parts of Spain, but especially Madrid and Barcelona.

Some of the bigger cities are experiencing a big housing crisis right now because they are accepting a lot of people, which is awesome, a lot of immigrants. so people are coming in and they have higher salaries, know, a lot of like digital nomads and remote workers.

Paula Barnes (31:11.775)
Okay, yeah.

Kristin (31:30.339)
from other European and North American countries and they're coming in and they're paying a lot more than locals can afford for the housing. So that's been a really big issue, understandably, and a lot of locals are very upset. A lot of locals are being priced out of their neighborhoods that they've lived in all their lives. So I would recommend if you come choose a hotel over an Airbnb because they've actually changed the laws to make it a lot more difficult to make Airbnbs.

lately. So that's something that's important to note. you know, not only for the fact that it's harder to get, but mostly to be a responsible tourist, you know, try to choose a hotel if you're in Madrid.

Paula Barnes (31:59.545)
Okay.

Paula Barnes (32:11.075)
That's a good tip. Because I feel like there's quite a few cities are doing that now because of the housing crisis. It's kind of like almost everywhere now. So I don't ever, I know that's not true. It's not that I've never had it Airbnb, but I normally try not to. I just, prefer a hotel unless, no, that's not true. I always tend to pick a hotel these days. like I was gonna say, unless it's a chalet in the snow, but that's kind of different to.

Kristin (32:20.387)
Yeah.

Kristin (32:28.153)
Mm-hmm.

Paula Barnes (32:40.91)
an Airbnb if you know what mean.

Kristin (32:43.032)
Yeah.

Paula Barnes (32:44.739)
So the last question I have for you is, do you have a hidden gem, a location that you think that might be, whether it's a neighborhood or a place or even an activity?

Kristin (33:00.591)
Yeah.

So let's see, I would recommend, I really like the neighborhood that I'm fairly close to that's called Letras. And it is a neighborhood that's still touristy, but kind of, like because there aren't any real big sites to see right there, it's less known. But it's all about, it's kind of like the literary neighborhood. And so a lot of,

Paula Barnes (33:31.021)
Kristin (33:34.701)
writers used to live here. So you can see Miguel de Cervantes' house, think. You can see there's a couple like Hemingway bars and bookstores, lots of bookstores actually. So lots of like cute little places if you like to just kind of pop in and be surprised. It's a great place for that. They also have a lot of quotes. And again, if you don't speak Spanish, this won't be relevant, but...

a lot of quotes that are on the street written in kind of like gold plaques from famous books and works by Spanish authors.

Paula Barnes (34:16.343)
That's an awesome tip. think that when I go to Madrid, I'll have to tack on an extra day so that I can scoot around to the neighborhood and have a look myself. So thank you, Kristin. I know you're busy. So we'll end it there. But again, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. any of your if anyone wants to know about Kristin, I'll pop all the links in the show notes for you so you can get in contact with her. But yeah.

In the meantime, thank you so much for coming on. really appreciate it.

Kristin (34:50.455)
You're very welcome. And people can find me online on Instagram, on my website. It's growing global citizens.

Paula Barnes (34:59.066)
perfect and I definitely will put that link in the show notes so that they can contact you. So yeah, bye. Before you go, I'm gonna stop it.

Kristin (35:04.783)
Great. Bye-bye! Yeah.