My first day in Spain (Part 1)

4 hours of sleep. That was the best I managed to do after arriving to Villahermosa at 7 in the morning. Why, wouldn't it be more likely sleep like a log after such a trip? For some, perhaps, but I couldn't wait to see better where I was... Although it might be possible that the bread-truck sounding its horn at 8 o'clock and the sounds from the market on the close-by street also had their part with the little sleep I got ;) Off to the market then, with Rocío and her second oldest sister Maria Isabel...

"Mercadillo" is what this kind of a market is called around here. Its a weekly event, and every Saturday morning the tents and people fill the street for the morning hours, until 13 or 14 o'clock when the siesta begins. You can buy almost anything there, from cd's and dvd's to turtles or birds for pets, from pots and pans to clothes and shoes - not to mention food like roasted chicken or churros. But more about the food later!

This is the same street that was occupied by the mercadillo earlier, now empty for the hot afternoon hours. The temperature during my first week here was around +35 degrees celsius, which surprisingly isn't as hot as it sounds. The air here isn't nearly as humid as in Finland or the popular touristic sites in the coastal areas of the country that are more familiar to the Finnish people, I guess. That makes the heat much more agreeable, as long as you don't stay in the direct sunshine for too long, as that is hot enough to boil an egg, not to mention your brain ;)

After the mercadillo we took a little walk to see the village. Our first stop was a small grocery store, where I got my first touch to the selections of Spanish food shops. Later on in the afternoon we drove to another village, Villanueva de los Infantes, to visit a bigger store where I had some time to familiarize myself with the products that can be found here... the selection is impressive! In the above photo can be seen the Ayuntamiento of Villahermosa - the town hall, so to speak - where you can take care of the official things. Every village, town and city in Spain have one.

The Ayuntamiento is located on the central square called Plaza de España, which is the heart of the town in the true sense of the word. The church of the town, that rises above the rooftops of the two-story houses, is another centerpiece of the town on the same square. It is of a gothic design and was built in the 15th century. The square is also occupied by two big terraces, where people gather in the evenings to talk and have a drink or two, accompanied by tapas - something small to eat that comes free with drinks. What differs a lot from Finland is that also the children, from the small ones barely able to walk to the teenagers, are running around the square or sitting at the table with their family until the late hours of the night.