Poney Pisador & Brunch

A couple weekends ago we went back to the Lord of the Rings bar in Ciudad Real. They call it the Poney Pisador, which (roughly) translated means "The Prancing Pony". It is hard to fully appreciate this bar from just a few photos, but at least you'll get to see a little bit of the themed awesomeness/dorkiness. 

On the left is the door into the bar, the outline of the door that the LOTR crew used to enter the Mines of Moria. Remember when Gandalf was trying to open it and the hobbits were getting into trouble with a big octopus monster? (In the movie that's how it went anyways, can't remember this specific part of the book). On the right you can see how the inside has a textured ceiling and fake cobwebs everywhere, making it feel like the Mines. 

Ciudad Real has a surprising number of themed bars and cafes, usually revolving around movies and TV shows. We haven't been to all of them, but so far in addition to Poney Pisador we've seen Flux Capacitor (Back to the Future themed bar), Fraggle Rock (like the TV show of the same name), at least two different Disney/Winnie the Pooh themed daycare places and corner stores, and of course, Disco Pub Seaquest (which is painted to look like a submarine but sadly, does not contain any photos of Jonathan Brandis):

In a couple weeks all the Semana Santa (Easter Week) celebrations will begin around Spain, and Ciudad Real is no exception. From what I know about it groups in most towns in Spain get together and organize processions to and from different churches. Some of the people will be holding elaborate floats with Biblical scenes depicted on the top. While out at Poney Pisador the other night we saw this group doing a practice run of carrying their float. They go very slowly and try to step in unison to successfully get their float through the town. You can see they have their actual items on top covered with sheets so as not to ruin the surprise. I'm thinking that one in the back looks a lot like an angel though...

We're looking forward to seeing some of the real processions when my Dad, Ann and Emily are in town for Semana Santa! 

As if going to Poney Pisador wasn't enough to make a great weekend, we also had our Ciudad Real friends over for a Pancake Brunch. Brunch is a term we use pretty loosely though, since we got together at 2pm and ended up hanging out till midnight - it was the best-ever never-ending brunch. 

Here's John opening a bottle of cava for some mimosas:

Here's a photo of Marie, Jessica and Jenna hanging out on the little couch: 

And Ben and WP talking it up: 

And here's the whole crew, back at the beginning of brunch when it was still light outside!

After eating pancakes, mimosas, Bloody Marys, fruit salad, scrambled eggs, and even some chocolate Rice Krispie treats I thought we would never need to eat again. However, after several hours of chatting in our living room we ended up heading out to one of the (pretty bad, as we found out) Tex-Mex restaurants and then coming back to the apartment to watch The Artist.  Oof, what a fun Sunday! 

Mama and Papa Payne: thank you for the supply of Aunt Jemima Maple Syrup and thanks for bringing enough for us to share! Our friends were VERY excited to have some American maple syrup to eat with the pancakes! 

Right now Camille is visiting and we're heading out tomorrow for a road trip to Cuenca and Valencia. We're getting another batch of rainy cold weather this week - thanks a lot, Spring.  More photos and stories coming soon.