Eating Up España

Semana Santa: The Secular Edition

2009-05-21T13:33:00.022-04:00

Image Source: http://www.rusticblue.com/images/spain_holiday_1126.jpg

Semana Santa is Spain's holy week that includes, but is not limited to, Easter Sunday. We heard that Andalucía in southern Spain is THE place to go because of its extravagant Semana Santa celebrations. As we had two weeks to burn, a group of us decided to confirm this rumor and visit Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz and Sevilla. What follows is an overview of what we did, saw, drank and ate when not experiencing the religious side of Semana Santa:

Cordoba

Scent of orange
Columbus here for money
Alcazar, Roman bridge

(Clockwise from top left: Gardens at the Real Alcazares; Columns from a Roman temple; wrought iron and shadow; Roman bridge at night; The Mezquita; Calle de Las Flores)

Granada

Gypsies, caves and baths

Mountains and free tapas

Alhambra sunsets

(Clockwise from top left: Sacramonte with the Sierra Nevadas in the background, quiet street at night, part of the Alhambra overlooking the city, Sacramonte at night, Reflection at the Alhambra, door to a cave house)

Cadiz

Forts to discover

Walking along the beaches

Romans were here, too

(Clockwise from top left: Boats on La Playa de Santa María del Mar, View of Cadiz from Torre Tavira, Plaza San Juan de Dios, Shadows on Victoria Beach)

Sevilla

Sangria tastes good

Flamenco and Cathedral
Giralda, Betis

(Clockwise from top left: Main entrance of Sevilla Cathedral, Guadalquivir (historically known as the Betis) River at night, La Giralda from the exit of the Real Alcazares, Stained glass shadows inside Sevilla Cathedral, La Giralda, Matador sculpture in front of the Plaza del Toros, Plaza Virgen de los Reyes as gateway to Barrio Santa Cruz)

Things I ate: rabo de toro (braised oxtails), flamenquin, berenjenas fritas con miel (fried eggplant slices drizzled with honey), grilled vegetables, spinach croquettes, gazpacho, mushroom croquettes, fresh tomatoes with garlic chips, meatballs seasoned with cinnamon, leche frita, sesame picos, tortilla de patata, Lamb tagine, migas, spinach and garbanzos, manchego cheese, roscillas (small round sandwiches) with ham, braised pork, ham and solomillo roscillo, montadito (another type of small sandwich) with lomo and almond sauce, patatas alinadas (sliced potatoes with bell peppers an oil and vinegar sauce), huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs) with asparagus and jamon, a barnyard-y and Cabrales-heavy surtido (assortment) de quesos, patatas bravas, jamon de bellota and baked provolone scented with laurel.

Things I drank: tea at various teterias, sangria, Kas Bitter, manzanilla sherry, fino sherry and Pedro Ximenez (sherry)

Eating and Drinking establishments I really enjoyed:

Bar Las Teresas, Sevilla

La Carboneria, Sevilla

El Rinconcillo, Sevilla

Bodegas Mezquita, Cordoba

Bar Santos, Cordoba

La Riviera, Granada

La Bella y la Besta, Granada

Arsenio Manila, Cadiz

El Faro, Cadiz

Czech, Please!

2009-04-24T11:39:00.017-04:00

Nothing starts a good overview of a historic city like a bad pun, right? I'd been waiting for a long time to go to Prague, home of one of my favorite writers, Franz Kafka, the largest castle in the world, Prague Castle, and the location of many a major motion picture movie scene (more on that later). This was my first solo international trip and I fared pretty well. I missed having dining companions, though...

Sights:

The Charles Bridge

Prague Castle

(Clockwise from top left: St. George's Basilica where I took in a classical music concert one afternoon, Prague Castle at Night, Prague Castle from Petrin Hill, Prague Castle juxtaposed with a modern sculpture in Old Town in the foreground, view of the Mala Strana neighborhood from Prague Castle)

St. Vitus' Cathedral at Prague Castle

The Astronomical Clock

Municipal House/Obecni dum (An Art Nouveau treasure)

John Lennon Wall

Old Town Square

(Left to right: Detail of Old Town Hall Tower, Church of Our Lady before Tyn with it's signature towers, known as the last resting place of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe is buried)

Me, Prague and the Film Industry

Prague is used a lot as a location in major films. I stayed at a hotel on a square in Kampa Park that ended up being on the same square and location of a big car blow-up scene in Mission: Impossible. Being a big fan of action movies, you know I was pretty psyched about this. Here are some pictures of the square. Maybe you recognize the square from the movie?

(Clockwise from top left: Double staircase leading from The Charles Bridge to the square my hotel was on, my hotel which is the last yellow building on the left, View of the square from The Charles Bridge, a movie being filmed just off the square by the Devil's Stream and, no, I have no idea who those actors are. Do you?)

Odds and Ends

(Clockwise from top left: Devil's Stream near The Charles Bridge and Kampa Island, another view of stream from Kampa Island, Statue near Prague Castle, Park Benches on Kampa Island)

Food and Wine

I ate twice at the hotel restaurant/pub twice and enjoyed it both times. Then I ate at a restaurant in Prague Castle, a small, yummy and quiet bistro and at a true Czech microbrewery/pub.

A sampler: Smoked pork ribs, pickled vegetable relish, horseradish and mustard, seared duck with orange sauce, Moravian red wine, beef goulash, bread dumplings, potato dumplings, Prague ham, pickled hot peppers, Krusovice dark beer, Pivovarsky Dum light and dark beers, roast duck with sweet and sour cabbage and sauerkraut, mulled wine to-go, Pretzel bread rolls.

Excuse the rushed overview, but time is a-ticking on my time here in Europe and I need to share a lot more information with y'all!

San Sebastian...or is that Donostia?

2009-03-26T12:33:00.046-04:00

(Above: My shadow and me after riding the funicular up Monte Igueldo taking pictures of the Cantabrian Sea.)

I took a weekend spin to San Sebastian, that culinary outpost that any self-respecting foodie has on their to-do list. While certainly, the food is a draw (San Sebastian has the highest concentration of Michelin starred restaurants in the world!), this town is also a haven for surfers and know for its huge iron sculptures that dot the town and the surrounding hills of this corner of Basque Country (a.k.a. País Vasco en Español).

It was calming to be out on the ocean watching surfers and walking on the beach in February. It definitely set the tone and we explored this town at a relatively relaxed pace in two days.

(Left to Right: Surfing scenes near and along Zurriola Beach, San Sebastian)

Before continuing, I need to emphasize that Euskara (or Basque) is, indeed spoken here in addition to Spanish. It is reportedly one of the oldest languages in the world (as old as Sanskrit) with no known ties to the Romance languages that dominate this part of Europe. The presence of Euskara in San Sebastian is most obvious in its unpronouncable street signs:

Euskara's fondness for the letters 'X' and 'Z' and sheer length of words intimidated me. I stuck to El Español the whole time.

Most places in the Basque region have a Euskaran name and a Spanish name. Witness the following:

(Spanish) San Sebastian = Donostia (Euskara)
(Spanish) País Vasco = Euskal Herria (Euskara)

(Spanish) Vizcaya = Bizkaia (Euskara) -- this is the province where Bilbao, another hot city in Basque Country, is located

The name for the province that includes San Sebastian is Guipuzcoa, and is one of the few agreements between the Spanish and Euskaran name.

We were in San Sebastian during Carnaval which is taken quite seriously throughout Spain. It was celebrated in San Sebastian by non-stop parades of organized dancers and musicians in sometimes inexplicable costumes, and unorganized hordes of locals in any manner of costume. Parades lasted hours and took place at numerous times during the day.

(Left to Right: a lit parade float; a sumo master and his followers; Roman soldiers riding chicken-back (?))

San Sebastian itself is a naturally beautiful coastal town that spreads out from a picturesque bay and beach called La Concha:

There's a really interesting contrast between the old and the new architecture in San Sebastian:

(From Left to Right: Kursaal Bridge, Kursaal Congress Palace and Auditorium lit up for the night, Detail on Santa Catalina Bridge)

In addition, Guipuzcoa is dotted with these huge iron and stone sculptures. Some are by area sculptor Eduardo Chillida. We visited his scuplture park about a half hour out of downtown San Sebastian. It was really impressive seeing these larger-than-life iron sculptures which are left exposed to the elements to continue changing color and texture over time.

(Clockwise from top Left: close up of sculpture at Chillida-Leku Sculpture Park; vista of main lawn at Chillida-Leku sculpture park; Jorge Oteiza sculpture in Paseo Nuevo; Chillida's Peine del Viento (Wind Combs) on the rough coastline)

And now the moment you've been waiting for (especially you foodies out there): Food in San Sebastian.

Without a doubt, the high-end dining and tapas scene is where it's at in Donostia. We dipped our toe in and had a four course lunch at Restaurante MB Kursaal, the more casual of famed San Sebastian chef Martín Berasategui's restaurants. This restaurant was perfect for me: gourmet food in a casual, unstuffy environment. Our lunch, which started off with a cava cocktail, included a spider crab terrine, sauteed cuttlefish with in its own ink jus, roasted veal with grilled pumpkin and espresso sauce and poached pears and french toast with frozen cream (very similar if not the same as torrijas in Spain -- see below).

Overall, I would say that the service at the tapas bars was very Spanish (smaller portions, huge selection, most of the time served by surly barMEN -- yes, they are mostly men in these positions), but the food itself seemed more French-influenced (braised & cured meats, terrines and tarts). Spanish tapas staples were present, too, including items like Spanish tortilla, ensaladilla rusa (my least favorite of all time) and jamón, of course. The tapas bars carry more or less the same things, with each bar featuring a specialty ingredient (like mushrooms or anchovies, for example). A hallmark of Basque tapas is that they display the offerings all along the bar like so:

(Above: The tapas selection at Bar Martinez)

We visited the following tapas bars:

Bar Martinez

Bar Ganbara

La Cepa

Txepetxa

La Cuchara de San Telmo

I save 'La Cuchara' for last because it was so good we visited it twice. It was hard to find, but we were lured to it by some sort of cosmic beam.

(Above Left: Sign outside of 'La Cuchara'; Right: Mass.-themed stickers in the kitchen)

See the picture in the right? It is a photo of the water heater in the kitchen at 'La Chuchara' that had on it not one, but TWO Massachusetts-related stickers! The one above is the Newbury Comics logo and the one below it is the 01.20.09 Bush's Last Day sticker, that I last saw sold in the Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner, Brookline. One of the chefs had spent some time in Boston and Brookline. Quite the coincidence, right?! That coincidence is not the only reason we visited twice, however. This tapas bar is one of the few that makes everything to order instead of having most dishes displayed on the counter from which to choose. And everything was delicious. Treats at 'La Cuchara' included:

Pato confitada (Duck Confit)
Costillas con vinagre de modena (Ribs with Balsamic vinegar from Modena)
Calçots con romesco (Roasted Spring onions with a nut and roasted red pepper sauce)
Rissoto de orzo con queso de cabra (Orzo rissoto with goat cheese
Foie gras con manzana (Seared duck liver with apple compote)
Cannelloni de morcilla (Cannelloni stuffed with a Spanish-style blood sausage)
Ganache de chocolate (No translation needed, absolutely melt-in-your-mouth perfection)

The predominant Spanish wine D.O.C. available in San Sebastian is La Rioja, so most wines offered by the glass were from La Rioja. There is another D.O.C. for the local wine, Txacoli, a lightly fizzing white wine similar to Portugal's Vinho Verde. The barkeepers pour this wine from a huge distance into a regular ol' tumbler, part for show and part to bring the fizzy nature of the wine to the surface. It's perfect with most tapas.

So, other eats in which we indulged were:

Leche Frita (thickened, reduced and fried milk), Torrijas (a French toast meets bread pudding dessert), cured duck breast, fried artichokes stuffed with ham, cheese croquettes, vegetable quiche, surtido (assortment) of sauteed forest mushrooms, crab tart, Tarta Vasco (with almond and orange), calamares, piquillo peppers stuffed with mushrooms, jamón, Idiazabal, Cabrales and Manchego cheeses.

Next posts coming up: Prague and Andalucía

I WON Something!

2009-03-26T12:14:00.007-04:00

I was pretty excited about this because I've never won anything before in my life!

Now, I don't like still lifes. I typically fast forward through museum galleries that feature still life paintings. But I found this blog, State Of The Art : Contemporary Still Lifes from Jeff Hayes, where an aritist produced and featured a a still life he painted each day. I thought that he had a creative way to present and promote himself on the internet. The artist held a monthly drawing for newsletter subscribers recently for a miniature original painting, and that is how I won this:

(Above Left: Cinnamon Sticks front view; and above right: Cinnamon Sticks side view)

I really enjoy Jeff's modern approach to still lifes that use food related items to showcase his technique. And we all know how much I love food-related items!

Jeff also has an online store which has works available for online purchase, a discussion blog about the painting process and a youtube.com channel with movies of him painting on his website. It's a really fun, interactive site where you can get a glimpse of how an artists works and see things from their perspective. CLICK HERE to check it out.

My Trusty Trip Advisor

2009-03-10T13:14:00.005-04:00

I use a lot of different websites and sources to plan trips, but one of the sites I always take a glance at is TripAdvisor. This is a site where people make posts and rate restaurants, hotels, etc. Now, I normally take suggestions from sites where anyone can post with a grain of salt, but I've found some reviews to be very useful during the trip planning process as a double check on places I'm thinking of staying and eating. The site also has sections on budget traveling, trip ideas and city travel guides.

What I really love, though, is the fun interactive map they give individual members to play with to track past and future dream travels. Here's mine:

View my profile

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Travel Info at TripAdvisor

Try it out for yourself!

Putting the Port in Portugal

2009-02-24T15:05:00.025-05:00

Portugal shares the Iberian Peninsula with Spain, so the two countries must have a lot in common, right? WRONG! The two major cities in Portugal, Porto and Lisbon, are understated, aging beauties who don't brag or show off, are a little rough around the edges, but become more alluring the more you get to know them. I came to find out that overall, they have a similar, but much different tradition, culinary and otherwise, from Spain.

(From Left to right: Exterior of Santo Ildefonso Church, Porto; Doorway near Bolhão Station, Porto, Exterior of Capela de las Almas taken from the hotel window, Porto; Terrace tile detail, Lisbon)

Throughout Porto and Lisbon, there were beautiful run-down buildings and churches with stunning tiled exteriors. We wandered into an aging food market and found ridiculously fresh fish and baked goods like I've never seen; balão do miel, pastéis de nata...the list goes on. Port was plentiful and offered at every turn. Most everything was surprisingly inexpensive. I'd love to return. I hear the beaches in the south are untamed and gorgeous.

(From Left to Right all in Lisbon: View of a triumphal arch looking down the Rua De Augusta; Exterior of the Se, or Lisbon Cathedral; Interior of the Se)

(Views of the Douro River and riverbank in Porto)

Both cities are built on riverbanks and there are steep hills that rise as you move away from the river. Climbing up those hills is hard, so that accounts for the number of funiculars, elevators and trolleys in these cities. It's not only fun to look at these retro modes of transport, but they are also part of the city metro systems, so you can take a ride for the rest and the views.

(Above from left to right: Santa Justa Elevator in Lisbon; Funicular in Lisbon; Trolley in Porto)

We visited the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon. This place was pretty remarkable and there's evidence that people have inhabited that spot since the Iron Age! It's no wonder that this was one of the first places to be settled; you can see for miles from the top of the castle. While we were in the neighborhood, we stumbled onto a house restaurant near the castle. There was a menu and what we ordered they were out of, but we were pleasantly surprised with what they brought to the table; a carafe of house red wine, a super fresh salad with citrus dressing, cilantro and pineapple, rice and black beans, a tostada of sorts, with ham, some delicious spiced pepper jelly and melted cheese on some fresh bread, sliced fruit and cake with a chocolate dipping sauce and, of course, port. We were treated like personal guests rather than paying customers. Everything was very cheap, very delicious and very memorable.

(Above Left and Center: Views of Lisbon from the Castle of São Jorge; Above Right: street at the top of Alfama near the castle and sign advertising our house restaurant)

We traveled a bit further away by trolley to a suburb of Lisbon called Belém, home of the Mosterio dos Jeronimos and the Torre de Belem. Both of these sites are great examples of the Manueline style of architecture, which is best described as the Portuguese version of Late High Gothic. You'll never guess who's buried in the Mosterio dos Jeronimos -- VASCO DE GAMA, the famous explorer! Next to Prince Henry the Navigator, a major source of funds for explorers, and Christiano Ronaldo, a current top footballer/soccer player, these guys probably constitute some of the most famous Portuguese people in the world!

(Left to Right, all in Lisbon: Torre de Belem, Courtyard at the Mosterio dos Jeronimos, wrought iron window at the Largo das Portas do Sol in the Alfama neighborhood, Monument to Henry the Navigator)

(Above: A male and female Fado singer and the back of Mario Pacheco's head at Clube de Fado in Lisbon)

During this trip, we also discovered fado. Fado is to Portugal what Flamenco is to Spain. Essentially, it is a very emotional musical and singing tradition. We went to the Clube de Fado in the Alfama neighborhood in Lisbon. It is owned by a famous fado guitarist, Mario Pacheco (whom you can see a bit of in the picture), who performs almost every night at his club. Shows at fado clubs are an all-night event. When you make a reservation, you reserve a table for the night for the whole performance. These performances are interspersed through the night; sometimes with as many as eight and lasting until 2 a.m.! We didn't last quite that long but, still, we were entranced the whole time with the musicians and the singers. The fado show was as amazing as the tropical storm Megan and I walked into after our four dinner/show experience, but worth every moment.

(Above: The beautiful, graphically tiled streets of Lisbon and Oporto)

And some more fun retro storefronts:

(Above Left and center: Beautiful storefronts in Porto; Above Right: storefront in Lisbon)

We ate at some great places like the house restaurant mentioned above in Lisbon and drank some great wine. Here's the funny thing about wine in Portugal and beyond, at least in Europe. You can feel totally comfortable ordering a vaso de tinto (glass of red wine), without getting more specific as we've become accustomed to in the U.S. What you get will be relatively local, cheap and pretty good; I haven't been disappointed yet. But that also means that I can't really report more about the wines I drank in Portugal. Sorry!

Nevertheless, here are some food and wine highlights:

Cafe Majestic, Porto -- Cheese plate (mostly goat and sheep) and tawny port

Barão de Fladgate, Porto -- amazing location overlooking the city and river, classic tenderloin with port sauce, Tinto, Cabriz, Dao (2005), Taylor Port

Clube de Fado, Lisbon -- bacalao with oil, garlic and red peppers, Poças tawny port

O Muro, Lisbon -- caldo verde, grilled octopus, sheep's milk cheese, olives and pickled lima beans. Hospitable owner and staff. Great location overlooking the Douro

Ca'lem Port Cellars -- tour and tasting

(From Left to Right: White and tawny port tasting at the Ca'lem Port Cellars, Porto; A typical bakery window with Pastéis de nata, almond tart and donuts!, Porto; Workers at the famous Pastéis de Belém bakery packaging up warm pasteis de nata for hungry tourists like me, Lisbon)

Pastries from both cities:

Balão do Miel (which we lovingly nicknamed 'brown round')

Torta almendros (almond tart)

Tarta do Nata (tart with cream filling)

Pastéis de Belém (flaky pastry with baked cream pie-like filling)

I >:-o Telefonica a.k.a. I hate Telefonica

2009-02-20T12:49:00.005-05:00

In addition to being two cities behind on my blog posts, I now have an additional impediment (and excuse, ha ha!) to more frequent blogging. My roommate who looks after the bills in the apartment decided to change internet service providers. We paid about 60 euros for both phone and internet per month. He found a new company where we would pay 30 euros instead. Reducing bills by half is a no brainer, right? Right.

So my roommate went ahead and cancelled our service with Telefonica, the biggest name in town when it comes to phones and internet, effective at the end of this month. The new company is supposed to show up and install our service before the end of this month. Now, I have had no complaints about the service with Telefonica. I´ve always been able to get online and the price was okay. But wouldn´t you know that a week ago, just after we cancelled the service with Telefonica, our internet mysteriously stopped working! My roommate called them and reported back that they would not service us and fix our internet because we cancelled our service. OUTRAGEOUS!

I´m looking into getting a copy of Spain´s national buisness complaint form called a "hoja de reclamacion", but really, I´m just in a holding pattern until the new internet service company installs the new equipment. There are places where I can bring my laptop and work, but they are not all that convenient. So here I am writing this at the locutorio near my building.

So that´s my excuse and I´m sticking to it. Here´s to hoping this does not last too much longer! I have some great photos of and info from my Lisbon and Porto Portugal trip and I´m going to San Sebastian, Spain this weekend, so there will be lots to show and tell!

Barcelona: Great in Winter, and Probably Amazing in Summer

2009-01-27T12:36:00.010-05:00

(Above: Placa Reial)

It appears that Barcelona had its winter coat on during my visit. The company was amazing (thanks to Karey, Ally and Marta), as were the sights and eats, but I was expecting the city to be more, for lack of a more refined word, "sparkly". Nevertheless, there were many architectural and gastronomic highlights. I just think I'll need to go back when its warmer to see Barcelona reveal it's true sparkle!

(L: Gaudi's La Pedrera, R: Casa Batllo)

(Left and Right: Gaudi's Sagrada Familia)

There is no doubt that Gaudi's architecture is unique and breathtaking, but I just didn't have it in me to pay 9 Euros and up for the priviledge of seeing his buildings up close. Maybe next trip. Now this disappointed me at first and temporarily soured me on Gaudi, until we went to his Park Guell, which is, quite possibly, another of my favorite places on earth. It also happens to be quite free of charge.

(L & R: Park Guell)

(L: View of the Mediterranean Sea, Sagrada Familia and Torre Agbar from atop Park Guell, C: my dream house on top of Park Guell, R: a football/soccer game overlooking the Mediterranean on top of Park Guell)

We spent the whole afternoon in awe of the park and its surprises and treasures that awaitied us as we climbed higher and turned ever corner. There are musicians all over the park, too, which gave us some nice background music to follow us through our explorations. I really loved this place, as did my traveling companions. See? Here we are looking very happy, indeed:

(From L to R: Karey, Me, Ally and Marta)

Barcelona at night is also captivating:

(L: Placa Catalunya, C: Placa Reial, R: Church of Santa Maria del Mar on Passeig del Born)

I loved the unique design of some of the storefronts:

(R: A magic store in the Born neighborhood, C: a bakery just off of Las Ramblas, R: an Irish pub on Carrer Ferran)

Surprisingly, both these buildings below were built at around the turn of the 20th Century. They seem much older:

(L & C: Palau de Musica Catalana, R: Barcelona's Bullring)

Here is a bit of the older style architecture from around the Barcelona Cathedral and the Placa de Colon:

(L: Barcelona Cathedral, C: Barcleona Cathedral, R: Monument to Christopher Columbus at the end of Las Ramblas)

Enough architecture. Let's talk art. We enjoyed the modern variety of art at The Picasso Museum. There was one room filled with Picasso's different versions of Velazques' "Las Meninas". Here is one:

(Image Source: http://www.grafiksaati.com/Ressamlar/Pablo-Picasso/picasso_resimleri_web_sayfalari/1-41/237.jpg)

And another painting I really liked from Picasso's earlier days, is "La Salchichona":

(Image Source: http://www.oogers.com/Adventures/2005/Barcelona%20March-April%202005/La%20Salchichona.htm)

Later in his life, Picasso started making ceramic vases, plates, sculptures. I didn't know he made ceramics, so was pleasantly surprised.

There also an abundance of art in surprising places all around Barcelona:

(Clockwise from top left: Sculpture/buoy on Barcelona's waterfront, a waterfront sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein, creative walkway along the waterfront, modern metal gate near Barcelona Cathedral)

So, now, onto food and wine! We ate at some great places, most of them of the tapas variety, and there were some definite jems:

Taller de Tapas -- Great selection and ambiance

Cal Pep -- Gourmet tapas / diner, expect a wait, but also amazing food

Origens -- Has A visual menu magazine, small plates and good wine selection

Va de Vi -- Has atmosphere in spades (if you like hanging out in ancient wine cellar), features small cheese, bread and cured meat plates only plus a binderful of wine choices. Great before or after dinner spot

(L: Pan con Tomate or, in Catalan, pa amb tomàquet at Va di Vi; R: Monkfish with garlic chile oil and roasted potatoes at Cal Pep)

Some foods eaten: chipirones (fried baby squid), pimientos del padron (small roasted green peppers, pa amb tomàquet/pan con tomate, Moroccan spiced chicken skewers, roasted asparagus, fried artichokes, pineapple carpaccio with catalan cream, crema catalana, chistorra (Basque-style breakfast sausage), boutifarra amb mongetes (a lightly seasoned and grilled Catalan sausage with white beans) and Calçots (fried spring onion shoots).

Some wine drunk: Tinto de Tarragona (2007), Gine Gine Priorat (2005), Nita Priorat (2007), Onix Priorat (2005), Can Feixes Penedes (2005 ), Luis Alegre Rioja Crianza (2005) -- all except the last are from wine regions in Cataluña, where Barcelona is located. The region is also home to Cava, the sparkling Spanish wine similar to France's Champagne. Most sparkling wines tend to make me ill, so I abstained on this trip :-) All the wines we tried were either dirt-cheap and quaffable, or just slightly more expensive (10-20 Euros/bottle) and divine. My favorites were the Gine Gine Priorat and the Can Feixes Penedes.

(Above: Entrance of La Boqueria)

And now it's time for one of my other favorite places in the world, Mercat La Boqueria, where there are feet upon feet of produce, seafood, meats and prepared foods to be had. We went twice just to make sure we didn't miss any of the good, the interesting and the grotesque (blood cake, anyone?)

(Clockwise from top left: the pork purveyor's case, a cured meats counter, seafood seller's spread, Calcots/spring oniongs, the wild game vendor's display)

Here is the Barcelona crew again:

And a few parting shots of an impressive balcony garden that was a bright spot on an overcast day.

And a candle display displaying the Catalan word for peace during a anti-Israel demonstration we happened upon. Okay, fine, it was also an anti-American protest, too. I chose not to focus on that, though. Let's just all focus on peace, people!

...And Now for Something Completely Different

2009-01-26T01:55:00.005-05:00

Rare is the picture of yours truly in this blog, so here are some delightful snaps from recent trips:

(Left: Brussels -- Me enjoying a true Belgian waffle; Center: Bruges -- Me enjoying frites in Bruges while someone runs off theirs in the background; Right: Barcelona -- A good meal is followed by a lipstick reapply, of course)

Photo Credits: Miss Meghan Hennick (Brussels and Bruges) and Miss Ally Day (Barcelona)

No Clogs, No Tulips, but Amsterdam Just the Same

2009-01-16T03:43:00.012-05:00

(Houses and Houseboats along an Amsterdam Canal)

One three-hour train ride later from Brussels and we were in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This human-scaled city feels very comfortable, but there are enough bikes and trams around to make any walk here a potentially hazardous one. Stereotypically a land of clogs and tulips, the only ones we came across in Amsterdam were behind souvenir shop glass. Though this was winter, and we know better to return in the spring if we really, really feel the need to see wooden shoes and flowers.

Bikes rule in Amsterdam. They are everywhere! It is the preferred mode of transportation for locals and it's no wonder: the public transportation tram system here is not a straightforward system (at least to me on my first time here). And the city is as flat as a board, so biking is easy. Another fun little piece of information is that locals own more than one bike and often choose to ride the most run down of the lot to avoid them being stolen. An interesting anti-theft device, no?

Another interesting thing about Amsterdam is that the locals here are, at minimum, bilingual in English and Dutch. No worries about communicating here.

(Art Nouveau Dining Room at the Café Americain)

It's not easy to identify or find authentic 'Dutch Cuisine' here, but we were able to enjoy Poffertjes (Dutch pancakes) and zoute drops (salty Licorice candy).

I am a sucker for Art Nouveau architecture and design, so it should come as no surprise that our blow-out meal was at the Cafe Americain in the Hotel Americain in the Leidesplein area of Amsterdam. It is a Dutch national monument to Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The restaurant served good, straight-forward International cuisine using local ingredients and I had the experience of having Hollandaise sauce in Holland...imagine that!

Dinner was followed by an express visit to the seedier side of Amsterdam that included 'coffee shops' and the Red Light District, all conveniently located close to Amsterdam's Centraal Station.

(Left: Interesting stacking of buildings and shapes at the Rijksmuseum; Center: View of the Westerkerk Church from the Anne Frank Huis Museum; Right: Painted window shades at the Rijksmuseum)

Earlier in the day we high-tailed it to the Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht. I read The Diary of Anne Frank years ago in school and it made a mark. The diary chronicled the experience of a little Jewish girl who's family has to go into hiding during WWII. Going to the museum and seeing where she spent her days in hiding reading and writing was a surprisingly emotional experience. Especially when I realized that the father was the only one from the war who survived. He came back to the house on Prinsengracht, found everyone and everything gone, except for Anne's diary, which he later published. The rest, as they say, is history.

(Above: Van Gogh's Almond Blossoms)

It was then time for the Van Gogh Museum. Yes, that same crazy Dutch painter who cut off his ear, etc., etc. Most of these paintings I was seeing for the first time and that was a great experience. Two stars, in my opinion, are missing from the collection: The Olive Grove, which is in another museum in the Netherlands and Starry Night, which is in the MOMA in New York City.

(Above: Vermeer's The Milkmaid)

I took an express trip through the famous Rijksmuseum, that didn't really do it justice. The museum is a repository of Dutch masterpieces from Vermeer to Rembrandt to Hals. I was only able to spend about a half hour there. Oh, well...there's always next time!

(Above: Gate from Vondelpark, near our hostel, StayOkay)

Speaking of next time, here are a few items on my must see and do list when I return to this amazing city:

*Canal Cruise

*Eat Indonesian Food (Indonesia was a Dutch colony and this is probably some really interesting unique food)

*Rent Bikes and pretend to be a local

*Shop

*Stroll through the Vondelpark and snack at its cafe (it's supposed to have great views!)

*Eat at some of the outdoor snack vendors on Museumplein

*Fotografie Museum Amsterdam

*Heineken Brewery

In Bruges, but no Colin Farrell in Sight

2009-01-10T14:11:00.003-05:00

Next Stop: Bruges, Belgium for a day trip. Bruges is about an hour from Brussels and well worth the trip! It is charming, placid and picturesque, with some of the world's best chocolate, beer and frites!

It has also experienced some increased exposure lately as it was featured in the recent movie, "In Bruges", featuring Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson and, you guessed it, Colin Farrell.

Or first stop was to the Halve Maan (or Half Moon) Brewery for a tour and tasting. This is the home of my favorite brew in Belgium (so far): the delicious "Bruges Zot".

(L: Refreshing pint of Bruges Zot Blonde, C: View of Bruges from the roof of the Brewery, R: Meghan and Me on the brewery tour. Photos L and R courtesy of Meghan Hennick)

We then hit one of the most recommended chocolate shops in town, Dumon. Truly transcendent chocolate. It was in this shop that I realized that through the trip so far and subsequently we had been and would be greeted in stores four times: once in Dutch, once in Flemish or German (I can never get those two right ;-) English and French. I suppose the salespeople need to know in which language to proceed to sell you delicious things. I think Belgium has this bi/tri/quatro-lingual thing down!

(The picturesque Markt Square with statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck, who in the 13th century, who are revered for their efforts to preserve Flemish identity in a then increasingly French-influenced world. )

Markt square is known for its medieval Belfry also home to the best frite stands in the world. There are two and, in an informal taste test, we thought the frites from on the right (neither of the stands have names) were slightly crisper on the outside and creamier on the inside. The curry ketchup was an ideal accompaniment...mayo on frites for me? NEVER!

(View of Burg square, you can see the Belfry in Markt Square in the background)

(Basilica of the Holy Blood)

So, onto Burg Square, the less commercial of the two major squares in Bruges. The Basilica of the Holy Blood is here, and features a relic of -- you guessed it -- a drop of Jesus' blood! Curious, we stepped inside and were almost immediately creeped out. The building is all stone and dark and one curving stairway later you are in a chapel where people are standing or sitting at the edge, waiting to pay a euro or so to go up to this platform where a person is holding a giant, elaborate vial. The lucky person plops in a coin *clink*, ascends stairs to the platform, gazes at the drop of Jesus blood, and a few seconds later, descends the stairs on the other side. We watched about five people go through this formality and decided the theatrics were too much for us.

(Madonna and Child, Michelangelo, The Church of our Lady, Bruges, Belgium)

We did, however, go to The Church of Our Lady which features one of the only Michelangelo sculptures to ever leave Italy during the sculptor's lifetime (1475 – 1564). This popular sculpture, said to be in the same style as his famous sculpture, Pieta, was later taken from Bruges as a war spoil during the French Revolution (1789–1799) and World War II (1939 –1945).

(Above: Complementary chocolate from the chocolate making demonstration at Chocostory. Photo Courtesy of Meghan Hennick)

Then it was on to learn about the history of chocolate and a chocolate making demonstration at ChocoStory, Bruges' Chocolate Museum. The museum was pretty fascinating and very well done. It also does its best, as their website says, "to promote the health and quality aspects of Belgian chocolate."

Before dinner, we went to a local beer hall called 't Brugs Beertje for some specialty Belgian beers like St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel and Tongerlo Christmas. For dinner, we found this great, inexpensive place called The Hobbit with a relaxed, eclectic atmosphere and the all-you-can-eat ribs . I chose the combination grill dinner that came with a salad, the aforementioned ribs with spicy dipping sauce, Merguez sausage and lamb chops...all washed down with a Bruges Zot, of course.

(Bruges at Night, 2008)

Slightly full and a little light-headed from all the beer and chocolate, we made our way back to Brussels to settle in for the night and get ready to move out to Amsterdam the next day.

Learnin' Castellano

2009-01-07T13:40:00.007-05:00

(Image Source: http://www.talk-spanish.net/face-spanish.gif)

I have had a hard time improving my Spanish (also known as Castellano or Castillian Spanish) here in Spain...I'm not quite where I need to, or want to, be. Classes at private language institutes have helped a little, but I'm now looking for a private tutor. Does anyone in the Eating Up España audience know one? Your silence is deafening, folks ;-)

In my time between taking group classes and finding a tutor, I've found the following great websites to practice Spanish on my own:

http://www.donquijote.org/lessons

http://www.spanishdict.com/

http://www.learnspanish.com/

http://spanish.about.com/

http://www.ave.cervantes.es/ing.htm

http://www.notesfromspain.com/

http://www.wordreference.com/

http://memorizable.com/Spanish

I've also been supplementing my studies with some workbooks I've found at the Spanish Barnes & Noble Bookstore equivalent, La Casa Del Libro:

USO DE LA GRAMATICA ESPAÑOLA de CASTRO, FRANCISCA (elemental, intermedio, advanzado)

APRENDE GRAMATICA Y VOCABULARIO de CASTRO VIUDEZ, FRANCISCA y DIAZ BALLESTEROS, PILAR (this follows the European system of ELE nivels A1, A2, B1, B2, etc.)

Wish me luck!

Happy Holidays from Madrid

2008-12-30T09:52:00.000-05:00

Here's to a 2009 full of promise and happiness!

Holiday lights in the Moncloa neighborhood of Madrid (Photo Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/325136850_dbfe94259e.jpg )

Mussels in Brussels and Other Things to Do in This Underrated City

2008-12-28T10:09:00.021-05:00

(Above: A really cool park called the Place du Petit Sablon. In the upper right hand corner is the back of a statue of two Counts who were executed in the 1500s, in the distance, the church L'Eglise Notre-Dame du Sablon)

Just before Christmas, my friend Meghan and I squeezed in a four day trip to see three cities: Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam. If we had our choice,we would have gone right for Amsterdam, but the cheap flight gods weren't having it; we had to fly into Brussels. So while we were there, we thought we'd try to make the best of it. And we didn't end up having to try very hard.

You see, Brussels is in Belgium, and as such, is home to a few things I deeply appreciate: chocolate, waffles, beer, mussels and frites. I mean, really, when you have those ingredients to toss around during some free time, how can you go wrong?

(Left: Waffle maker and waffles; Middle: my finished plate of mussels with garlic butter, frites are off camera in this shot; Right: Chunks of chocolate set with a spoon in the middle. You dip these into a hot cup of milk from the same vendor. The chocolate melts as you stir it and, Voila! Hot chocolate. Note also that there are small syringes filled with liquor also set into the chocolate wiht the spoon so you can make yours a high-octane hot chocolate, if you so desire)

A few more surprises were that there is an active royal family in Belgium, it is a treasure-trove of comic strip art, many Belgians speak French, Dutch, and a little English (making them essentially trilingual -- impressive!), and there is some really cool architecture hidden among all the dark, industrial buildings you might envision when you think "Brussels".

(Photos of the Grand Place / Grote Markt and surrounding neighborhood)

(L: Belgians like their comic strips so much that they paint whole sides of buildings with some of the images in that style. R: Here is a close-up of Meghan giving Mr. Comic Strip a hand.)

Brussels is widely known as the Capital of the European Union, is also as the home of a little fountain known as the Manneken Pis (turn down volume for this link). You might recognize it.

(Above: The really teeny Manneken Pis statue, and a few renditions in chocolate, bien sur!)

And when I say little fountain, I really mean it -- it is about the size of a toddler, something that I didn't anticipate.

So, onto more food details:

(L: the terrace at Falstaff, R: The Gaufrette, or waffle, bus)

We had lunch at Falstaff, an art deco brasserie in the center of the city (above), where we feasted on chicken waterzooi, shrimp croquettes .

We snacked on waffles purchased fresh from a converted VW bus kitchen.

We had dinner at Chez Leon on Rue de Bouchers (an extremely touristy restaurant row). We were wary, but but loads of guidebooks and websites recommended their moules frites, so we were compelled and were not disappointed. Great mussels + great frites = a happy girls

We sampled the famous chocolates and pralines* from Leonidas

And our beer sampler: Belle Vue geuze, Cuvee du Troll, Hoegaarden Grand Cru, and straight up Hoegaarden (one of my favorites; it's $8 a bottle at most bars, but in Brussels it is 2 Euros!)

My things-to-do-next-time list:

*Go to Musee Horta (an art nouveau museum, we tried to find it with no luck)

*Visit The Belgian Comic Strip Center (I was skeptical about this being a major attraction until I realized that the Belgians created The Smurfs!)

*Go to Place St. Catherine

*Eat beef carbonnade

*Go to all those Jazz bars!

*Praliné is composed of richly flavored chocolate to which caramelized sugar (hot caramel), well-roasted, finely-ground hazelnuts (or almonds) and vanilla have been added. The praliné flavor is typical in many Belgian chocolates or "pralines."(Source: http://www.aalstpatissier.com/glossary#p)

The Feliz Navidad Bus

2008-12-27T17:19:00.014-05:00

My friend Steve was desperately trying to check out the Christmas lights around Madrid this week. He had heard about a bus you could take around the city to see all the holiday decorations that only cost one euro! After a few false starts with other people, I got to be the lucky person to accompany him tonight. As we froze our butts off on top of an open air bus, we saw the following:

I realize that these pictures look as if they were taken from the point of view of a person coming home after a long night filled with Holiday parties (if you know what I mean, *hic*), but it's really just me and my shaking, cold hands and the bumpy ride.

Or I'm a really poor photographer (don't answer that :-).

Supposedly, Madrid has cut down on it's decorations and lights this year because of the economic crisis in the country but, regardless, the unique perspective of seeing Madrid from up high and the company made it a lot of fun. Thanks for the great idea, Steve!

O, Valencia!

2008-12-16T15:40:00.025-05:00

Valencia -- home of oranges (above), horchata, paella and the holy grail -- is Spain's third largest city and is located in the Eastern portion of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. A bunch of us went down to check it out at the beginning of December.

We were greeted by a portion of the city's old wall and gates called the Quart Towers on our way to our hostel in the Barrio del Carmen neighborhood.

(Three different Valencian street signs on the same street)

Valencia was part of an ancient kingdom called the Crown of Aragon, a which also included the city of Barcelona, parts of Greece and Sicily. In this kingdom, the language Catalan was spoken, and still is. Valencia has its own dialect of Catalan called Valenciano. As a casual visitor the extent to which it is spoken among locals wasn't apparent, but I definitely saw the influence in the street signs throughout the old Barrio del Carmen district.

On a map, streets names are shown in Spanish, but when you look up for the street sign, the name on the map often does not match the street sign. In fact, some of the words on these signs are spelled so different from those on the map, that saying the Valenciano name aloud is probably the best way to draw a similarity between the two languages. This didn't make for easy navigation around the city.

Valencia getting it's X-Mas on

Here is an Horchateria -- a place where they serve the lovely tiger-nut based beverage horchata. Having tried it in Madrid and not being that impressed (it's a frothy, slushy milky almost soy-tasting concoction), I passed on this visit. But it made a great backdrop for highlighting common sights in Spain: people out with their dogs and an old couples out for their paseos.

There is an impressive range of architecture in Valencia:

Old School: Church tower of Santa Catalina near Plaza de la Reina

More Old School: Plaza de la Virgen and Valencia Cathedral. This is where the holy grail is supposedly housed. We didn't get a chance to see it, or the famous Goya paintings inside ("The Farewell to Saint Francis of Borja", and "The Condemned"), because there was a religious service going on. On this particular weekend, Spain was celebrating a national holiday (Constitution Day, December 6) and a religious holiday (Day of the Immaculate Conception,December 8).

The New Style: So, fast forward 700 years (give or take) and you can see that Valencian architecture has changed dramatically! These are two of the many modern buildings that dot a portion of an old riverbed that runs through the city. These buildings are part of an educational complex called The City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de laes Arts i de les Ciencies ). The one on the right is the main building of the aquarium where we visited. It is one of the largest, if not THE largest, aquariums in Europe and houses over 500 species of aquatic life and has an amazing 30-meter long tunnel through some of the larger aquariums.

Last, but not least, we ate some authentic paella Valenciana, which is a rice dish featuring rabbit and chicken and (who knew?) snails. There are many versions of paella and others at our table got a verdant green vegetarian paella and a lobster paella. Info for foodies: all our paellas had that awesome soccarat at the bottom of the pan as all good ones should! Our restaurant was on the beach overlooking the Mediterranean. Well, it was night, honestly, so we really couldn't see the Mediterranean, so a few of us went down to the water to verify, run our hands through the impossibly cold water and then quickly ran back to the restaurant for dessert.

The Truth About Jamon

2008-12-16T12:18:00.011-05:00

Vs.

Serrano Ham is good and Iberian Ham even better, but sometimes, an American girl like me needs a little bacon in her life. Lately, I've really been craving bacon. And Madrid restaurants haven't been providing the goods. Sure, many of them have bacon on the menu, but none of them serve up the perfectly rendered and crisp strips of smoky pork belly I require. It is as if no one has ever told the cooks in Spain that bacon is at its best when it's caramelized and crisp (level of crispness based on diner preference, of course), because what passes for bacon here is slightly warmed, completely uncaramelized and flabby. NO BUENO!

Yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands and went to the grocery store to buy some bacon and make it my own damn self. I was in the midst of comparing the tried-and-true Oscar Mayer versus the store brand, Carrefour (some of you may think that this decision is a no-brainer, but I've grown to really like the Carrefour Express grocery stores and was willing to give their bacon a try), but before I could choose, some Madre wandering around the store looking for someone on which to dump her unsolicited advice, decided I needed some help:

Madre: That's not jamon {ham}, you know.

Me: Yes, I know.

Madre: It has a lot of fat. It's not good for you.

Me: Yes, I know.

Madre: You'll pay the price. (Whether she meant the actual price at the register or the price of my health is a bit unclear, but irrelevant to my point.)

Me: Ah! Okay. Thank you.

Now, at this point I just wanted to high-tail it out of the store because the bacon I've been imagining myself eating for weeks was now within grasp. So I left Madre and Carrefour and did just that. Only after I had supped on bacony-laced food items over the remainder of the day did I get to thinking about the incident at the store again. Sure, it bothered me a little that this perfect stranger would approach me and share what was on her mind, but what bothered me even more was the misguided thought behind it:

She thinks jamon is healthy!

I channeled my anger, not at the Madre for being such a busy-body, but to find out if, in fact, ham is healthier than bacon.

I will let the data speak for itself:

1 oz. serving of Serrano Ham / 1.2 oz. serving of Bacon (1-2 slices)

Calories: 80 / 50

Total Fat: 6 g / 4 g

Saturated Fat: 2.5 g / 2 g

Cholesterol: 17 mg / 15 mg

Sodium: 625 mg / 270 mg

Protein: 8 g / 4 g

(Sources: http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-wegmans-serrano-ham-i93062 and http://brands.kraftfoods.com/oscarmayer/main.aspx?s=product&m=product/product_display&Site=1&Product=4470002049> )

So who's paying the price, Grandma!? Excuse me, but I think this girl has some more bacon to fry up.

==================================

P.S. -- Bacon Tasting Analysis: The Carrefour brand of bacon was good flavor-wise and crispness-wise, but a little too thin for me. Next time, I'll go for the Oscar Mayer.

P.S. -- Sorry I haven't posted in a while, people! School projects have dominated lately and I've been swamped with work in preparation for the Christmas Holiday (December 20-January 7, 'round these parts). I hope to make up for my lack of posts in the next few weeks, where I'll tell you all about Valencia, Brussels/Bruges/Amsterdam, Barcelona and a few more hot spots in and around Madrid. Stay tuned!

I miss you, CVS

2008-11-08T07:42:00.015-05:00

With the exception of the over-priced department store monopoly of El Corte Inglés, there is no such thing as one-stop-shopping in Madrid. Here is a sample list of items that are all typically sold in my local CVS in the states, with the current, Madrid purchasing location in parentheses:

Pain Reliever/cough syrup/cold medicine (Farmacia)

Vitamins (Herbolaria)

Stockings/tights/pantyhose/knee-highs (special socks/stockings store or Chino)

Shampoo/conditioner/shower gel (supermarket)

Perfume (perfumaria)

Cosmetics (perfumaria)

Soda/bottled water/snacks (Chino or Alimentacion/Frutos Secos store)

Pet food (if I had a pet here, at a veterinarian or tienda de mascotas)

Sewing kit (Chino)

Headphones (I don't know where I would buy these, actually)

Laundry detergent/bags/starch, etc. (supermarket or a Chino)

Hair Dryer/Flat Iron/Curling Iron (Electronics Superstore in malls on the outskirts of the city)

Mints/Gum/Candy (Chino/Alimentacion/Frutos Secos store)

Thoughtful additions by D. Cliffe:

Newspapers (libreria/newsstand)

Stationery and envelopes (papeleria)

Here's a definition key for some of the stores on the list:

Chino -- Decidedly not a politically correct term, but is used all the time by Spaniards and non-Spaniards alike to describe these inexpensive dollar stores all over the city. They are usually run by Asian people, thus the name. You can get virtually ANYTHING you want in a Chino, though some are better than others, and it can be extremely difficult to find anything in these stores because they are packed floor-to-ceiling with various wares and each one is different than the next. There is zero predictablity about what you may find in a Chino, but they are so cheap it's worth taking a look.

Alimentacion/Frutos Secos store -- Similar to a small, independent convenience store in the states. They sell soda and snacks mainly, and perhaps some basic house staple items.

Farmacia - Pharmacy

Herbolaria - Vitamin and health food store

Perfumaria - place to buy perfume and, perhaps, cosmetics

Tienda de mascotas - pet store

As with many stores in Madrid, some of these various tiendas close in the middle of the day when you need them most, with the exception, perhaps for the Alimentacion/Frutos Secos stores. The subject of hours at these stores, and those of the school where I work come to think of it, is a completely different topic that warrants it's own posting.

I Love Paris in the...

2008-11-05T02:48:00.031-05:00

I had the good fortune to have a long weekend and travel to Paris to visit a friend studying abroad for the semester at the city university. A quick shout out to Megan: You're a great guide...Thanks for showing me around and being my translator! I'll return the favor any time!

Truly, Paris is a gorgeous city -- even the apartment buildings are works of art! Though it was raining virtually all weekend, I still managed to see a lot of new and different things.

Time is a-ticking, so here is a tour of my recent trip to Paris:

View from the Georges Pompidou Centre. It was so cloudy that the Eiffel Tower (center stage in the picture) was obscured by clouds. I would have a hard time choosing between this modern art museum and the Reina Sofia Museum here in Madrid, but I digress...

Title: Sister, 2005 - Artist: Subodh Gupta

One of my favorites from the Pompidou: it was a large table with a movie projected onto it of an Indian food market. Under the table were stacks and stacks of metal plates, bowls and cups. A statement about world hunger? about Indian society? I don't know, but I liked it!

And above, was another favorite: Jean-Michel Basquiat's Slave Auction (1982).

View from Place de la Concorde with an unobscured Eiffel Tower in the background. From here, we strolled up the Champs Elysee to the Arc du Triomphe, but not before we stopped for refreshments at the world-famous tea house, Ladurée.

I felt so refined eating my mango macaroon and Marie Antoinette tea, which is a "Délicieux thés noirs de Chine mêlés d’huiles essentielles au subtil arôme d’agrumes et de fleurs de rose et de jasmin, parsemés de morceaux de fruits séchés et agrémentés de miel"

Also known as:

"Delicious China teas mixed with essential oils of subtle citrus fruit, rose and jasmine flowers flavour, scattered with small pieces of dried fruits and honey".

Intrigued by talk of a nightclub underneath one of the major bridges on the Pont Alexandre III, we ended up at the techno/house music club, Showcase, much later that night. You could look outside the windows of the club onto the River Seine. One techno band, one DJ and one glass of absinthe later, we left. But what a location...and, WOW, do Europeans love techno!

The next day, I went to on a good, old-fashioned trip to ponder my mortality at the Catacombs of Paris, a former quarry site, WW II French resistance hiding place, and current resting place for hundreds of years worth of Parisian bones.

(Picture taken on my last trip in July, 2006)

Then, for the "pièce de résistance" we took a trip over to the Marais, the Jewish quarter of Paris, to one of my favorite places in all the world (so far ;-): L'As du Falafel for, what else, a falafel special sandwich. See that guy in the middle of the photo? He's the one who takes your order and money and gives you a ticket at which you will stare at the whole time in the impossibly long line, wishing for it to magically turn into the falafel sandwich that awaits you: a fresh, thick, soft pita stuffed to the gills with crisp, hot falafel balls, cabbage salad, cucumber, fried eggplant, hummus and hot sauce. Only when you get to the official order window is there relief from your longing. Instead, you are momentarily entranced by the expert staff staff furiously whipping together your sandwich. Ahhh...it is so worth the wait! And 5-Euros is a small price to pay.

My last stop of the trip before heading to the airport was to visit the cathedral Saint Chappelle. It was closed on my last trip, so I made it a point to visit this time. A happy coincidence is that it is right around the corner from the cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, so it is a eye-popping two-fer if you are in the area.

Saint Chappelle was once part of a large royal palace of Louis IX, but is now one of the only buildings left of the original palace. I learned about it way back when in an art history class and it has been on my must-see list ever since. It is said that there is more stained glass than than stone in this small, intense bite of High-Gothic architectural candy.

Here are some odds and ends from the trip:

Not-so-subtle street renaming in the 14th...

and, there were tons of posters for this movie, which I don't remember being released in The States. Movies with stars like Leonardo Di Caprio and Russel Crowe are usually a big deal. Vertict: it must have REALLY sucked. I'm starting to see the ads in Madrid, too. The title in English seems to be something like State Secrets or State Lies. Has anyone seen this cinematic jewel? Didn't think so.

No More Bull For Me, Thanks

2008-10-17T12:51:00.014-04:00

This past Sunday, a small group of us went to the bullfights at Las Ventas in Madrid. In preparation for this event, I was supposed to read Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway's non-fiction book about Spanish bullfighting, or, at the very least, do some sort of research before entering the building so I had a clue about what was going on. In very un-like me fashion, neither of these things happened.

My friend, Steve, has a Spanish friend who knows a thing or two about bullfighting and helped him decipher some of the more obscure facets of the bullfight. He's posted some of those on his blog (scroll halfway down the page).

Like many of those whom I asked before going to the bullfights, I have to say that I'm glad I went, but I won't go again. I'm not a PETA member by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a disturbing thing to see an animal killed right before your eyes with such pomp and bravado. This feeling stands despite the fact that they use bull for food or other goods. And, yes, there were, indeed, six of these animals killed during the bullfight -- that's the norm.

Bullfighting seems to be a dying cultural event in Spain, if the sparse attendance at Las Ventas is any indication. Perhaps further evidence lies in a conversation I had with one of the teachers I work with at school the next day who commented, "a beautiful painting, music or a play is culture. Bullfighting and cruelty is not. I'm glad it {bullfighting} is dying out".

**This blog post dedicated to bulls number 15, 48, 29, 7, 61 and 13**

Holy Toledo

2008-10-13T16:48:00.018-04:00

Although Segovia was the first city (outside of Madrid) I visited in Spain, I have to say that I enjoyed the city of Toledo just a hair more. This dusty city rises from the floor of the sparse Castilla-La Mancha countryside and comes complete with mysterious passageways off of medieval, cobbled streets that are lined with the most unusual selection of stores (mazapan and knight's armor, anyone?). Toledo reminded me a bit of Venice, Italy -- minus the canals, of course.

Toledo is known for two main things: having a 16th century Alcazar that was almost demolished in a seige during the Spanish Civil War and for being a place historically noted for its tolerance among its Christian, Moorish and Jewish populations. You can still see traces of each of these cultural influences in the food and architecture in the city. Two main food items they are noted for are mazapan and partridge (more on those later).

I first became aware of Toledo because it is the sister city of Toledo, Ohio in the United States! Just kidding. Sort of. I had heard of the city because the famous Spanish writer Cervantes wrote about it in "Don Quixote". I was also reminded of Toledo when I went to an exhibit earlier this year at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibit featuring Spanish painters. One of the painters, El Greco, was based in Toledo in the later part of his career, and used the city as the subject of many of his paintings. Here is El Greco's famous painting, "View of Toledo":

The city has filled in a bit more since the above was painted in approximately 1600 a.d.:

It took only about 45- minutes to get to Toledo by bus, and then a pretty long walk to the city gates.

And then we finally spotted the Cathedral.

The Cathedral of Toledo is absolutely cavernous and beautiful. It contains works of art by many famous painters including the aforementioned El Greco, and Rafael, Titian, Goya, Rubens, Ribera and Caravaggio, among many others. It also contains a piece of rock said to be from the place where the Virgin Mary appeared in 667 A.D. to the archbishop of Toledo at the time, Archbishop Ildephonsus.

We couldn't quite figure out how to get around the cathedral as the roads around it are a bit confusing, nor could we take photography inside. I humbly offer this view of the Cathedral's "Door of the Clock".

While wandering the streets, we sampled some of the local specialty, mazapan, a local Toledan sweet featuring almond paste. Next time, though, I will take a picture before I devour them and also wait until I get to the Nuns of San Clemente's store to buy the delicious candies. This is a picture from the plaza in front of their store:

We also visited the Sephardic Museum, which was quite captivating.

I came away from Toledo thinking, "I've got to come back". I didn't, after all, get a chance to try their partridge.

Just an average night in Madrid

2008-10-01T14:35:00.011-04:00

During the first week or so I was in Madrid, I had the pleasure of attending a Flamenco show at Las Carboneras that was tucked off a passageway just off of Calle Mayor. I was captivated by the whole hour-or-so-long show. Three female flamenco dancers and one male took turns dancing solo, feet frantically tapping and slamming into the wooden stage below them. Shouts of ¡vale! (OK), ¡venga! (come on) ¡hola! (hello) ¡ole! (bravo) and ¡levante! (rise up) peppered the rhythm of the music and footfall. Two singers cried out as the dancers clapped in time. Flamenco guitars strummed slowly, then fast, then slow again and all of a sudden...just stopped.

Such an emotional whirlwind for such a passionate, emotional dance performance. It kept me on the edge of my seat and left me breathless.

Brief Flamenco History -- Although some say that the name "Flamenco" comes from the historic name for Belgians and Belgium (Flemish and Flanders, respectively), but its root also means 'gypsy' in Spanish. The latter makes more sense from a historical perspective. This dance form originated in Andalusia, but is known around the world as being from Spain, in general.

Oh! And I also had some great tapas before the show at a lovely little place called Taberna Miranda that is conveniently next door to Las Carboneras. There were pimientos del padron and setas con ajo do die for. I will return!

The New Me!

2008-09-20T06:28:00.002-04:00

The first lesson I am developing for my English classes is a getting-to-know-you worksheet and exercise. I have to complete a worksheet for myself to model what I want them to do. Among other things, there is a section in this worksheet where students can draw whatever they want, like a self-portrait or original design. On my worksheet, I created self-portrait by creating a Yahoo! avatar.

What do you think?

Viva Vosotros!

2008-09-18T15:24:00.009-04:00

I'm glad I have this forum to stand up to all the Spanish teachers I've had in the past and those who are currently teaching in the United States.

First, I was always taught in high school and college the vosotros verbal form (plural you, familar).

Second, I was always taught that vosotros was used mainly in Spain and was rare in other Spanish-speaking countries (among other differences).

Third, I was told that vosotros was only used with close friends and family and, therefore, would probably never have a situation in which I needed to use it.

Fourth, I know from experience that the vosotros form is omitted from Spanish language classes in high-schools and colleges across the U.S.

So, imagine when I arrive in Spain a few years later and hear vosotros all over the place! I hear it in both in casual conversations with my roommates in Madrid and serious meetings with the principal and teacher's union representative at my school. I feel so misinformed.

I do have a slight leg up on those who have never learned this verb form, but I still resent teachers who, from choosing not to teach vosotros, imply that students will never travel to Spain to use their Spanish or cannot grasp cultural differences among Spanish-speaking countries.

Perhaps I should start a petition to bring back vosotros to the U.S. for good?

Long live vosotros!

Que Bonita Segovia!

2008-09-16T13:13:00.019-04:00

I took a short trip to Segovia during my first weekend in Spain with two of my companeros de Simmons College. Intrigued by talk of an aqueduct, a castle that inspired Walt Disney and the city's famous conchinillo (roasted suckling pig), we took a one-hour bus ride north from Madrid's Principe Pio station to take a look (and taste) for ourselves.

After a 10 minute walk down a main street from the bus station, we were greeted with the dramatic sight of the city's Roman aqueduct, built at the end of the 1st century BC.

A little further up the winding, narrow, shop-lined street that also happens to accommodate cars (!) is the Segovia Cathedral. This Gothic cathedral was build in the mid 1500s.

A little further up the street was the stunning Alcazar, built toward the end of the 11th century. Although the name is a relic from the Moors who occupied Spain for almost 500 years, I haven't found definite information that they made it as far north as Segovia. Historians say that the Romans initially built on this site originally. It has been the home of Castillian Kings, and the influence for Cinderella's Castle at Disney World. Both the building and the view from the Alcazar are stunning!

Of course, by the time we walked from the aqueduct, to the cathedral, and to the Alcazar, we were quite hungry. Restaurants featuring menu del dia lined the path; most featuring the dish the city is known for; Conchinillo. It is served different ways in different places (i.e., whole versus pieces) and we expected the most dramatic entrance; snout, tail and all. Instead, at Restaurante La Catedral we got a chunk of the leg that featured fork-tender, full-flavored pork and a wafer-crisp, caramelized skin.

You can see the main sites of Segovia in a day, which makes it a perfect day-trip from Madrid. It's beauty is a true payoff!

No Bull

2008-09-15T15:07:00.003-04:00

So, we have health insurance through a Spanish health care company called MAPFRE. One of the stipulations written into the contract, curiously, is that we cannot do anything with bulls. No running , no petting and I bet if they could, they would say no looking at a bull. I think it is unbelievable that they had such foresight on this detail that they wrote it into the health insurance policy. Yet at the same time, I understand it completely.

Fortunately, they didn't go that far because I'm trying to rally some troops to go to the bullfights in Madrid at Las Ventas in early October.

So, I found the mini-application (at the bottom of this page) where I can simulate running with the bulls if I ever get the urge. Try it...it's fun!

This Place Rocks for Drugs!

2008-09-11T16:24:00.003-04:00

600 mg of ibuprofen, over the counter: 2, 97 Euros (4.15 USD)

Aqui Esta

2008-09-11T15:19:00.010-04:00

I'm finally slowing down for a minute to write my first blog entry from Spain. The first thing I did after landing at my apartment at around 2pm Spanish time was take a quick siesta, por supuesto! Upon waking, I took a quick shower and was up and at 'em for a walk up the main street in my neighborhood to the very edges of the Parque del Buen Retiro and the Paseo del Prado. After almost 22 hours of travel, I was feeling -- and hearing -- my stomach growl. Then, like a shining beacon among the few Burger Kings and McDonalds in this touristy area, I find the only possible place I could go: Museo del Jamon.

In Europe, a bar is somewhere where you mainly get food, and happen to have a drink, rather than the other way around as in the U.S. In many ways, the Museo del Jamon is like any bar in Madrid, except it has what seems like a hundred legs of ham hanging from the ceilings for ambiance. This is no place for vegetarians or sympathizers! While at the original location of this chain of bars on Paseo del Prado, I had a large sandwich -- called a bocadillo mixto -- with delicious manchego cheese and a few slices of Spain's famous Serrano ham. I chased it with a cana of Spanish beer -- Mahou. It all looked sort of like this.

In case my description of the whole spectacle of seeing a hundred legs of ham hanging from a ceiling is lacking, here is a slightly better photo of another bar on Calle Alcala in Madrid:

I said a prayer to the food gods for giving me such a welcome to Madrid!

Adios, y'all!

2008-09-02T11:41:00.005-04:00

In just two hours I will be leaving my house and making my way to Logan International Airport in Boston for my 10-month teaching internship in Madrid, Spain. So far, I've been preparing for this adventure as if it is simply an extended vacation. I think that's why I've remained so calm in this last week. But I'm still a little nervous because upon landing, I'll be going straight to my new apartment I haven't yet seen and meeting roommates I've yet met. Perhaps I'll be too tired to acknowledge my nervousness and it will pass. Or maybe it will hit me two weeks from now. Who knows?

There are a ton of activities planned for us by our faculty advisor based in Madrid that will take the edge off things. Some business-related, such as meeting the head of the organization UCETAM in Madrid who recruits us teachers from the U.S. and getting Metro cards and cell phones. Some are more fun, such as having a picnic at Templo de Debod, taking a day trip to Segovia or Toledo (Toledo would be my choice having just seen the Spanish painters exhibit at the MFA in Boston), and having Chocolate con Churros and seeing a Flamenco show. What a first week...I'll already be crossing things off my to-do list. Talk about hitting the ground running!

¡Olé!

2008-08-26T10:34:00.000-04:00

A few things on my Madrid must-do list (so far) are:

Go to a Futbol (Soccer) game

Go to the Bullfights as Las Ventas

Visit The Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia Museums

Stroll through the Parque del Buen Retiro

Buy trinkets and other fun stuff at El Rastro

Eat Chocolate con Churros at Chocolatería San Ginés

Eat at the world's oldest restaurant and, to Hemingway, "The Best"; Casa Botin (enjoy the music :-)

Watch flamenco dancers and musicians at Casa Patas

Getting my Bearings

2008-08-16T09:28:00.000-04:00

My new Ma drid apartment is close to Metro lines 1 & 6, approximately two miles from The Parque de Buen Retiro, one of the most beautiful parks in Europe, and the famous Prado Museum and three miles from Sol, the very center and busiest part of the city.

I will be working at the Artica School, a bilingual charter school southwest of the city center.

The distance from school to home is about seven miles by car, but I will be taking the Madrid's Metro public transportation, reportedly one of the best in the world.

I will be doing a few test runs of my commute to make sure I'm on time my first day, but it may look something like this:

Walk less than 1/2 mile from my apartment to the Pacifico Metro Station (Lines 1&6), take line 6 for six stops to the west to Plaza Elíptica, then take Line 11 out five stops to the end, La Peseta.

It will probably take me about 45 minutes to an hour; pretty comparable to an average commute in Boston, MA.

Acronym Excess

2008-08-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

I've been going on and on about how I'm going to Spain, learning Spanish and, in the near future, eating and seeing all sorts of fabulous things. But I haven't really explained how this is all possible. Here is all the information:

In May 2008, I finished my M.A.T (Master of Arts in Teaching) graduate program at Simmons College in Boston, MA. In addition to a graduate degree, I also earned my Massachusetts initial licensure for grades 5-8 and 8-12 in English. Before I fully plunged into a job search for my first teacher-of-record job, another graduate program at Simmons caught my eye. For lots of personal and professional reasons, I chose to continue my studies for a C.A.G.S. (Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies) in E.L.L (English Language Learners) through the Simmons in Madrid program. Here is a link for more information:

http://www.simmons.edu/gradstudies/education/madrid/

and some streaming video about the program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n58SkgdtKDA

http ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjj9OVtqEuQ&feature=related

Habla Español bien? Ummm...no.

2008-08-03T22:11:00.000-04:00

I took a total of six Spanish language classes in high-school and college. The only "practice" I have had since then was during a two week trip about 10 years ago through the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and 'muy' basic conversation with Spanish-speaking co-workers in various restaurants. My dusty Spanish skills needed a serious brushing up.

I asked everyone from a high school Spanish teacher to a salesperson at the bookstore what they recommended for someone like myself who wasn't a total novice to Spanish. Here are some great resources I found or reacquainted myself with:

Destinos
I still had books from a video-based Spanish course I took in college. I remembered that the class and the programs were a lot of fun and almost against your will were drawn into the dramatic situations in each of the 52 episodes of the telenovela Destinos. I found the videos online here: http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html%20pop=yes&pid=366#

No Fear Spanish
Very basic guide with explanation and exercises. The size of the book (7 1/2 x 5 in.) is perfect to pop into your purse or backpack and use when you get a bit of spare time. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?r=1&ean=1411401344#TABS

Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day

Another very basic workbook that comes with a CD, flashcards and stickers that you can label everything around the house to build vocabulary.

http://www.bbks.com/languages/spanish.aspx

Start Spanish and Spanish Whiz software by Braser Soft

Drill and kill software with exercises and explanation galore. The programs are quite the sticklers for spelling, too. Download and pay (reasonable cost) online.

http://www.braser.com/

501 Spanish Verbs

My favorite, all-time Spanish reference book it contains common verbs and all their conjugations. I lost it once and promptly bought it again and have held onto this copy for over 10 years. Also contains helpful hints regarding usage.

http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Verbs-Easy-Learn-Alphabetically/dp/0812092821

English Grammar for Students of Spanish

this book was recommended to one of my college Spanish classes by my Argentinian instructor. She said Americans didn't know their own English grammar, so how could they expect to learn Spanish grammar. I still find it useful for comparisons of both languages.

http://www.amazon.com/English-Grammar-Students-Spanish/dp/0934034362/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217956517&sr=1-1

Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur Language Programs

I needed a jump start for speaking Spanish and working on pronounciation and I got it with Pimsleur. Great for aural and oral language practice when you get a half hour (during your commute, perhaps?)

http://www.simonsays.com/content/index.cfm?sid=128

Lorousse Mini Spanish/English Dictionary

I have the mini and pocket size of this dictionary, but I've been very satistfied with the mini -- almost anything I want to look up is in there. Plus, it is so small I can carry it anywhere!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Larousse-Mini-Dictionary-Espanol-Ingles-English-Spanish/Larousse-Editorial/e/9782035421258/?itm=6

University of Texas Spanish Proficiency Exercises

These are online listening and speaking exercises featuring native Spanish speakers from all over the Spanish-speaking world. Very intersting to compare accents, pace and vocabulary. This was recommended strongly by a high-school Spanish teacher.

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/

Lucky Numbers

2008-07-31T11:10:00.000-04:00

You know that old saying that news, good or bad, comes in threes? Well, it was true for me today as I got three pieces of good news: my visa was approved, I got a great financial aid package from school for the upcoming school year and I secured my apartment by taking a deep nervous breath and wiring my new Spanish roommate a bunch of Euros.

I also found out that the apartment is on the very same Metro line as IKEA in Madrid, which, for me, changes the saying to good news comes in fours!

Tapas

2008-07-14T21:03:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, tapas -- those Spanish bar snacks are the stuff of legend. I've always been intrigued with the tapas concept. This is partly due to ingrained professional curiosity (I am, after all, a former professional cook) and my pride as a champion snacker.

As I'll be posted in Spain for the better part of the upcoming school year, it is my duty to learn all that I can about tapas before pushing off to Madrid. I've only had these diminutive bar noshes at a few places scattered arudn the Boston area. Here is a list of the Boston restos that that will serve as my tapas training ground:

Tapeo -- http://www.tapeo.com/home/

Tasca -- http://www.tascarestaurant.com/

Dali -- http://www.dalirestaurant.com/

Toro -- http://toro-restaurant.com/

Estragon -- http://www.dailycandy.com/boston/article/37054/Hamming+It+Up?utm_source=dailycandybos&utm_medium=rss

My favorites dishes so far: queso con membrillo, pimientos de padron, queso, marinated octopus, queso con miel, Albóndigas...did I mention queso?

Dishes I want to like, but probably haven't found a good version of yet (or until I get to Madrid, perhaps?): Tortilla Española, Gambas al ajillo, patatas bravas.

Eat it up, yum!

Congratulations, Spain

2008-07-01T20:52:00.000-04:00

I am really psyched to be living in Spain during the year they won the Euro Cup!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92021521

I began to get into World Cup soccer the last time it was around in 2006, but because of ho-hum interest and coverage here in the U.S., I haven't really kept up with it. Maybe things will change once I land in Madrid.

Congratulations, España!

The Consulate as Purgatory

2008-06-30T12:05:00.000-04:00

Somehow I ended up with two appointments to apply for my visa with the Spanish Consulate on St. James Ave. in Boston. One was arranged by email and the other by phone. A "quick" phone call to sort out which was the real appointment found me on hold for 20 minutes, resulting in a brusque reply, "Many people getting visas. Don't cancel your appointment." Hmmm...I guess its better to have too many appointments than none?

So I was lucky and showed up for the first of my two appointments and they had me on their docket for that day. So far so good! Here is a modified version of my conversation with the Agent at the Spanish Consulate through an inch-thick sheet of plexiglass:

Agent: So you're applying for a visa to Spain.

Me: Yes.

Agent: Hablo Espanol?

Me: No. (in my mind: But I've taken 6 years of Spanish classes between high-school and college, and I'm brushing up now like a maniac!)

Agent: Please sign your application with today's date and location

Me: Okay (signing documents)

Agent: And you have copies

Me: Yes, how many?

Agent: Two. And your supplement?

Me: What's a supplement

Agent: (sigh) You don't have a supplement form?

Me: No

Agent: (irritated, handing me the form) Please go fill this out over there.

Me: um..

Agent: NEXT!

(I fill out the supplement form, which, interestingly enough, contains much of, but less of the information as on my Schengen Visa application and get back in line)

Me: Here's the supplement form, sir.

Agent: do you have more documents?

Me: (handing over my School acceptance and information form) Yes.

Agent: (wanting a photocopy of the above-mentioned form) Copy. Anything else?

Me: (handing over my health information forms) Yes.

Agent: Copy. Anything else?

Me: (handing over my financial information forms) Yes.

Agent: Copy. Anything else?

Me: (handing over my apostille) Yes.

Agent: Copy. Anything else?

Me: No.

Agent: Have a seat. We'll call you.

The office has filled up by this time and no seats are available. I sit on the floor where after an hour and a half of waiting, my butt falls asleep. I didn't know that was even possible! After completing the Soduko and crossword in the day's Metro Newspaper and reading some of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, I wonder if I am really in Hell's waiting room instead of the Consulate and if they are just gearing up to deny me a visa and kick me out of the office. There's no room for me, anyway.

Agent 2: (calls my name, in an irritated manner, numerous times).

Me: (scrambling up awkwardly with my sleepy butt) yes, yes!

Agent 2: Are you applying for a work visa or a student visa?

Me: Student visa.

Agent 2: but your visa application is for 10 months.

Me: Yes, my program is a combination of classes and an internship in a school.

Agent 2: (looking displeased) I will have to see if this is okay.

Me: (just now realizing that there is one/are many people beyond the plexiglass in discrete offices who are scouring everyone's application) okay.

Agent 2: Have a seat.

I wait for approximately 20 more minutes, when I am then recalled to the dividing wall between me and them.

Agent 2: Okay, so you will be reviewed for a 90-day visa. Call back on July 30 to confirm.

Me: So what can I do for the remaining time, as my program is for the year.

Agent 2: You can apply for an extension at the local police station once in Madrid.

Me: (stunned) ummm...okay?

Here's to my month-plus purgatory waiting for my visa. *Salud* as they say in Spain, or if you're feeling sassy and Mexican, "arriba, abajo, al centro, adentro" (up, down, center, inside)!

Apartment Hunting Abroad

2008-06-30T10:29:00.000-04:00

Perhaps more nerve-rattling than the trip to the Spanish Consulate (more on that later), is the ongoing experience of distance apartment hunting online. People have recommmended different websites for finding a place to live in Madrid, but I have focused my energies at <http://www.easypiso.com/>. Hold your giggles about the name. Literally, in English, it means Easy Floor or Easy Apartment, but I think people find the similarity to the English saying "easy-peasy" somewhat silly.

This website is one of many branches of a company based in New York City that serves as a repository for domestic and international roommate listings. You can browse and have limited communication access with other members for free, but it seems to be worthwhile to pay for membership, especially as you evolve from a casual to a serious apartment hunter. A paid membership (available for different lengths of time) gives you get full contact information for all members of the site, the added insurance of knowing that people are serious about finding roommates and the ability to transfer money to your new roommates through the website, thus creating a paper trail.

Through a combination of random conversations and general research, I was prepared to spend 300-500 Euros for an apartment sharing situation in Madrid. I have been really impressed with the listings and have both sent and received emails at a good rate with potential roommates.

Wish me luck!

Roommate Emails

2008-06-30T10:22:00.000-04:00

During my search for home-sweet-home in Madrid, I've been cobbling together emails in Spanish to potential roommates. Most of my emails seem to have been understood on the receiving end, and I must give thanks to Babel Fish in helping me accomplish this http://babelfish.yahoo.com!

I've been using Babel Fish -- the fabulous online translation utility -- as a back up to check my continually improving (I hope) Spanish.

Babel Fish can translate blocks of text or full web pages to and from 12 languages. Beware, though! Although this utility tries to match up the meaning of the original language to the translated language, it is not 100% accurate -- something for which, in the name of corporate integrity, I am glad that Babel Fish is quite up front about in their website FAQ. For instance, internship (English) is puesto de interno (Spanish) which means something like station of internal. My Spanish is probably at the intermediate level and I could be wrong, but this didn't sound right. In doubt, I used the English word -- internship-- and crossed my fingers.

As I said, I haven't had trouble communicating with potential Madrileño roommates so far. However, I'm still working on my Spanish, so, really, how would I be able to tell anyway?

So THAT"S why they named a credit card after it!

2008-06-16T15:39:00.000-04:00

Although I've known since April I was going to teach English in Spain in September, I didn't make an appointment until today to apply for a visa that would enable me to legally stay in Spain for a length of time. Yes, it has taken almost two months to gather all the paperwork from the State of Massachusetts and various towns therein, the bank, my graduate school and the excessive, requisite number of photocopies. Yes, folks, I couldn't believe the amount of legwork or the mound of paperwork, either.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I need to give the Spanish Consulate here in Boston a non-refundable fee of $100. for the pleasure of looking over my application and paperwork. I now realize that the credit card brand name "Visa" is all too appropriate -- a visa does, indeed, give you access to the world, but you'll pay for it!