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Spain – Granada to Jaen (our last days) – Day 10 & 11

By dorothy stainbrook + on May 1, 2012 in Spain - travel & recipes

IMG 2525 1024x768 Spain Granada to Jaen (our last days) Day 10 & 11

One section of outdoor spice shop in Alcaceria

Our last full day in Granada was spent shopping and visiting sites that entailed the daily routines of our daughter’s 3-month study abroad life. After a lunch at Senora’s where we had the best gazpacho I’ve ever had, our daughter went back to her classes and Cris and I went back to the Alcaceria to find spices, scarves and other presents.

We walked the city all day observing, taking pictures and shopping.

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Price of tomatoes; varieties were all red and robust

Some lessons and observations of our final days:

While the cities are clean and the food is great, it seems “everyone” smokes in Spain. Cris was quite amazed when the 20-something girl with rings in her nose started rolling her own Lucky Strikes (something he hadn’t seen since way back in Eastern Oregon). Smoking seemed to be pretty ubiquitous throughout Spain.
3 Euros is way-y too much for a bowl of gazpacho, even if it is great gazpacho. The Senora (and locals) eat this regularly in the hot summer days and good tomatoes are pretty consistently available at a reasonable price. I have reconstructed her gazpacho back at home and will post recipes later.
Passionate art in Churches of Granada

It is a perfectly normal morning occurrence for a truck loaded with individual LP gas tanks to double park on the street, honk, and holler up to residents’ balconies to see if they want gas that day;
Food can be absolutely dripping in olive oil and the Spanish people are proud to tell you that the dish has “no fat”;
You must talk in a sing-song voice when describing a list of items or a series of things;
According to some of the Granada folks, the new President was trying to “fix Spain” after only 3 weeks in power. Part of this fixing now required people to pay one euro for their prescription drugs and requiring them to pay bus fare after 5 stops. They didn’t seem to mind the President, just didn’t think he could fix Spain very quickly or easily.
Human statue in Granada's Alcaceria

Do not ever engage with, or look a gypsy in the eye when they are talking to you or you will be given the hard sell at a minimum, and be man-handled and pick-pocketed at a maximum;
You can double park anywhere in Spain, for as long as your battery can support the emergency flashers;

Parents easily, and without intent, embarrass their kids no matter what country you are in.

IMG 2723 300x225 Spain Granada to Jaen (our last days) Day 10 & 11

Tesla at her "service project" in outskirts of Granada

On our last day in Spain, Tesla took us to see the University where she is studying and then to a lower income area of Granada where she is doing a service project with children in a program similar to the U.S.’s Headstart program. The study abroad program in Granada was such a memorable, and perhaps life-changing, experience for Tesla. If you are a college student, or have a college student, I highly recommend that you try and take advantage of the college’s study abroad program.

Food enjoyed in Jaen on our last day:

We had our last Spanish meal at a lovely restaurant that was owned by a previous matador, Vicente. The walls were covered with signed photos of celebrity matadors and we watched bull-fighting on the big TV screen as we ate (we chose to eat in the tapas (less formal) part of the restaurant so we could watch the bullfighting. The meal was fantastic and bullfighting on TV was about as close as I really wanted to get to that activity. Vicente had stories to tell and seemed really interesting, but we had left our translator back in Granada and were now on our own with smiles and hand-signals. Our meal was:

Appetizer of olives, bread and this wonderful dip made with what we thought were garbanzo beans, but they may have been pigeon peas (?), scallions, tomatoes, garlic, etc.;
Lomo (pork loin) in a sweet and sour sauce with parsnips and vegetables;
Creamed spinach with balsamic vinegar and egg;
Morcilla (Cris)

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Cris and I at Cafe Vicente in Jaen

After saying goodbye to Vicente the old matador, we headed out to the airport in Madrid to make our way back home. Goodby to Spain and the sweet memories. I think we may just have to return someday and visit the western parts of Spain and the cities we didn’t get to. I’m an ardent admirer now, that’s for sure.

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Spain: Holy Week in Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 8

By dorothy stainbrook + on April 25, 2012 in Spain - travel & recipes

IMG 2572 float 21 1024x768 Spain: Holy Week in Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed Day 8

“Christ of the Judgement” float, depicting sentencing of Jesus

It has been Holy Week in Spain since we arrived and today (Sunday, April 8th) marks the end of a series of “procesions” happening daily in the villages and cities throughout Spain. Seville, in the Andalusia province, seems to be the epicenter of the Easter processions, but as we cannot make it there on Sunday, we will watch several processions in Granada where my daughter is living. *note: if you call these processions “parades” many of the Spanish people will not understand you.

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“Christ of the Judgement” float showing acting out of sentencing

While they celebrate the passion of the final events surrounding Jesus Christ’s life (especially the betrayal, the crucifixion, and the resurrection), it is not a light, frivolous type of parade celebration, but rather a respectful, somber remembering. The raucous, lighter celebration in Seville comes later, at the end of April. This is know as the April Fair and is apparently a very merry celebration with plenty of eating and drinking revelry.

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Float of the Virgin Mary

The processions start at the churches and end at the church, and there is usually only one float per procession. The float itself is artistically intricate and is comprised of pieces of artwork that reside in the church itself all year long.

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Men carrying float of Virgin Mary on backs

One of the astounding things to me is the floats are carried on the backs of people (men), all adding to the pain and suffering that surrounds the Easter events. The men bear the floats on their head and necks and carry the floats in 20-minutes shifts. The floats can weigh up to 2 tons, and it is said that some men carry the float until they collapse.

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Penitentes getting ready for Procesion

The hooded penitents, talked about in an earlier post, lead the procession, swinging incense and setting the serious tone. The penitents are often followed by a band with beating drums or wailing singers… introducing the float. The finale on Sunday is typically a float of the Virgin Mary, representing the hope of resurrection.

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Alhambra from the top of the Albaycin

After the processions and lunch back at Senora’s house, we took the cab up to the Albaycin to view the Alhambra. The Alhambra is noted in all the travel books as a sight not to miss, and I’m sure it is spectacular. Based on our own individual interests and time constraints, we chose to view the Alhambra from afar (the top of the Albaycin) and not take a tour of the inside.

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Harpist at the Albaycin

The Albaycin area itself was such a throwback to the 70′s for Cris and I. It seemed to be a utopian mecca of hippies enjoying themselves in the same way they did back in our own college days in Eugene, Oregon.

The first person we came across was the harpist with dreadlocks, and as the smell of marijuana increased, so did the number of dogs and smiling hippies (not to be confused with hipsters). The similarities of the Albaycin to Eugene in the 70′s were remarkable: juggling, marijuana, lots of dogs, long hair (though dreadlocks had not come in at that time), love/peace/community, and the need of hot showers.

The things we noticed that had changed were: the dogs did not have scarves on their necks, there weren’t as many nursing moms and babies, and there were a lot more tatoos. Ah, love that some things remain the same even in the new world of technology.

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Spain – Avila, Toledo & Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 7

By dorothy stainbrook + on April 22, 2012 in Spain - travel & recipes

IMG 2472 Avila closeup 1024x645 Spain Avila, Toledo & Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed Day 7

Walls around Avila

Avila was our starting place this morning, with Toledo in mind as the place we would spend most of the day, then ending up back in Granada at my daughter’s study abroad home (with her “other mom” as she calls her).

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Avila, encircled by medieval walls

Avila, a national landmark, is an ancient city completely encircled by perfectly preserved medieval walls. Unfortunately we missed the treat of eating the Yemas. Yemas are pastries made by the local nuns that are likened to soft-boiled egg yolks that have been cooled and sugared. Sounds like something I could get in to….next time I guess.

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Tesla & Cris with Cervantes (Don Quixote)

Most of our day was spent in Toledo, and it is a day we will never forget! Cris’s shirt has permanent sweat stains, and we’re talking that cold sweat that comes from unmitigated fear. Seeing Spain by car allowed us to set our own schedule and get into places the buses would not go, but in Toledo we got sucked into a maze of very narrow, steep, cobblestone streets where no car should ever go. Add to that the gawkers and tourists in the streets and you have the perfect storm of “what not to do while in Spain”. This is one of those times when we should have read our touring book, where it noted: “…streets barely wide enough for a man and his donkey, let alone an automobile.” It was a nightmare of a maze and it took us forever to get out of it. We were definitely ready for a few bottles of that touted Spanish sherry when we got out!

Food enjoyed in Toledo:

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vino de Jerez finos

We ate at one of the more expensive places listed in the travel books we had with us, Asador Adolfo, and while it was good, it didn’t live up to the words in the book.

The Spanish sherry, vino de Jerez, we had heard so much about was wonderful; we had finos, the dry one;
Tesla had a squid dish that was really good
I provided the laughs by hoarding the dessert and scowling if their forks came near it (and it wasn’t even mine – it came with Cris’s meal…oh well). I’m not sure what it was, but it was great! Some sort of layered tiramisu-type dish.

IMG 2498 squid at Adolfos 300x212 Spain Avila, Toledo & Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed Day 7

Squid at Adolfos in Toledo

Dessert at Adolfos

Lessons Learned:

Spanish women can walk on cobblestone and everywhere else with stiletto heels; tennis shoes with crew socks and capris are a true “tell” that you’re a tourist, probably American.
Spain is very aware of water and energy use. You order water in restaurants if you want it, there are signs in every hotel asking you not to let the water run, lights in many areas are timed or motion-sensitive, very few dryers in residences, you pay 2 cents at the grocery store if you want a plastic bag, and there are many, many smart cars on the road.
If you visit Toledo by car, park your car, get out and walk!!! Even smart cars will have trouble driving in these streets.

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Spain – Santander to Segovia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 6

By dorothy stainbrook + on April 21, 2012 in Spain - travel & recipes

Bay of Biscay to Segovia to Madrid

IMG 2427 1024x768 Spain Santander to Segovia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed Day 6

Jamon Sampling Setup in Santander

We got up early to do some shopping and sightseeing in Santander and Santilliano del Mar along the northern coast (or Bay of Biscay). Shopping was focused around food and wine, and we visited many of the gourmet deli shops. Most of them offered samples of quality olive oils, cheeses, wines and, of course, Jamon. The sampling set-up for the Jamon was efficient, but looked a little barbaric if you are not a meat-eater.

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Shopping in Santander

We bought some wonderful olive oil, a box of membrillo and some balsamic vinegar. We asked everywhere about the ability to bring Jamon Seranno back on the plane, as the customs booklet was not very clear on the requirements. Everyone had a different opinion. We decided to try to bring back only a vacuum-packed chorizo package rather than an expensive type of Jamon. Fortunately we went this route because even the vacuum-packed meat was taken from us in customs. They said a man came through last week with some expensive Jamon, which they confiscated, and then they fined him $300.00 on top of that for not declaring it on his customs sheet. I told the customs officials it was not clear on their website what was allowed and they got rather defensive, pulled out their customs booklet, started to read it…..and then just stopped and moved us on. Hm-m-m.

On to Burgos:

IMG 2459 Morcilla in Burgos 300x224 Spain Santander to Segovia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed Day 6

Morcilla in window of shop

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Gothic Cathedral in Burgos

Food enjoyed in Burgos:

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Garbanzo Bean Soup in Burgos

We stopped for lunch in a small (two-table plus bar) restaurant on the Plaza de Santa Maria by the elaborate Cathedral de Santa Maria in Burgos. The family running this restaurant was having soup from a big cauldron. It was not on the menu but it looked good, with garbanzo beans, greens, Bacalao and eggs. We asked if we could have some of that stew/soup and they were delighted to serve us family style. Tesla didn’t feel well so she wasn’t eating as much as the restaurant family thought she should and they started to worry that she didn’t like the soup. When they found out her stomach hurt, the home remedies started coming out quickly. She was served some great mint tea for her stomach and given a lot of advice. Advice flowed freely at this restaurant…between the family, to the customers, and anyone else that happened to be within earshot (see lessons learned below).

They ended our meal with a french toast type of dessert that was also served family style with them. I think we became part of their American family by liking their food, asking questions, and having a sick child. It was a great meal!

Lessons Learned on this leg of trip:

IMG 2461 on way to Toledo from Avilla 300x219 Spain Santander to Segovia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed Day 6

Finally a "to go" coffee from McDonalds - "Large"

Coffee comes in small, strong units, even when ordered as “Americano” and even when ordered from McDonalds. Cris had a hard time with this and although he loved the Jamon, he was happy to get back to his large mug of weak American coffee.
Most restaurants are family owned and the smaller ones will often treat you like family; we started quite an animated, argument amongst the family members and customers in Burgos when we asked if we could bring Jamon back to the states on the plane. Mom, dad, grandpa, the aunts and all the customers got into a debate on what was the correct answer and what their “friends’ experiences were. They completely forgot about us during the heated debate and the question never did get answered.
Mint tea will be offered if you don’t eat their food enthusiastically. Vinegar and oil will be rubbed around your nose if you are stuffed up.

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Spain – Alicante (along Costa Blanca) to Valencia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 2

By dorothy stainbrook + on April 16, 2012 in Spain - travel & recipes

Compact living in Alicante

Our second day in Spain was spent touring Castell de Santa Barbara in Alicante, walking the Esplanda d’Espanya, sightseeing in Benidorm, and of course eating wonderful food.

What we learned on our second day in Spain:

Spain is an extremely clean country; from the streets to the homes to the gas station bathrooms. White immaculately clean tile is everywhere. The shop-owner of our breakfast place swept the floor 3 times while we were there, and every place we visited was spotless.
Along the Esplanada d'Espanya in Alicante
Even though there is a lot of great fish dishes in Spain, the word is to avoid raw fish, as the Mediterranean is quite polluted. Indeed, we saw no sign of sushi in Spain and all of the fish we had (with the exception of sardines perhaps) was thoroughly cooked or sautéed.
Coffee is good and strong and consumed throughout the day, but never “to-go”, and never in large mugs.
Although they don’t tow you in Benidorm, they do ticket you for 90 Euros if you park in a blue zone without finding the hidden and ever-changing parking machine/monitor!

Spanish dishes enjoyed along the Costa Blanca (White Coast):

Lunch was in Benidorm, where we tried:

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Board for three as lunch in Benidorm

Fried Eggplant with Honey;
one of the “Boards” which was a wild mix of cured meats, sardines on toast and sardine croquettes, tortillas (similar to a potato omelette), cheeses, mashed garlic potatoes, tuna salad, pork meatballs with sauce, and fried vegetables.

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Fried Eggplant with Honey (side of Aiole)

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"Board" of Spanish treats for lunch in Benidorm

Finished the day driving north up the coast to Valencia, where we had some late tapas and went to bed so we could enjoy the morning in Valencia before driving inland.

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Spain – Granada to Jaen (our last days) – Day 10 & 11

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Spain: Holy Week in Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 8

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Spain – Avila, Toledo & Granada: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 7

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Spain – Santander to Segovia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 6

Bay of Biscay to Segovia to Madrid

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Spain – Alicante (along Costa Blanca) to Valencia: Lessons Learned and Food Enjoyed – Day 2

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