I think we must have blanked out there for a bit. January and February feel like a blur. New Years, Carnival, and many other adventures…some which I would like to leave in the haze of the past.
Also as some of you have already noticed, part of our website is broken sigh and it looks like it will be down for awhile. Jason has to re-program a lot of the site Luckily it didn’t affect the blog…
A Catalan wish for our family and friends -
“menja bé, caga fort i no tinguis por a la mort!”
(Eat well, poop strong and don’t be afraid of death!)
So, yup, you guessed right – the Catalonian’s have a different outlook on Christmas. Lots of people throughout the world celebrate xmas with manger scenes, the three wise men show up, there’s baby Jesus (the reason for the season!), there’s usually a chicken so that the viewer knows that the baby jesus can eat eggs on the 26th.
But the Catalans have added an extra character – the “Caganer”. This adorable little scamp is often tucked away in some corner of the manger where he is not easily noticed. He’s hiding for a good reason. “Caganer” translates from Catalan to English as “pooper”, and that is exactly what our lil’ buddy is doing.
There’s an amazing variety of Caganers for sale at our local xmas market by the Catedral de Barcelona. Most of them are Barca footballers doing their fertilization thing, but you can also get George Bush, the angel Galadrial, even Santa Claus. You truly have not lived until you’ve seen a small plastic figurine of a squatting santa with his breeches down around his knees and a strained look on his tiny plastic face…
Come and listen to a story
’bout the Snow Rocket
A fast mountaineer,
his skiing, they would mock it.
And then one day
he was racing down the slope,
Towards another skier
who’s safety had no hope.
Nacho that is, ex-ski instructor, ex-snow patrol.
Well the first thing you know,
ol Jason’s in a bind,
Skifolk said “Heeey cuidate!
You’ll hit him from behind!”
But twas too late,
Snow Rocket couldn’t stop,
And when the snow settled,
Nacho began to hop.
On one leg that is, jostled joint, knee high.
“Aw it’s fine, but you owe me a beer,
The day is almost over or so I hear.”
Skifolk said “Frozen slopes, time to flee.”
So they loaded up the car and headed back to sea.
Barcelona, that is. Gaudi, Ramblas, Pickpockets.
Well now’s time to say goodbye
to Jason and all his friends.
And they thank Andorra
fer kindly lettin’ ‘em in.
You’re all invited back again to this locality,
To have a heapin’ helpin’ of their hospitality.
Meetup Hiking Group that is. Ski awhile, don’t forget your bathing suit.
Y’all need it for the hot tub!
Sometimes you don’t know what you are looking at or standing on until after the fact. I knew that I had signed up to go on a hike through La Gorrotxa, but knew little about the this area of Catalunya. It was bound to be a beautiful walk through the woods, but doing it with 31 people trundling through the wilderness is a good way to not see any wildlife or have any quiet time. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Read the rest of this entry »
Went for a hike two weekends ago with the inestimable Anchel y Nacho of our local hiking meetup group. The hike was absolutely amazing, although hard and very cold, brrr! We went for a leisurely eight hour stroll up Cap de la Gallina Pelada. Amazing!
So here are a bunch of fotos from the hike!
Ah, this town has seen it all! Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, Berlin has seen destruction and disgrace but came out the other side with style and grace.
The idea for the trip came from Monica, who wanted to do an architectural tour and asked if Jason and I would like to join. I got so excited that I immediately started doing research on places to go, bars to check out, and interesting monuments to see. I am really glad Monica invited us!
The best overall day has to be the New Berlin Tours of East Berlin. It is a free tour that starts at the Brandenburg Gate, walking from site to site for 4 hours. Now had it not been for our incredible guide, Glynn, it could have been the most tedious four hours of my life. But instead, we had lucked out and got an energetic, hilarious, good story teller. The day was mixed with serious information and monuments and funny anecdotes.
Going to have tea with the queen? No. Better. We travelled to London to see our friend Dickfer Dave who was in town for a conference from AZ. It was really nice to see a familiar face and to be in the “English” speaking world.
Our first realization that we have started to shed our “American” identities was our reactions to the portion sizes. Even a cup of coffee was three times the size we receive in Barcelona. Only three months and already we have become accustomed to smaller dining! The next was our inability to stop speaking Spanish. We are in a town where we can speak our native tongue and there we were, asking for a “cafe con leche” and saying “gracias“. Very strange. Apart from those small changes, we had a wonderful time.
Read the rest of this entry »
Jason and I have been busy sampling the wonderful gastronomy that BCN has to offer. The map is an ongoing collection of places we have been to or want to try. Bon Profit!
What could be more intriguing than a restaurant claiming to serve courses made up of nothing but deserts. Woo hoo, chocolates, ice cream, pastries oh my, oh no. We should have done a little more research before booking a reservation for ourselves and 6 friends for Espai Sucre…
At ESPAISUCRE, we fight for the right of the restaurant dessert to be seen as an element with its own personality and codes, where the result, the sum of technique and experience, quietly blurs the limits that separate the concepts of sweet and savoury.
Nothing could have prepared us for the molecular gastronomy that awaited us.
The menu (these are just a few of the courses)
