Hey eveybody...We just left Barcelona yesterday and arrived in San Sebastian so I thought I´d write a little about the Catalunyan capitol.

We arrived by bus after along trip from Valencia.
Our hotel was wonderful and right in the middle of all the action...or at least close enough to take the bus with no problems.

The first thing we did was head down to the Gothic Quarter ( the old ancient Roman town and cathedral) and wander around on a bit of an orientation tour.
Chef showed us many tapas places. The streets wandered like a crazy maze, all cobblestone with narrow sidewalks. Ocassionally you´d catch a view of the cathedral looming over the rooftops.

Eventually we split up and I went with the girls in our group to a small restaurant (Italian food). I know, I know but sometimes you just crave something other than ham and marinated sardines.

It was actually great. I had some fantastic Gnochi.
We had a blast, talking and laughing at each other but we were all tired from the long trip and went back to the hotel after.

The next day we started with a walking tour of the old Gothic quarter and the Ramblas(a famous walkway lined with outdoor shops and markets). We were led by a guide named Lola. We wandered through alleyways, stopping to duck into old mansions to see how they lived in the past. Lola showed us all those things I would never have understood. At one point we walked into the courtyard and a set of circular steps led up to a stone palace door. Apparently this was were Columbus came, with his retinue of "Indians" and gold plunder, to an audience with the King and Queen of Spain after discovering the new world.

Just down the lane we saw the history museum. Lola bent down, pointing to a window in the cellar, to show us the unearthed Roman city that the town was built over. You could tour the underground ruins and I promised myself I would.

Eventually we joined the milling crowd on the Ramblas. It is a wide cobblestone pedestrain boulevard, with traffic wizzing by on both sides, divided into several areas such as flowers, pets etc. We saw the Boqueria market, where we would cook later on that night. Chef gave us some free time and we packed into a small cafe and ordered bocadillos(sandwiches) and drinks.

After our tour we took the bus out to Parque Guell. The park started as a housing project back around the turn of the century. Señor Guell was a wealthy patron of the famous achitect Antoní Gaudí. They had made grand plans for a beautiful community, with a central park and plaza, and an open air market. Originally they shot for 60 homes(Gaudí did not want to design the homes, just the public areas) but they only ended up with three. So they abandoned the project. Later it was turned into a public park.



Gaudí´s architecture is based on his love for nature. He never had any straight lines. His buildings, and the furniture and wrought iron that he also designed, have flowing and dramatic lines. It was a little much for the people of his time..but it sure is beautiful now.

After the park we went to see Gaudí´s final work, the incredible Sagrada Familia cathedral. It was something I had looked foward to for a long time. By the time we arrived the church was packed with tourists. Our tour guide had told us that Gaudí had died while construction had only been underway for a short while. He was hit by a tram-apparently he looked so grubby from working that people thought he was a bum- nobody recognized him as the famous architect and he died in a paupers hospital. The completion depended on donated funds (the pope authorized the building but would not fund it) so construction continued only when enough money could be found. Supposedly next year they would be finished with the roof.

We entered the Cathedral through the Nativity facade (the only one Gaudí actually did himself). It is pretty incredible. The interior resembles huge 5 or 6 story high palm trees. When it is finished light will filter through the leaves on the ceiling. There is beautiful stained glass. Describing it seems impossible. It was everything I expected. The only down side was that a huge portion of the inside was covered in scaffolding, and the noise from the construction was bad. Think if I come back in 20 years it will be finished?

Then we took a brief tour up to the top of Mont Juic...Where the olympic stadium is. The views were breathtaking and we wandered around, eating lemon ices and taking pictures.

After Gaudí we had free time. Then we all gathered at La Boquería Market. We met Chef Juan, who runs a small cooking school at the top of the market. He walked us around, showing us all the unusual local ingredients, and talking in excited Spanish.
We stowed our stuff upstairs in the kitchen/theatre and Chef Encabo split us into 3 person teams, giving us each 30 Euros to shop in the market.

We ran around like we were on a quiz show. My meager Spanish skills were put to the test in a very noisy and challenging place. Have to say I did pretty well!

Everyone piled back into the small kitchen and Chef Juan demonstrated a few classic dishes. After that we all got to use the local ingredients to make our own dinner.
What chaos...

It turned out wonderful. We had to wear long pants and closed toed shoes. I ruined my khakis earlier in the day(sat down on a big thing of pidgeon stuff) so I had to wear my nice pants and dress shoes. Man did my feet hurt by the time we started cooking. But once we started I almost forgot my feet. We had a blast.

Our team made a salad with Frisee, honey glazed pears, sliced baguette with melted local sheeps milk cheese and toasted walnuts. Everyones meal turned out fantastic.


It was really late but we all left happy and satisfied. Its always nice to get your hands into things.

PS. While in Barcelona we also went to the Chocolate Museum and visited Oriol Balaguer a well known pastry chef who specializes in unusual flavors(like olive oil, pop rocks and corn nuts) in his truffles and beautiful presentation. Here are some pics.

PPS. I have a confession to make..We had one full day off in Barcelona...I went to Plaza Catalunya and there I saw a Hard Rock Cafe...Boy was that Cheeseburger and iced tea good!

Hey everybody!

We took the AVE (ah-vay) high speed train down to Seville.

We met our new guide,Ruth and walked through the town. It was much like I remembered it from my family's trip in 1999.
Mom, I know I saw some of the same places.
.
The first day(June 20) we went to a small tapas cellar called Bodegas Morales.
The menus were written in chalk on huge cisterns and we sat around a long wooden table, eating tapas like Boquerones en vinagre (marinated sardines) and drinking wine
.

After that we went to tour the Alcazar, a 10th century palace built by the Moors. We toured through the long, cool halls marveling at the carved stone and the mix of Moorish Muslim symbols alongside Catholic christian symbols. It was a welcome break from the unrelenting sun outside.

June 21st we went to Sherry Bodegas!

Sherry is a type of fortified Spanish wine from the south in the province of Andalucia. It is grown in chalky white soil called albariza.
The trips were really planned nicely. Our first stop was a rather large, well-known sherry house called Gonzalez-Byass(bee-azz). They make "Tio Pepe" Fino sherry. It is a world famous dry white wine with about 13 percent alcohol. The entrance is pretty impressive: flags waving, flowers, fountains and a large and obvious ticket booth.

We rode a small "Disney-esque"train, which Jason would have loved, around from building to building. Our guide was very nice and we walked in awe through cavernous buildings where Sherry sat aging in dark and mysterious oak barrels. There is a reason that they call them Sherry Cathedrals. Very impressive.

We had a tasting of 4 different styles of Sherry. As you can see Chef Encabo enjoyed it. It was nice and I finally purchased a bottle of 100 year old Pedro Ximenez Sherry(sweet and dark and unbelievably smooth). I am now lugging it around Spain until I can get some time to mail it back to the US.

We then proceeded to a much smaller, more personal experience at Lustau (loost-ow). They only do tours by appointment. Our guide was the hilarious Almudena. She showed through all the buildings, explaining how they use different varieties of grapes and the differences in the quality of the products and cracking jokes. Apparently she can´t believe that she has a job where she gets paid to drink. Wow!

At one point we were in a dark, cool bodega (meaning cellar) staring up at wine barrels stacked to the ceiling. Almudena walked over to two large doors and swung them open. A shock-wave of tart vinegar smacked us in the face. It smelled fantastic. Apparently they make Sherry vinegar too.

We were led into a large tasting room with several round barrels up-ended in the center. She walked us through a delicious sherry tasting and then they brought on
the Tapas! We had these melt-in-your-mouth croquetas (kro-kay-tahs)- little fritters with ham and cheese in them. We also had marinated shark. We ate and chatted-ate and laughed-ate and drank.

At the end as we were leaving, the head of the entire bodega, who makes all the decisions on when to harvest the grapes and how to mix the wines, came in. We got to ask questions.

When we got back to our hotel in Sevilla we had 2 hours before we had to be back down in the lobby. I took a shower and collapsed for an hour.

At 8pm we Chef Encabo led us through the twisting backstreets, dodging car and vespas like a professional. (I don´t know how many times I had to jump up onto the narrow sidewalks to avoid a speeding motor scooter-they put posts all along the sidewalks because people used to just park on the sidewalks).


We went to a flamenco dance house called Casa de La Memoria. The show hadn´t started yet so we bought our tickets and waited in line. I asked the clerk where the "aseos" or bathrooms were and he directed me through the doors. I entered a beautiful courtyard, with a sky-light ceiling, and one wall completely covered with foilage. The ceiling was three floors up.
It was quiet and in the center, surrounded by folding chairs in several rows, was a small wooden stage. Birds flew in and out. Golden lanterns and a bowl of floating flowers lay on the floor.
I almost forgot about the bathroom....almost.


The show itself was everything that Flamenco should be. Intimate. Full of lament.
We had a singer with curly dark hair around his shoulders and big expressive eyes, a golden-haired guitar player whose fingers just flew across the strings, and a woman who danced dramatically. She was really something. Her name was La Chochi.

After the performance everyone split up to go out for tapas. I went with Chef and Jean Morris to a place in a small floodlit plaza, about a block from the cathedral. We sat for several hours, chatting while Chef picked out our wine and the tapas flowed. I tried Cod Cheeks in salsa verde but didn´t like the texture. We did have some incredible little lamb chops, grilled. Okay so our eyes were a little bigger than our stomachs. Ahhh!

It is interesting to watch people a they stroll by. Mind you this was around 11pm to 1 am. We saw all sorts of Spaniards: ancient couples holding hands, 4 year olds kicking soccor balls with their father up the alley, and a huge troupe of formally dressed teens who were coming from their high school graduation on their way to dance at a disco(Chef talked to them). This really is the best place for people watching.

Leslie

Hola!

Can you believe it has taken me this long to update my blog...

We began our third day in Madrid quite early. About 7 am people began to roll in to the hotel restaurant for breakfast with sleepy eyes (many had been out roaming Madrid until late), and helped themselves to the scrambled eggs, ham, sausages, fresh fruit and cereals. I have been suprised that the "continental" breakfast included in the price of our rooms has been so good.

We met our guide Carmen, loaded onto the bus and lumbered through the early morning traffic.
Our first destination was the Chamartin Market. It is a relatively new, modern building compared to some of the other traditional markets in town. Apparently the older markets were a little run down or closed. Chamartin turned out to be a wonderful choice.

The market was brightly lit and as soon as we walked into the main floor we were met by Maria Llamas and her mother, a well known food personality in Madrid Clara Maria (Chef Encabo says she is the Julia Child of Spain). They were two of the nicest, warmest people we have met so far. They led us from stall to stall, introducing the owners and translating for those of us who couldn´t hear. Despite being early the market was busy with shoppers and it was sometimes hard to hear.


In the market we met Ernesto, who owns a butcher shop where they work with ranchers to keep rare Spanish breeds of beef cattle, lamb, pork and chickens alive. They had an amazing selection of some of the most delicious naturally raised meats available. The passion with which Ernesto spoke was obvious. They take food seriously here. And yes we did get to try some samples!

We met one of the top fishmongers in Spain, who supplies all the top restaurants in the city,. He came out and answered our questions. Merluza (hake fish) is the most popular, percebes (barnacles) are a prized delicacy and there was a huge variety of fresh fish. Apparently all the fish from the boats on the coast, after the coastal cities take their share, comes directly to the markets in Madrid first. Only then is it distributed to other cities.


We tasted some of the best produce I have ever had (Chef Encabo bought us samples). Heirloom tomatoes that were out of this world and juicy cerezas (cherries). We looked at olive oil specialty stands and the stall owners and workers joked with us. I have been trying to practice my fledgling Spainish language skills on every unsuspecting Spaniard I can find.

After the market we took a bus to the world famous Prado Museum. Photos are not allowed inside so I don´t have anything to show you until I get home.

We were so lucky to have our guide Carmen with us though. When we got inside Chef offered us the opportunity to go look around on our own or to stay with Carmen and hit the highlights. I am so glad I stayed because Carmen has a doctoral degree in Art History. It was an unbelievable visit. I learned things about the symbolism in Velazquez and Rubens that I could have never gotten out of a guidebook.

By the time we left we were all starving. We had lunch at a well known Galacian restaurant called Casa Gallega. The food was magnificent. We had these little fried green peppers called "Pimientos Padron" which were addictive to say the least.
The wine, a light Palomino varietal, made all the Galacian seafood we had sing. The Pulpo (octopus cooked until it was creamy in olive oil and sprinkled with pimenton) was probably my favorite. Believe me when I say we do not go hungry on this trip.

Lucky for us we had a few hours to recover and take a siesta because Clara Maria and her daughter had invited the entire crew out to her house for drinks and tapas later. This happens often. It was not part of the itinerary but once we met them they couldn´t help but love us.

The house was one of the most amazing places I have been. After a harrowing ride stuffed like sardines into Carmens little car, through the rush hours traffic we arrived at a beautiful country house with an organic garden and green house and rolling lawn. Small groupings of comfortable chairs decorated the lawn and several patios. Eventually we all ended up inside eating tapas and drinking wine. We had some delectable melted cheese and lots more ham. It was very easy to relax at their house. The weather, which has been beautifully mild the whole time, made the evening a pleasure. We chatted with everyone and threw the large pinecones which littered the yard to the delight of the family dog Lola. At the end of the evening I told Maria of my plans to come back to Madrid and she dug out her card and told me to call as soon as I got in. That is the way everybody has been.

Hasta luego queridos...

Leslie

Hey everybody!

Here´s a little short entry to tell you about day 2 when we went to Toledo.

We took off early from our hotel in Madrid in a little,but airconditioned, bus to the walled town of Toledo. It´s about 1 1/2 hours from Madrid to the south.

After a long ride we rounded a corner and the quintessential Spanish city, with huge historic Roman gates and narrow alleyways, spread out before us. What a photo opportunity! So we stopped and snapped away in awe of the incredible view. Hopefully I will be able to send pictures of that view soon.

We walked around the city for about an hour and a half. The city sits on a hill, winding itself around a river in an incredible valley. It is definitely the city to have good comfortable shoes for. The narrow, cobblestone streets wind uphill like a maddening but beautiful maze.

There are lots of shops for jewelry and knives(Toledo steel is known all over the world). We headed to the magnificent cathedral. It is in my opinion the most beautiful in Europe. And as you might imagine I am the worst kind of Cathedral/medieval/gothic fanatic.

Behind the main altar(guilded in gold) there is a round "window to the heavens". Light floods down from a beautiful oval skylight, decorated in marble saints and angels. It really transports you.

After we finished at the cathedral and did a little shopping, we headed to a local cooking school, called Escuela de La Cocina y El Vino, where we saw a marzipan demo. The demo was interesting, and we were able to participate. We made homemade marzipan (basically a soft pliable almond paste with sugar) and then molded it into whatever animal shapes we could think of. I made a sea monster but he fell apart after baking(okay so he started out as a moose but I couldn't get the legs to work so he became a seamonster)After the demo we had a wonderful lunch prepared by the school. A famous local Chef, Adolfo(I never did catch his last name) came to the lunch and spoke to us about the Spanish diet and local food products.

Then, because he liked us so much, he invited us up to his bodega in the hills surrounding Toledo. This was not on our original itinerary. I was so glad we went once I saw the place.

He makes his own wine for his restaurant in the family bodega (meaning a cellar where wine is aged). His son, Javier(not Mesa, sorry mom), runs the wine production. They showed us around and Chef Adolfo pulled all sorts of unusual plants and seeds out of his garden for us to taste. The large stalk with a snow ball on top in the picture is actually a type of onion blossom. Chef Adolfo sprinkles the little buds on his salads. There is also a picture of him talking about how to tell the difference between male and female squash blossoms (the female is the only one that produces a zucchini-sorry guys).







It was an incredible estate and I couldn't help thinking that Mom and Dad would have been in heaven.

got to go...talk to ya´ll soon.

CIA instructor Jean Morris, Guide Carmen, Chef Encabo

Hola para todas!

I finally found an internet cafe I could use. It has been a busy couple of days so this is my first chance to try out my travel blog.

Our flight from JFK airport in New York boarded on Saturday at around 5:30 pm.
We waited on the runway, in a very crowded hot plane, until 8:15pm. It took us that long to take off! Needless to say it was a long trip.

I tried to sleep but could not get comfortable, with my stiff neck and back muscles, so I read.
My seatmate was an exchange student from France, named Benji, who had been living in North Dakota for the last 10 months. What a change for him.

We arrived in Madrid the next morning(they are 6 hours ahead of the US east coast). It was cool and a little rainy, which is pretty unusual for Spain in June. We went through customs with no problems and boarded a nice, air conditioned bus. We met Carmen who is a guide for the "cross cultural center" here in Spain. They are responsible for putting together the first part of our trip, arranging the itinerary, etc. We went on a tour of Madrid while we waited for our hotel rooms to be ready.

Our hotel in Madrid is the Hotel Regina. It is located on a large central boulevard called Calle de Alcala. Its very modern and clean. Although our room is a little smaller than one would expect in the states it is comfortable and has a large bathroom with marble floors, a strong hot shower and a bidet! No I haven´t tried to use it yet but I will.

After a long siesta we all gathered in the lobby and took to the streets of Madrid. With Carmen and Chef Encabo leading the way through cobblestone alleyways we went to the Plaza Mayor.
We ate tapas at a small, standup tapas place, called Torre del Oro Bar Analu, lined with grizzly,hairraising photos of bull fights.
The food was fantastic. I had a glass of Fino sherry and we nibbled on a few free tapas. They had whole legs of Jamon Iberico hanging from the wall too. I had an opportunity to practice my limited Spanish skills with the men working the counter and Chef & Carmen explained everything. Fantastic!

Then we walked past the Plaza, filled with people out for a paseo and street performers, down some steep steps, and arrived at our welcome to Spain dinner at the oldest restaurant in Europe, called Sobrino El Botin. We all sat down for a delicious dinner. This restaurant specializes in Roasted meats like suckling pig and lamb. We had bottle after bottle of a tasty Tempranillo wine and an incredible lamb dish that was roasted in a wood burning oven.
It was easily one of the juciest, most succulent things I have ever eaten. Unbelievable!

We had been told, by our guide and many locals, that an important football(read soccor for all you Americans) game was taking place that night. All of Madrid was in the local bars and running the streets because the local team "Real Madrid"(pronounced Ray-al Ma- dreed) was playing there arch rivals Mallorca for the Spanish national championship. We decided to go out and see what all the fuss was about.

I have never seen anything like the streets of Madrid that night. Even during our superbowl we don´t get this passionate. Bars were filled with chanting people. Every time Madrid scored the singing and dancing would start. And it was loud.

"Campeones, campeones, ole ole ole!"

People would pound the bars and tables in rythm and shout Madrid. Cars on the street would honk in the same rythm. Hopefully I can get ya´ll some video. When Madrid finally won, 2 to 1, everyone poured out into the streets and headed for a public fountain, not far from our hotel, where the celebration began. We went down and walked around the fringes of the huge crowd. Random Spaniards, dressed in the flag of Real Madrid would hug us and chant with us. It was incredible.

I will try to find a way to get my pictures on this page. I can´t seem to do it from this internet cafe. I hope everyone is well in the States.

Hey everybody,

Just writing a few catch up entries.

In case you didn´t know I got into a car accident on Interstate 95 this past Friday.

I am fine, aside from a sore neck and some impressive bruises, but my poor little Volkswagen Beetle is competely busted up all along the drivers side. My drivers side rear tire blew out and the car spun several times and slammed into the guard rail. Pretty scary.

My poor father had to come up to the Maryland border, pick me and my luggage up and deliver us to New York so that I could make the bus for the Europe vacation the next day.

Somehow just making it out of such dangerous situation seems to make my vacation all the more meaningful. I really have a lot of blessings in my life, not the least of which are my family who pulled me together, calmed me down, and are taking care of both my babies (Magic Kitty and my car "Maria").

Talk to ya´ll soon.

Leslie

Hey guys!

Countdown is down to 2 days. I leave for Europe this Saturday at 1 pm.

It will be a long flight, but hopefully I am prepared.
I have a brand new passport (with an RFID chip implanted in it!)
and international drivers license, and a few Euros to start me out.

My cat and Cammy (my grandmothers cat who is living at my parents house) have struck an uneasy truce. Magic has the upstairs and Cammy the main living area.

When you get up on this blog page you can bookmark the address and you will be able to access it at any time. Otherwise I will send out e-mails when I post something new.

Uncle Phil has been giving me technical advice so hopefully my photos will load easily...but please be patient with me.

Talk to ya'll soon...Pray for me.

Love,
Leslie

So here we go...

This is my first blog. Kind of a test blog of sorts.

I am wrapping up my preparations for the trip. I have already begun feeling guilty
for leaving the cat for so long (ie. "oh my poor little kitty" , "I hope my parents survive" etc).

I always like to get a head start on my worrying.

Along those lines I took out my passport the other day and noticed an air bubble about the size
of a dime over my picture and discovered areas where the lamination had begun to peel.

I had the passport processor at the DMV look at it and he advised me to get a new one.

"What?!" I screamed calmly. "I only have two more weeks!"

I had to make an appointment at a regional passport office, in Norwalk , CT no less, and
pay lots of fees to get it in time.

As I write I am nervously awaiting the new passports arrival. It's supposed to arrive today.

Other than that all is going well.

Please let me know if you received this. I plan on updating this blog almost daily during the trip.