Road trip!

Spain is so great about being sure to give people time off from work. If a saint died or was born on a certain day, you can be pretty sure you'll get the day off. If there's a holiday on a Thursday, that Friday will be off as well because how could you possibly go back to work for just 1 day? Also, the month of August, no one really works. It's great.

One of these fabulous moments of consecutive days off usually falls at the beginning of December. We are lucky in Navarra because we get an extra day off, I'm not sure why, but we do. So, in 2013, we had a 4-5 day weekend, followed by a 3 day weekend. Inaki and I decided to go south. We rented a Fiat 500, threw some clothes in the back and zipped from town to town for a few days.

We started off in Salamanca for an evening before getting into Espana profunda (deep Spain, meaning hick-weirdness all about). We checked into our hotel and strolled through town for the evening. The main plaza in Salamanca is known as the best in Spain. It was built for beauty and functionality. Here are a couple of shots.

Charming, charming, charming! That night for dinner, we had the intention of going to a restaurant we'd read about, but after getting a couple beers with free tapas, we were full. The first place we went was a bit off the main drag and called "My Father's Bar", or something like that. We walked in and the space was maybe as big as our living room. The guy behind the bar grabbed us a couple bottles of beer and asked if we wanted a snack to go with it. We said sure and he fired up this tiny grill that he had and soon some lovely smells were floating through the air. Here's what we got for free with our beers.

A fried egg, crispy fried pancetta (which is just thick bacon here), a couple of slices of morcilla (blood sausage) and 2 huge hunks of bread. This was our first and probably best tapa of the whole trip. The morcilla, as you get further south, has less rice in it and starts to get spicier. This one tasted like a black bean paste, so yummy and nice to get some spice!

We cruised to a couple more places closer into town and had great treatment at the second place, but the third was kind of famous and way over priced. It's called "Tapa 2.0" I think and it's famous for eggs. The food was ok, but expensive and a little cold actually. We had a potato puree with an egg on top that we could have made at home for a lot less. Anyway, not recommended. We rolled around Salamanca for the rest of the evening, checking out the university, which is one of the oldest in the world and the cathedral.

Can you find the frog in the picture above?

The next morning we got up refreshed and ready to drive. We went through some Spanish countryside and I saw my first LIVE pata negra. This is the region of Spain where the best jamon comes from and the little piggies are so cute! Fed with acorns usually, the pigs have a supple looking grey fuzzy coat. I wanted to hug them and bite them at the same time! Is that weird?

Our first stop of the afternoon was the Pena de Francia, the highest point in the area, where we could look down on the places we were going to visit. The Camino Santiago travels over it and we saw some weary and cold pilgrims on the way. Here's the view from the top.

Yeah, I think the decision to drive up, rather than hike, was a good one. Next, we drove down into a small town called La Alberca. It was an absolutely adorable, fariytale-type town. We walked around and looked in a few shops and peeked at the cured meats and cheeses in the butchers. I could literally see Belle from Beauty and the Beast frolicking around, singing a song and holding a bread basket. We took a few pictures and then went into a bar on the main square.

We had their homemade wine, a croquette and a deep fried pig cheek (no doubt from a pig they raised and slaughtered themselves). This was the cheapest of the weekend, 2 euros total. As they say in Spain, sort of, in order to be hungry or itchy all you have to do is start eating or scratching. So, we went to a restaurant over-looking the square for lunch.

I had white bean stew, lamb with fries and homemade cuajada. So good! From there we drove on to Hervas, which is a village that is said to have an amazing Jewish Quarter with round houses. Inaki swore he went there with Karen and Nick once. However, we didn't find any round houses. Some of them curved a little, but that was it. The town was adorable though, and we didn't spend much time there, so I'd love to go back!

It was getting dark and our tiny car barely fit down the streets in the old town, so we figured we better get to our final destination before the moon was out. Next stop, Candelario and the Posada. We got there easily enough and wound through the streets to get to the hotel. It was an old house that had been converted into a B and B. Oiled dark wood beams, huge staircase, clean white linens, the works! We went out to get a bite and then hit the hay. As soon as we walked into the local bar, heads turned. I don't think they get a lot of tourists. Our last tapa of the night was a potato dish they make that is more or less taters cooked down to mash using the juices and oils from chorizo. Mmmmm.

The next morning, we woke up and groggily trudged downstairs and into the dining room. Our gracious host greeted us with 2 crystal glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice. He said to us, "so, did we come to breakfast hungry? I'm thinking you need more of a brunch than a breakfast right?" We nodded and, as he wrung his hands together, he described what he would bring us: 2 huge mugs of cafe con leche, a plate of cured meat (done on site and by his family!) which consisted of chorizo, head cheese and ham, fried eggs, 2 hunks of pan de pueblo and a chunk of bizcocho (a dense orange cake). We had left the camera in the room, unfortunately, but the food was amazing!

Full and ready to move a bit, we checked out (sadly) and went to hike the sierra of Bejar. Here are a few shots of Candelario and our hike.

After this, the trip got weird. We were starving after the 3 hour hike and decided to check out another region for lunch, on the way to our next stop, Segovia. Avila sounded good and we pulled off the highway into a small town, who's name I won't mention. Yet another storybook atmosphere - cathedral right off of a charming square, tiny, winding streets, a fountain -but we couldn't really find any people. It was a Monday afternoon, at around 3, so a little late for lunch, but the square was empty. We finally bumped into a couple ladies walking who told us there was a hotel down the way that should be open. We got there and a sign in the window said that they were across the street at another hotel. We went over there and walked into a big old house. A lady, all pale with a pageboy haircut and big dark eyes, popped out of the corner and asked us what we wanted. Inaki said, uh, is there a place we could eat around here? And she said, yeah, here! She took the table cloth from the only table in the room and whipped it in the air to get the dust off. She patted the pew next to it with her hand and invited us to sit.

I was a bit scared to stay, but Inaki, somewhat in a trance, sat down and we stayed. The lady, and a woman who appeared to be her mother, left the room and our eyes began to adjust. We were in an area that may have once been a patio, but now had many couches and a bar in it. There were wild boars and rifles all over the walls and TV blaring around the corner. I didn't really want to pose for a pic, but Inaki snapped one anyway.

The lady came back with menus and we ordered quickly. She must have paced back and forth by our table over 50 times during the meal and kept stopping at the door and peering out as if she was waiting for someone. It's sad because the food was delicious, but I couldn't enjoy it because it seemed that this gal was plotting to keep us there or trying to be sure we got out without being killed. For some reason it took FOREVER for the check to come and we high tailed it out of there before the ink could even dry on the receipt.

Of course, I had to pee and didn't want to in the place we had eaten. So, we were looking for a good place to stop on our way down the highway. We went by a few and finally pulled into a little bar for a coffee so I could go. All the shades were down, but there were a bunch of cars, so we felt safe. We shouldn't have though! We walked in and there were about 15 dudes at the bar, all ages. I looked over my shoulder and there were a few rooms with curtains up that had been closed. It was a whorehouse! Inaki looked at me and said, "so do you want a coffee?" I just shook my head and walked back out to the car. The region of Avila just isn't for us I guess.

The views on the drive were fab though!

We got to Segovia and decided to celebrate life. We checked into our hotel, just around the corner from the aqueduct, pretty much built around the time of Christ, and then hit the town.

We had the best time and ate so well, yet again! The next day, we walked through the park that used to be the mote around the castle, toured the castle, shopped and it was generally a great day. We loved Segovia.

What a great trip it was! We drove home that afternoon and settled in for a couple days of work. I can't wait for our next adventure. It's officially sidra season, so we'll have to plan something soon!

Lierganes

Last weekend, for my B-day, Inaki and I took a night away in the quaint town of Lierganes. It's in the region of Cantabria and my love affair with the area continues to be hot and heavy. They were holding a fall festival and I've been missing the feeling of fall in pdx and Halloween, so we went to check it out. We stayed in an adorable B and B in the center of the 800 resident village. The view from our room was of the "Tetas" a pair of nubbins on top of the mountain behind the town. Tetas means tits in English and this picture will explain why they are called as such...

We asked the receptionist about hiking up there and every time she said "tetas" we couldn't help but snicker a little. We planned to cruise up the next day and walked around the fall festival for the rest of the evening. They had some booths with local goods, some traditional dancing and even a Roman era bridge.

While at the bridge, we discovered a metal statue of a man sitting on a rock. Apparently he is called "fish-man" and is part of a legend in the town. Ages ago there was a young boy who lived in Lierganes and loved to swim. One day, the river caught him and swept him away from town, down stream. No one heard from him again. Years later, some fishermen off the coast of Cadiz (one of the southern most cities in Spain) found something rather large caught in their net. When they pulled the net out of the water, they discovered it was a man... sort of. His skin was scaly, his feet and hands were webbed and he had something that looked like gills growing out of his neck. He was barely alive and by the time the fishermen got him to a hospital, he was on his last legs. With his dying breath he whispered the word "Lierganes" and the townspeople believe he was the boy who had been swept away so many years ago. Pretty cool.

That night we drank some local beers and ate mexican food, which is rare in Spain. It was great.

The next day, we were eating by 9, checking out by 1030 and on the road up to the tetas by 11. We heard that a few restaurants were doing a "mountain man" lunch and we wanted to be sure to be back for that. Here are a few photos on the way up.

It was a great hike and the views from the top were fantastic. I mean, I guess you could call it a hike, but it was mostly on a paved road. Here's the view. Off to the right of the 2nd pic, you can actually see the Cantabrian Sea.

We practically rolled down the mountain to get to that mountain man lunch. It was only semi worth it. The meal started with callos and jija. I have been able to escape callos (intestines) for the most part and decided to be a mountain man about it and dig in. I ate my half, but had an upset stomach on the way home just thinking about the fact that there were intestines in my intestines. The jija was yummy! Ground chorizo to be eaten with bread. It made for some crazy-stinky burps though and Inaki started yelling out "jija!" (pronounced: hee-ha) every time one escaped him. We thought it was hilarious.

The next plate was fabulous, mountain man stew. It was made of white beans, various veggies and spices, and all the sacraments: morcilla, chorizo and ham. Sososososossoso good!

The rest of the meal isn't even worth showing, but the first 2 courses were great, minus the tripe.

So, my b-day weekend was faba-daba-do, thanks to my sweet husby and all the love from friends and fam. Thanks guys!

San Fermin: Family style

The 6th of July, 2013. Inaki and I had been prepping for this day for almost 8 months. We'd been talking it up to my family for the last 7 years. It had to be good. Last year, I had my 24 hour goal, which I completed. This year the goal was to show my family the best damn time possible... without killing them. However, we almost made the 24 hour goal, purely by accident! Paco and Dori came through big time with some extra special touches that tourists just don't get to experience and 2013 San Fermines were my favorite ever!

The day began at 8 am. I woke everyone up with the Riau Riau, but they took a while to stir and get the heck out of bed. For me, at this point, the 6th is pretty close to Christmas Day. I can't wait to get up and open my presents (which are usually filled with large cocktails)! Everyone rolled out of their rooms, got some coffee and I went to the store to buy 10 baguettes. Stage #5 is not an option on the chupinazo. Moncho and Inaki whipped up some magras (which is slow cooked tomato sauce and ham), fried eggs, chistorra and I cut up the bread and popped a bottle of wine.

By 10, we were well fed and and ready to hit the town. We road up on the bus and went to the opening ceremonies pretty quickly. Whitney, Steve, Moncho and Inaki went into the crowd and mom, dad and I stayed on the outskirts. The crowd folks got doused with wine and got to see the 15 minute delay due to the basque flag being strung up as a political statement.

The outside the crowders were pushed back a few times by garbage dumpsters and tried not to get pinned to pillars. What is the deal? I have the worst luck when I'm in the action at the chupinazo.

We all met at the designated spot afterwards and the attitudes were all good, just some less sober than others. Mom, dad and I had to catch up, so we started on the bota bag. Shortly after, we decided they should get a new bota bag because that one was from the 70's and the plastic inside clearly wasn't holding up.

We cruised down Calle Estafeta to meet up with Dori and Lurdes. Lurdes owns and runs a bakery on Estafeta and makes the best baked goods in the city, especially the garrotes! A lot of the local business owners on the street close down for the morning of the 6th and go have a party together in one of the shops. We were so lucky to be invited to delicious snacks, cava and dancing.

We said our thank yous and went out on the street again, to take in some of the sights. As you can see in the 2nd picture here, people were so soaked in wine and hot that they begged for water from the apartments above. The party-goers obliged!

We stopped in at the Cafe Iruna, the Hemingway bar, and danced cheek to cheek with pretty much everyone else there. This is where my family learned what a katxi is, a plastic cup with around 32 ounces of whatever beverage is poured into it. Moncho and I bought a beer and a kalimotxo (ice cold red wine and coke) and the kalimotxo was definitely the preference! Everyone was skeptical, but now they're all converts!

It was about 1:30pm by that time and we started to inch home for a delicious lunch that Paco made for us. On the way we had to stop for a few more katxis of kalimotxo and some rest. Whitney busted out her money belt to add some money to the pot and found that her bullfight tickets had been torn in half from being soaked during the chupinazo! We were able to tape them back together, thank goodness.

We had lunch, about an hour nap and off we went to the bullfight at around 5. I woke up so grumpy. I now know that a nap is not the way for me to go during San Fermines. I just have to power through.

Paco got us just about the best seats ever for the bullfight. And, it wasn't just a bullfight, it was the Rejones, pronounced re-ho-ness. The bulls are fought on horseback! I'm not a person who is pro-bullfight, but I did learn some interesting things about how they score them and how you know the good from the bad this year. One piece of information that I found really interesting is that this breed of bull would be extinct if they weren't bred for bullfights. They are so angry and want to fight all the time, so they're good for nothing else. Also, the meat is used and even labeled with the bull's name in the butcher shop. Regardless, I hate seeing them die. Now, I will back right back down and off this road of politics and show you some pretty pictures from the fight.

At around 8, we walked out into the evening sun and made our way to an eating society where Paco had invited us for the evening. We passed through town and stopped at another society on the way and got some sorbette (lemon sorbette blended with cava). I'll talk about at least 3 societies over the course of the trip and they are all invite only places. Paco was a rockstar to get us into all of them!

We hung out a bit too long and had to hustle down to the next eating society. We were walking through the crowded streets and drunk teenager stumbled out of a bar in front of us. He fixed his eyes on dad and had to re-focus them a few times. As dad passed in front of him, the guy yelled, "Hemingway!" He turned to his buddy and pointed at dad again and said, "Hemingway!" The buddy nodded enthusiastically and the two friends sandwiched dad and jumped down the street with him yelling "He-ming-way! He-ming-way!" I let it happen for a while and then pulled dad free. It was so funny! Although, at the time, we weren't sure if there was going to be some kind of hazing that went along with it.

By 10, we were in the next eating society and sitting down to a huge, delicious meal, that we weren't hungry for at all. We had shrimp, white asparagus and calamari to start. Then came the whole roasted pig. Dad even got a kidney in his! Sorbete, coffee and cocktails for dessert. This society was pretty cool. It was a space that a few guys rented that had a bar, an industrial kitchen, a meeting room and a fronton court. Awesome!

Cocktails in hand, we danced the evening away.

At 3 am, we headed back home and tucked ourselves in. It was a long and great first day with 3 more to come. What a fabulous time!