Feria de Abril: Sevilla!

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.

Last year we went to Sevilla for Semana Santa, which is Holy Week.  It is one of the most traditional religious events in Spain and it topped any other event we have been a part of.  Once we came back, everyone was asking me "have you been to the Feria de Abril? Have you been to Feria? You must go!". Funny thing is that every single person telling me to go had not been there themselves. 

Of course, put a challenge in front of me....

The thing about the Feria de Abril is the fact that the festival happens slightly outside of town, on the Seville fairgrounds.  If you really want to be part of things, you must be invited into a private caseta, which is one of over a thousand private "tents" setup to host the friends and families of the caseta owners.  Casetas range from small, hosting about 50 at a time, to ones hosting thousands, National Police, for example, or political parties.  All Casetas represent companies, associations, fraternities and have been in the families for decades.  Every year the owner must renew the "license" in a very bureaucratic way, and if they don't do it, they lose their rights forever, as the waiting list to get one is the size of the list for the Victoria golf course times 100. 

So a year ago a plan was hatched: I told everyone I knew that I wanted to go, but needed a caseta.  They all laughed because outsiders getting invited into a family caseta is not something that happens.  But then again, I am not an outsider when it comes to making things happen.

A very good Spanish friend of mine, Jose Antonio, told me that he thought his family had a caseta in Sevilla, so he was going to ask.  He did, and immediately he and I were invited to come.  He has never been to the Feria, and it was a great excuse for him to go see his aunt and uncle who own the caseta and his 5 cousins.  So I booked my hotel, train, and packed my suit, which is a must to hang out in the caseta, and waited for the day.  Feria happens a few weeks after Holy Week and is the biggest party in Spain. 

I left Zaragoza on Friday morning and in just over 3 hours on the fast train I was in Sevilla.  I arrived to 32C,  sunny and not a cloud in the sky.  I left my things in the hotel and went to the Feria.  On the way, I encountered many women dressed in traditional Sevillanas (Sevillian flamenco dress) and I could tell this was going to be fun. 

The entrance to the fairgrounds are adorned with a huge gate that is different every year and the new design is chosen through a competitive selection process.  This year the entrance was fashioned after the Plaza de Espana square, which was featured in the Star Wars II.  Inside, you are met with a feast for your eyes and your nose: thousands of women dressed in the Sevillanas, men, women and children on horses, all dressed up in special outfits.  Truly - it is like going back several hundred years.  Needless to say, my camera shutter was overheating from all the action - so much to see and capture.

As my friend Jose Antonio arrived in the afternoon, we headed to his uncle's caseta, where we were warmly greeted and told the key things to know about drinking and eating all in balance, and how to feel like VIPs, as they told us we were their guests, and that meant everything was taken care of.  The next two days and nights were full of sights, smells, tastes and experiences.

Some of the key highlights were meeting Ana Rosa Quintana, who is married to my friend's cousin.  She is a very famous TV personality, so pictures were in order.  Later we met Alvaro Palacios, who is a major wine maker and innovator in Spain, we also met the CEO of Tuenti who sold the company to Telefonica for 70M and a number of other celebrities that I did not recognize.  In the end, they are just people and we just happened to party with them.

On Saturday, we were treated to a horse drawn carriage, dressed in our Sunday bests, to take us to the corrida.  The bullring in Sevilla is very famous and we had the best seats in the house: right behind radio announcers, by the gate where the bulls are let out.  With a few cigars, millions of pictures and a spectacular show in the Mecca of the bullfighting, there was nothing missing.  We were living it up.

A special mention goes to Jose Antonio's aunt and uncle, who were super hosts. They made sure we were well taken care off, with food, manzanilla, rebujito,  vino fino, pescadito frito, and jamon.  A very special thing happened, where I got to meet a local Sevillan artist who painted the walls of the caseta with pictures of bullfighting and a famous bullfighter.  I had a lovely conversation and commented how much I loved the paintings.  Just so happens, the uncle kindly cut up the walls of his caseta after the Feria, and I now have 4 huge paintings in my house!  In exchange, I sent some very nice pictures of him and his wife and some pictures of the cousins encased in nice frames.  We were all very happy with the exchange of experiences and hospitality.

In the end, the experience was as my Spanish friends told me - an experience of a lifetime.  The only difference: I lived it :)

Tengo ganas para volver!

Ole!

Parent's Visit 2013

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.

This year my parents arranged to come for their third Spring visit to Zaragoza two weeks early so they could be here for Grace's First Communion.   The weather here has been untypically wet and cold, like the rest of Europe, in fact it was the wettest March since 1947!!  Due to the inclement weather and the fact that this was their third visit we did not do any touristy things in Zaragoza.  We did do a lovely day trip, on a nice day, to Tarazona which is about 1 hour away, located in the Borja wine region (capital of Grenache grape varietal) close to Moncayo Mountain.  The main reason we went to Tarazona was to see the cathedral which has been restored and is in the Mudejar style (Muslim/Moorish).  The restoration is amazing and unlike most places we have visited they are prepared for, and want visitors to come.

Interestingly, on our way we decided to take a detour to a small village that gained a lot of notoriety last summer.  The news showed a wall painting of Jesus that an 80 year old woman tried to fix, but in doing so distorted the picture making Jesus look like a monkey.  The story literally went around the world but was misleading as the news made it sound like some random woman went in and ‘defaced’ the picture of Jesus.  The real story is a bit different and it was told to me by my friend Marta whose family is from that village and knows the woman.  The woman has volunteered at the church for years and has often touched up the paintings on the walls as they are deteriorating.  Marta said her daughter Christina has often sat in the church watching her do this work.  On this occasion apparently there was too much humidity and the paint ran creating the now infamous image. The painting is called Ecce Homo and we, like thousands of other people, we went to visit it.


When we left the village we took a beautiful country road and came to a lookout with a spectacular view of the snow covered mountain, villages and countryside.  One advantage of all the rain this year is that everything is totally green and lush, very uncommon for a desert.  Our last stop was at Monasterio de Veruela which is a beautifully preserved monastery which also has an excellent wine museum.  It teaches a lot about Granache which is the famous grape of this wine region.

Here in Spain our Spring break is always around Easter so this year we planned to explore Barcelona with my parents because, although they have flown into it three times, they have never seen any of it.  In order for all of us and the luggage to get to Barcelona we had to rent a car for a day so we decided to visit Montserrat on the way.   The drive up was spectacular and although the church was small it was very beautiful and we saw the Black Virgin which is a famous part of Montserrat.  Due to some unforeseen time constraints our time here was quite short, however it was enough to know we would like to return to see and do more.

The rest of our journey to Barcelona went very smoothly and after returning the rental car we arrived at our aparthotel.  Our apartment turned out to be beautiful penthouse on the 9^th floor with glorious views, a deck and very comfortable beds.  We had a 180 degree view which included Tibadabo, the towers of Sagrada Familia and the Mediterranean Sea.  It would be fair to say we hit all the highlights and luckilly the weather improved so it was sunny and 23C - perfect for touring.  One of the nicest meals we had was at an Argentinian restaurant we had not planned on going to.  We had seen a lovely Indian restaurant that we wanted to go to so when we arrived at 8pm (very early by Spanish standards) and it was empty, we were surprised when they said they were fully booked with reservations.   All was not lost as just two doors down was El Punt which he heartily recommended.  We were welcomed with open arms (almost literally) by the owner who took very good care of us.  Meat is the main thing on the Argentinian menu and it was very good.  In addition mom had a wonderful goat cheese salad heaping with raisins, nuts and seeds.  We also enjoyed a lovely Argentinian Malbec.

In Barcelona we visited Tibidabo, Sagrada Familia, the Beach, Montjuic, la Rambla, Port Olympic and Parc Guell.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time and were all quite tired after 4 days, on our final day the rain moved in.  Anatolijus decided to return to Zaragoza on an early morning train and after lunch I put mom and dad into a taxi to head to their airport hotel and then Grace, Tessa and I headed to France…..

In the apartment complex we live in we have become good friends with a French family who are living in Spain but are from Toulouse which is only a 4.5 hr drive away.  Anne was home for Easter holidays so invited us to come for a couple of days.  In addition to enjoying spending time with Anne we were also very interested to go and see her house which has just recently been restored and renovated.  In the countryside close to Toulouse Anne’s family has a castle, a real castle.  It was so wonderful to hear about the history, to see where Anne grew up in the other ‘side’ of the castle and to now see how she and her husband Hugues have created a beautiful home full of history, warmth and charm.  I enjoyed tending to the fireplaces, walking the country roads, buying fresh artisan bread baked in a wood burning oven.  We visited a 15^th century flour mill that is still powered by water like it was 4 centuries ago.  The flour is 1 euro a kilo and the owner scooped it into a brown paper bag for me, put a label on it and then wrote down the transaction in pencil in his little book.  Also the pancakes I made with it were out of this world.  To drive home the girls and I drove a spectacular route that took us through French villages, up into the Pyrenees and then through a tunnel back into Spain.  The drive was 5 hours with stops and because we are having so much rain the countryside was emerald green and the scenery gorgeous.  We arrived home Thursday afternoon just in time to get settled and receive our next set of visitors.

My mom’s cousins Barb and Don Basserman arrived safely on the Friday afternoon although I was getting worried as it was getting later and later.  At one point I was sitting on the couch and thought, "I need to take the recycling out and maybe they will be driving by or I will see them." So I walked down my driveway and out the gate and the first thing I see is a tall, white haired man walking towards me.  Yeah it was Don Basserman!!!!  I was so happy and we couldn't believe the timing.  The first night we made 5 different Spanish dishes for them to try and we talked late into the night.  It was a special time of sharing and hearing stories of their lives that we did not know.  The second night we invited friends to come for dinner and the two couples got along like a house of fire.  On the Sunday we went for a day trip to the medieval town Alquezar and even did a side trip to find a small village Colungo where they make their own liquor also knows as ‘fire water’.  We saw the ‘stills’ and had a few samples and purchased a few to have at home.  On the Monday the Basserman’s headed off to Barcelona and we so appreciated that they included us in their travel plans.

Grace’s First Communion

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.

When we were home for our first summer after moving to Spain, Grace was hesitant about returning to Zaragoza as the transition to a new country, language and school had been difficult.  Interestingly, the one thing that had caught her attention was that in Grade 3 she could start Catechism classes and after two years she would be able to have her 1^st Communion.  She was very interested and excited and about this which helped when we returned to start our second year.

Grace goes to a Jesuit school and the Catechism program is organized by a teacher, supported by the priests and taught by volunteer parents.  So from Oct – May every Wednesday from 5-6pm for Grade 3 and until this past February Grace attended her Catechism class.  The groups are small, with 5-6 children each, and 2-3 times a semester parents are invited for a chapel service to see what they are learning and to support the process.  Participating in catechism is voluntary although it is interesting to note that all of the 26 kids from Grace’s class joined.  When asking about this we learned that the First Communion in Spain is an incredibly important event and families treat the celebration like a small wedding.  All the components from the dress, photographs, luncheon reception, gifts and guests are a part of this day.  It is also true that for many the religious significance has been lost and many families do it because it is a ‘cultural’ tradition and many children want it because they score great gifts.  Our school went to great lengths to emphasize the spiritual and sacramental significance and even sent notes home asking us to talk to our children about not focusing on the gifts.  To give you an idea of an average communion gift for a 9-10 year old, they often receive PlayStations, IPads, jewelry etc.

So last October we began planning for Grace’s First Communion which was on March 16^th 2013.   The first thing to secure was the restaurant for lunch and we were told that as soon as you say it is a “First Communion”, the price goes up (doubles).  In fact we discovered that, not surprisingly, this event is big business and can end up costing a small fortune.  We were not willing to pay ‘double’ the price as it just did not seem reasonable so we took a different approach.  When we went to meet with the food and beverage manager of a very nice hotel we explained that we were a Canadian family who had relatives coming to visit (true: my parents were arriving) and we wanted to host a lunch for them with our friends.  So out came the menus with reasonable prices and an excellent selection of dishes.  We booked a private dining room for no charge and explained that we would be bringing in homemade cupcakes to serve our guests.  Perfect – more on this later. 

A small book could be written on how we chose the dress, hairband, shoes and commemorative book marks that we had to have printed; not to mention the clothes for the mother and sister of the ‘celebrated’ one.  Again we were trying to find a balance between participating in this important Spanish celebration while not getting pulled into all the ‘you have to…’ when it didn’t feel comfortable to us.  In the end we feel very good about the Canadian/Spanish balance we found and the experience was wonderful and very special.

The Big Day

Grace was very excited and very nervous about the service.  During the practices the children were asked if they would like to read during the service and, although nervous, Grace volunteered as she really wanted to participate and fully be a part of the service.  The service was held in the church sanctuary at our school, we have our own parish and priests. Again to give an idea of how important this event is, the service was for the 26 children in Grace’s class and there were over 1000 people in attendance!  The church was full to overflowing and if you do the math that is approximately 40 people for each child – wow!  Also in keeping with the Jesuit tradition all the children wear an off white hooded robe so that the focus remains on the sacrament and not on fashion.  With so many people in the church, a professional photographer is the only one allowed to take photos and he captures the moment the child receives the bread and also takes photos before the service (see photos).  Grace spoke very well and we were told she sounded very Spanish, yeah!! And during the priest’s homily she offered a number of answers on her own.  It was a very emotional and meaningful experience for Grace and it was lovely one to witness.

After the service at 1pm we headed directly to the Hotel Hiberus which is a new modern hotel on the Ebro River.  The weather was unusually cold so we couldn’t use the lovely sundeck; however the restaurant is all windows so it was bright and nice.  As we walked in we went through a larger room that was beautifully decorated with stands of champagne and flowers etc into our room which was plain, but lovely.  As we were standing and chatting, the party arrived to the other room and Grace said, “Mommy look: it is Juan from my class, he is having his communion lunch right next to ours”.  The funny thing is we could clearly see the difference between family lunch and 1^st communion; however the fabulous food all came from the same kitchen and we knew how different the prices were.  At our lunch we hosted 23 people including ourselves and 10 of those were children so the kids had a great time playing together.  As I said the food was fabulous, we had a traditional Spanish menu which includes 1^st plate, 2^nd plate, dessert, wine, water and bread. 

In terms of gifts we asked our friends to not buy electronics but to give Grace something to remember her communion in Spain.  She was showered with the most beautiful pendants, earrings, bracelets and one fabulous electronic (Google Galaxy 7).  The jewellery was mostly representing the Virgin of El Pilar which is our Basilica and is the center of one of the largest celebrations in all of Spain.  She now, at 9 years old, has a collection of jewellery to be envied.  It was wonderful to have Cathy’s parents here and also to realize what a lovely group of friends and surrogate family we have developed here in Spain.

The Spanish are known for long celebrations so after the lunch we invited everyone back to our house for gin & tonics – a must, following a meal here – as well as wine and finger foods.  The day ended around 10pm when the last of the guests left and we fell into bed satisfied that we had participated in a very Spanish tradition that enriched our experience and understanding a little more.

Cathy’s parent’s arranged to come 2 weeks early to be a part of this event and with friends from Valencia also invited 23 people joined in our celebration.  A highlight of our stay in Spain, for sure!

Early spring blog

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.



Skiing in Panticosa 2013
One of the great things about where we live is that it is only a 1.5 hr drive to the Pyrenees.  Anatolijus has been snowboarding a number of times but the girls have never tried it.  So on the weekend of Jan 28-29 we headed up to Panticosa to give it a try.  it has been many years since I last skied and although I remembered it was lots of work I forgot that it would be even more with two kids.  Tessa took a one hour ski lesson and did really well getting the hang of it quickly.  Grace wanted to try snowboarding, like her Dad, and also did really well.  We stayed in our favorite rustic hotel and ended up being invited over for dinner to friends' of ours from Zaragoza who have a place in Panticosa.  A great weekend all around.

Calatayud
On Sat. Feb. 16th we decided to do a day trip to Calatayud which is a 50 min drive from Zaragoza.  The castle is really a ruin but we did fine a beautifully restored cloister in the main church of the town which had many relics and a lovely 15th century amber decorated box from Lithuania.  The town is not particularly beautiful especially because many things are being renovated or rebuilt.  We had lunch in a restaurant Anatolijus found on Trip Advisor (an aside: Anatolijus is now a Senior Contributor on Trip Advisor due to all the reviews he has written).
Lunch was definitely the highlight of the day, we had the classic Spanish menu which includes first plate, second plate, dessert, water, wine and bread.  In Zaragoza a good restaurant will charge 15-18 euros, but here it was only 10.50 per menu and Grace and Tessa shared.  The food, wine and service were fabulous and the price shockingly low - huge value and worth the 50 min drive.

As we were getting ready to head home when we came across a dress store that was displaying beautiful communion dresses in the window.  A child's First Communion is a huge deal here in Spain and the celebration is similar to a small wedding.  This is especially true of the long, white dresses many 9-10 year old girls wear (prices also range from 300 to 1500 Euros!).  Grace's First Communion is March 16th and although we had already decided to not go with the elaborate dress, Anatolijus thought it would be fun for her to try some on.  So in we went for some 'dress-up' and the lady said we could take photos.  Grace loved the feeling of the princess dresses but in the end is happy to be wear a simpler dress.  Enjoy the pics!

WOW I am 7 years old!!!!!
This year Tessa had her first friends birthday party in Spain.  She invited 8 girlfriends and her sister to go to Clip N'Climb, a wall climbing facility that provides the food and fun.  Her party was on Thursday Feb 28 from 6-8 pm, a very common time here in Spain.  The other common thing is for all children to contribute 10 euros and one mom goes and buys a couple of gifts.  It works out very well as the birthday girl gets 2 or 3 lovely things that they really wanted.  Tessa's friends bought her a beautiful Merida costume from the movie Brave and a Monster High doll - she was so thrilled.  Also Tessa loves cake decorating so we made a cake and she designed and decorated her cake all by herself.  The results were great, especially for a first time.  Her friends also thought so and congratulated her.  On her actual birthday, March 1st, Tessa went out for lunch to Sakura, a Japanese restaurant, and for dinner she asked her dad to make her his awesome schnitzel.  All in all she was well celebrated!


St. Jean de Luz, France
In Zaragoza March 5th is a holiday although no one remembers what it celebrates, the main point is that the girls had a four day weekend so we went away for three days.  We love the Basque country and have visited San Sebastian numerous times so this time we headed a little further north into France and the quaint town of St. Jean de Luz in the French Basque region.  St.Jean is situated on a big bay and has an active fishing port.  It also has beautiful sandy beaches and we were very fortunate to have fabulous weather and a hotel with our deck right on the beach.  It was sunny and 21 C so we were able to eat lunch outside, walk on the beach and have aperitifs on our sundeck.  We also drove 20 mins up the coast to Biarritz, stopped into a beautiful church and lingered by the ocean to fill our souls.  St. Jean de Luz also has great shopping so we bought some lovely things and felt very relaxed and refreshed.

Stay tuned for Grace's communion blog coming soon!

New Year's Eve in Madrid

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.

This year our Christmas holiday was not as fun-filled as usual as we were plagued with illness.  Tessa was sick from Dec 24-31, Grace from Jan 1-9 and Cathy from Jan 7-13.  In between Christmas and New Year’s we had planned to go to the mountains but with Tessa not well we cancelled those plans.  We then decided to go to Madrid for 3 days to stay at a hotel and do a day trip to Toledo.  To our dismay Tessa continued to have a fever and so we cancelled and rebooked, planning to go from Dec 29 - Jan 1st.  On the Sunday morning Tessa was still not well but we were all 'sick' and tired of being stuck at home so we delayed our departure but left for Madrid at 11am.  Tessa slept a lot of the way so we headed straight to El Escorial which is the castle of Philip II and is from where the Spanish Inquisition was conducted.  The castle is huge and quite austere and also very interesting.  It has a great collection of art and one of the halls boasts huge murals that depict in great detail military tactics, formations, armour and strategy.  It is said it is here that Philip II learned about military techniques.  Another highlight was the beautiful library: it is a testament to the royal family’s value of education.  Tessa did very well making her way through the tour but was definitely done by the end.  She was in bed asleep by 7pm and the next day she clearly was not up for a trip to Toledo (besides, there was a very think, all-engulfing fog, that swallowed the entire Madrid area, so Toledo in a cloud would have been a loss; saved for another trip).

The next day was foggy and cold so we did a short trip into Madrid to have lunch at a highly recommended pizza place (Pizzateca) and then, with Tessa napping again, we drove to Mejorada del Campo.  This small village 20 km outside of Madrid is famous for the cathedral that has been built by hand by Don Justo for the past 50 years.  Don Justo was planning on becoming a monk but a diagnosis of tuberculosis made that impossible.  He had to leave the religious community and he was so distraught that he could not commit his life to God as a monk, he decided to build a cathedral to show his devotion.  It is truly amazing what one person's commitment and vision can create.  Anatolijus and I went in and met Don Justo who was having lunch with a friend.  He encouraged us to look around and at 88 years old all his years of labour show.  The cathedral is amazing and it has all the components of a true catholic church.  There is the crypt, cloister, domes, upper choir stall, altar, stained glass windows and side chapels.  We had seen him featured on a documentary and were delighted to see his creation.  You can click here for a commercial that made this cathedral famous!

Our "misadventures" continued on Dec 31st when we miscalculated the Spanish time schedule.  Usually it is impossible to get food at a restaurant before 9pm so we hung out at the hotel until 7:40pm and then went over to a Mall to a restaurant.  When we drove into the empty parking lot we knew we were in trouble.  It turns out in Spain everything closes early on New Year's Eve, including restaurants.  The only options are paying a lot of money for an all-inclusive evening at a special restaurant or eat at home.  So, with no food in our possession we got back in the car and after making a wrong turn onto the major highway we found an El Corte Ingles which is a major department store with a grocery store.  We were just about to park when Tessa noticed a McDonald's, promising never to tell anyone we ate there on New Year's Eve. We started to walk over and realized the lights were out and the people leaving were the staff.  In Spain McDonald's closes at 8pm on NY Eve!  Our last hope was El Corte Ingles so we walked in at 7:56pm and the security guard told us they closed at 8pm so we should go 'muy rapido".  As we walked in they started turning off the lights so all four of us ran and started grabbing food off the shelves.  Prepared salads, cold meat, pickles, bread, chocolate, fruit, cookies, peanuts, licorice.  The manager was waving her hands at us to come to the checkout and 'get out' so we quickly complied feeling relieved we had something for dinner.  Back in the hotel room we popped open our bottle of French champagne, which we had brought, and enjoyed our feast thankful to have some dinner. 

Welcome 2013.  Hope the rest of it is better than the end of 2012.

Truffle Festival & Culinary Delights

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.

December 10^th was Anatolijus’ birthday so for his birthday weekend, Dec 8-9 we indulged in a number of culinary delights.  On Saturday the four of us drove 1 hr and 45 mins south to the small village of Sarrion which holds an annual International Truffle Festival.  These black truffles are cultivated and harvested by dogs and pigs.  In the small pavilion there were booths representing all different parts of the process and produce of the truffle industry.  We tasted cheese infused with truffle, truffle sausage, truffle liquor, olive oil infused with truffle and a lovely onion and truffle marmalade.  Anatolijus bought one of each and then realized his dream of buying his very own truffle and truffle cutter.  We did not spend a long time in Sarrion but came away with many delicacies.  The next day Anatolijus and I made our first Truffle Risotto which was ‘fenomenal’!!!  Anatolijus also made a peppercorn and rosemary encrusted beef tenderloin and we paired it all with a bottle of Sangiovese a friend brought from Italy.  As a starter, we made a terrine of foie gras with tarragon and granny smith apple (a recipe of our good friend Marc).  What a feast!

On Sunday Grace, Tessa and I made Anatoijus a very special birthday cake.  Tessa is obsessed with watching YouTube videos of Betty Crocker kitchens and Nerdy Nummies which teach you how to make and decorate amazing types of cakes.  So inspired by Tessa we undertook to make the “Hamburger Cake”.  The candies we needed are not here in Spain so we improvised and were delighted with the results.  Take a look!!

Lastly, after all this cooking I then proceeded to spend the next two days in the kitchen baking traditional Canadian Christmas treats for, ‘Cathy’s Canadian Christmas Coffee Party” (CCCCP in short).  I invited a number of moms from the school and prepared fresh scones, Nanaimo bar, decorated sugar cookies, banana bread and scotch shortbread.  There were a few hiccups with some people not able to come and some coming late and others leaving early – however overall I was very pleased!

Now time to get ready for Christmas and do a bit more baking, cooking, grilling, tasting….

Sarvise in Pyrenees

Click this link to see pictures from the latest blog.

Click this link to see pictures from other posts.

On the weekend of Nov 16-18 we spent a wonderful weekend in the Pyrenees with our good friends Eduardo and Sira, and their children, Edu and Claudia.  We rented a lovely Casa rural which was grey stone and looked old but in fact is a new build so has all the heating and plumbing of a modern home.  It had two separate apartments and a lovely yard.  We arrived at night and could hear sounds and realized it was cow bells from the pastures surrounding us.  In the morning we were in for a treat, we opened the curtains and the mountains were aflame with yellow, orange, red, green and brown.  The autumn colors are particularly spectacular this year due to a warmer and longer fall.

On Saturday morning we started with a great crepe breakfast then went for a short walk down the road to where the horses were.  We all saddled up, for a wonderful one hour trail ride by the pastures, through the forest and down by the river.  This was Tessa's first time on a horse and she was a little nervous, however with a little encouragement she was hoisted onto her lovely brown mare and she was at the front of the line with the man walking leading her horse.  It was so wonderful to be in the mountains surrounded by beautiful nature, this is something we miss living in a desert.  A highlight for the girls was the four week old kitten that came to play; he basically kept them entertained the whole weekend.  One funny thing is that the kitten’s name was socks because of its white feet, and in Spanish the name is calcetines – not quite the same feeling as the English word.

In Spain Comida is the main meal of the day and it is at approx. 1:30pm - our lunch but they always have a proper hot meal.  On Sat we planned to make a big Comida as Eduardo enjoys cooking very much just like Anatolijus.  We were given the use of a chimney, literally a metal shaped structure we could build a fire in with a chimney.  You then put your food on grills that sit in the fire and cook.  Our menu included: fresh artichokes, tomatoes and large green onions cooked right in the fire, sausage, steak and teriyaki chicken wings.  We also did skewers of mushrooms, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and onion in balsamic vinegar.  WOW!!!  Anatolijus' new favorite thing is fire roasted onions.  To wash this great meal down we enjoy a number of good Spanish red wines – Protos and Priorat, to name two.  We now completely understand the Spanish siesta and its importance after drinking and eating that much in the afternoon.

On Sunday we were able to drive into Ordesa National Park which is fabulous.  It has beech tree forests that are beautiful with their white trunks and colored leaves.  There is a lovely river which we walked along and although there is a famous 4 hour walk/hike we weren’t prepared for that so will go back in spring or summer to enjoy more of the beauty of the Pyrenees.