Here Daniel and I are, about to leave our darling little family.
Yes, they were as crazy as usual. I hope Grandma Ann will be alright!
Looking at the bull billboard, can you guess where Daniel and I went for 10 days?
Espana!!
This is the first time Daniel and I have gone on a vacation alone since we had our children. It was a trip we both have worked hard to be able to take.
The flight was of course very long, but Daniel and I enjoyed talking to each other and watching a few movies. When we got on the plane in Canada that would take us into Madrid, there was a huge group of high school kids from some type of exchange program. You should have seen Daniel's face as he watched these kids converse in Spanish. Daniel just kept saying "AHH, mi gente, mi gente" (my people, my people). Daniel's dad is 100% Spanish. One reason we decided to go to Spain was to meet Daniel's cousin, Emilio Garcia Pascual. So to see these kids on the plane Daniel felt as if he was going home!
Here we are eating our first "menu al dia". It was very good. We started with Sopa de puchero, soup with garbanzo beans. (A few day later I asked Emilio's mom for the recipe and she said I could not make it because she did not think the USA sold fermented bones that are put in the pot while soaking the garbanzo beans. Maybe it is best I don't know how to make sopa de puchero!) Then we had a very thin fish cooked on the grill and a creamy flan type dessert. So far it looks like we are going to love the food!
The owner of the restaurant just loved having us eat there. He was telling the other patrons we were from California. He was very kind.
After dinner we headed to southern Spain to meet Daniel's 3rd cousin. Emilio is 34 years old. He teaches Spanish in England and is fluent in English. Lou sent Emilio's mom, Maria Josepha (Pepa), a letter many years ago asking for some dates for family history. Years later she wrote Lou with some of the information and that was the beginning of our relationship with Emilio's family. They live in a small village near Malaga, Spain called Alfarnate. Around 9:30pm we drove off the main highway and headed to the village. At 10pm, using our GPS, we arrived in Alfarnate and spent the next several hours getting to know Lou's mom(Antonia/Nana)'s family. Emilio had so many pictures to show us. It was neat to see pictures of Nana's family.
Emilio just kept talking and talking and telling us so many facts. Daniel and I were getting very tired and Emilio still wanted to take us out for dinner. Maria Pepa insisted we leave to get something to eat b/c everything would be closing (it was almost midnight) but Emilio just kept talking. Finally we did leave to get dinner and everything was closed except one bar. So we ate some tapas.
This was not Daniel's nor my idea of a delicious dinner. It was very "rustic"! We had a plate of each of the following on day old bread: sardines, cheese, blood sausage, and salami. (remember post 'Day 1") But, I was going to be a good sport about this so I picked up a sardine and took a bite.... SALTY!!! That is alright, I will eat the salami... well, maybe not. Ok, it was too late to be polite. I just filled up on cheese. At Daniel's request I tried the blood sausage. Daniel said it was not that bad. And he was right, it was really pastey and...well, I just couldn't finish it (How do you say laco-ovo-vegitarian that eats honey in spanish?) After our tapas, Emilio took us to a house that we rented for 2 nights. We were exhausted by the time we went to bed!
Yes, they were as crazy as usual. I hope Grandma Ann will be alright!
Looking at the bull billboard, can you guess where Daniel and I went for 10 days?
Espana!!
This is the first time Daniel and I have gone on a vacation alone since we had our children. It was a trip we both have worked hard to be able to take.
The flight was of course very long, but Daniel and I enjoyed talking to each other and watching a few movies. When we got on the plane in Canada that would take us into Madrid, there was a huge group of high school kids from some type of exchange program. You should have seen Daniel's face as he watched these kids converse in Spanish. Daniel just kept saying "AHH, mi gente, mi gente" (my people, my people). Daniel's dad is 100% Spanish. One reason we decided to go to Spain was to meet Daniel's cousin, Emilio Garcia Pascual. So to see these kids on the plane Daniel felt as if he was going home!
Here we are eating our first "menu al dia". It was very good. We started with Sopa de puchero, soup with garbanzo beans. (A few day later I asked Emilio's mom for the recipe and she said I could not make it because she did not think the USA sold fermented bones that are put in the pot while soaking the garbanzo beans. Maybe it is best I don't know how to make sopa de puchero!) Then we had a very thin fish cooked on the grill and a creamy flan type dessert. So far it looks like we are going to love the food!
The owner of the restaurant just loved having us eat there. He was telling the other patrons we were from California. He was very kind.
After dinner we headed to southern Spain to meet Daniel's 3rd cousin. Emilio is 34 years old. He teaches Spanish in England and is fluent in English. Lou sent Emilio's mom, Maria Josepha (Pepa), a letter many years ago asking for some dates for family history. Years later she wrote Lou with some of the information and that was the beginning of our relationship with Emilio's family. They live in a small village near Malaga, Spain called Alfarnate. Around 9:30pm we drove off the main highway and headed to the village. At 10pm, using our GPS, we arrived in Alfarnate and spent the next several hours getting to know Lou's mom(Antonia/Nana)'s family. Emilio had so many pictures to show us. It was neat to see pictures of Nana's family.
Emilio just kept talking and talking and telling us so many facts. Daniel and I were getting very tired and Emilio still wanted to take us out for dinner. Maria Pepa insisted we leave to get something to eat b/c everything would be closing (it was almost midnight) but Emilio just kept talking. Finally we did leave to get dinner and everything was closed except one bar. So we ate some tapas.
This was not Daniel's nor my idea of a delicious dinner. It was very "rustic"! We had a plate of each of the following on day old bread: sardines, cheese, blood sausage, and salami. (remember post 'Day 1") But, I was going to be a good sport about this so I picked up a sardine and took a bite.... SALTY!!! That is alright, I will eat the salami... well, maybe not. Ok, it was too late to be polite. I just filled up on cheese. At Daniel's request I tried the blood sausage. Daniel said it was not that bad. And he was right, it was really pastey and...well, I just couldn't finish it (How do you say laco-ovo-vegitarian that eats honey in spanish?) After our tapas, Emilio took us to a house that we rented for 2 nights. We were exhausted by the time we went to bed!
