Friends from San Francisco came for a visit in September. We were thrilled to have them, especially since it was during a transitional time for us. Here are some of the pictures they shared with us.
We waited for over an hour on a little street in Gracia for an outdoor table to open up. Luckily cacaolatlover snagged the first one that opened up for us.
After a great lunch, we headed over to the Boqueria Market where we slurped down fresh fruit smoothies. My personal favorite was Strawberry Coconut.
I started taking a Flamenco dance class a couple of weeks ago. Since my first class it has become quite an obsession. My only regret was not starting classes back in 2008 when I first thought of doing this.
Taken directly from wikipedia - "Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part.[1]
The cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), dance and palmas (handclaps) are the principal facets of flamenco."
My interest in Flamenco dancing is much more shallow than its rich history. I always loved how beautiful and strong the female dancers looked. Powerful yet feminine. Also the fact that so many dancers wore the color red. It's been years since my last dance class and I feel like dancing is a great way to exercise as well as meet some other women and learn a bit about Spain.
My first class was inspiring as well as completely surreal. There I was in a class of all these long haired beautiful women and some of them appeared to be in full Flamenco wear with frilly tops and flowers in their hair, which made me wonder if I was in the beginner class. The class was held in this old school ballroom with strong wooden floors that make an amazing sound when we all stomp on it with our shoes. There were elements of Spanish and Flamenco culture all around the ballroom complete with a large bullhead. (is it real? I dunno.)
Since I speak very little Spanish, it was a bit difficult. The most stressing was hearing "muy muy importante" after a long 10 minute intro. Umm yea.. didn't get what was so important, but I sure wish I did. I felt like I was doing well in the class until all of a sudden I didn't. The end of the class was quite a nightmare with opposite hands and feet but I am ok with that because I cannot wait until my next class!
Today we had Patatas Bravas at a restaurant named Mi Gracia they were delicious they were a special kind of patatas bravas recipe,altohugh they were not original patatas bravas and it was just a recipe created by Mi Gracia,they were very good.They were a variation of patatas bravas.
They were crunchy patato cubes with pesto on top they were very very good. I rate them a 8.They were new and good!!!! My taste buds definietely enjoyed thesse ones! Thumbs up!!!!!!!!
In the Western Medirrranean lies the Balearic Islands. The largest islands in this archipelago consist of Eivsisa (Ibiza), Formerntera, Minorca and Majorca. We visited Majorca for the first time this summer. It was beautiful and hot which made perfect swimming weather.
We stayed a couple of nights in Palma and the rest of the time in a beautiful flat in Puerto de Pollenca. Palma was active, lively and alluring whereas Pollenca was quaint, quiet yet still offered plenty of options. Our flat had an airy terrace with an ocean view which we enjoyed every night with breakfast and dinner. Our lil one even enjoyed her first birthday there. She's a fancy one.
I am starting this new thing were I eat patatas bravas all over Barcelona and I will write a review each time on the blog!! If you curious what patatas bravas are they are fried chunks of potatoes covered with spicy creamy sauce. And I will rate them one to ten. One being the worst and ten being heavanly.
Today we eat at ATN restaurant and there patatas bravas were quite good. I rate these patatas bravas a 7! Although they weren't traditional patatas bravas they were good!! Instead of creamy spicy sauce they had tomato sauce on them but they were still good.
See here in Spain at all the metro stations there is an elevator which we call the lazy box.
Especially at the station Joanic is the worst because you will see people who are young skinny, perfectly able and totally fit get in the elevator. Really when the people should not take the elevator unless you are disable have a wheelchair,shopping trolley,luggage or a stroller. Of course that rule doesn't apply here in Spain.Whats even more funny is the fact that they wait for it not like it's already there and they can just jump in.They actually wait for it.And they make people who need to go in the elevator wait until the next turn because of their pure laziness. They not only take it up they take it down it's like how lazy can you possibly be? Can you get any more lazy?
