Spain on the Road Again vs. From Spain with Love

Before coming to Barcelona we continued our research and helped build excitement by watching a couple of tv series about Spain.  We decided on two travel foodie type shows: 1. Spain on the Road Again and 2. From Spain with Love. Both shows were thoroughly entertaining though for completely different reasons.  I would love to say that both series were great and worth every dime, but unfortunately one of them bombed big time for us.

Spain on the Road Again stars Mario Batali and features Gwyneth Paltrow and a couple other folks.  Although Mario Batali was passionate and fun to watch, the show sunk by Gwyneth.  Wow,  I had no idea she could be so unprofessional.  It made our family wonder if she was doing the show as a favor to someone.  It wasn't the fact that she is a vegan faking like she was enjoying meat and cheese. It was that she was so clearly being rude to Mario and cracking sarcastic or borderline statements throughout the show.   It really appeared as if she wasn't enjoying herself at all which was disappointing ..

From Spain with Love with Annie Sibonney was a show we did love!  Our family giggled at how flirty Annie was at times, but ultimately she was full love love just like the title states.  Annie was pleasant, knowledgeable and the show offered a great variety of food and travel.  Overall they did a great job putting it together, it did not seem rushed at all.  Some of the episodes we would like to watch again since we live here now.

From Spain with Love clips:

Lungalfungalosis house Flu season

Over the past 8 weeks our everyone in our family has caught one sickness after another, it started with just before Christmas I got what we like to call lungalfungalosis (it is not a scientific name, I am not sure that is how you would spell it if it was) it is an awful cough were there is so much mucus stuck in you body that when you cough all you spit up is snot. Your throat hurts and it is just terrible.

But this is just the beginning, the next week Mia got a fever and had new teeth coming here. Bonnie was not here she was on a work trip and Mia was going crazy without here mommy.

While Bonnie was on here trip she got also terrible cough and fever. Also in that time my dad got mild food poisoning. When bonnie was gone I was recovering. One day I went to school I was sick all over again. By the time Bonnie got back from her trip we were all sick nobody could do anything.

Slowly bonnie got better first then me my dad and finally poor Mia who just always just catches whatever we have. Again and again we have had repeated colds, coughs, food poisoning, ect. I think we have had all of the types of common basic sicknesses. This week I got mild food poisoning I don't we're from but it hurt, I am glad it is just mild.

I have also come to realize that Spanish medicine is not what we call medicine in America. Spain is not the best place for medicine.

American medicine is syrup has every drug and chemical and is flavored with all kinds of artificial flavors and crazy stuff and might actually taste ok or you have the tablets that one swallow and your finish. You’re cured for about 2-8 hours. No, no, no not in Spain the medicine is very gross it tastes worse then what you would expect. The ibuprofen for kids is called Dasly this very gross orange syrup with a horrible taste. When mia was sick she had to take it and would just spit out I was always like oh come on it can't be that bad until I had to have it myself then I realized how bad it is. Also most of the medicines pharmacies give you with no prescription are homeopathic so they don't always work.
Of course just as everyone really got super sick we ran out of that great American stuff.
by the way we used a lot of hand sanitizer!
I can't wait not to be sick again. Summer please come!

Welcoming the New Year! 2012!!! Best Moments!

Lunch at Federal!

I am happy to welcome the New Year! The first five moths here have flown by! We have had a great time so far. While being here so far we have learn't a lot about ourselves and the rest of Spain such as the culture, society, people, and general things as well! We have had the best of times such as, eating lunch at Federal Cafe (a cute urban cafe), meeting new people from our local cafe, going to our neighborhood festival, trying to order delivery pizza for the first time in Spanish, and seeing some pretty cool sites!
I am glad to be here the experience is amazing and I am going to be sad to leave!
I hope there will be more great adventures in 2012!

The Local festival!

Sagrada Familia

Would you like some SUGAR with that? Azúcar por favor

It seems as if every single beverage here is served with a side of sugar.  Just in case you need a little bit more sweetness to your fresh squeezed juice..add some azúcar.  Don't forget to throw in the "thhhh" sound  and not the "s" sound when you say it because this is Spain people. ;)


Served with sugar:
-Orange Juice (fresh or not)
-fresh squeezed carrot juice
-Yogurt (sweetened or natural)
-Milk that was requested for my 1 year old daughter. Served with sugar every time!


With that said - you never see a container of sugar just out and available for use.  Not in any of the local cafe's, bars or restaurants.  Except for Starbucks.. I think they have sugar laying out there. Hmmm..

My visit from Santa Claus a.ka. Papa Noel!

This Thursday we had "Santa Claus" come and visit at school.
It was an interesting experience considering the fact that I have never been more than 10 feet away from a Santa Claus so this was very awkward but this Santa is not so nice at all .He was very creepy he walked hunched over would not open his eyes it was really weird and scary.Of course any little kid would not think this but personally I did. I swear I am taunted forever! After we took a picture he asked us what we wanted for Christmas and I said a Ferrari but he said Santa elves do not know how to make them yet so I can't get one! But really it was just a joke!
Then Santa gave us pre Christmas gifts witch was a yo-yo! So fun to play with!

Remember to leave cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Visiting Girona, Spain

Girona is a beautiful little town rich with history. I think.. I really wish I could share more details about Girona but honestly I was working while my family enjoyed it.

Every night though I did enjoy a lovely dinner and nice long walk. Our hotel AC Hotel was beautiful and amazingly cheap due to it being off season.

The Pooping Log aka "Tio de Nadal"

Here in Cataluña and also in Valencia, Spain, they have normal Christmas but they have added a tradition that I find so funny! It is called Tio de Nadal, (in English "christmas log"). It's nickname is Caga Tio! This tradition involves a smiling log that on Christmas day, children order it to poop and they sing a little song.

Then children in Cataluña tap this log and apparently it poops candy but this doesn’t just happen over night. The family cares for the log by putting a blanket over it and feeding it food each nite! All over Cataluña you can buy one or the whole family of pooping logs! This tradition is celebrated by almost everyone in Cataluña and Valencia A This really makes things alot more exciting for everyone! These are the little things about Spain that I love!

Flamenco classes - update

It's my second week at a new school. The first one didn't have mirrors. If you have two left feet and two left hands, the absence of mirrors can only make it worse.

The new school is great. The class is smaller and more casual and the instructor is a better teacher. Although I love it, I still find flamenco quite difficult. Hoping it clicks real soon.

Spain's #1 necessity!

When you go to a restaurant and look at the menu this is normally what you see Pasta con Jamon,Boccadillo de Jamon, Pizza con Jamon basically jamon,jamon,jamon!
What is jamon you ask? It is pig otherwise known as pork. Here in Spain jamon is part of there life style, I understand that people like it but you don't need it in every meal! If you tell people in Spain you do not eat pork they will think you are crazy, and then offer you bacon.

They love pork so much that there are whole stores that are all pork and nothing else.
The thing that is the most disturbing to me is whole ham legs curing themselves by hanging from a ceiling as they mold, smoke themselves and sweat, there is even a little plastic cup to catch the sweat as it drips down from the ham leg I find this quite gross. It also reeks and smells terrible when ever you walk past a pork shop you can smell it even though your not in the shop. I wouldn't mind these ham legs if they weren't in every bar, restaurant, and peoples homes! I just don't find them so appealing or yummy.

Around the Christmas time here when you go to a grocery store there are whole holiday displays of ham legs apparently here in Spain ham legs make great gifts considering pretty much everyone loves ham!

What I really think is interesting is ham can range from sliced ham that costs about 5 euros to whole ham legs that cost 150 euros,I do not know why people spend so much money on ham?

Spanish people think ham is necessity of life!

Mint & Lime Pasta -- oh yes!

Bar Lobo located just off Las Ramblas, is my new favorite cafe. It has a rustic feel and an open kitchen smack front and center of the cafe. There you can see just how fresh the food being prepared is. Perfect for foodies and/or germiphobes.

The pan con tomate is the best I have had to date. For lunch, I love to get the Mint, Lime & Fresh Mozzarella Pasta. It's light yet packed with a fresh and clean flavor. Who would have thought you could marry mojitos and pasta?

Highly recommended!

A Slap on the back of the head!

My new haircut!

Here in Spain there is a very wierd but funny tradition,it is everytime you get your hair cut people are allowed to slap you on the back of the head.

My experience with this came just last week!I got my hair cut and went into school the next day not expecting much more then a few "Oh you look diffrent" comments but no it was "Oh you look diffrent" SLAP, Hi! SLAP Buenas días! SLAP,Bon día! SLAP Que Tal? A slap here a slap there.Everyone was slapping my head.Honestly a thought it was a practical joke.So me getting annoyed I had to ask apparently it is a tradition in Spain,i felt so stupid.I mean even the teachers were doing it. Of course everybody slapped me lightly but it got to a point were I was irritated.
This is a little thing that makes Spain all the more fun!

Fabulous little beach town - Sitges!!

We had a wonderful time in Sitges Spain a fabulous little beach town. We took the Renfe high speed train to Sitges which surprisingly took only 30min. We also brought along our good friend Shelley and her little angel baby boy Remi. We had a great day of wandering and eating.

The beaches were amazing unfortunately it was too cold to go into the water but we still had a great time! The town was cute and cozy it was a very fun day. We plan to go back again sometime before we leave!!!



If you ever are in Spain I highly recommend Sitges!!

Rob & Jane Come to Barcelona

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.

Flamenco Dance Class

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!

Here's some Flamenco:

and some street performers:

Barcelona Patatas Bravas review #2 !!!

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!!!!!!!!

Cheers to Mi Gracia

Majorca, Spain

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.