Renting a car and headin down to Almeria

After 2 days in Toledo, we headed back to the Madrid Airport to pick up the rental car. My mom really wanted to be able to swim at least once in the Mediterranean on her trip to Spain so I asked around and was told that Almeria would be a good choice. People said it was a good choice because It wasn't AS FAR north (hence warmer and closer) as some of the other Mediterranean beaches and that the beaches were "virgin."

But before we could get on the road to Almeria, my mom wanted to look into to changing her flight and staying a few more days in Spain. We talked with a girl at the ticket desk in the airport and she was able to arrange a really nice deal for my mom with basically the same flight pattern, schedule and price. I think she only had to pay around 200$ to change her flight(which is cheaper than most).

We then picked up the car and headed out of Madrid. Once again I was a ball of stress. In my 8 months here, I hadn't been driving at all. I was not only out of practice, but worried about different road signs, getting lost and other drivers on the road. Not to mention we were on a bit of a tight schedule for the first few days so I also felt this nagging sense of urgency which shouldn't be allowed but sometimes can't be avoided on vacations. Originally my mom was going to drive and had gotten the necessary International Driver's License through AAA in the U.S. before coming. She had to present that when renting the car and they assumed that she would be the driver. But then at the last minute we decided that it might be a little too stressful having her drive in a COMPLETELY new country straight out the gate. So I drove which worked out good. That way she could be the navigator and also look out the window to enjoy the changing scenery on her vacation.

Almeria was very dry, kind of like Eastern Washington and apparently Hollywood has filmed lots of westerns there in the past and packaged them as if they were the old west. One of Clint Eastwood's old westerns was filmed there but I'm not sure which one it was. Also, there was a ton of agriculture there in Almeria, but most of it was covered with white tarps for miles and miles. We were weren't exactly sure why. We drove for about 5 1/2 to 6 hours before the big, tan desert hills broke and we got a dramatic glimpse of the turquoise Mediterranean. It was gorgeous!!!

We pulled into Carboneras which is a small white beach town in Almeria and started looking for a grocery store. That town was really difficult to navigate through because the roads were so narrow that one car could hardly fit and certainly not 2. Most of them were one way streets, so we could see our destination but never quite make it there because all the sudden we would have to turn in the opposite direction according to the one way signs. It was frustrating because we were racing against the sun so we could see a Mediterranean sunset with a little picnic down at Playa de los Muertos. We found a Mercadona, did a quick shopping trip, found our hostel(not without trouble), checked in and headed up to the entrance to Playa de los Muertos.

It was a little hike down to the beach but nothin too crazy. It was superwindy and a bit cold still in April. We had hoped to go swimming but that evening it was just too cold and windy. From the wind and rough, choppy waters, the color of the Mediterranean changed from the turquoise we had scene earlier to a cloudy blue. We did, however, invent a fabulous sandwich in all our hurried state of grab this, grab that at the grocery store. We had these fresh whole wheat mini loaves of bread that we bought, spreadable goat cheese, dry sausage/salami type link, and jalapeno stuffed green olives. With my new knife, we spread on the goat cheese, chopped up the salami and olives and piled our sandwiches high. They were SO incredibly good. We sat in the sand, facing the water and eating our fabulous new inventions while I sipped straight from a bottle of red wine.......ahhhhh!!! Only one problem....we couldn't see the sunset. Playa de los Muertos is on Cabo de Gata which means that our sunset was being blocked because we were on the eastern side of the Cape. Good one Jessey!! Way to think that one through. lol.

The next morning we started out by taking advantage of our free breakfast of lattes and the traditional Spanish breakfast of toast with olive oil and grated tomato on it. Then, luckily the owner of the hostal was kind enough to let my mom make an international call on her phone to figure out why her credit card wasn't working. It was a 1-800 number but from another country it doesn't quite work like that(another little added stress). But anyhow, the lady was sweet and let my mom use her office and phone for a minute. Meanwhile I brought the car around, we loaded up and headed down to the beach again but this time just the city beach. We got in the water a little although it was pretty cold. We didn't actually swim, just got wet so that we could say we did it. We bathed in the Mediterranean. Then, it was off to Granada......

Toledo

Our first night in Toledo my mommy dearest had to catch up on her sleep and try to shake the jet-leg a little. She had slept a solid 12 hours that night when I decided I should wake her up so we could explore the city. Since my step dad has her spoiled with fresh coffee delivered bedside every day back home, she requested that I bring some coffee directly to her bed. Since unlike Seattle, coffees to-go aren't the norm here in Spain, I was a little worried at how I would get her coffee to her bedside that morning. But since I love her, I pulled a few strings in the restaurant down below and they let me take the glass cup up to our hostal and she got her precious coffee in bed. And joking aside, I was glad to do it:) I was excited to have her with me.

Toledo was cool because it has the Gothic architecture which gives it a little bit of a cold, spooky and mysterious feel. It feels a bit like a fairy tale and you can easily envision knights in shining armor riding around on their white horses. Also, it is built in a river valley which gives it lots of hills to hike up. I actually was looking to lose a few pounds so I welcomed all these butt busting hills. Luckily my mom is a great travel partner and had no problem keepin up. In fact I'd say she kept up better than most 20 something year olds that I know. We spent the entire day trekking up and down the steep hills of the city. We walked down to the river by the gorgeous bridge, into the agave, back up to the hostel, around to shops, and basically just took pictures all day.

In Toledo, I wanted to buy a knife since I often wish I had one here for various reasons AND I had heard that Toledo is famous for its knives and swords. A sword, not so easy to take back to the U.S., so I bought a really cool, Gothic looking pocket knife with a dragon's head on the end and a sketch of a dragon on the side. Its pretty sick!!! I have used it a lot already...at picnics that is. But I also just like knowing that I have it JUST IN CASE. Although I've been informed that it is illegal here to carry one. Oops.

I know everyone hates to hear this but I haven't been altogether very stoked on the food in Spain. For my taste buds, everything seems bland and repetitive to me. I will later blog on exactly why I think this is in a later blog. BUT, I had some of the best food that I've had in Spain at a restaurant in Toledo. We read about it in my tourist guide book and thought we should try and find it. It was worth the trouble we had finding it for sure. It's called Bar Ludeña in la plaza Magdalena. It was completely full on their patio and there was a wait list for the restaurant, so we just saddled up to the bar and ordered what the bartender suggested. We had a sampler of sausages that tasted like they could have been deer meat. We had a delicious stew called caramusas with deer meat, peas and a slightly spicy tomato sauce. We also had sardines in a garlic, vinegar and oil which was THE BOMB. I have tried these boquerones en vinagre many times in Spain but this recipe was by far the most tasty. Every little bite was scrumptious and we left that restaurant feeling fat and happy.

Other things we enjoyed in Toledo were the manchengo cheese with membrillo, which is like a fruit butter, spread on top and then the little mazapan treats that Toledo is famous for. The mazapan is something that I have seen in the U.S. as well and apparently started originally somewhere in Greece and has spread all over the world. It is made in large quantities in Toledo by the nuns there. Toledo was at one time considered the spiritual capital of the world and still has a lot of convents where they make mazapan for a living.

Procession Semana Santa in Toledo

The Mother Daughter Adventure Begins....

A couple weeks ago, I was blessed with a visit from my mom aka Pacific Northwest folk musician Susan Welch. lol. I was soooooo happy to have her come all this way, across the Atlantic ocean on a 16 hour flight to come spend time with me and see a little bit of the world I have been living in over the past 8 months. It really meant so much to me. Like many of the other Americans in my programs, I didn't go home for the holidays so I was really missing the feeling of having someone around who loved me unconditionally and understood me as much as any person can understand another. You must consider the fact that you are perceived very differently when you speak another language and with a strange accent and lots of little mistakes mind you. It felt really good to have someone around who saw me in the light that I am used to being seen in, rather than as a silly little foreigner. Plus, I wanted to hear my mom's impressions of the country even if only from the perspective of vacationer, rather than someone living and working in the country which is a whole nother ball game as you could imagine.

So, our trip started with me picking her up at the Madrid airport on a Monday morning. We both shed a couple tears at the airport, me more than her understandably. I have just been alone over here for what seems like forever and missing SO many people. To see her face just made me so happy and I am more of "a tears of joy" than a tears of sadness person.

So, after the waterworks, we took the Metro to the bus station and then caught a 45 minute bus to Toledo. I feel a little bad cuz I was stressing myself out by worrying about all our plans and making sure I we caught the right connections and found our way around these cities on public transportation and such. My poor mama was probably not understanding my stress and was feeling her own weird exhaustion from being jet-legged and overwhelmed in a new country and language. But we found our hostal, which as it turns out, is not a hostel but a step up from that where you get your own room but is less expensive than a hotel. Its a great way to go when travelling through Spain and only costed 45 € a night for 2 people. And what we call a hostel, where you share a room with others and there is a community kitchen, is called an albergue apparently. Anyways, so our hostal was really nice and the people that worked there were super-nice as well. We had a little balcony and from it where able to watch one of the processions of Semana Santa come through at night. I thought the night processions where much more effective and dramatic. Up next is a video that I shot from our balcony. Stay tuned for more mother daughter adventures :) This is only the beginning!!

Mojo Picon..from the Canary Islands

One of the ladies that I teach on Tuesday nights made this for us one night. I absolutely LOVED it. I know that it is traditionally used as a sauce for small boiled potatoes but I could see myself using it also as a sauce over white fish like snapper, cod or halibut or even shrimp or scallops. It is very simple but a tiny bit spicy and most definitely worth trying. Enjoy!!!

Mojo Picon

(pronounced moho peek-own)

250 centilitres of olive oil (metric people, sorry)

Some drops of white vinegar

1 clove of garlic

Some leaves of parsley

leaves of cilantro (not many, it´s much stronger than parsley)

A pinch of salt

Blend all ingredients together and serve over boiled potatoes such as baby reds or yukon golds or whatever soft-textured small potatoes you can find. Or if you're like me, try it over white fish or even chicken. And if you want if more spicy, just add more garlic. Feel free to play with the recipe a little.

Salmorejo, about as Spanish as you can get

I teach a group of 3 really awesome ladies on Tuesday nights for private English lessons. We have our class around dinner time so we always end up bringing snacks to our lesson. I asked if anyone could teach me how to make Salmorejo because its one of the things I have grown to really like and Fernanda said "no problem, just come a little early for our lesson next time." She whipped it up in front of me in less than 15 minutes. And it was super delicious!!! Its a good recipe if you have left over crusty bread. And with the raw tomatoes and olive oil, it seems to be a pretty healthy little tapa as well.

Salmorejo

5 or 6 tomatoes peeled

1/2 cup more or less of olive oil

a small (or 1-2 slices) piece of french bread or baguette style bread

cured ham (optional)

boiled egg (optional)

no more than 1/4 cup of white vinegar (according to desired taste)

salt (also according to desired taste)

Blend peeled tomatoes, vinegar, bread, salt and olive oil (oil towards the end) together in blender or with a hand mixer. Pour into a bowl and top with shaved, cured ham, boiled egg crumbles, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with fresh bread for scooping, spreading or dipping :)

Finally, Some Spanish Recipes

For those of you who know me, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook. The majority of MY cooking has been the result of experimenting in the kitchen. But now I realize that if you're going to cook traditional food from another country you'd better follow a recipe or at least have someone native to that country teach you how. So, I asked around for some ladies to teach me step by step some of the traditional recipes that I have enjoyed while here in Cordoba. This first one is a typical dessert that you see a lot of during Semana Santa. It's super-easy to make..almost like making french toast but it turns out quite different as you will see:) Also, for those of you who know me, I am a mad scientist in the kitchen but I don't generally measure anything. So, I am sorry if my recipes are a little vague but if your any friend of mine than you're smart and can figure this out without too much trouble. Just use common sense and experiment with these recipes a little. Buena suerte and keep your eyes peeled for more recipes to come!!

Torrijas

• a couple cups of milk
• a couple cinnamon sticks
• bread(preferably the kind for good french toast)
• a half a lemon peel
• ground cinnamon
• sugar
• oil(preferably olive oil)
• 2 eggs

Put milk, cinnamon and lemon peel in a bowl and let sit for at least 30 min.

Meanwhile scramble 2 eggs in a shallow dish. Mix your cinnamon and sugar and keep on a nearby plate. Shortly thereafter, you will want to start your oil heating in a frying pan. The oil should be deep enough so that you feel like you are almost deep frying the torrijas. Then, dip the slices of bread into the milk mixture one at a time, making sure that they are soaked through completely with milk. Then dip them on both sides in the egg and then on to the frying pan.
When bread is golden on both sides remove the torrija and place it onto the plate where you have the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Using a spoon cover both sides of the bread with the mixture.

Let chill for at least 30 minutes before eating so that the inside firms up a little. Buen provecho!!