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Published: January 20th 2007
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Our 10-day love affair with a Smart Car for Two must come, as all good things do, to an end. It´s been fun, but it´s time to stop paying tolls and buying gas and instead return to the days of lugging all our worldly possessions on our backs. Yay. We agree that renting a car was a good decision...however, we are more aware than ever of how much we never want to own one. Never again do I want to drive around for an hour and a half to find parking or to fork over 50 bucks a day for tolls! I long for nothing more than a good bike and a helmet. 😊
About 5 days ago, inspired by some Hemingway I´d been reading, we drove to Pamplona, home of the world famous bull runs. I´d been a few years ago, but it was practically a ghost town this time of year. The first picture I´ve attached shows a beautiful cafe we dined in (with gorgeous belle epoque decor). That night we partook in a tasting menu at a local tapas bar featuring several of their award-winning recipes. Meatballs covered in white chocolate served with red grapefruit. Wow. I
had no idea that was coming.
We headed out early the next morning and stopped off in the tiny town of Olite to see the Museo del vino. Despite the dusty, not-big-enough-to-be-on-the-map feeling of the town, we were amazed by the museum. I learned all about wine production, from soil to vine to cask to bottle. The most interesting part for me was the last room where you learned how to properly taste wine. Apparently the tongue has 4 kinds of taste receptors (bitter, sweet, salty and acidic). In order to help you understand where each kind of receptor is they had 4 kinds of candies (bitter, sweet, salty and acidic) to taste and then spit out. It´s fascinating to isolate those flavors and appreciate them one at a time. Then, to top all, they gave us 2 bottles of wine for free, just for coming to the museum!
After our pitstop in Olite we finished our day´s drive in Barcelona. Having prearranged a sublet in the Poble Sec neighborhood, we were surprised to find that the 4th floor apartment we were to stay in was actually on the 7th floor. You see, first comes the Planta Baja,
then the Entresuelo (meaning "the between floor"), then the Piso Principal and then onto the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. It was a big haul, but well worth the enormous room with a terrace and a view of the Sagrada Familia (the gigantic cathedral that towers over the city).
Much to Sage´s delight we found a Japanese restaurant with an all you can eat sushi buffet. Though not as fabulous as the buffet we tried in Costa Rica, this buffet did have the distinct advantage of being on a moving conveyor belt. What fun!
I enjoyed the sangria and reading the local paper. We revisited some classic sites (Parc Güell, the Rambla, Quatre Gats) and explored a good deal more. I´d never been to the GIGANTIC outdoor market. The selection of fish was overwhelming. I couldn´t identify half the shellfish and Sage nearly died at the sight of so many varieties of ham.
From Barcelona we headed north to L´Escala where my friend Katie Linder and her boyfriend Jordi are living. (I should mention that their charming apartment is practically on top of the Mediterranean.) They showed us a grand time, complete with seafood dinners (I´d never
tried razor clams before. Delicious!) and a tour of the local winery. Jordi showed us how to sample port wine from a porro (a long stemed carafe thing) without touching your lips to the glass. After a fabulous night´s sleep, we pause for a quick swim in the sea and then their pool. Refreshed and showered, we hopped back in the car and drove...well, fast. I can´t say how fast because I don´t know the precise conversion, but suffice to say we made great time.
Having arrived in Zaragoza a bit early, we had time for an Italian dinner of incredible salad and pizza. The plazas here are goreous and we could, no doubt, spend many days exploring Zaragoza. Sadly we are just passing through and will drive to Madrid in the morning to return the car and pick up our bags. Then we´re off to Málaga to find an apartment and get settled.
Well, I need to catch some z´s before our drive tomorrow. I hope you are all well. We think of you often and will write more once we get settled.
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