It's killing me to be inside...

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because it's such a GORGEOUS day today! After red warnings yesterday about crazy winds and a storm, today is calm and beautiful; I just got back from spending a good chunk of my day in the sun but sadly, I have a 10 pg. paper to write (in Spanish of course) about Velazquez and the Gold Centuries in Spain... boo... this week is actually feeling very school-like, imagine that haha.
Thursday I did something very authentically Basque-I went to a sideria (cider house). Sidra (sEE-drah) is alcoholic apple cider and is especially popular in the north. The season for sidra is from about the beginning of Feb. to April. We went with a few locals around 9:30pm to one which was a 10-15 min walk from the university. The first thing you do when you walk in is grab a glass for your sidra, then you walk into to a big room with long wooden tables, the wall lined with huge barrels of sidra, and people standing around the tables as they eat (we asked for small stools, but most people just stand). There is a man whose sole job is to unplug the barrels of sidra, and the people go up in waves to fill their cups from the flowing stream. The proper way to do it is to only fill your cup up about 1-2 inches and then drink it immediately; you do this throughout the meal and in between courses. The food was de-lic-ious! There was tortilla de bacalao to start (a cod omelet), followed by more bacalao with red peppers, and then a huge steak, with cheese and membrillo (a solid jelly is the best way I can describe it) for dessert. Around midnight we were the last ones there and got the hint to leave haha.
Well off to write that paper.... hasta luego mis amores.

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Photos

Sidra
I'm concentrating... haha

On the grill
The delicious hunks of meat

Round I: Tortilla de bacalao
Not even exaggerating, this is one of the best things I have ever tasted in my life.

Round II
more cod

Round III
as big as my head!