Honeymoon Beds

Here are our beds at our abuelas (Barcelona Grandma).

Paul and I laugh as we have spent the majority of our honeymoon in separate beds. Most of the cheap rooms just have 2 singles or 2 singles pushed together to make one bed!

Pork- Part 2

Here are some pigs enjoying a picnic lunch (these are real stuffed pigs) in the front of a meat counter at a store! Paul thought it was hilarious.

¡Barcelona, España!

Barcelona!

What a surprise! We did not know what to expect of the city and were so impressed. So clean, easy to get around in and stylishly modern with a great historical center.

We went to Spanish school each morning to learn some of the language and then spent the afternoons wandering the town. We stayed with a lady and ate breakfast and dinner with her each day in order to practice our Spanish. She didn´t speak any English and took incredible care of us and cooked incredible seafood meals. She was hilarious and it was a lot of fun to chat with her everyday. She was like our Grandma.

Gaudi--where we get the word "Gawdy" is an architect who designed many modern buildings in Barcelona. Some are "Gawdy" a mishmash of every style. Other like La Pedrara are incredible apartment buildings designed to follow the curving lines of nature and allow in as much light as possible.

The last day we were there we went to a monastery north of Barcelona and climbed up some of the rocky cathedral like spires that dominate the region. This is where the Virgen Negro (Black Virgin) the patron saint of Catalonia was found hundreds of years ago. It is a sacred place for many and visited by many pilgrims.

ROME- A journey looking back

Some believed that they were miraculous giants who once lived among the rest of us. The Romans built so much then after the collapse of the Roman Empire so much of the knowledge was forgotten and legends were created until the renaissance when the artists and architects rediscovered much of the knowledge of the Roman designs. Seeing the Pantheon and the coliseum and all the infrastructure of this city--so interesting.

We toured Vatican City, so amazing to be in such a place but you are there with 20,000 other people so you don´t get to see as much as you would like you just are herded along. Rome was filled to the brim with tourists. It was very difficult to find a room.

Walking in the forum and seeing all the layers of excavation that has been going on for over 100 years and seeing the old city emerge from below was so intriguing. We really would have liked to learn more about all of the history in the forum.--The next trip!

Italian Food-Cooking Class

We signed up for a cooking class from an Italian cooking diva. (Originally from Canada but Italian for the last 30 years). We joined her at her restaurant and left for the market. All the fruits-vegetables are marked by region of origin to encourage buying local produce. Sharon is a world reknowed chef she has been on the Food Network and has cooked with Rachel Ray she is a very easygoing person and it was so interesting to visit the market with her and have her explain what to look for and the seasonality of food.

We tried balsamic vinegar at a place where they had aged it for 12 to 30 years. It was amazing as syrupy as molasses--it tasted almost like an incredibly fine wine. I had never tasted anything like it. We are regretting not buying any of it.

We set off for Sharon´s apartment and we all joined in making homemade pasta, sauce, bruchetta and peach tarts with a custard sauce. The meal and the wine were very good and now that we know the recipes we are looking forward to making some meals for our friends and family next year.

Bon Apetit!