A complaint was made that I do not appear in any of the blog photos so I´ll close with this one even though it is incomplete without Amanda.
This is our last night in Madrid. We followed our usual schedule but added lots of laundry and house cleaning (Amanda did all of this) and then a trip to the Arab baths. While we were soaking I was fantasizing about a world tour of bathing. I recalled some fabuluous bathing in my life, in Kyoto, Istanbul, Taipei and the Russian baths in Manhattan, not to mention many natural hot springs and hippie sanctuaries around the west coast of the U.S of A. Time to start planning. Let us know if you want to join us.
We head to Seattle tomorrow to spend a few days with my parents then home to Portland on Sunday. Curtis and Antonia have planned out their movie viewing for the plane journey. When else are they going to be faced with an opportunity to watch 15 hours of television without me yelling at them to play outside?
Alhambra
We just got back from a trip south to Granada and Cordoba. We had a great time exploring the Alhamabra despite the heat which was upwards of 106 F. While we were in Granada we spent three nights at a youth hostel and had a fine time of it. At first Curtis and Antonia were a bit put off by sharing a room with two strangers but they warmed up to it and soon were quite comfortable wandering around the traditional old house full of young people from all over the world. Curtis said, "Its kind of like going to camp, except there are all these young people smoking hookahs and drinking beer."
We were totally conspicuous, easily the eldest and the youngest guests which made some people uncomfortable and others very warm and curious. On our first night, as soon as my family went to bed I was approached by a Belgian woman who sat down and asked, "Do you always stay at hostels like this with your kids?" She came to Granada a year ago to learn the flamenco guitar, got a job at the hostel and hasn´t left. (Although now she is on her way to Chile to work on a "rolling hostel" a bus that apparently works its way up and down the Chilean coast.)
There is much to write about the past week on the road but not much time to catch up. We have entered our final week and our time will be spent at the swimming pool, the flea market, the arab baths and at the outdoor tables of El Rincón.
We were totally conspicuous, easily the eldest and the youngest guests which made some people uncomfortable and others very warm and curious. On our first night, as soon as my family went to bed I was approached by a Belgian woman who sat down and asked, "Do you always stay at hostels like this with your kids?" She came to Granada a year ago to learn the flamenco guitar, got a job at the hostel and hasn´t left. (Although now she is on her way to Chile to work on a "rolling hostel" a bus that apparently works its way up and down the Chilean coast.)
There is much to write about the past week on the road but not much time to catch up. We have entered our final week and our time will be spent at the swimming pool, the flea market, the arab baths and at the outdoor tables of El Rincón.
Coffee and cigarettes
Since our return from Mallorca we have fallen into a nice rhythm here. We have all been enjoying leisurely mornings at El Rincón, even Curtis has taken to starting his day with a café con leché. He´s even started smoking his sugar packet when he´s done.
Yesterday it was 40C (104F) and we were feeling the heat here in Madrid. This afternoon we will board the train to Granada where people tell us its hot. Our time here is coming to an end with this week divided between the towns Granada and Cordoba and then another week in Madrid before we return home. We are of mixed feelings, excited to go home and sorry to have to leave.
Yesterday it was 40C (104F) and we were feeling the heat here in Madrid. This afternoon we will board the train to Granada where people tell us its hot. Our time here is coming to an end with this week divided between the towns Granada and Cordoba and then another week in Madrid before we return home. We are of mixed feelings, excited to go home and sorry to have to leave.
Guernica
One of the main reasons tourists (like me) visit the Reina Sophia museum is to see Picasso´s "Guernica". But, like the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, there are so many other people in the room that you really can´t appreciate what you are there to see. Instead one resorts to taking pictures which, unlike most museums, the Reina Sophia allows. So, there I was standing in the crowd looking at this enormous painting and I decided to take pictures of other people´s pictures. This person seems to have gotten a good one to take back with her to Italy.
Reina Sofia
Madrid 2009 379
Originally uploaded by MacYam
Serrano vs. Ibérico
We have this little shop down the street, right around the corner from our apartment where we taste meats. The proprietor is a lovely man who delights in showing us the varieties of cured hams, salamies and cheeses that he has in his tiny storefront and he always chides Antonia for not eating meat. Then he gives her candy. When the shop isn´t busy he does not hesitate to dole out slices for us to sample. In the morning he is hanging out in front of his shop as we pass by on our way to El Rincón for our café con leche. He waves enthusiastically and speaks to me, like I have a bad head injury, very loud and slowly with lots of exagerated gestures. Everyone on the street feels sorry and wonders about the old man with the two children.
Today we went back for a taste test. There are principly two kinds of cured hams, Serrano and Ibérico. Jamón serrano is "mountain cured" in the fresh air at high altitudes. (Or in a refrigerated cellar in some wherehouse in Madrid) Jamón Ibérico is also called pata negra (black leg) from the black Ibérian pig believed to be a descendant of the wild boar. The best Ibérico is fed exclusively on wild, autumn acorns. We got a run down on the two varieties and what part of the leg these cuts come from and went home with 100 grams of each. Guess what, they´re both good but Amanda and Curtis prefered the serrano.
I have read that the Spanish lust for ham is the result of their kicking the Jews and the Arabs out of Spain. In the 1600´s, once the Spaniards were free of those semites with all their dietary restrictions, the people of Spain began to eat pork with wild abandon, a sort of declaration of independence.
Today we went back for a taste test. There are principly two kinds of cured hams, Serrano and Ibérico. Jamón serrano is "mountain cured" in the fresh air at high altitudes. (Or in a refrigerated cellar in some wherehouse in Madrid) Jamón Ibérico is also called pata negra (black leg) from the black Ibérian pig believed to be a descendant of the wild boar. The best Ibérico is fed exclusively on wild, autumn acorns. We got a run down on the two varieties and what part of the leg these cuts come from and went home with 100 grams of each. Guess what, they´re both good but Amanda and Curtis prefered the serrano.
I have read that the Spanish lust for ham is the result of their kicking the Jews and the Arabs out of Spain. In the 1600´s, once the Spaniards were free of those semites with all their dietary restrictions, the people of Spain began to eat pork with wild abandon, a sort of declaration of independence.
Union Maid
We couldn´t help but think of the tradeswomen in our lives (in particular our beloved Worker Anne) when we came across these bags of union-made concrete mix. Although we have yet to see any women working in the construction industry here in Spain, we enjoyed the way the female laborer is depicted on the bag. As the bag says, always wear gloves to protect your hands but beyond that, worksite dress code is up to you. Bare midriff and shorts? You bet, girl! And, as Antonia was quick to notice, the union maid who is truly in solidarity with the cause has her breast tatooed with the same logo as her hard hat.
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