Tomatina!!

Valencia, August 17-26. Many things happened during the 9 days we spent in Spain's third-largest city, including the eating of a tortilla de patatas made by the jedi master of tortillas, Ximo's mother. We also ate paella de pollo y conejo, fideuá, many awesome tapas, and fabulous produce from Valencia's mercat central. We went to Europe's largest aquarium, toured a many-layered cathedral, and chased pigeons in the Plaza de la Virgen.

And we were robbed.

Yup, our backpack was stolen from right under our noses while on the beach with Ximo and María José. We lost MANY keys (leading to a long night of running around to replace said keys so we could get the car back to Valencia), Chaia's new camera, a book I loaned to Ximo 2 years ago and just got back, and some random clothes.

That said, we had a terrific time in Valencia and can't wait to get back again. The city is gorgeous, the food terrific, and the old friends can't be beat (Ximo and I met through an exchange program 27 years ago!). On the last day of our stay on the Mediterranean coast, I was able to realize a lifelong dream; Ximo and I went out to the unremarkable town of Buñol to take part in the world's most famous food fight, La Tomatina.

I have enclosed some stock photos below to illustrate (I didn't DARE bring our camera), but basically La Tomatina is this:

• for 364 days a year, Buñol is an industrial town of about 10,000 people.
• On the last Wednesday of August, the town becomes the focus of all chaos in the universe.

That's it. On said Wednesday, around 30,000 people descend on the narrow, winding streets of Buñol, dressed in bathing suits, goggles, t-shirts, some with watermelon-rind helmets, and throw very ripe tomatoes at each other. For an hour. Gigantic trucks bring in millions of tomatoes from western Spain (these tomatoes, everyone says, are overripe and in any case the wrong kind for human consumption) and, on a signal, begin to dump the tomatoes on the main street of the oldest part of town while driving at 2 mph up the street. Then people from EVERYWHERE (I met Serbians, Americans, Brits, Germans, Portuguese, Italians, Japanese, Chinese, and Spaniards) join in a messy, red, fragrant mosh pit. It instantly brings out the 8 year old in everyone, and people are smiling, laughing, and literally swimming in tomatoes and juice.
And then it ends (sort of). The trucks leave, people are dancing and singing, and from every balcony in the city water from hoses and buckets rains down on the heads of the tomato-warriors. People come out and uncover their housefronts and storefronts, and begin to clean up the streets. The acid from the tomatoes does a pretty amazing job cleaning the street and walls, and to be honest I can't remember when my hair felt softer and cleaner. The rest of the day is a street party filled with food stands, music, beer, and sangría. Then everyone goes home (or somewhere else), and Buñol turns back into a sleepy, industrial town.

For anyone not terrorized by crowds and chaos, I highly recommend the Tomatina. Just make sure you leave a change of clothes somewhere safe (I did).






Photos from google.com.

Toledo, imperial city

After leaving El Bonillo (and it was not easy to leave Llani and Olallo's gorgeous house and fantastic cooking!) we headed out in Llani's car to Toledo, the current capital of Castilla-La Mancha and a city built layer upon layer over the past 2,000 years. When the Romans arrived on the Iberian peninsula (your people, Bill!) there were already people living on the hill that overlooks the Tajo river.

Toledo is a fascinating place, and one of the most visited sites in Spain. Ben noted that he hadn't heard any English speakers yet on our trip, but in Toledo we were pretty well surrounded by other "turistas." In the 5th century after the fall of Rome, this city (Toletum) became the capital of Visigothic Iberia. Under the Moors (a catch-all term for the many Muslim peoples to control the peninsula between 711 and 1492, history lovers) Toledo was a city of unusually peaceful coexistence between Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. When the monarchs Fernando and Isabel arrived here they loved the city so much that they decided to be buried here, and commissioned a church to be built to house their tombs (San Juan de Las Peñas, it's a spectacular Gothic church with a beautiful cloister). Only in Toledo (a common phrase of mine) can you find a "Synogogue of St. Mary." If you only go to Spain once in your life, Toledo is a must.

We found a hotel to stay in (actually, Andee and I stayed here about 14 years ago too) with a view from our balcony that would take your breath away. Then we ate at a nearby restaurant (patatas bravas and bocadillos) and headed for the cathedral. There we spent the next 2 hours, and Ben and Chaia learned more than anyone should have to know about church architecture and symbolism.

Toledo is the seat of the Archbishop of Spain, and as such has a magnificent cathedral, one of the four most beautiful in Spain in my opinion (let's see if we get to the other three this year...). Just a sampling of things to be seen here are eye-poppingly beautiful illuminated bibles, massive stained glass rose windows, the Transparente, Spain's greatest work of Baroque art, and a Sacristy (it's where the priests' robes, and other sacred treasures, are kept) full of paintings by Caravaggio, Van Dyck, Titian, Goya, and at least 15 or 16 by El Greco.

Oh, and did I mention the GIGANTIC painting of St. Christopher on the wall of the cathedral? He's the saint that, in 1969, was dropped from the list of saints because there was very little evidence that he really lived. His mother must have been furious.
Anyway, we spent two days in Toledo, visiting churches and museums (the Museo Sefardi, which houses the history of Jews in Spain, was great). Then, in the heat of the day (the thermometer read 38 degrees celsius- about 100 farenheit) we left Toledo and braved the 3 1/2 hour drive to Valencia, where my great friend Ximo lives. It was an uneventful drive, and should only be noted that there is a REALLY obvious loss of altitude from Toledo to Valencia, at sea level. When you leave the plains of La Mancha, you really do leave the plains. More later...

Back online!!

Well, after about a week and a half, I have managed to land in a city with real internet service. SO much has happened in the last 11 days that I will only be able to cover everything with a list. If there is a real interest in anything listed, let me know and I will elaborate. Here goes:

1. We left Zaragoza by AVE, the 180 mph train to Madrid. It only took 1 hour and 15 minutes.
2. We took another train to Albacete, in La Mancha, and my/our friend Llani picked us up.
3. We spent 10 days in Llani and Olallo's house (actually their vacation house) in the little town of El Bonillo, a town of about 3,000 people on a hill overlooking the plains of La Mancha. (The rest of this list takes place in El Bonillo)
4. I went for several mountain bike rides with Olallo (rhymes with Oh-MY-oh!) in 95 degree heat under the Castillian sun.
   
5. I spent several nights not sleeping, because my body was desperately trying to return some of the heat it had absorbed during the bike rides (it is cool in El Bonillo at night).
6. I learned how to cook Gazpacho Manchego from Olallo's brother Emilio.
7. I watched Chaia try snails and rabbit, and like both.
8. I went rabbit hunting with Olallo, his son Carlos, and his brother Emilio (and yes, I did the Elmer Fudd voice at least a dozen times). I did not shoot at anything. I just took lots of pictures.
9. We went to Villabuena de Los Infantes, a VERY Castillian town with a beautiful plaza, several notable mentions in Don Quijote, and where Francisco de Quevedo spent the final days of his life (there is a Quevedo museum there).
10. We spent a day with Llani's cousin and his wife, who run a summer camp out of a giant manor house built for a survivor of the Titanic (complete with staircase designed to match the grand staircase on the ship).
    
11. We went to a series of small lakes, called lagunas, that form the birthplace of the Guadiana river (one of Spain's major rivers). There, we discovered that both Ben and Chaia love lamb.
12. We ate an absurd quantity of meat, the staple of Manchego food.
13. We, along with Llani's family, ate 15 kilos of tomatos in 10 days.
14. We toured the church of El Bonillo, a neoclassical building with origins in the 14th century, a baroque altar, oh, and tucked up in the 1-room museum, a pair of original paintings by El Greco and Ribera (WOW!!).
15. We went, almost every night, to the street fair of El Bonillo to let the kids jump on trampolines.
16. Because of the Spanish summer schedule and the fair, we had dinner (as did our kids) at 10:00 every night. Ben and Chaia got to sleep around 1AM every night.
17. We cooked, we ate, shared recipes (Andee is now the patron saint of El Bonillo for making scones and chocolate chip cookies for everyone), and met some terrific people.
18. We went to a quesería, where Manchego cheese is made by a family. We took home Manchego cheese infused with and covered in rosemary. Truly delicious.

After a wonderful time, we left El Bonillo (in Llani's borrowed car) to travel to Toledo, one of the most monument-filled and magical cities in Spain. From Toledo, we will go to Valencia, and the town of Cheste, where my love for Spain beganso many years ago. There is a Tortilla de patatas waiting there for us...

Sitting in Limbo

Main altar, Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar

I thought I'd begin this entry with a photo of one of our most visited sites: the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar. first of all, it's always cool inside. Second, it's free. Third, it's beautiful (although Ben and I agree that the Gothic Catedral de La Seo is a prettier church. In an interesting resolution to a church dispute over who would get to be the "real" cathedral in Zaragoza, a church court decided that both El Pilar and La Seo would house the exact same number of priests, and that the bishop would reside for 6 months in one, and six in the other. Very King Solomon-like (without cutting the baby in half). The funny thing about it is that Tom Brady could chuck a football from the doorway of one church and land it in the other.

The title of this entry fairly well describes the overall mood this week. We're kind of in a holding pattern, waiting to officially go on vacation to Albacete and Valencia for the next two weeks to visit Ximo and his family. We've spent the last few days just avoiding the heat and going food shopping. We now go every day to Le Petit Croissant, the best bakery in Zaragoza, for our bread. It's fairly cheap , to Americans, an all of their breads are amazing.
On Saturday we will take a train to Madrid, and then another to Albacete where Llani (Ximo's sister) will pick us up. The train to Madrid is an AVE (a play on words, as "ave" is Spanish for "bird", and the AVE stands for "Alta Velocidad de España," meaning "high speed Spanish .") The AVE does the 3 1/2 hour drive in just 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Speaking of Ximo, he just returned for another quick visit on his way to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim museum there. He and his girlfriend stayed over last night and we went out for tapas, where Ben discovered that he likes calamares (squid) and "brave potatos." Also, when Ximo arrived he loaned me his car, and Chaia an d I went to pick up some new chairs for the living room. Some of the furniture is pretty old and tired in the piso, and the chairs are so uncomfortable that Andee and I watched a movie the other night (Blazing Saddles) while sitting on the tile floor. Anyways, Chaia and I drove out to the edge of the city where there is an (say it with me, Denise) i..i..i..iKEA. The new chairs are MUCH better, and hey, we got to go to IKEA (air conditioned, BTW)!

That's all for now. Send me a message if you have any questions about ZAZ, our piso, food, whatever, or if you would like to see me elaborate on a particular topic.

What to do with a family when it's HOT.

Ah yes, the daily question we ask ourselves. Pretty much every day. What can we do, since it's 95 degrees or more outside from 11-4 every day? We have tried the following, in no particular order. You be the judge as to which is the best...

1. Do nothing. Sometimes it's just easier to close all of the windows and keep the heat out. I know that it's a bit counter-intuitive for the Mainers reaing this, but apartment buildings here are really well made for keeping heat out if you like. At about 11:30 we close the persianas (big, horizontally slatted window covers that cover the entire window from the outside, lettling no light/heat in), and keep them down until 8 or 9. It makes the piso dark, but nice and cool. It's a good time to read, blog, and generally go stir crazy after 3 days of this.

2. Go to the local municipal pool. the pool is big, the grass is nice and shady, but the area around the pool is full of cigarette smoke and Andee gets in trouble at the pool. Also, it costs us about $14 U.S. to get into the recreation area. We could spend our entire salary doing this in July and August alone.

3. Go to the Basilica-Cathedral of Nuestra Señora del Pilar (this place will get it's own entry soon). It's cool, it's quiet, it's beautiful, but it's a 15 minute walk on hot streets each way, and by the time we get back home we're hot all over again. Besides, I can look at churches in Spain all day, but it's not an activity for everyone. In my opinion the co-cathedral of La Seo is a far prettier church (gothic arches), but they charge 3 Euros to enter.

4. Go to the supermarket and wander aimlessly, looking at the prices of things (this actually gives me a good idea for a blog entry. You can let me know if you think it's a dumb idea, but I think people would be interested in the differences in products sold and their prices). This can be a good way to beat the heat (all of the big supermarkets are air conditioned) but eventually all of the different olive oil options begin to blend together (blended olive oil?) and so there's only so much time you can waste doing this.

5. Like #4, go to El Corte Inglés and wander. This behemoth of a department store (we have found three in ZAZ) was begun in the 1930's in Madrid as a small men's clothing store, and has grown over the years to swallow every competitor in Spain. There is a Corte Inglés in every major and minor city I have visited in Spain, and even the small ones put Macy's to shame. The one 2 minutes from our apartment has 7 stories, plus 2 stories of supermarket and 2 stories of parting inderground for a total of 11 floors of everything you could buy. And this one is the small one. It houses a travel agency, restaurant, dry cleaners, café, hair salon, and kosher deli. Ok, I made the last one up.

6. All right, everyone who really knows us should sit down for this one. Really, sit. Now. Go to the mall. Ok, I said it. At the end of the bus #23 line is a 3 story mall called "Grán Casa." It is cool, bright, and filled with stores. In short, a mall. There's a McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, H&M, Claire's, Levi's Store, Nike Store, Foot Locker, and other typical mall stores. There's also Zara, the ultra-hip clothing store that began in Spain and can even be found at the Natick Mall these days. There's a bowling alley, 12-screen movie theater, and many food shops. Oh yeah, and a Corte Inglés as well as a HiperCor, the mega-supermarket chain owned by Corte Inglés. We had a good laugh at ourselves for going to the mall on hot day, but decided that "when in ZAZ..."

Of course, we could do what most sane people do in August, which is to go on vacation. Apparently the city basically shuts down for the next month as everyone who can takes their summer vacation together (there are signs on the door of many small shops saying, in many ways, "see you in September." Come to think of it, we ARE heading for Valencia next week to visit Ximo and his extended family. And his sister and her family live one block from the beach...