All about Spain

The majority of our last trip took place in Spain. It was a joint vacation with five other friends. Two of them met up with us a few days after our arrival. Also, I got some dinos from Matt for Christmas, and I brought a few along for the ride. We took a really nice plane into Madrid (it was a big one since it was continuing on to South America). Here we are waiting to take off:

Here's what we hit in Spain:

Madrid

Toledo

Consuegra

Malaga

Seville

We landed in Madrid and had a home away, so it put us right in the center of the city. Since we only had one day to see the city, we opted for a walking tour in the morning. But the first order of business for the day was breakfast, which consisted of coffee and churros:

Mmm, churros. We didn't take too many pictures during the tour, but the city was neat and for our mid-tour break we stopped for some tapas at a bar. This was taken inside, a giant wall of ham.

Ham is absolutely huge in Spain, and they are great at it. We had some for a late lunch (with sangria)

Tapas is another big deal and seriously a way of life for Spaniards. It's essentially a slice of bread with a topping on it (like cheese, meat, a combination, etc). It can be served hot or cold, and it can encompass other appetizer-like portions too. With a glass of beer or wine, you can easily make a full meal out of a few put together.

Anyway, that evening we had booked tickets to see a flamenco show and Matt made the reservation in Spanish and got through almost the entire phone call, very impressive. Equally impressive was the show, and had four dancers and two guitar players. Afterwards we found a Belgian-style restaurant for a late dinner.

(Dinner in Spain by the way, is around 10pm).

After blowing through Madrid, the next morning we dragged our luggage to pick up our rental car (in a VAN! A Ford Galaxy van because we are the coolest people ever!) and stopped for a quick breakfast at Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts (haven't had either in a while and they were super).

More ham on the way out of town...

On our way down to the next sleeping accommodations, we stopped in Toledo and Consuegra. Toledo was a really neat walled city, and they had a series of escalators to get up to it.

We made it to Toledo around lunchtime, or as Matt called it "tapas time!" These are a few of my noshes. The toothpicks correspond to the price, so when you go to pay they just count the toothpicks. Clever.

After walking around for a bit, we headed back on the road. Some of us napped.

We stopped for pictures of the windmills in Consuegra, which were really cool.

 It was windy. Probably a good call putting those windmills there in the first place.

 You can see the other windmills in the center of the picture in the distance.

We made it down to La Linea, the town just on the border of Gibraltar later that night. We did another tapas-type place for dinner, but I opted for more of a meal. I had this, which was scrambled eggs, ham, and of course, chorizo. With wine around 10pm at night? Perfect.

Two nights later was the last night in the area, and we found a great restaurant (that was difficult to find) and had an amazing dinner. The owner didn't know really any English, so that was a chance for some of our group to speak Spanish. He was SO nice though! We were the only ones in the restaurant when it was time to go and he motioned us into a side room to reveal this awesome lounge area! It even had a stage setup with a set of instruments. Matt translated that anyone who wanted to could play and hang out. And then he challenged Matt to some ping pong!

Matt did not win, so when we left, he said "Spain, uno, U.S, zero." Hilarious and incredibly welcoming.

Later during the trip we visited the beach, Playa de Bolonia, which had a gorgeous sand dune. Sadly it was maddeningly windy, so Matt and I headed to a cafe for a snack while the rest of the group ventured up the sand dune.

 There were even a few doggies out!

But yes, so windy that I'm still knocking sand out of my shoes.

Oh yeah- before the beach we stopped for breakfast somewhere and had more ham.

Our friends were kind enough to bring us into their parents time share thingy in Malaga, so we got a cheap place to crash for two nights in a resort town.

 With Mediterranean views!

 A few pools, too.

Our last hit list in Spain was a visit to Seville, which we've been told is amazing and wonderful and delightful. We decided to do this instead of hanging out by the pool. Like this:

Sadly, it was super far from where we were staying, like three hours, so when we got there we were all cranky from the drive (and yes, all 7 of us piled in the van). We did visit the palace which was nice, and briefly heard a guitarist playing in the street. I think if given the choice we would have stayed closer to Malaga. But still a great time in a country where I couldn't speak the language.

Spain is fun. We had a really great time. We also enjoyed Gibraltar and Morocco, both of which will be covered next week!

Happy Anniversary to me!

I couldn't blog because we were on our trip, but as of January 20, it's been a year since our wedding. Here are my favorite pictures of our first year:

Prague

Prague

Paris

Versailles

Reims in Champagne

Lake Como

Switzerland

More Switzerland

Back to Lake Como

More Lake Como

Munich Oktoberfest

Mainz Oktoberfest

Berlin

For our most recent trip, we visited Spain, Gibraltar, and Morocco! Here is a sneak peak of some photos (more in subsequent blog posts):

Consuegra, Spain

The Casbah in Morocco

 Where the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean meet, in Morocco

 After our camel ride in Morocco

And for further trip down memory lane, check out the feature post that our wedding photographer did on the big day: http://marcellatreybigblog.com/2013/02/cloisters-castle-non-traditional-undercover-spy-themed-wedding-in-luthersville-maryland/

On holiday, be back next Wednesday!

In the meantime, please enjoy this puppy video.

Recent eats

I glossed over the recipes we tried for our recent party, but here's a rundown of what new things we've attempted recently:

Cranberry horseradish spread

Horseradish garlic cream spread

Wasabi Coleslaw

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Truffle oil vinaigrette

New (favorite) cocktail: Aperol Spritz

And my latest own creation: chicken burrito bowls. There is a Chipotle in Frankfurt, but we haven't been over there yet. On a Sunday I was just going to slice up the chicken and serve it with veggies when I realized I could just make some yummy bowls instead. Here's what I used, from the bottom of the bowl to the top:

Cut up Romaine lettuce

Scoop of cooked brown rice

Scoop of cooked black beans (I simmered them with some cilantro)

Scoop of cooked chicken bites (cooked with two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)

Topped with: fresh tomatoes, sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, and salsa

So absolutely delicious and really filling especially with that brown rice. It makes a lot, too, with just a regular portion of rice, one can of beans and two or three chicken breasts. Next time I'll make sure not to devour it all so we can have leftovers for lunch the next day.

This week I finally broke out the crock pot since we now have a transformer we can leave in the dining room. It was soo great being tortured by italian chicken and mushrooms cooking in red sauce all day! The next day we had leftovers as rice bowls with the remaining shredded chicken and mushrooms (and threw in some broccoli as well). I can't wait to make more crock pot meals!

In the coming weeks I'm going to try and pick out a food processor. After that, I'm hoping to try my hand at homemade hummus, incorporating pulsified veggies into sauces, and stuff like that. Mmm...

Grad school class #3, and go!

Monday marked the start of my third grad school class, Leading Diverse Teams. It's all about diversity in the workplace, so that should be a meaty topic to delve into. I got my final grade for my #2 class back, and it's an A. I wish that the instructor had been better though. She didn't really comment on my work and gave me full credit on most of my assignments. On the plus side, I did enjoy the textbook (very easy to read) and Matt is looking forward to reading it next.

I hope with this new guy I'll get constructive comments and will be asked thought-provoking questions. I picked up my textbook today, but thankfully, they have the first reading assignment online, so I've already completed it. I'm actually going to be working on this week and next week's assignment at the same time since we have a trip coming up that will interfere with turning in my second paper.

A note on the weather: it seems like it's pretty chilly in the U.S. right now. I encourage you to think about us here as we endure another day of this:

Don't be too envious though - I assure you that soon after this photo was taken, the clouds returned. Also, it's not cold enough for me to use my towel warmer. It's been consistently around 45-50 degrees here the past several days, so our apartment is pretty stuffy - we've even had to turn our fan on in a few of the rooms. I thought this was January.

Stay warm and cozy and cuddled up with some hot chocolate for me!

Entertaining

Matt and I got the chance last night to host our first true party. We themed it as a Hipster party and asked everyone to dress up in whatever hipster-like clothes they could find, and then also act pompous for the duration of the evening.

It was also a chance for Matt and I to cook a lot of really amazing food. For each course we had wine pairings, and since it was a hipster party, there was of course plenty of PBR.

Appetizers:

Assorted hard and soft cheeses

Crackers and freshly baked bread

Roasted red pepper strips stuffed with goat cheese

Roasted cajun-spiced chickpeas

Prosciutto

Grapes, oranges, apples, blood oranges

Green and Black Greek Olives

Tomato tapenade paste

Dried fruits

Cut up sausage (we are in Germany, after all)

Homemade granola (brought by a guest!)

wine pairing: choice of white from Greece, red Côtes du Rhône, or an aperitif, an Aperol Spritz (Matt found this and boy is it good and easy!)

Here's a shot before everyone started digging in. We got to use our fancy cheese tray and knifes, had our French tea towels out, and new wine aerator.

First course:

Peanut butter and brambleberry jam sandwiches

Carbonara-flavored potato chips

wine pairing: Blackberry Merlot

Second course:

Sweet and sour chicken bites

Wasabi coleslaw

Eggrolls (brought by a guest!)

wine pairing: Japanese plum wine

Third course:

Meatloaf sandwiches on freshly baked rolls

Horseradish garlic cream spread

Caramelized onions

Green beans wrapped in bacon, drizzled with truffle oil vinaigrette

wine pairing: red Bordeaux from France

Mmm, meatloaf. Matt doesn't usually go for it the first day, but making it the second day and putting a bit of a crust on it while reheating in the pan and shoving it into a roll? That he can get behind.

At this point we took a mini break and did a white elephant style gift exchange. Most gifts were of the drinking variety and only one person "stole" a gift, so I think people were happy enough with what they selected.

Dessert course:

Gingerbread cake

Banoffee pie (made by a guest, from scratch)

Scones with homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream (brought by a guest!)

Assorted cupcakes (brought by a guest)

wine pairing: Asti Spumante from Italy

Suffice it to say, even though we had 12 people gobble up plenty of food and put away no less than 6 bottles of wine plus over a dozen PBRs, there's still some leftovers I'm currently enjoying. By my count we must have enjoyed food or wine purchased or brought from at least 6 different countries and everything tasted so delicious. Matt made the sides for the second and third courses and did a really great job. I think those and a few others are going to be added to our meal rotations.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to work on these leftovers, party cleanup, and starting my third grad school class. More to report on that front for Wednesday.

NYE in Stuttgart, Germany

Our friends did an MTV NYE thing last year in Berlin and really enjoyed it, so we wanted to give it a try this year. MTV has events in several cities in Germany, so we opted for one of the closer ones, in Stuttgart which is about two hours away. As per our experienced partiers, Chris and Joyce, we elected to get the VIP tickets which would get us additional perks like hanging out in the VIP lounge, easier access to drinks, snacks and bathrooms, and bottle service.

Anyway, we drove down in the afternoon, checked into the hotel, had some awesome naps, and then walked across the street for some dinner. Matt and I could see an Indian restaurant from our room, and when we got there, we found they were doing a NYE buffet style meal. (We were a little worried at first since we didn't have a reservation, but eventually we were told it's OK to stay).

The food was really yummy and probably a good idea to have a fully stomach since we had an evening of drinking ahead.

After getting all glammed up, we got in a cab and headed over. With our VIP access, we even had a shorter line to get through. We took our coats to the coatroom and proceeded to the bar in the VIP lounge area.

We pretty much all stuck to Red Stag (bourbon/whiskey), ginger and lime - I'd never had that cocktail combo before but yum - the lime really made it.

Anyway, we just sort of hung out and people watched, and Joyce and I, while the boys got our drinks refilled, played with the stuff they had on the table. Because, you know, we're little kids.

Here's me with my handiwork.

Yay fun! People were totally looking at us, too. Probably wondering how in the world we got into the VIP lounge. But more likely that they were upset at not having thought of it first.

Soon we decided to check out the rest of the party and headed to the larger dance floor... I think the venue was really neat. It's actually part of an old Roman fort.

Everyone wasn't getting too rowdy, but the people watching was better (and with shorter skirts and higher heels, mymymy) out there.

When it just about midnight, we headed back into the lounge area and outside to watch the fireworks. All of Germany lights fireworks for NYE - and I mean just about every man, woman and child. If they can hold a Roman candle, they can light it. It's the only time of year when it's OK. (This also means that you hear them at all hours of the night and there is a high level of carnage in the street when it's all over, but I say let the Germans have their fun.)

After the bulk of the fireworks were over, we went back inside for our midnight snack they had setup for us - currywurst and Berliners. Yum and yum.

Being in the VIP area means you could also just ask for an entire bottle of booze at the bar. Up until now we opted to just go back for individual drinks, but decided maybe we should grab a bottle instead. Not wanting to change it up, we set up Chris for a bottle of the Red Stag.

Unfortunately they were out, and he returned with this: vodka and red bull.

But this wasn't just any red bull, it was some off-brand Turkish energy drink.

The verdict: The first sip wasn't good at all, but it got a little better.

I think these guys were drinking the same stuff - they were dancing all night!

We did some dancing too, then fumbled around getting a cab back, but we made it. A good time was had by our group, but looking on the Facebook page for the event, it looks like everyone who did not opt for the VIP did not have a good time at all. Common complaints were long lines for things, coach checking difficulties (I have yet to go somewhere where coats are handled with any order at all), etc. I don't know if I'd do it again next year or not - maybe just have a house party, sleepover, or marathon game night and check out the fireworks in Mainz.

When we returned home, the city was just littered with firework pieces everywhere. Quite a thing.

Happy 2014 everyone!