Lunch at the Basque Culinary Center

On Tuesday, we had lunch at the Basque Culinary Center, the local cooking school. The restaurant at the BCC is designed to give students a chance to test out dishes and experience cooking for actual customers, but also give them the experience of being waitstaff, wine stewards, etc. A six course lunch was only 24 Euros (about $29) a person.

For each course there were two choices, but we shared everything, so we got to try 12 things. Overall, the food was good, but not great. A couple of the dishes were really good and easily could be served in a high-end restaurant. Others definitely needed work.

A fish dish tasted better than it looked:

Squab was the best overall dish, and even included a bit of very good pate (on top of the squares of potatoes):

Dessert both tasted good and was well presented:

Service was a bit amateurish (of course, they are amateurs) but sincere. Many of the students did not seem extremely comfortable dealing with people. Although we did have a waiter from Austria who was great for us because he spoke Spanish slowly, as is normal for a non-native speaker, and was very easy for us to understand.

Overall, we had a really good time and definitely plan to go back and try more creations from our local culinary students.

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana

La Liga Solves The NFL's Problem

While we try to avoid politics in our blog, We just could not let this one go...

Yesterday, we attended our first futbol (soccer) game in Spain. Our local team, Real Sociedad, plays in La Liga, which is probably the most famous futbol league in the world. The most famous, and generally best, teams are FC Barcelona, led by Lionel Messi of Argentina and Real Madrid led by Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal. Messi and Ronaldo are the two best players in the world. Real Sociedad is a middle-of-the-pack type club. Currently they are ranked seventh of twenty teams in La Liga.

Ok, but what does any of this have to do with the NFL? Really not much, we are just setting the stage.

Yesterday, while waiting for the game to begin, Jeff noticed something missing from the stadium. Something that is in every single stadium in the United States - a national flag. There was not a single Spanish flag flying anywhere in the stadium. Even more surprising to us Americans, there was no playing of the Spanish national anthem before the game. The teams come on the field, shake hands and the game begins. And, our friends from Japan who attended with us told us that the same is true in Japan. Unless the Japanese National Team is playing, the anthem is not played at sporting events.

So, if the NFL does not want players protesting during the national anthem, perhaps they should just eliminate it altogether. Problem solved.

Now, who is going to tell President Trump. Anyone? Bueller?

Hasta Luego,

Jeff and Shana

PS: We saw Real Sociedad tie the worst team in La Liga 2-2 on some really shoddy goalkeeping. I guess you win some and you lose some (and in futbol, you tie some).

Thanksgiving in Spain

Apologies for the lapse in posts recently. Since returning from Valencia things have been a bit "topsy-turvy" here. We came back to new classmates and challenges at school, and we both skipped a day of class due to illness. Thankfully, nothing serious.

If you are wondering whether we will be celebrating Thanksgiving here, the answer is no, we will be school tomorrow. We did check around to see if there was any type of observation of the holiday here, but there isn’t. Someone told us that the Basque Culinary Center – the regional gastronomy cooking school – hosts a Thanksgiving dinner, but apparently not this year. Still, because we poked around their website, we will be having lunch there next week at their restaurant that gives the students the opportunity to cook and experiment, and allows the public a chance to enjoy what the students create at a reasonable price. We are looking forward to that meal!

It won’t be the first time we’ve missed out on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner – a trip to Argentina in 2012 holds that honor. We did contemplate making a mini-Thanksgiving feast, but most of the ingredients required to do so are not readily available. Although processed turkey is easy to find, we have yet to see a whole turkey or even a turkey breast. Apparently, it is easier to find closer to Christmas. In addition, sweet potatoes are hard to come by and cranberries, which are native to North America, cannot be found either. We will miss the traditional foods and, of course, spending Thanksgiving with family.

After four months in Spain, we do want to acknowledge the amazing opportunities and experiences we have had this year. We are fortunate to have talented teachers, interesting classmates, wonderful friends, supportive family, and the time and resources necessary to pursue our dream of living abroad.

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday,

Shana & Jeff

No, Eating Is Not All We Did In Valencia

Valencia is Spain’s third largest city, behind Madrid and Barcelona, and it is just as interesting and worthy of a visit. It was founded as a Roman colony in 138 BCE and has a rich history that is easily observed in various monuments and different types of architecture.

We enjoyed getting lost in Valencia’s labyrinthian old city district. The old city is quite large and has many winding narrow lanes that are barely large enough for a single car. These narrow confines are romantic and mysterious. There are plenty of open squares as well with cafes, shops, and beautiful buildings, and of course a large cathedral.

One of the things we love about Europe and Spain is how well-preserved things are and how well modern and historical architecture can exist side-by-side. La Longa de Seda, the former silk exchange building built between 1482 and 1533 is a Gothic-style civic building where the city’s rich commercial history can be contemplated.

The Torres de Serranos was built in the 14th century and served as one of the 12 official entrances to the medieval fortified city. During the Spanish Civil War it was used to store 525 painting along with other works of art from the Prado museum.

By the way, the bridge from which this picture is taken is over 500 years old. There are many such old bridges in Valencia, which used to span the Turia River. The river ran through the city; however, after many floods, in particular a devastating one in 1957, the river was diverted around the city. Now, the dry river bed is a long park that traverses the city for several miles and contains gardens, walking/ running/bike paths, sports fields and other public spaces. It is beautiful and used extensively by the people of Valencia.

As for the towers, of course we climbed to the top and took in the views.

Jeff humored me, and we visited the National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts, which is housed in the Palace of Marques de Dos Aguas. The building dates back to the 15th century, and was refurbished in the middle of the 18th century in the rococo style. The building facade and many of the furnishings inside are the definition of “ungapatchka,” a Yiddish word meaning overly-ornate.

In addition to many historical sights, we went to the Bioparc Zoo, both to enjoy the wildlife and the beautiful weather. What made the Bioparc worthwhile is that the animals are not confined to cages and live in larger natural settings with the barriers cleverly hidden. Many animals live together as they might in the wild.

We also visited the magnificent City of Arts and Sciences, which includes six areas and multiple futuristic buildings, including a science museum, aquarium, opera house, and 3D Imax complex. The buildings were designed by Santiago Calatreva, a world-famous architect who is from Valencia. Hollywood could easily use the complex as the setting for a Star Wars or other science fiction movie... perhaps they already have! The entire area is open to the public at all times to enjoy the architecture, gardens, and sculptures.

It was a fabulous trip and week off from Spanish school. We would highly recommend Valencia as a destination here in Spain and hope we can return soon.

Hasta luego,

Shana & Jeff

Dining in Valencia

Food is very important in Spain. We know, you are thinking that food is very important everywhere, but in Spain it is particularly important. For example, in Spain, there are five meals a day and each has its own verb (!). While the general verb to eat in Spanish is comer, you do not comer breakfast in Spain. Here, you would use the specific verb for eating breakfast (desayunar). The same for dinner (cenar). In effect, Spaniards always "dine", they never "eat dinner."

Beyond language, eating a meal is generally a long process. The main meal of the day, la comida (lunch to us) is eaten around 1:30 or 2:00 pm. La comida is generally a three course meal - an appetizer usually of vegetables, a main dish of meat often with potatoes, and dessert. Obviously, not everyone eats like this every day, but we are often surprised at how many Spaniards we see eating a leisurely lunch (2 hours is not unusual) every day. Note that many businesses close during this time for what is referred to as the siesta, but during which people are more likely to eat and spend time with family rather than sleep.

All of that said, we know that a significant part of exploring a new Spanish city is enjoying its particular food culture and Valencia was no exception. We found that tapas were less a part of the food culture in Valencia than in San Sebastian and other cities we have visited, but we still found several little bars with great food even though they might not even look like restaurants. We also found that the Italian food in Valencia is far superior to San Sebastian and enjoyed our own three-course Italian lunch on our last day there.

But, it was two other meals that really stood out in Valencia. First, we ate at a restaurant called Karak whose chef won a season of Top Chef Spain. Because we did not want a huge tasting menu, we made a reservation for the bar area, which was small (about 25 seats). In keeping with Spanish food tradition, they do not turn tables. If you make a reservation there, the seats are yours for the entire meal time. We sat at the bar where we could watch the chefs work in the open kitchen (something we love). Our meal was fantastic! The most interesting dish was Pescado Rabioso (literally furious fish):

Maybe he is mad that he was fried up for our enjoyment.

Second, we had to eat paella because Valencia is where paella was invented. At the recommendation of some friends in San Sebastian who had a restaurant in Valencia, we hopped on a bus and rode about 45 minutes out of town to El Palmar, which is where the special rice for paella is grown. We chose to try traditional Valencian paella, which is made with rabbit and snails. The size of paella for two was astounding:

No, we were not able to finish all of that paella. Even with just a tomato salad to start, we only ate about 2/3, but it was delicious. I don't think snails will become a regular part of our diet, but it was fun to try them (yes, Shana did try one snail and did not spit it out).

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana