Birthday Celebrations Amid the Pandemic

Last weekend we had a great time celebrating my birthday. Fortunately, Spain was about to complete the “de-escalation” process, which allowed us to enjoy it in an almost “normal” way: eating out and strolling outside.

Although my birthday was Sunday the 21st, we made reservations to have a special lunch on Friday the 19th in Getaria, a small fishing village that is about 11 miles from San Sebastian. We chose Txoko Getaria, a highly regarded fish restaurant, based on its reputation, it’s large patio with views of the harbor, and because we saw it in a scene in “The Trip to Spain,” the Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon movie that played at the 2017 SS Film Festival. During Steve and Rob’s lunch at Txoko, it starts to pour rain, which was very typical for the area and amusing to us. Thankfully, we had a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

Getting to Txoko Getaria was part of the adventure. We took the local train (masks on!), for the first time since the start of the state of emergency, from San Sebastian to Zarautz, another beautiful beach town. From there we headed west, walking along the malecon (promenade) and then on to the coastal path towards Getaria. As you can see, the coastline is amazing:

The view from Zarautz, where we started, to Getaria:

The stunning shoreline:

The approach to Getaria:

The entire walk is about 4 miles. Just the right amount to work up a good appetite. We had the best table, with an unobstructed view of the little fishing port. As we sat down and noticed the other restaurant patios and diners around us, we couldn’t help but feel that this was no different from any other summer terrace dining experience … until the waitress approached to take our order with her mask on – that omnipresent reminder that nothing is quite normal. We started with grilled, local white asparagus (from Navarra) and tempura style prawns (Jeff’s choice, but I even ate two, they were so beautiful), and then we shared a delicious whole red seabream with a side of piquillo peppers, and, of course, a wonderful bottle of a white wine. Everything was amazing and we were too full for dessert, or to walk all the way back to Zarautz. Instead we took the bus back from Getaria and then had ice cream on our way home. It was a perfect afternoon out, with no need for any dinner since we started lunch at 2 p.m., a very Spanish time.

On my actual birthday we went out for brunch at La Madame. Brunch is not really a Spanish thing, but La Madame does it right. Before lunch we took a nice long walk on the La Concha beach:

You need to be hungry for brunch at La Madame, where brunch includes 3 courses. First, juice and coffee with either a bruschetta or a muffin. Second, a savory course; for us, huevos rancheros. Finally, a sweet course of pancakes or French toast. Of course, we added a cocktail.

As everyone should on their birthday, we overindulged and left feeling stuffed and ready to relax for the afternoon, which is exactly what we did. I especially enjoyed all my birthday calls from the US.

I’m lucky to have a June birthday, when the weather is pleasant and summer is in the air. Since we didn’t make it to Germany in April to celebrate Jeff’s January birthday, we’ve made reservations for another lunch on his half birthday next month. It’s always good to have something to look forward to, especially when it’s steak at one of the best places in the country!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff 

Pasapalabra Returns

A bit over a year ago, we wrote about our favorite Spanish game show, Pasapalabra. We did not write in October when it was taken off the air because the channel that had been showing it did not actually own the rights to the show (oops). Well, now it is back, with a new host on a different channel.

The show is basically the same as it was, but we miss the old host who was funnier and in Shana's opinion, better looking. Still, we are happy to have it back and usually watch 3 or 4 times a week. We have definitely noticed that our improved language skills have made it easier to follow along and, now we even get some of the correct answers during the final game of each episode, El Rosco.

Right before Pasapalabra airs we often will catch an episode of The Big Bang Theory, which is dubbed. We are finally getting used to the Spanish voices for the characters and can even recognize them if we are listening from afar now. We barely need the Spanish subtitles anymore, but they are helpful when the dialogue is moving fast.

Hopefully, we will have something more interesting to write about soon, but given the state of the world, who knows? The fact that our lock-down has been lifted enough so we can go to restaurants and even the gym hardly seems like exciting news, but we have certainly enjoyed our bit of regained freedom.

Stay well,

Jeff and Shana

Running in Place

When we last wrote, we were in the middle of week 8 of our confinement, and now we are starting week 12 -- not necessarily confined, but there is an ongoing "state of emergency." While things have changed a lot over the past 3 weeks here, they have not changed that much for us overall. We are in the second week of Phase 2 of the de-escalation process, and we should enter Phase 3 next week. All that really means is that we can go out whenever we want, can go wherever we want within the city (and province), and that we are required to wear a mask indoors in any public place, and outside if we cannot maintain the required distance from others. People here do not seem to mind the mask requirement.

Still, our day-to-day lives and routines have not changed hardly at all. Yes, we can go outside, but there aren’t that many more compelling reasons to venture too far from home than there were 3 weeks ago. Our main destinations remain the grocery markets and newspaper stand. We are enjoying the freedom to go for walks, and so far, our greatest pleasure has been eating an ice cream cone while walking through the city. The weather has been beautiful, and we love being able to re-experience the beauty of San Sebastian. Included in these photos is a sign of the times – face masks hanging out to be dried.

This week we will finally go out to eat at a restaurant – to celebrate our 24^th wedding anniversary. It will be nice to visit with our friends, the owners of the restaurant, and have our first meal since March 14 not prepared in our kitchen. My yoga studio is re-opening as well, with a limited offering of classes at about 50% capacity. That will be interesting. We have run a few errands here and there and will continue to do so. But, on the whole, we feel like we’re running in place. Our gym has not reopened yet, and whenever it does, we won’t be the first in line to get in. Surprisingly, our home workouts have met most of our fitness needs. Starting this week, we will try to go out once a week to restaurants to support our favorite places. Yet we are still spending most of our time at home and maintaining a low profile. We don’t want to make any new travel plans yet because things remain so uncertain. So, like all of you, we continue to take it one day at a time.

That’s it for now. We’ll see what June brings to our corner of the world.

Take care,

Shana & Jeff

Coronavirus Update Part 3

Well, here we are in the middle of week 8 of our “Coronovirus Confinement” and there is not much to report because every day is pretty much like all the others. It gives new meaning to “lather, rinse, and repeat.” Still, things are starting to change slowly as we enter the desescalation phases.

As you may know, Spain has had one of the stricter stay-at-home regimes. Up until this week, we could not even go outside to exercise. Also, there have been extensive efforts to enforce the lockdown rules, with citations being issued and roadblocks set up to monitor travel in and out of the city. They really mean business here. And, it has worked. The number of cases have gone down, and they have increased testing efforts significantly.

Overall, our existence has not been that different from yours. Other than the fact that the decisions here appear to be being made based on the accumulated statistics and the recommendations of experts. The loosening of the confinement did not start until the curve had truly flattened, and before Phase 1 starts on Monday, May 11, each province and autonomous community must establish they meet four criteria regarding healthcare and containment of the virus. So, as of now, it appears that Madrid and Barcelona will not enter that phase with most of the rest of the county.

Although small hair salons are now open, by appointment only and with sanitation measures in place, we are not in a huge hurry to get our hair cut. We are, however, looking forward to eating out again, but that is also a couple of weeks away, assuming we can get a table in the limited capacity patio of restaurants that choose to reopen. Having cooked and eaten every meal at home since March 15, we are ready for some takeout and to eat out. Takeout is not as prevalent here as it is in the US, so we have not even done that yet!

What has probably been hardest for us is the impact this has had on our ability to travel. We should have been in Seattle this week and next, with a stop in Dublin on the way back. Because our lives here are so focused on travel, not knowing when our next trip will be is frustrating. And we have/had so many plans for the latter part of 2020 and into 2021, many of which will likely change. But we have our health and are fortunate to have many other blessings in our lives.

This morning we were up early and walked farther from home than we are allowed to see the beach and the La Concha Bay. We are supposed to stay within a 1 km radius of our home, and the beach is just a bit farther than that, but how are they going to enforce that within the city itself? Some risks are just worth taking.

That’s it for now, and perhaps for a while as there is not much to tell. Stay safe and healthy!

Shana & Jeff

Making Matzah

Passover 2020 / 5780 has come and gone. And, like everything else right now, it was strange, unique, and hopefully not to be repeated in the same way anytime soon. It is not like I had big plans for the holiday, but I did expect to be able to buy a box of matzah in Berlin, where we were supposed to be from April 2-8. Of course. we had to cancel the trip.

Two years ago, we were in Paris when Passover began, and I picked up a box of matzah there. We also attended a communal Seder. When the holiday ended, I wrapped up half of that matzah tightly in plastic wrap to save it for the following year. And, although it was somewhat stale, there is not much difference between fresh matzah and stale matzah. Eating that year-old matzah was my way of celebrating Passover in 2019.

When I realized we would not be traveling to Germany, or anywhere else where I might find matzah, I began to contemplate a Passover without matzah. Although the past few Passovers have been hit or miss, after a lifetime of family celebrations in the Torem family home, not having even a single piece of matzah was disconcerting. So, what is a “lonely Jew” in San Sebastian to do during a global pandemic? Make your own matzah, of course!

I have all the required tools and ingredients: a rolling pin, an oven, flour, and water. I figured, why not? Desperate times call for desperate measures. I looked online for a recipe, and it was simple enough. You can even ensure your matzah is truly kosher for Passover if you get the dough in the oven within the time specified by halacha (Jewish law).

So, the day before the first Seder, I made matzah – with Jeff’s assistance. It turns out that making matzah is not difficult, but it sure is messy. You need to keep your rolling pin and rolling surface well-floured, and damn if the dough didn’t keep sticking to them!

The recipe I used makes eight pieces of matzah. I think we got four of them into the oven within the official time limit. (We used a timer only to see how hard it would be to comply.) My matzah pieces were not exactly a uniform shape, as I was not too adept with the rolling pin. But the ultimate product did come out looking like matzah and even tasting like matzah. So, we considered it to be a moderate success, although not a process we are looking to replicate.

The matzah tasted best fresh out of the oven. By Seder time it had already deteriorated in taste by a lot.

Oddly, I participated in three Seders – our own “mini-Seder” (with minimal observances); then I participated by Zoom with my cousins in Toronto starting around 2:15 a.m. here; and then I switched over to my dear friends Lauren & Jeff’s Seder in Orange County, CA (also via Zoom). I begged off at around 5 a.m. and went back to bed. Thus, I did more this year for Passover than I had last year!

May we all be together with our families and friends again soon – certainly before Passover 2021!

Stay safe, sane, and healthy,

Shana & Jeff

Silves and Lisbon

Just a quick post on our last few days in Portugal. Although it took us almost six weeks to finish these, who knows when we will have another trip to post about? So, maybe better to draw it out a bit.

On our last day in the Algarve region, we drove to a small town called Silves, which has a really impressive Moorish castle that sits high on a hill overlooking the town (great defensive position). Although the Moors built and occupied the castle between the 8th and 13th centuries, the site was used as a fortification going back to the Romans in around 200 BCE.

While there is not a lot to see at the castle (other than the structure itself), there was some interesting sculpture being displayed along with an exhibit about the Iberian Lynx, a species that used to roam the Iberian Peninsula and what is now southern France in large numbers, but nearly went extinct due to over-hunting and the destruction of its habitat. Although still an endangered species, an effort to reintroduce the Iberian Lynx has had some success. It was an interesting, if strangely placed, exhibit.

Overall, it was a beautiful day, and the views were spectacular.

After the castle, even though wine is not yet a significant industry in the Algarve, we went to find a nearby winery. While it seemed like we were driving through the middle of nowhere, with nothing but citrus trees around us, we did eventually find the Quinta dos Vales winery, and did a lovely tasting sitting outside chatting with a couple of Canadians. While our discussion did touch on US politics, this was early enough (February 25), that the coronavirus did not even come up (it is actually difficult to remember the time when the coronavirus and its related disruptions were not the center of every conversation).

In addition, the gardens of the winery had a large number of interesting sculptures, one of which allowed Shana to show off the value of her yoga practice:

The next day, we left the Algarve and flew to Lisbon where we would spend two nights and a day. Although we had previously been there, bad planning (and bad weather) caused us to miss one of the primary tourists sites in the city: the Jeronimos Monastery. The Monastery, which was part of the Order of Saint Jerome (a monastic order that now is almost gone with only two small monasteries in Spain remaining), is a spectacular building with an impressive cloister:

Other than viewing the building architecture, the most interesting thing at the Monastery was a room containing an exhibition of large boards that traced the history of the world, Portugal and the Monastery together. We spent quite a bit of time there and still did not have enough time to read or absorb most of the information.

Finally, since we were back in Lisbon, we revisited two culinary favorites in the city. First, we went for pizza at Forno d'Oro, which may be the best Neapolitan-style pizza we have ever had outside of Italy; and second, we went back to the Lisbon Winery for another wine tasting curated by our Portuguese wine guru, Adriana. It was fantastic once again, and we did bring back two bottles of wine to enjoy (not enough), but I told Shana it would be fun to live in Lisbon for a few months and do a weekly class with Adriana to really learn about the many grape varietals that are only grown in Portugal. Maybe someday.

More to come, despite being confined to our apartment,

Jeff and Shana

Sagres – the Western Tip of the Algarve Region

We have a couple more posts about our February trip to Portugal for you. But before getting on to the next one, please know that we are doing well, all things considered. We are now 3 weeks into our “confinement,” and the good news is that we seem to have crested the curve and are on the downside here in San Sebastian. They think the peak of new cases in our area was March 27. Fortunately, where we live has not been impacted as badly as Madrid or the Barcelona area. So, we’re hoping things will continue to improve here and that the measures taken continue to have their desired result. That being said, the confinement will continue for another 3 weeks.

One of our favorite excursions in the Algarve region was out to Sagres, which is at the very southwest tip of Portugal. Two years ago, we were at the westernmost point in Europe – Cabo da Roca. And by driving all the way to Sagres, and to Cabo de São Vicente, we arrived at the place that in medieval times was believed to be the end of the world. This little tip of Portugal is stunning, with natural cliffs and strong breezes.

Sagres is a small town popular with surfers, and those that appreciate the laid-back lifestyle that surfing represents. The scenery is beautiful and there’s not a lot to do except take it all in.

What makes the journey worthwhile is visiting Fortaleza de Sagres. This fort dates from the 15th century and is unique because it only has one exterior wall. The rest of the fortress's defenses are provided by the towering 200-foot cliffs that were considered impossible for attackers to scale. They looked that way to us as we walked along the mile-long cliff-side path with great views. Like most of Europe, there is no barrier to stop you from venturing to the edge, only some warning signs. There were even some crazy locals fishing from the cliffs. Here are a few photos:

After enjoying the panorama, we ventured out to see the lighthouse at Cabo de São Vicente, which lies about four miles west of the fort. It’s a barren, desolate place, with the lighthouse sitting 250 feet above the sea, with a beam that can be seen 35 miles out to sea.

It was a long day, which started in Lagos (see prior post) and finished late in the afternoon with a long drive back. It was worth it though to experience the gorgeous landscape – and we found a great pizza place for lunch!

Stay safe and healthy,

Shana & Jeff