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

Bird Watching – Why not?

While evaluating things to do in Southern Portugal I came across a two-hour bird watching tour by boat in the Rio Formosa National Park. It was reasonably priced and highly rated, and we had never been bird watching before, so I thought, why not? Plus this would be a good way to experience the large natural park area. Now I just had to convince Jeff it would be fun. In the end, it didn’t take much convincing.

We ended up with an almost private tour. There was only one other guest, Margaret from Oregon. The three of us had a marvelous time with our guide Paolo, who was incredibly well-spoken and informed about the natural park and its wildlife. It wasn’t the warmest afternoon, but the light was marvelous, and we had no issues spotting several types of birds.

Being total amateurs, we’re not able to remember all the types of birds we saw. But we did get super lucky and saw a group of 9 wild flamingos flying and then landing in the shallow wetlands. I’m pretty sure neither of us had ever seen flamingos in the wild before – only in zoos. And we know we had never seen them flying. This was tremendous good fortune. Even Paolo noted that he does not get to see them often, and he’s out there nearly every day. These flamingos seemed remarkably elegant in their natural habitat and we enjoyed spying on them from our boat for several minutes. We don’t have any photos because you really can’t take quality photos of birds with a phone. It was just as well, better to just enjoy what we were seeing without trying to get the perfect shot.

Enthused after our tour with Paolo, we spent another half a day walking and bird watching in the area close to our resort, which is also part of a nature preserve. We were able to locate a stork rookery and enjoyed seeing various other birds as we walked along golf courses and nature paths. Bird watching makes you much more aware of what’s going on around you and you see things you otherwise would miss. You are more “in the moment,” which in these distracting times is a good thing.

Although we won’t be taking up bird watching as a hobby anytime soon, we have a new appreciation for it and will keep our minds and eyes open to new opportunities.

Here are a couple of bird photos I did get along the way. A cormorant in the Lagos marina and a stork nest near the Silves castle.

Keep your eyes open and your head up. You never know what you might observe out there.

Cheers,

Shana & Jeff

Ponta da Piedade

During our visit to Southern Portugal we covered a lot of ground exploring the Algarve region. As you know, we don’t like to do organized tours unless they will allow us to experience something special or can take us somewhere we can’t easily get to on our own. We found a tour that fit the bill in Lagos – an hour-plus boat ride out to see the Ponta da Piedade.

The Ponta da Piedade is a series of beautiful sandstone cliffs, that are considered to be one of the finest natural features of the coastline. This area to the southwest of Lagos has been eroded over the millennia by powerful winter storms to form unique cliff formations, which include sea arches, grottos and smugglers caves. While you can explore the area from the pathways that cross and climb the cliffs, our tour proved it is much more enjoyable to view the cliffs from the sea.

We hopped in a basic boat – essentially an over-sized rowboat with an outboard motor. The sights were stupendous, as were the historical and geographical explanations provided by our captain. Words can’t do justice to the formations, so here are the photos. As you’ll see, you can also play a fun game describing what you see in the shapes.

These steps were used, beginning in 1444, to bring slaves from Africa to the slave market in Lagos – they are a monument to a shameful period in human history:

This bridge was apparently built by the nearby property owner:

These formations are called “Lovers” and the “Arc de Triomphe”:

We were able to enter various caves and get up close thanks to the small stature of our boat:

And some additional shots:

If you’ve been to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico and seen El Arco, these formations will look familiar, but they are so much more extensive.

It was a fun excursion – sun, sea, and nature. Plus the water was fairly rough the day we were there, and being out on the ocean in a small boat was definitely an “E-Ticket ride.” Two thumbs up!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

PS – we are just about one week into our coronavirus confinement here in SS. So far we’re managing just fine. 

Coronavirus Update Part 2

Before getting “locked down” officially at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning (Monday, 16 March), we ventured out yesterday and today to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather, to take super-long walks, and to get some extra Vitamin D before we won’t be able to venture out too far or for too long. Saturday a lot of other people seemed to have the same idea. Today, after the Prime Minister’s speech, it was much quieter, especially because all of the bars and restaurants are already closed.

Since yesterday’s post was photo-free, we thought we’d share a few photos from our last adventure out. As you can see, it was gorgeous and warm, but the streets were mostly empty.

Wish us luck and feel free to call and/or Skype to keep us company. 

Sending virtual hugs your way, 

Shana & Jeff

A Coronavirus Update

And now, in a break from our regularly scheduled programming, we thought we’d provide you an update on how things are going here in Spain, which currently has the 5^th highest number of coronavirus cases in the world after China, Italy, Iran and South Korea. The Basque Country, where we live, has the third most cases in Spain, after Madrid and Catalonia. But fortunately for us, most of the cases are in the other two Basque provinces and the number of cases here in Gipuzkoa is less than 50 as of now.

We saw people wearing masks for the first time in the airports in Portugal 2 weeks ago, where there were no known cases at the time. Since we returned from our trip on February 28, we have slowly been refilling our refrigerator and cupboard. As we restocked, we started buying a few extra things here and there, yes, including toilet paper. Keep in mind, we don’t have a local Costco, and even if we did, we don’t have the space for too many extra supplies, especially perishables. Our refrigerator is not even full size. As avid news readers we knew things were going to change quickly day by day. So, last weekend I made a pot of soup and put most of it in the freezer. We continued our daily routines, going to the gym and Spanish classes, and I went to yoga as well. The virus was a topic of conversation and worry with everyone, but overall things were calm.

Ultimately, things were not that much different here than what has been going on in the US. Although we realized that it would be highly unlikely we would be traveling to Germany as planned the first two weeks of April, or to Seattle at the beginning of May.

This week, the energy began to intensify a bit. There was an intangible feeling of impending change and some unease, especially after the Italian government extended its shutdown to the whole country. Closures of schools were announced in various areas and events started to be suspended. Everything essentially started to come to a halt Friday (13 March) when both the national government and the regional Basque governments declared a state of emergency. At that point, my yoga studio shut down and we knew the gym would be next.

Last night, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, explained what the state of emergency will mean for us here. The good news is we have been able to understand the news broadcasts and newspaper articles. Our Spanish has come a long way! The bad news is we will be staying in our apartment for the next two weeks at least, except to leave to buy food, other essentials, or the newspaper. We are fortunate that we have a balcony and there is a lot of natural light in our apartment – we get the afternoon sun. So, as long as the Wi-Fi works, we’ll do our best not to go too stir-crazy.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming – posts about our trip in Portugal. Sadly, we know now that there won’t be any future posts about our forthcoming trips because they won’t be happening.

Keep calm and carry on washing those hands,

Shana & Jeff