Andalucia and Spanish Food Porn

Hello readers. I was just going through some pictures from a trip I took in December to the Southern Spanish community of Andalucia. With cities like Sevilla, Granada, and Cadiz, there's no question that Andalucia is one of Spain's cultural epicenters - it's the birthplace of Flamenco and tapas, need I say more?  Enjoy some photos from my time in Granada and Cadiz! :)

Good mood town. It took me about 2 hours to find my hostel trekking the windy, narrow and hilly streets of the Albayzín, Granada's old Arabic neighborhood. I couldn't help but keep upbeat because this place was simply beautiful. I highly recommend the Rambutan Guesthouse to an weary travelers that make their way to Granada.

It wasn't Sevilla but the Flamenco was just as good.  To anyone that has never seen live Flamenco music, it is an experience unlike any other. You cannot help but to be entranced by the crooning voice, passionate rhythms and dramatic dance moves. Granada

Incredible view from my hostel of the Alhambra lit up at night. Certainly Granada's most well-known site, the Alhambra is a 14th century Moorish palace, fortress and gardens. Granada

I was caught off-guard by this seemingly plain cold potato salad. It was actually packed with vinegary, lemony and aromatic flavors similar to some French-style potato salads I've had in the past. So friggin' tasty, it was gone in a wink ;) Cadiz

How many times have you eaten forgettable fried calamari? These fried squids, I assure you were anything but forgettable. Firstly, I'm certain they were locally caught and super fresh; Cadiz has a strong local fishing industry. Secondly, they were fried to perfection and smothered in a lemon, garlic and parsley sauce. Win. Cadiz

La pièce de résistance. I present the jamón ibérico de bellota - the pata negra, the real shit. This ham is the most delicious cured meat in Spain, and a serious source of national pride, no joke. The ham comes from free-range pigs that wander the forest all day and only eat acorns. The result is incredibly flavorful meat and succulent fat. Granada

Admire it. It's beautiful. It's coming for you...

Morocco for Foodies

**Please note: Best read whilst hungry**

A Little Background

Morocco was always in the back of my mind as an ideal place to travel from Spain. So naturally I was really excited when we booked our tickets...and then Tunisia went nuts...followed by Egypt. Things were definitely looking sketchy the week before our trip.  After researching the situation we decided to bite the proverbial bullet and get on the plane.  What ensued were seven peaceful (and gluttonous?) days in Morocco. From Marrakesh to the Desert to Essaouira to Fez, here is what remains of the culinary tour de force we completed (on a budget too!)

The Main Course

In Morocco, they don't drink water. They drink tea.  Always refreshing no matter how hot, Moroccan tea is made from black or green teas leaves, fresh mint and a cavity-inducing amount of sugar. Super tasty though. Marrakesh

Equally refreshing was the fresh-squeezed orange juice for 4 Dirham (about 40 cents €) Marrakesh

Sunset at Place Al Jemma. This photo is misleading as it makes the plaza looks calm...au contraire, this spot was crazy and filled with snake charmers (really), story tellers and local bands. Actually reminded me of Coachella. Marrakesh

We spent most of the first day wandering the maze-like 'souks,' the bazaar market. After a couple hours walking, my throat felt like it was charred by the smog in the Medina. We found these snack stands inside the Place Al Jemma which served up a delicious, and super-spicy, tea loaded with ginger, cardamom and other spices. The meatloaf-looking thing is a paste made of ground sesame -- similar to halvah -- but with a texture a little more like dirt. All in all and enjoyable snack, especially while watching the tea vendors try to squeeze every single passerby into their stand. Marrakesh

Night falls on the Place Al Jemma and a mobile restaurant colony emerges. This mass of bright lights is about 50 small, outdoor restaurants serving the basics of Moroccan food. Marrakesh

This bad-ass is selling lentils at 6 Dirham a pop (about 60 cents €). Marrakesh

The lentils and 'haricots' were delicious. The red sauce was brought out at almost every restaurant when we were brought bread. It's spicy with chiles, but gets a unique taste from pickled lemons. Score for one euro a piece. Marrakesh

Dinner #2: We post up at a crowded grill stand, heeding our hostel manager's advice, "Always eat at the most crowded place." Marrakesh

Beef skewers, vegetable and chicken tagine, and bread with fresh tomato sauce. Fire. Marrakesh

Day 2 was spent mostly on the road. We drove from Marrakesh over the Atlas mountains and deep into the desert. After several hours driving through Morocco's date-farming region (aka: shit loads of palm trees in the desert and beautiful) we stopped in Zagora, where we rode camels to a waiting tent in the sandy ocean.  This pic is of Abdul, our hilarious driver, entertaining us with some original Berber songs after dinner. Zagora

Sunrise in the desert! Breakfast of bread, really good butter, marmalade, coffee and Moroccan tea enjoyed with our Argentinian travel mates. Zagora

Dirty and awesome food market in Marrakesh

Buying dates there.

I love Coke labels in foreign alphabets. Arabic is pretty legit. Marrakesh

Lizzy enjoys a beer at 'Bar.' This place is an composed of a few plastic chairs and a half-wall facing the beach.  They only serve one type of beer and you can't help but feeling like you are at a beach side speakeasy. Basically a symbol for the chillness factor of Essaouira.

Who would have thought the best meal of the trip would begin in this open-air fish market. With hundreds of day-boat fishermen in Essaouira, this fish is about as fresh as it comes (and what variety!) Essaouira

This dude wrangled us into one of the restaurants in the fish market and then he took us back into the market to buy our fish. We ended up with these two fish he's holding and a crab for 80 Dirham (about 8 euros). Essaouira

On top of the fish cost -- paid directly to the fishmonger -- we paid 25 Dirham per person at the restaurant to make a meal out of what we bought. They cleaned the fish, seasoned it and then broiled it.

It was an amazing meal! Super fresh fish, tomato salad, amazing spiced olives, spicy sauce and lime. All for about 130 Dirham, or 7 euros per person, the most expensive meal we ate in Morocco.

It was a thoroughly delicious trip. Believe it or not we did more than just eat, but that'll have to wait for another post. Until next time! :)

L'Alt Pirineu

Field notes from day four:

From where we sit, I can easily see both walls of the valley. The left side looks like the high desert in California, just a little more green and moist. It is dotted with low brush but no trees. I was told that animals graze the area, and it is thus very difficult for trees to grow. On the right (East) side, the landscape is breathtaking. The uppermost level is covered in green oaks with the deepest evergreen color. Below the oaks the trees are more diverse and multicolored. I love the combination of crimson, vibrant green and golden yellow. The valley floor is a carpet of green grass. A small town is engulfed in the green sea.

Between Spain and France there is a granite and limestone border called the Pyrennes.  With terrestrial and biological diversity that rivals some of California's greatest ranges, the Pyrennes are an excellent place to study mountain geography.

I was fortunate enough to take part in a 5-day long excursion in the Pyrennes with my geography class.  The goal of the trip was to better understand the geographic, biological and societal factors that tend to define mountain communities.

I left the Pyrennes with a better understanding of mountain geography, more appreciation for Catalan culture and some new friends.  All in all it was a fantastic trip! Check out some photos below.

Three professors taught our class, and here you can see them holding up a map in a brisk wind. The profs specialize in Urban Geography, Botany, and Geology, and our lessons were as diverse.

Day 2: On the way up to our first hike, the three vans got stuck in the snow. Just before the sun had risen, we had about an hour to enjoy the scenery from the side of this snowy road.

All hands on deck as the team pushed out furgoneta # 1.

An hour later the hike began. The sun came out and it started getting warm.

A view of the valley we hiked through. Hard not to notice the snow – apparently it really came down in the days preceding our trip.

Cascada! Waterfall! We admired the waterfall for a bit and then hiked up right next to the cliff's edge where we held class. Here we learned about the chemically erosive properties of Limestone, one of the most present rocks in the Pyrennes. At this site, the water has a slightly low pH and had thus carved impressive valleys and underground rivers through the rock.

The waterfall's source.

Day 3: My favorite site. This valley is located in Vall d’Aran. Definitely one of the most scenic spots of the trip, but made so much better by the warm wind that was blowing early that morning.

Just having class on a mountain, NBD.

Epic prof shot.

Epic mountain shot.

A quick word about bars. On this trip, I realized how integral a part of the Spanish eating culture bars are. Less like a bar in the States, in Spain a bar is a place where people of all ages can go for a drink, a reliable cup of coffee, a bocadillo, or a tapa. They are pretty much Spain’s equivalent to a diner, and whether it was for a drink, a coffee, or a sandwich, it seemed like the group stopped at a bar at least once per day.

Curvy roads, man. A little too curvy for some stomachs…

Standing on a mountain and holding class while the Catalonian flag whips in the wind above our heads. Fairly epic shot, in my opinion.

The crew at one of many delicious dinners!

Day 4: At a National Park. The Profesors were sure to point out that the idea of National Parks came from the United States, even if Franco created this one.

Los Encantados – twin peaks with plenty of mythology. Pretty much the Half Dome of the Pyrennes.

Another bar...

Inside a hydroelectric dam. So dam cool, man.

Last photo before the drive back to Barcelona. What a trip!

Travel Bender

Good morning from Brussels!

I just wanted to post this up saying that I we be taking a break from blog-posting until after Halloween.  I - very fortunately - have been experiencing a huge month of traveling.  Last weekend I visited Mor in Paris. This weekend UCSB kids are reuniting in Brussels (the beer is as good as they say, no word yet on the waffles...)  And this coming Tuesday, I leave uber-early with my Geography class for a 5-day excursion to the Pyrennes mountains in northern Catalonia (near France).\

So, yeah, don't expect a post out of me for a little more than a week...and then expect many posts about the adventures...and more about Barcelona!!

Okay, time to wake up with a waffle, then a beer.

Ryan

A Day in the Life at la Autònoma

When pondering the idea of studying abroad, most students tend to forget about the studying part.  And I wouldn't blame them: it's hard to care about class when you have new experiences beckoning you at every corner.

I too may have thought this way at one point, but overcoming those feelings was just a matter of going to class the first week.  Now, as my 3rd week of class comes to a close, it's hard to digest everything I've learned so far.

The first couple weeks were hectic.  Finding classes and getting acquainted is no small task when you're linguistically handicapped.  My school, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), is a Catalan University, so everything - really, everything - is oriented to a language I barely understand and don't speak (yet?).

Language barrier aside, everything at UAB was dandy this week, and I'm darn happy to report that.  Between the 40,000 + students, a few new local friends, and a bilingual class schedule - I have classes in Catalan (!!!) and in Spanish - I'm waking up every morning wanting to get on the train to class. Check out what my day looks like!

The day starts. Jolted from my morning espresso, I walk down Carrer de Monseny and head to the closest station of the Ferrocarrils - the commuter train that takes you into the afueras (the suburbs).

It takes about 5 minutes to walk from my door to the station. But first, I duck into Mercat de la Llibertat for a breakfast snack.

Oh yeah! Gracia is both my stop and my neighborhood. Love!

Felt like a nerd taking it, but here's the obligatory train shot. Nice color combo, eh?

The train ride lasts about 30 minutes, covering 20 km through the green foothills above BCN. I arrive and walk out into Plaça Civica, the main quad at Autònoma.

The typical Spanish university does not have a campus. Autònoma, however, does, so my walk continues towards my Facultad.

The Facultad - or Facultat in Catalan - is a foreign concept to most American college students. It's kind of like a hybrid between a college or school and a department. Most of my classes are taught within the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (Spanish).

Inside the Facultad. This building is an enormous maze: there are many classrooms and hallways and we have our own cafeteria.

Art

Inside my first class of the day.  A brisk wind came in through the window, and then I noticed this nice view.

Well, this is a classroom. I don't think the professors were down to have their pictures taken, otherwise there would be more pictures like this ;)

Time for lunch! I opt for the handsomely-priced cortado y bocadillo combo. A Cortado is a shot of espresso with some milk and the bocadillo is clearly a sandwich - this one is ham, and the bread is spread with tomato and olive oil. ¡Qué rico!

¡Qué suerte tener amigos con quien puedo almorzar! Jeremy eligió una cerveza y Maya bebió un cortado como mí.

Me and my cortado.

Humanities library.  I checked out a Cartography book from here!

And then I went home. This is the walk back down, past my Facultad, towards the Ferrocarils.

All things point to Barcelona.

¡Hasta mañana Autònoma!