It’s been 4 months since we packed up our home and moved out of Austin, 3 months since we settled down in Tres Cantos, and our furniture and things are ABOUT TO ARRIVE! Next week! Yipee!! So, I probably won’t have a post for next week, as we unwrap and unpack for hours on end. …
Spanish breakfasts are often small, consisting of heavenly crunchy bread, but churros con chocolate are the yummy exception.
All over the northern hemisphere, February is a cold and dark month. Spring seems forever away, and the light and gaiety of the holiday season is far behind. It’s not surprising that it’s a month when colds run rampant, and old remedies for the common sore throat once again assert themselves. When I lived in …
¡Feliz Año! ¿Que tal las uvas? This is an expression that will be said thousands of times today in Spain. “Happy (New) Year! How were the grapes?” No, it’s not that everyone owns vineyards, and grapes are not code for anything else—they really do mean, “How were your grapes?” To understand the question, allow me to …
One of my favorite Spanish holiday treats is turrón, and if you’ve never had it, you are missing out! It’s a typical sweet eaten around this time of the year, along with marzipan, and it’s similar to peanut brittle, except much less sugary. In the picture you can see that the proportion of nuts to …
Before I went to Spain, chestnuts were something from a Christmas carol—they roasted on an open fire or pop-pop-popped while people sat singing around a fireplace. The word made me feel nostalgic, but in a vapid way as there were no memories of ever having eaten one before, or even seen one in a fireplace. …
Being the only foreigner in a small city, and a student, had its advantages. I was especially lucky that all of the women who lived in my dorm saw it as their imperative to “educate me” in the ways of Spain. Thus, when we weren’t touring the country-side, my dorm-mates often took me out on …
“Adónde vamos?” I asked, sitting in the car with a group of my friends. It was a Saturday morning and we were off on another adventure in their quest to “Show Christy all of Spain in 9 months.” It was only natural that I should wonder where we were heading this time. “Iremosaunpueblollamadocastrillodelospolvazaresacomercocidomaragato.” Right. …
