Portugal

Though we didn't have much time, while in Spain we decided to cross the boarder into Portugal to visit Lisbon and Oporto. As we were in the south we went to the funky capital Lisbon first for 3 nights. We spent the first day seeing the sights including the Columbus monument, the statue of Christ looking back over the city, the water front and a trendy section of town called LX factory. We also made time to sample some delious Portuguese cusine like Iberian pork, rabbit, ocutopus and of course Portugese tarts. While on our long walk (over 16km in one day) we stumbled onto a little place that specialised in Portugese tarts. After seeing such a long line out the front we felt that there must be a reason, and after tasting our tarts we were convinced, these were in fact the best in Portugal!

While in Lisbon we researched good restaurant and found a little place called Xapuri. After being greeted by the friendly Romanian waiter and quizzed on our trip so far - he was very impressed we had just come from Romania - we settled in for salmon capriccio and meat balls from various sausages (chorizo, blood, traditional). Another interesting meal in Portugal was in Oporto, after seeing locals tucking into a gravy covered sandwich we thought that we must give it a try to. Fortunately, we decided to share one, as it was huge, cheesy and DENSE, but still delicous and a great way to prepare for port tastings.

As you may have noticed from our blog posts we have enjoyed seeing some great street art and Portugal certainly had some impressive work. We had a great time just wandering the back streets and discovering the full building displays covering ordinary residential apartments.

Our second and final stop in Portugal was Oporto. Best know for its famous sweet wines, this thriving metropolis is also a great place just to wander and snap away... With the intricately tiled building dominating both the main streets and back alley and the numerous displays of colourful door ways, it was near impossible to save enough room on our data cards to fit in photos for the rest of the trip.

One happy coincidence while staying in Oporto, was the Port festival taking place down by the river. After sampling the ports at some of local houses we hot footed down to the festival and bought our ticket to the festival. The tickets included 5 samples of local ports, a cooking demonstration and a wine tasting session taken by local experts. After enjoying our cooking demonstration with a local Portuguese chef and sampling her chocolate brownie with port toffee and syrup, this left our tummies wanting more. So to satisfy our hunger we perused the massive selection of bite size tapas selecting a few to match our port samples. Feeling quite merry, we were happy for the long stroll back to the hotel to help clear our heads in preparations for the drive back to spain on hand morrow.

- Louise & Ryan -

Spain

Centuries of history, picturesque coastlines, incredible food, crazy festivals and amazing architecture, Spain has it all! Although with only a short amount of time left on our visa and limited kilometers before an expensive car service, we had to be a little selective with our destinations.

Starting in the north, we travelled down from the mountainous country of Andorra and slowly made our way towards the coast. After some extremely glowing recommendations from friends Tara and Aaron, we decided on Figures for our first stop, mainly to visit the very extravagant Salvador Dali museum. Arriving in the late afternoon we set out in finding some accommodation, however the weather didn't exactly corporate which left us running around in a massive storm, ankle deep in water searching for somewhere to stay. Eventually we managed to find a place to dry off and wait out the rain before stepping out again for some tapas and a spot of shopping in town (on Louise's part). The next morning we were first at the door to get into the museum, as the crowds pick up quite quickly as the day goes on. With such an extensive collection of his works, we enjoyed a few hours of wandering the museum and works that he has inspired, we then moved into the jewelry section created by Dali which was fascinating, a favour been the beating heart made of rubies.

Next we headed down to Valencia in preparation for the world famous La Tomatina. During our 3 days here we spent our time wandering the city with our Topdeck guides learning a little about the local culture and history. Having participated in the worlds largest food fight and 3 showers later, it was then time to head to the south of Spain (via Madrid for a new passport for Ryan - not enough pages left!). With our next stop in Granada Louise started coming down with the flu and chest infection, with Ryan quick to follow. After a day of rest, but still not feeling much better, we dragged ourselves out of bed and went to see the Alhambra. Originally built in 899 as a palace and fortress, before been renovated in the mid 11th century by Badis Ben Habus the Berber king and converted into the royal palace in 1333 by the sultan of granada, Yusuf 1.

After seeing the Alhambra, we were not sure if there was anything could top it, however when we walked into the Mesquita in Cordoba we were awestruck again. The endless red and white striped arches and beautiful alter were yet another example of the magnificent architecture in Spain. After spending an hour or so in the catherdral, turned mosque, turned carthedral again, we wandered the quite streets of Coroba, enjoying a frozen yogurt and snapping a few photos of the local 'artwork.'

From Cordoba we then headed west to Portugal to travel up the coast, seeing the main Portuguese sites along the way (see Portugal post). Crossing back into Spain, we took the back roads for both the scenic views and to avoid the ridiculous Portuguese tolls. Whilst initially this proved to be a great choice, our GPS on the other hand had a different idea and once again we found ourselves testing out the Peugeot's off road capabilities.

With our chest infection still lingering we decided to treat ourselves with some fancy accommodation. So after some hefty research we decided on a castle in the small town of Oropesa, just outside of Madrid. As we approached the town we were met with beautiful views of a castle overlooking the surrounding hills and quaint medieval town. After checking in we wandered the entire castle reading up on the families that lived in the castle in the past. We then dressed up and heading into the town square, bustling with locals, to sample some of the local foods and a sangria. Having done almost everything medieval throughout our tour of Europe, staying in an actual castle was definitely a great way to start rounding off the end of another chapter. Although I am sad to report it didn't cure our illness...

Of course a trip to Spain wouldn't be complete without a stop over in its capital, Madrid. As mentioned in an earlier post Madrid was a unexpected surprise when it came to culinary delights. However it wasn't the food that captured our attention, it was the chance to see one of Spain's most well known yet controversial sports, bull fighting. Having secured some A-grade front row seats, we settled in on our piece of concrete bench and watched the spectacle unfold. Whilst unfortunately no bulls were able to make it through to 'greener pastures' the matadors put on an interesting performance and kept the butchery to a minimum.

For our final few days in Europe we stayed in Barcelona, enjoying our return to health and the fabulous food on offer. We spent most days going from restaruant to restaurant enjoying the endless types of tapas, taking photos and wandering from funky shop to funky shop. We left Barcelona (and Europe) with significantly lighter pockets, but many good memories.

- Louise & Ryan -

La Tomatina

Rather than bore you all with detailed facts about the history of this messy Spanish festival, I thought it would be better to just show you. So here for your viewing pleasure is another video of us doing something .....

La Tomatina from Ryan messer on Vimeo.

Tapas, Tapas and more Tapas . . . .

Hands down, no arguments, Spain has been the culinary highlight of our trip . . . . While France and Italy are obviously delicious places to visit, we found that Spain has a range of new flavors and a great style of meals - tapas is a great way to try a greater range off the menu - which really suited the way we liked to eat! Here are just a few examples of our culinary delights from our short time in Spain.

Cured blood sausage, Cordoba - Quesuco cheese with peppers, Valancia - Eggplant fries with honey, Cordoba - Ox tail, Cordoba - Green bean & ham croquettes, Valancia - Valancian mussels, Valencia

Fried potato with quail eggs, Valancia - Black pudding with peppers, Valancia - Rabbit and chicken paella, Valancia - Meatballs, Valancia - Broad beans with pidgeon, Oropesa - Stewed pigs ears, Figueres

Chorizo tartare, Barcelona - Shredded duck terrine, Barcelona - Seafood paella, Barcelona - Ceviche, Barcelona - Shredded pork Tacos, Barcelona - Pigs ears, Barcelona

Galician-Style Octopus, Barcelona - Pulperia (Bar), Barcelona - Fried Sardines, Barcelona - Rasor Claims in Garlic, Barcelona - Steamed mussels, Barcelona - Seafood Paella, Barcelona

Now to some of our less casual dining experiences . . . . .

A rural town . . . . .
On our way down from Figures to Valencia we had an overnight stop in a large town called Valls. When we arrived at our hotel we ask the receptionist for her favourite restuarant in town, she quickly recommended Les Espelmes which was a small resturant in the hills behind the town. After asking her to make a reservation at 7:30pm, she gave us a strange look and half way through the call looked up and said that they don't open till nine. Whilst way past our bed time, we willing accepted and realised we were going to have get used to eating much later then we were used to. We were first in the door and ravenous when 9pm finally came round, so we quickly ordered a jug of Sangria and a duck charcuterie patter to settle our grumbling bellies. This was then followed with a pigs trotter served on beans and duck in orange. All of the food was sensational and the resturant was full of locals. Finally we finished up with a local specialty of the Catalina Cream, which quickly became Ryan's new favourite desert.

The unexpected seafood resturant in Madrid . . . . .
While in Madrid the guide books and reviews we had read recommended the seafood despite the distance from the ocean. This lead us to a small local restaurant called La Gaditana, a family run taverna serving typical Andalusian cuisine. On arrival they said they were fully booked for the evening but if we weren't planning on staying all night they could fit us it! We were so glad they did. As the locals streamed in we took three seafood tapas, tuna terrine, Galician style ocutopus in potato, cheese and paprika (patented by the restuarant) followed by garlic prawns. The good food keep coming with Ryan proclaiming the steak with Spanish style potatoes, as the best steak of the trip! We then finished up with cheese cake, which completed a perfect meal. After paying the extremely cheap bill, the one waiter who could speak English ushered us to the bar and poured us a glass of sweet wine from the south of Spain and was very keen to know how we found the place - apparently they don't get many tourists!

The (Michelin) star meal . . . . .
As previously mentioned, we were not fortunate enough to get a reservation at a Michelin rated resturant while in France. So upon hearing that San Sebastin has the most Michelin stars per capita we decided this would be a great place to book one in. We decided upon a place called Restaurante Alameda, a small resturant run by the Txapartegi brothers which 'respects the products' and uses local fresh ingredients. We started with a complementary gazpacho, followed with a mushroom and scallop ravioli and seared tuna in sesame, which were all absolutely sensational, bursting with flavor and beautiful presented. Then we moved onto a main of roasted pidgeon with black chilli sauce and stewed pigs trotter in apple and lime. This was all finished off with a chocolate ganache with hazelnut soup and citrus ice cream and a fresh cheese ice cream with bitter orange and crumble. The delicous food continued throughout the entire meal, some of the most exceptional food on the trip! We also accompanied the meal with a glass of local Rioja red, but only had a little as we were (both) recovering from a chest infection.

Our goodbye to spainish food . . . . .
As we were jetting off to Morocco in the morning we wanted to say goodbye to Spain and Europe in style, so we picked a modern Spanish resturant with raving reviews not far from our hostel. On arrival I ordered a blueberry mojito which the resturant was famous for and once it came it was easy to see / taste why. We then ordered the fish ceviche served with yuca to help reminisce over our time in South America, the dish was similar to the many we had in our travels there, so much so we asked if the chef was from South American - our waiter nodded and smiled and then asked when we had been to South America. Next up we had an amazing duck 'steak' with a red berry sauce and Ox tail with plantations. We finished up with a traditional Catalonia cream, a perfect dessert to end our stay in Catalonia and to say goodbye.

It wasn't all fancy dinners . . . . .
While we did indulge and eat out a majority of time in Spain, we also made time for some thrifty self catering, which was a completely different experience. Every local market was brimming with extremely high quality produces, hams, olives, white anchovies, marinated peppers, marinated octopus, salami, caper berries, chorizo, flavored jellies (we tried mojito & sangria), juices, pastries and fresh seafood. A platter from the markets was an excellent and easy meal that was a little bit more in our budget.

- Louise -