Vuelvo a Granaaaaaada! And a look at simple Spanish inventions that are still used today!

Last weekend we went to Granada for Carlos's Grandmother's 91st birthday. This is the view from her balcony. Her big house is filled with antiques. She is a very sweet woman who reminds me of Grandma Doris. They both have trouble seeing and have notes all over their houses written in big lettering. Visiting her and spending time with the rest of the extended family was nice. 

I have missed my own Grandma Bloom's birthday and other family gatherings. I think that's one of the hardest parts about being away from home. Missing family. But Carlos's family have been very open and welcoming. I always feel comforted when I spend time with them.

(you can click on a picture and it will take you to a slide show where you can see them better)

La abuela and three of her nietos. She has eight grandchildren. She spends a lot of her time at this table, surrounded by her pictures, religious figurines, and family and friends. I think she's so lucky to still be living in her house where she always has a caretaker or family member with her. Until two years ago she was living alone. She can walk around okay with a cane, ¨like an old turtle¨ says Carlos.

It seems in Spain there are lots of elderly people who are still very mobile. They may walk very slowly with their canes but at least they are out and about. In the States there are fewer elderly people who are so active and present in the community. A common site in Spain is a bench on the sidewalk or in the plaza where a group of old men or women are sitting. They sit there for a long time and watch the passersby, the old men checking out the young women.

It's common to see an old woman slowly walking with her little dog or her grandchild. Perhaps I'm seeing this more because I am in a big city where it's more convenient to walk everywhere, but I do think that the elderly here are more active and seen more in the community.  And Carlos tells me that it's even more common in a pueblo to see the elderly out and about. Maybe this difference between Spain and the States can be attributed to cars. In the States most cities have evolved with the use of cars and people generally drive everywhere instead of walking. In Spain it's much more normal to walk to the grocery store or friends house. 

This is Iglesia de Santa Ana in Plaza Nueva. This is a very beautiful area of Granada. Left of the church begins the Albaicin quarter which is the oldest part of Granada. It was built by the Muslims and since then has housed various cultures. There are lots of churches that were once mosques. The streets are narrow and twisty. The neighborhood is on a hill and looking out to the east you can see the Alhambra. 

Here are some photos that I took when Dorothy and I were there last year:

   I took this photo from the side of the hill where the Alhambra is. So this is looking across from the Alhambra to the Albaicin.

The Alhambra at night! This was taken from the hostel where we stayed in the Albaicin. Something about the Alhambra and the surrounding trees and narrow streets creates a sort of magical atmosphere. Every time I've been there has been in winter. I imagine in spring and summer it's even more beautiful.

Here are some of the famous caves in Granada where people still live. Seems like a mix of hippies and gypsies.

Air conditioning units make creepy eyes.

This statue shows Cristoforo Colombo (that's his real, given Italian name) asking Queen Isabela and King Ferdinand for money to finance his trip to find the East Indies. They agreed to help finance his trip in 1492. This was the same year they kicked the Muslims out of Granada.

Here is a map that CC believed to be correct before the ¨discovery¨ of the Americas:

Man, can you imagine what it was like to live in those times, before humans knew of all the continents and where they were in relation to each other? And what kind of excitement it must have been to learn of completely different places and the life there! Too bad it's always been a story of greed and destruction. I guess that's the history of humans.

Okay, back to present day Spain and it's simple, yet genius inventions!

To my Spanish friends the following pictures might seem like a strange ones for the blog, but I'm including it because as far as I know we don't have these kind of nifty dish rack cabinets built above the sink. I took this one for everyone back home! Isn't it smart?

And of course we have the heat lamp! Dorothy took this picture last year at Carlos's mom, Isabel's house. I forget the name, but it's basically a heat lamp that goes under a table. In the winter everyone gathers around the table and the table cloth also serves as a blanket that sits on your lap, keeping the warm air around your lower half. It's very cozy. Before electricity they used hot coals. Needless to say there were a lot of house fires because of this, but they are relatively safe today.

So simple!

Okay this next one isn't really an invention, but it's something that is very very Spanish and you see them everywhere:

Dried delicious pig legs. Jamon! Me encanta Jamon! They are in houses, bars, and restaurants. In bars and stores they are all hanging from the ceiling and if there are a lot of them the air has a dried meat smell. It can be a little much sometimes. 

In houses you often see them set up on this wooden board with a rack that holds the leg. With a super sharp knife you slice away! This is also in Isabel's house.

It seems like it's these simple things about Spain that I love the most. Food and ways of life that have been around for a long time. Viva España! Y Viva Jamon!

little things...

Sometimes this is dinner:

And here is the new sofa that has been a top topic of conversation. The one before was like a stiff board.
The room is slowly becoming more alive as we add more plants and pretty things for the walls.

Los Ositos

Carlos has always referred to his family as Ositos, which means little bears. Here are some photos of Los Ositos and friends. 

On Sunday we went to the famous Rastro, a market that sort of resembles the kinds of things you'd find at a hippie music festival. Lots of leather belts and bags. Pretty dresses and skirts, jewelry, tapestries, plants, etc. My favorite area is where lots of gypsies are selling second hand leather and fur jackets and lots of antiques. They have cheap underwear and socks (not used, just cheap). They are always shouting and very convincing that you should buy that two for one deal on pantyhose. Funny place. Gypsies tend to have darker skin and hair and it seems most of the women are stout with round, strong faces. A hardy bunch.

Here is our group walking through the Rastro. It was winding down at this point and we were looking for a place to have tapas and a beer. 

The red haired woman is Vega, Sergio's girlfriend. The woman in the blue scarf is Isabel, Carlos's mom, Javi, his brother, is wearing the blue jacket with the white hood. Sergio is the goofy one with the big grin on his face and right behind him is Dimitri, Carlos's cousin.

Here is a Peruvian (?) man with his Peruvian puppets and flute. His little song was very sweet and his puppets were tap tap taping along. 

There are always lots of street performers at the Rastro. A group of African men came dancing through the market with drums and all. There are lots of African immigrants, especially in my neighborhood. Many of them set up shop on the sidewalks to sell purses or jewelry. Some go from bar to bar selling African jewelry. Many don't have work. I was speaking with one man the other day who said he was from Darfur. I asked him if he missed his home and he looked at me like I was crazy and said, ¨Do you know what is happening in Darfur?¨ I felt a little embarassed. I know, of course, what is happening, but in my efforts to make conversation I made a mistake!

There is a lot of racism in Spain. African immigrants (not Arabs) are a relatively new here. The man I was talking to said he would give anything to live in the United States where he said the black man is more respected. I guess we have come a long way in the States, but there's still a lot of ground to cover!

Here are the singers and drummers:

The gypsy section of the market. There are always several antique stands with rusty farm tools and skeleton keys, wooden boxes, and dusty boxes.

We stopped at a crowded bar and had cañas (small beers) with tapas. Here's a plate of anchoas. They are  in a vinegar and olive oil brine with garlic and parsley. We also had other typical caña tapas: olives and calamares. Delicious.

It's really typical in Spain to go out on Sunday with your friends and family. The bars are filled with people. Normally you eat and drink standing up and people are constantly squeezing past you. The waiters shout  out orders to each other. Some how drinks and food get paid for, you squeeze your way out of the bar and the next group crams themselves in.

We ended our day with lunch at my and Carlos's favorite restaurant in Lavapies, El Automatico. They have delicious Spanish foods such as salmorejo, which is a cold tomato soup that's blended with bread, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and garlic. With chopped boiled egg and jamon on top. It's creamy and heavily! 

Sergio and Vega! 

An Arabian Night

Last weekend Carlos's mom and brother came to visit. We basically ate delicious food and talked and lounged. Very Spanish! Friday night we rented Paranormal Activity 2 and ordered Chinese food. So we all piled on the *new* couch and stayed there for most of the evening! The new couch is a sofa bed and really comfortable. hint hint. A great place for visitors to spend the night!

Saturday we went out to eat at this great Arabic restaurant. I ate cream of eggplant and chicken tangin. So so delicious.

The atmosphere is really nice.  Found this photo on the internet.

After dinner we went to the Arabic baths. Carlos and I have been there a couple times before. It's really close to our house.

The atmosphere of the baths makes you feel like you could have traveled back through time. There are Arabic designs on the walls and floors. The lighting is dim and there are candles in little nooks in the walls. There is a temperate water pool, a hot water pool, and then a little pool with extremely cold water. There's also a steam room and tea room.

Here's a photo from the internet. The pools are divided by these walls with arches. It's really beautiful. The best part for me is going from the really hot pool into the freezing water. It seems insane at first, by immediately after immersing your body in the cold water you feel so good. Something about your blood movement. You feel very alive. In the tea room there is this nice sweet mint tea. 

Here is the cold pool. Judging from the curved brick ceilings I think this place used to be a bodega. There are lots of old bodegas in Madrid that are now bars or clubs. 

The baths are one of my favorite places to go. After we were done we all felt like jello- loose. And ready to collapse on the sofa. I always sleep deeply after going to the baths. I feel it's well worth 24 euros. You have something like an hour and half to be there. If any of you decide to visit me I'll definitely take you here!!

¡Truco Trato!

I did my best to celebrate Halloween in a city that's just now being inundated with Halloween paraphernalia. The little kids are taking to it pretty fast, but the older ones sort of roll their eyes. And the cynics launch into tirades about how American consumerism is invading Europe! Okay, that's true in a way, but I tried to encourage those around me to embrace the dressing up part.
Here's our pumpkin. I bought him a couple weeks ago. I carved out the insides and then let him sit in the kitchen for a few days before moving him to the balcony. On Halloween night I finally decided to carve him up and discovered lots of fuzzy mold inside. Poor fella. As I carved his simple features, his face nearly collapsed. Little cracks formed around the cuts and the mouth ended up with a crooked smile that was unintended, but looked good.

Can you spot our little rotten friend?

While walking to the grocery store I looked up an saw the moon- glowing and perched between the buildings at the bottom of our street.

Carlos and I met up with my new friend Brenna. I whipped together a strange ¨zombie cook¨ costume with a couple aprons and torn pieces of white fabric in my hair. Carlos wore his monkey mask and Brenna wore an old skeleton costume that belongs to one of the boys she takes care of. We wandered around looking for something fun to get into, but we were among the few who were in costume. Like I said, Madrid is just now catching on. 

People really loved Carlos's mask. Lots of shouts and smiles.

We stopped at a cafe and had some beers. Three boys in masks were going from table to table saying ¨Truco trato!¨ When they came to our table I was caught off guard as one boy jumped up and screamed with his scary mask. They were expecting money from people, but I was prepared with some twix bars which they devoured like little rats!

The pensive monkey.

Mediterranean Chicken with Capers

I just have to share this delicious photo and recipe. I sort of combined a couple recipes I found on the internet with my own inventions and wha lah! I call it Mediterranean because, well, it was a Mediterranean raised chicken and the recipe includes capers, which are grown here!

Here it tis:
First I sautéed some garlic in a pan. Then I added chicken broth. Then I put in four boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
I let them slow simmer cook. Turned them over a few times. Once the chicken was mostly cooked I poured off some of the broth to use later.
In a separate pan I sautéed onions, red bell peppers, and mushrooms. Not sure what kind of mushroom. There are so many different kinds sold here in the stores! It wasn't the boring little salad ones we have back home. Bigger and more fragrant.
Okay so I sautéed the veggies and then added them to the chicken.
In a little sauce pan I melted some butter and then added a little bit of flour. I mixed the flour and melted butter into a sort of creamy paste. Then, with the heat on med-low I added a little milk. Stirred until it thickened. Then added more. It's amazing how such a small amount of flour can thicken a lot of liquid. I probably used about a cup or so of milk and then started adding in the leftover broth. Once I had about 2 cups of thickened milk-broth mixture I added it to the chicken and turned the heat on low. At this point I added the capers.

I then let it all simmer together for 30 min or whenever Carlos finally came home. It was delicious! I've made it before with other vegetables. I've also made it without the four-butter-milk, but I like the creamy texture it makes. You could probably use real cream, but this is sort of a cheap substitute. If any of you more experienced cooks have any recommendations for making this better, let me know!!

I would like to note that the pan is one of these new ceramic coated pans. I looked all over for a regular stainless steel pan and they don't seem to exist. It's def hard to find a cast iron pan! Either the yucky teflon or this new ceramic option. There are still warning signs that say to only use wooden utensils and not to scratch it so I wonder how safe it really is.