DAY 172

Friday 30 December 2011

Don returned from his half a month back in the States with family for the holidays, during which time he generously let us stay in his roomy apartment in the El Carmen district in the old part of Valencia. He walked through the door almost exactly at 10:30 AM as he had predicted; Charles was the only one awake at the time -- hey, we were in Valencia, where a 4 AM bedtime was more the norm than the exception, especially if you were under 30, but that was Charles' usual lifestyle back home too. Dian and Nicole eventually greeted Don, and we all tried to stay out of his way as he unpacked his new music/movies haul and dealt with jet lag and getting back on schedule.

Charles and Dian headed over to the optica shop where the owner had fixed Dian's broken glasses! They stopped for a cortado and pastry served by a Sandra Bullock look-alike then went back to our old favorite bakery, Horno Goya. Allysa was there and piled on the paella then gave us a New Years lemon muffin on the house. We walked over to Bill and Claire's and had tea and hot lemonade while deciding what to take to the BBQ  the following Sunday. Leaving them at about 3 PM we walked to the post office to mail some items and check on the disappearance of a large box sent to the States over a month before. Hmmm.
Later we took naps while Don went out to do some shopping, and make a reservation for us at 9 at one of his favorite restaurants, Bodeguilla del Gato, just a five-minute stroll from his place. At 9 we were early diners, but by the time we left at around 10:30 the place was full, with more people coming in. What a find. Great atmosphere, music, staff, and the food was superb and the prices low. The bill for four people for salad + 4 different tapas (calamari, blood sausage, pimiento de padron, mussels, + 3 beers + 1 coke + 2 really incredible desserts (toasted camembert covered with boysenberry sauce and a sumptuous slice of chocolate cake) + 4 grappas came to $62. And that's why people move to Valencia, or happen upon it and stay forever.

DAY 171

Thursday 29 December 2011

Is it okay to say we hate writing these blogs... every day or so? This confession is made in all candidness because deep down we know how much we'll treasure this daily synopsis of our trip but it's a MUST and we wanted a MUST FREE sabbatical. There. It's been said. All together now, Pooooooor family. Now on to the juicy details of our amazing adventure.

With Pilar and Enrique expecting us for lunch at 2:30 we wrote a few postcards, Nicole helped wash up after the tapas party and we finally scooted out the door to walk to our old neighborhood. We arrived bearing a box of marzipan cookies from Toledo. Holy guacamole! The house was completely decked out in Christmas decorations including a big tree and gorgeous nativity scene. Then the feast began. Pilar had made her own holy guacamole served on pork rinds with a drizzle of mole. We had a yummy fried noodle dish, fideo seco, re-fried black beans with Mexican cheese sprinkled on top and finally (after we were all groaning about eating too much) the main dish, chilaquiles, a casserole made with tortilla, chicken, peppers and cheese. All of this was washed down with either cervesa, tequila or pineapple juice. After spending their youth in Mexico the brother and sister had been in Valencia for the past 33 years and loved it.

It's wonderful how new friends can feel like old friends so quickly. The language barrier was nominal and when Nicole and Dian played some Spanish songs on the guitar Uncle Enrique even commented on their perfect pronunciation. We had cheese atop a square of guava and coffee plus all the choices of Christmas sweets you could imagine. We left exchanging verses of "Felis Navidad" as we rode down the elevator to the sunny street below.

Yes, we were in an unusually long period of good weather according to our friends and we were soaking it up like cats on a windowsill. We stopped at the Dia supermarket for more pesto and pasta (staples for the camping ahead) and Dian turned her glasses in to an optica shop where the proprietor, Jaime said he'd try to solder the broken frame but... "no se puede" which we recognized as the opposite of Barack Obama's campaign slogan (borrowed from Caesar Chavez) -"Yes, We Can." We took his card and agreed to call the next day to see if the miracle had been wrought.

Back at home we had a light dinner and each of us buried ourselves in the books we'd chosen from Don's vast library, trying to finish them before leaving on the first of January. When one thinks of the effort that goes into a good book it does seem silly to complain about a measly daily diary, doesn't it?

DAY 170

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Claire and Nicole

This was to be a Spring cleaning day, and so it was. With scrubbing brushes, cleanser from Albania and some home-grown elbow grease, we made Don's pad sparkle! Ingredients for the tapas party that night, with our Austin-Valencia friends Bill and Claire, were prepared in advance and included: sliced prok, cream cheese, pesto, mushrooms, grilled eggplant, tuna, chickpeas and stuffed olives. We toasted and cut some sourdough bread, then waited for the doorbell to ring.

Nicole putting together the Fantasy Van

They were right on time and we opened a bottle of red wine and began tasting the tapas. The dining room and its nicely-set table were neglected in favor of the comfort of the living room area with couch, so Dian traveled from kitchen to living room with about 10 different creations. Meanwhile, Nicole put together the "fantasy van" model she and Dian had bought for Charles in Piegaro, Italy.

Dian's song "Neptune's Tavern" was performed so our guests would know from whence came the book of the same name (Dian's words with her illustrations) that we had given them. With wine flowing freely it was nice to have Nicole clean up the kitchen and also nice that we didn't have far to walk (down the hall) to fall into bed. Bill and Claire said they didn't mind the walk home (about 20 minutes) because the night air was pleasant.

DAY 169

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Pictures around Valencia

Charles arose at 8:30 to move the car by 9 from in front of Don's to some secure and free parking space not horribly far from his place -- a tall order in Valencia, especially near the old city where we were.

After a fruitless and frustrating hour and a half Charles headed back to the apartment to  pay for a space for an hour, take a breather, and pick up his good luck charm, Dian. It was sooo much easier to have two sets of eyes looking for possibilities and reading signs and maps and judging traffic, and if/when a space was spotted chances were good it was previously occupied by a tiny European car and you'd need someone standing outside waving their arms and yelling "one more inch!" in order to fit a big VW van in.

It worked.... but it took another hour and a half and about eight cruises through the tiny street off the main drag where we scored a perfect spot before, then finally scored again. Good for almost another week. We celebrated the successful conclusion of our three-hour trial by popping into a small deli on the way back, with three kinds of paella simmering in their huge frying pans, and taking one home.

Ate, napped, emailed. Late dinner but good, tuna steaks from the nearby market, great mashed potatoes with cream and olive oil by Nicole, and a big healthy salad.

DAY 168

Monday 26 December 2011

There was nothing lacking at the Hilton breakfast buffet and when an employee came to ask if we had enjoyed our stay we unanimously said, YES! (Well, Dian yanked his chain a little complaining of the loud fire crackers and people carousing but then quickly amended the comment to say she thought he had been asking about the town of Toledo. He seemed relieved when she used the word "tranquilo" to describe the Hilton.) The waiter was smiling when Dian let him know she needed more coffee since she'd put salt in the first one by mistake. Yes, with little croissant sandwiches tucked into our jacket pockets, we were set for the snack we would need later in Madrid.

Charles had done the checking out the night before so all we had to do was dispose of our Christmas tree, (thanks Bill and Claire) and all the glitter decorations we had made in Piegaro. We made doubly sure NO GLITTER fell on the carpet (right mom!?) and did an idiot check before shuting the door to room 139. Our bags were a bit fuller with all the wonderful gifts that had arrived from Dian's mom and dad and were waiting for the Happy Trails Gang plus all the good junk we gave each other and Uncle Pat and Aunt Felicia's gifts, Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad" and an Amazon gift card.

It only took an hour to get to the Reina Sofia Museum in the heart of Madrid and we were lucky to find a paid parking space on the street right across from it. At the ticket window Charles pulled out his trusty press pass, Nicole produced her student ID card and Dian dug into the recesses of her money belt for the NOT ONCE ACCEPTED teacher card. All three were accepted and we entered one of the most fantastic museums in Spain for free!

A book Nicole read in her Existentialism class

Let's put it this way. Dian has always loved Picasso since her college art professor chose one of his paintings for her to meticulously copy. Other students had Manet or Degas but the teacher matched Dian with Pablo and her appreciation of his genius and seeming childlike quality knew no bounds. Imagine then how she felt standing in front of his masterpiece Guernica. The mural was commissioned by the anti - Franco forces and was based on a bombing attack on a little Spanish town with only civilians living there. When Picasso painted it, in black and white, it caused such a stir that it was used to moved people to see the horrors of war and it went on tour. It was eleven by twenty five feet. But until Franco left and a democracy was set in place Picasso exiled the piece to the New York Modern Art Museum only allowing its return 40 years later. Supposedly when Nazis approached him and said, "Are you the one responsible for this (Guernica)?" "No" said Picasso, "you are."

"A Trip To The Moon" by Georges Melies, one of the first "magicians" of cinema

There were so many great pieces by the Surrealists and of course being in the middle of a book about Salvador Dali, Dian was in hog heaven. We went up to the 4th floor for a view of Madrid at dusk then stopped for a quick coffee at the museum cafe. Nicole put money in the parking meter and we huddled in our van to have our snack. Yes, it was getting chilly as we walked to the Prado where we'd been told a temporary exhibit was open to the public. Unfortunately as Nicole quipped, "El Prado es cerrado, no entrado!" Oh well, we walked around it and up the steps to a church where a christening was taking place.

 Since it was already 7 PM we decided to drive back to Valencia on the most direct route and lo and behold there were no tolls! We arrived at midnight and parked in front of Don's place deciding we'd look for a more permanent parking space the next morning.

DAY 167

Sunday 25 December 2011

"Merry Christmas!" we chorused as we snuggled in deeper to our Hilton beds in Toledo. But reason overcame the comfort and joy of the moment when we saw that the breakfast buffet would be ending soon. So much to eat (included in the room price) so little time! With a truly impressive array of local delicacies as well as good old American standards like scrambled eggs and crisp bacon (impossible to find in lands where an espresso and a croissant is a standard breakfast), we had our fill and even managed (with staff permission and encouragement) to take a few treats back to our room for later. God knows we we're NOT going to raid the ultra-pricey room mini-bar.

We opened the rest of our gifts and had the leisure of laying in bed and reading new books or eating yummy treats sent from sister Monica and brother-in-law Rick in Texas and Dian's parents in California. A brief foray downstairs to use the lobby wi-fi was followed by a nap. At 7 PM our shuttle into town awaited, but just before leaving we were able to phone Dian's parents and her brother Tim and wife Marta who were vising them from Memphis. It was good to touch base with family and specifically to thank Tim for setting up our luxurious accommodations through his status as a Hilton corporation high mucky-muck.

In Toledo the joint was jumping, a contrast to the quiet, almost deserted night before, and we wound our way down curving streets, past the big cathedral, to "Alqahira" tea house/restaurant, through a festive atmosphere which included a life-sized Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on someone's balcony. When we arrived at the restaurant, proprietor Fathi was just wiping his brow from the huge lunch party that had just left. We were seated by ourselves (it was early, of course, for a Spanish supper) in front of the large  gorgeous colored glass and carved wood balcony piece he installed, and with his help ordered a variety of dishes from the menu. The food was delicious and we gave him a Three Kings Day present, his first that year, he said, and he seemed touched.

Exiting we took some more photos of the town in its Christmas attire, then meandered back to the Hilton through the crisp night air, but not before purchasing a box of the marzipan cookies that Toledo is famous for.