Spain's Balearic Islands: Ocean Views & Home-Cooked Meals

     

The Chew		The View
Twin Pizza Tastings		Toes in Ibiza :)

4/14~Mallorca

After a wonderful night of Barcelona's funkiest club, Razzmatazz, Lu, Junie, Kristin, and I woke up to find ourselves on the amazing island of Mallorca--the biggest of the Spanish Balearic Islands. Sister to the sleeping dragon of Ibiza (where we would go next), Mallorca promised us exactly the opposite of what we used to crave: no sights, no metro, and absolutely, positively no museums. 

Frankly, we are tired. Being travelers is a rough job (but someone's gotta do it, no?), and after a rough week of papers and midterms, we were ready to lounge beachside. Welcome to the beach party.

Beachside BK

"Black Tea"

Obligatory Beachside Lounging

Amazing Veggie Pizza


4/15~Ibiza

Ah, our time in Mallorca was too short. But, being the student travelers we are, we jetted off in search of the next party. Ibiza is one of the Balearic Islands off of Spain, and is known for its crazy rave festivities that consume its beachside, summer nights. We got there earlier than peak season, which actually helped our wallets -- regular cover club charge during the peak is 60 euro for entry. We got in for a steal at 15 euros. Plus, check out the hotel we nabbed for less than $20 a night:

  Room With a View

 Home-Cooked Meal (Ibiza ain't known for its food)

  Festivities before Pacha Club

It's funny how small the world can be if you make it so. I've seen the USC Madrid kids at least 3 times, and Ibiza was a happy coincidence.  So, even though the end of my semester abroad is in sight, I have a newfound sense that anyone I want to see and keep in touch with I can. It's a matter of will--and perhaps some money, of course.

 Kiwi smoothies with Junie :)

Not one museum in this entry. Just wait until Italy and Paris--trust me, I'm not always a lazy traveler in search of sun and surf. In fact, the Fates would reinforce that decision by hiding the sun from our travels. Somehow we still make the best of it all!

Slightly tanned,

The Chew 

Swept Off My Feet by Portugal: Spring Break Ensues

The Chew		The View
Pasteis de Belem!		Tower of Belem

3/25~Loping around Lisbon

What´s the first thought to hit you when you think Portugal? To be honest, I used to draw a blank. Egg custard tarts? Fish? Coastline?

I really need to see more of this world.

The City of 7 Hills

I landed in a city that looked back with cold respect at a 1755 earthquake, which decimated most of the city. Mostly rebuilt, it´s infused with Mediterranean influences and it´s own unique ocean mythology. Explorers of the new world are celebrated, songs of regret known as fado are sung over swoony, candlelit dinners. This is what I´ve been thrown into.

After dropping my things off with Lauren, who´s joining me on the journey through Portugal and Southern Spain, I was off.

Stunningly quiet

One of the most breathtakingly quiet courtyards. The Convent do Carmo is an oasis of calm (the rest of the city aint bad either). Also destroyed by the 1755 earthquake, it was rebuilt only to be sacked. Funny how humans can be more destructive than acts of nature.

Forbidden Garden

Where I was literally kicked out. See what I mean about hidden oases in Lisbon? Though the guard did share some cool tidbits of info, like how it was owned by a mysterious American.

These hills kick butt

It´s funny how the Portuguese deal with rain. The moment rain falls, you see crowds of varied people under awnings, watching as if some sports spectacle was occuring in the streets. You almost expect to see a parade pass by. They know that the rain comes in short bouts, and wait quite patiently.

                            3/26~Belem: Pastries & A Tower

Our traveling trio!

With Amy here, it was time to get down to business. The funny business of sushi in Portugal.

SUSHI BUFFET

Belem is the coastal part of Lisbon with history, sushi, pastries, and sights. The problem with a buffet is that it´s imperative for us to eat pasteis de natas. More on that later.

Prison with a View

Dear god, the Tower of Belem is amazing. A former chapel turned military reserve turned prison, this beachside fort has seen some serious happenings.

I´ve never gotten such pleasure from material items

Just to show it off again

This place is MAGICAL. The pasteis de natas are a lovely Portuguese pastry of egg custard filling with a burnt top, and cruncy pastry brushed in butter. What I thought would be similar to the Chinese version of the egg tart (dan ta) is actually closer to a creme brulee. You add your own cinnamon, powdered sugar topping, which only enhances the creamy custard within.

 

The Pasteis de Belem has their own religiously guarded recipe. Seriously, only 3 people know the recipe. They come in every morning, oversee the mixing process, then leave into their appointed lockboxes where their secret is hidden away.

 

I´m not a coffee fan, but the galao was a perfect accent to the dish. It´s a shot of espresso with milk, making it closer to a frappe than anything else. The bitterness helped balance the richness of the tart--though I´ve never been one to complain of things being too sweet. What a silly concept.

 

Getting ready for another gorgeous day in Lagos, here in Southern Portugal. Tanning today, bbq tonight, surf tomorrow!

 

Until the ocean waves,

The Chew

Less Chew and More Gulp: Dublin, Ireland

    

The Chew		The View
Veggie Shepherd's Pie, Home Fries, Potatoes GALORE		The Liffey River at sunset

3/17~First Guinness

 

Never have I seen a country so defined by one color. Green grass, green airport, green fuzzy hats that filled the streets for St. Patty's Day. I flew in with no expectations except for Guinness, and returned home with an Irish twinkle in my eye--and really fully of Guinness, and a new friend, Jameson.

My First Pour of Guinness!

Our first night at the pub scene, and I had my own chance to pour Guinness. How do I explain the taste and process of a REAL Guinness? First, the pour has to be done 3/4 of the way first, then left to rest for 1 and a half minutes. The color will resemble more of a Coke colouring as it aerates and slowly turns to the signature black. Then it is topped off, and you are left with an incredible foam layering, which is the ice cream on this drinkable cake. Taking the first sip is like that first drop of rain after a drought--nothing can quench your thirst quite like that. The light cream melts away to reveal a smooth, barely carbonated beer that leaves you with a hint of bitterness in the back of the mouth. Not unlike drinking a smooth coffee, actually.

 Puy Lentil Burger @ Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Ok, so you can't survive on beer alone (though some may beg to differ). Dublin has a surprising amount of young, trendy restaurants--though that notion becomes less surprising when you find out the average age of a Dubliner is 24!

The Gourmet Burger Kitchen gave me the perfect veggie burger to prepare me for my potato and puff pastry-filled journey to follow.

ST. PATTY'S DAY

Hot Whiskey @ Temple Bar

For St. Patty's Day, green was certainly the triumphant color: the streets were packed with people wearing fuzzy lime-green hats, hunter green scarves that proudly proclaimed "IRELAND" and shamrockin' sunglasses. The parade itself was less of a sight than the people who climbed onto poles, light fixtures, and trucks to see it.

The place to be is this area called Temple Bar, which is marked by the fact that every other venue is a pub--the most famous being Temple Bar itself! I first went in with Luia and we enjoyed a hot whiskey, which is this wonderful concoction of hot water, brown sugar, whiskey, and clove-studded lemon. It was 3:30pm, and we could barely move through the crowds. We met a mother-daughter team from Pasadena sharing Irish Car Bombs, and a Danish woman who inquired about our hot drinks. There were a couple of leprechaun-studded men who posed for us in the beer garden area. What a place!
 

We were back later that night for our very own pub crawl, which was well worth our money (boy can beers add up...I get why people forego eating in favor of Guinness). For once, the city was open late. Every other night, the city's nightlife ended at about 2:30am--just when it kicks off in good 'ol Barca :)

3/18~Guinness Factory

Guinness on top of the world @ SkyBar

What journey to Dublin would be complete without a visit to The Guinness Factory? It was a complete trip, a total tourist spot of a now non-functioning factory. You travel through the ingredients required to make Guinness, and one section--for water--displayed a waterfall where people felt this odd urge to take pictures. It's incredible what a gimmicky thing they could do to a curious tourist. The highlight of the tour was the SkyBar, where you can enjoy a pour with 360 degree views of Dublin. We had the pleasure of seeing a RAINBOW with our view, where it's the most inspiring to see one. I'm pretty sure rainbows were invented in Ireland.

@ Guinness Factory

Oldest Pub in Ireland est. 1198

 With all that Guinness in our system, we had to have more pub food. The Brazen Head is Ireland's oldest pub, and right around the corner from our second hostel (The Four Courts Hostel). I had my greasiest fry dish of Battered Mushrooms with Homefries...it was literally the only vegetarian dish there!

3/19~Irish Countryside

Day trip to gorgeous countryside @ Wicklow

Since we were in Dublin for 5 days, we had the luxury of taking a day trip out to Glendalough and Wicklow. I seriously couldn't stop thinking of references in Victorian novels like Wuthering Heights, as we passed by actual MOORS. What is a moor, you ask? It's a pasture with this odd peet-like brush that looks like rolling fields of grain. The landscapes were stunning enough that movies like Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart were filmed there. AND we got to stop and take pictures in the bridge were PS I Love You was filmed. All I could wish for was Gerard Butler to pop out and propose. But I guess we don't all have the luck of the Irish, do we? ;)

3/20~Queen of Tarts & Shopping

PASTRY GALORE @ Queen of Tarts

There's a reason The Queen of Tarts is ranked as one of the top 3 eateries in Dublin. I don't think I've eaten so much puff pastry in my life. We ducked out temporarily of a free 3-hour Dublin City Tour to grab one of these treats at the Dame Street location.

Spinach Puff Pastry w/ Brie & Walnuts

That was just trip #1. Trip #2 was when we had a free moment at Cow's Lane, which is this cute street of boutiques and bakeries...and yet another Queen of Tarts. The focaccia bread that my roasted veggies were nestled between literally had tomato baked into the top. It had a wonderful Urth Cafe feel that brought me all the way back to LA :)

Roasted veggie sandwich with hummus on focaccia bread @ Q of T 2

After doing some souvenir shopping at the outdoor Designer's Mart of Cow's Lane, we headed to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. After deciding that the 8 euro fee was too hefty, we headed to the Jameson's factory, which I actually enjoyed touring more. It was more of an intimate experience, where you had a personal tour guide take the group through the 7 steps of boiling, mashing, distilling, etc. in a very Disney-like set that you could touch and take pictures of. Instead of hopping aboard the India Jones ride, your reward for waiting is the whiskey. I got to try a cranberry-whiskey drink, which was SO YUMMY. And apparently they drink it with apple juice in Russia, which is my next mixture to sample.

Jameson's at the end of the rainbow @ Jameson's Factory

Needing another injection of trend, we decided to end our trip at a hipster restaurant simply titled gruel. My cheese quesadillas with guacamole were good by virtue of simply having guacamole. Dear god, avocados are expensive in Europe. I definitely licked my bowl clean :)

Last Meal @ gruel

My trip was a wonderfully self-reflective journey, and also a beautiful first trip out of Spain to see the green and hospitality of another country. And let me tell you, the Irish are the most LOVELY and kind people. From the woman in the first hostel who wouldn't let us leave without giving us glasses of juice to give us energy, to the people on the bus who gave us food and wrote out directions on what to visit and how to get there, to the taxi driver who laughed at us for not pronouncing "Quay" as "Key," we met some truly hospitable, down to earth people.

Being with my GLPeeps, this group that I've been with since freshmen year, with whom I shared my first drink not so long ago in an Irish pub in Shanghai, that I really learned what our friendship means. It's a comfortable, warm feeling of being able to travel and not worry about entertaining. About caring so much about other people's wants, that you're truly pleased when they are. 

I hope to share more travels with you all~

Cheers,

The Chew

A Testament to Blowing Money on Food: Madrid, Spain

     

The Chew		The View
Ferrian Adria's legit veggie burger		Reunited and it feels so good! - Plaza Mayor

The capital. It's a phrase that was essentially meaningless to me back home. O yes, DC has a unique culture that prides itself on the relatively short history of the US. But, next to LA, it's a smaller city that seems...quaint.

But Madrid is clearly the capital of Spain. It buzzes with movement and history, with a bustling city population of 3 million--making it the 3rd most populous city in the EU after Paris and London.

It was the greeting of a bright pink facade of a building that won me over. Just as we exited the metro by the Way Hostel, I saw the almost tropical color of buildings with the neo-classical style so familiar from Barcelona. Both a comfort and a new vantage point.

Hungry travelers as we always are, Kristin and I got down to business. Food, that is.

FRIED goat cheese with RASPBERRY jam

(CAPS is where my heart beat INCREASES)

The Casa Alhambra had some amazing raciones like the above fried cheese, ensalada with white asparagus, and we even shared some paella! My first in Spain, but not necessarily the most noteworthy...

Next comes the sites. Luia and Jess had trained down from France, and it was absolutely amazing to see them in the bright sunny Plaza Mayor! 

One great thing to do is take a 2 hour walking tour with the Tourism Office (only 3 euros), but you learn a lot. Here's our wondrous guide:

Getting Teary-Eyed about Queen Barbar *sniff*

One great story: there's this Ferdinand VI character who met his arranged-marriage-wife, Barbara, in Portugal and they initially hated each other--then they fell in love and brought a Renaissance age to Spain by being patrons of arts and culture. When she passed away, he wallowed in the gardens alone for 9 months, and then passed away himself. She, sadly, wasn't allowed to be buried in the royal mausoleum because she never had children (you had to give birth to a king to be buried there), so Barbara was buried in a cathedral now called Santa Barbara. And just before Ferdinand died, he insisted on being buried with her. So now the two are together at the intersection of Carrer Ferdinand & Barbara in the Cathedral Santa Barbara. TEARS

We took a free visit The Prado (from 6-8pm that day), and saw Las Meninas by Velazquez. It was amazing to see the scope of the painting, and how it was actually three panels stitched together to create the portrait of the princess and her servants. 

That night we met up with some fellow Spanish-studying BK6ers at a...Mexican restaurant? Haha, they were craving it.

 Poor Michael: They have no concept of veggie enchiladas...

Then came our first night out on the town. We met with Luia's sister's exchange friend Alej, who lives in Madrid. Here comes bar-hopping, and that wonderful Madrileño phenomenom of bouncers enticing girls into clubs with free drinks. So it began.

A skeevy bar that kept us with sangria and random bursts of YMCA

~

The next day was RAINY and OVERCAST. But no matter, good food was on the way. Ever heard of Ferran Adria? A spanish chef of godlike magnitude, he owns the infamous El Bulli, a restaurant where 2 million people apply for a reservation in a given year, and only 8,000 are awarded the honor. The experience will set you back 290 euro, but he operates at a loss and the experience is pure gastronomy.

Without said budget or said reservation, I opted for Adria's gourmet fast food concept called Fast Good.

 Spinach Pate-style Veggie Burger

AH, this ranks among the best veggie burgers I've ever had. The spinach wasn't mealy at all, and seemed more like a pate that was loosely pan-fried with grains to give it some shape--though the facade of structure fell apart in your mouth as it melted away. YUM.

Then, the tourist bus from hell. No transfer + smelly passengers + stupid audio + 17 euro = epic FAIL

At least we had high spirits! 

Then a Palacio Real tour, where the Royal Armory used to be. And guess who we bumped into? A HUGE group from the USC Bilbao program!!!

My high school/college mate, Sarah & I!

Cold and soppy from the rain, we decided to indulge in a little bit of healthy comfort food at the Chocolateria, a 24-HOUR churro restaurant. God. Bless. Spain.

Churros at all hours? Chocolate twice in a day?

After siesta (yes, siesta does a body good), we decided on dinner at a place I had total food anticipation for: El Tigre. And once you get food anticipation, come hell or highwater or elephants, nothing will stop me from my ultimate goal.

Imagine walking into a bar with a sea of heads, a slim bar, and the scent of smoke. Seem enticing? At El Tigre, it's exactly what I expected and wanted. The experience wouldn't be the same if you didn't have to elbow a few people to get to the bar and order. The wonderful gimmick is the order strategy: buy a drink, get plates of tapas for free. Go with friends for a round of drinks, and you've got yourself a full on meal.

Patatas Bravas y Croquettas

Two staples of the tapas culture are patatas bravas y croquettas. Patatas are fried potatoes with this slightly spicy brava salsa, which has some vinegar and ketchup...sometimes served with aoli which leaves you reeking of garlic. The croquettas are fried pillows of cheese. Sometimes blue, always soft, this combo is the perfect drunken munchie food!

You would think after a full night of greasy tapas we'd be full for days. But a wonderful veggie buffet was on the way...

Veggie sushi?!?!

Of course Kristin and I would find the only veggie buffet in town. Seems I ate quite healthy in Madrid...I even got a taste of Spanish "street food" with roasted chestnuts and corn on the cob :)

But the grand finale of my foodie tour of Madrid came with a visit to the world's oldest restaurant. Welcome to El Botin, and an experience that was possibly one of the best foodie pleasure of my life.

They have a line of people waiting patiently at 7:55pm to get their seats at 8pm, which was our reservation. The restaurants is an intimate space with two labyrinthe floors, and a seemingly disconnected cellar that require a walk behind the front counter passing the kitchen. Just going downstairs and seeing the vaulted ceilings inlaid with stones older than my country's Constitution was something to behold.

New Friends, Old Recipes :)

To begin, as usual, sangria. Except Botin-style, with a pitcher that's probably 200 years old.

Garlic Soup with Bread Crust & Egg

Happy Chew with Scrambled Eggs and Green Asparagus

Madrid Cream Puffs

This is a new phenomenom for me...to truly savor a full meal, with wine, starters, bread, main, dessert. It's a typical lifestyle, that's actually big for lunch here in Spain with menu del dias, and I'm learning to sit for hours and enjoy my meals. Food may never look the same.

Tomorrow, I leave for Ireland. Will this veggie starve in a land of meat, game, and fowl? Thank goodness for beer carbs.

Until I find my pot o' gold,

The Chew