Tapas En La Espana

What better way to kick-off Memorial weekend than a visit to Spain? Exactly what we thought too. Actually no, it was a celebration for Dr. "Ojo Yu" and I suppose my birthday too (someone remembered it in the afternoon). It was a whirlwind of a trip, after Way's graduation we took off to Madrid. We meandered through the city, checking out the Royal Palace, gardens, museums and long strolls through little cobblestone streets - sampling the local fare (cervesa, jamone tapas and churros). If I had to sum up the trip in a sentence I would say we ate, had beer and walked (note that I leave out sleep). There is a lot to see in only 6 days, and with the exchange rate as it was, time was too expensive to waste.

After Madrid we took the dawn-patrol train over to Seville (sah-vee-ya). Overall a very picturesque town, home to matadors and flamenco dancers... and the tasty Iberico Jamone (dried ham). Oh yeah, and there was this guy named 'Chis Columbus' who had a tomb which everyone was taking pictures of. As they say, "kind of a somebody". We also saw the tower that was made to store the gold Mr. Columbus found from the new world. Interestingly enough, restaurants seemed to align themselves with one of the five big Spanish breweries. It was rare to see more than 1 beer on draught at any tapas bar. Tasty, but rather ho-hum lagers. Can you say "Cruz Campo"? The tapas bars (in my opinion) were generally excellent, lots of seafood and meat dishes to try. And the siestas, well let's just say it wouldn't be Spain without them... a lifesaver for eating dinner at 11pm.

Last stop before heading back to Madried for the flight home was Granada. I think the droves of gypsys psyched kevin and I out a bit after a flock of them transcended upon a group of nearby german tourists, but we recovered. The town is famous for having the largest/most famous Moorish palace in Europe. Located at the top of the nearby hill, "La Alhambra" was huge - gardens, pools, fountains, palaces galore. It took a good portion of the hot sunny day to explore the grounds. The intricate detail in the walls and ceilings was spectacular.

So what products is Spain known for you ask? We asked the same thing. We came up with olive oil, dried ham and bulls. That's about it. But what they do, they do very well. I think Spain is ahead of the game, if Europe is going to meld into one country eventually, each country has to pick a couple products to specialize in - make it be known, Spain has laid claim to these three.

Would I go back to Spain? Yes, to see more of Seville and Barcelona and the Cruz Campo factory.