Barcelona (Part II)

While in Barcelona we visited a couple of the many architectural works of Antoni Gaudí that are in Barcelona. I can really appreciate his work a lot more than Geary’s big titanium turd in Bilbao. However, much of Gaudí’s stuff resembles gingerbread houses. I still kind of like some of it.

Here is the Casa Milá…




The Casa Batlló...



I also get the idea that maybe the word gawdy was inspired by this guy.


Here is the Park Güell...





This park was going to be a housing development, but the guy who was putting up the money (Güell) died. Either that or he pulled the plug on the funding and died later (in either case, he's dead now). Work was abandoned and the entire site was turned over to the City of Barcelona which later made it into a park.

And finally the Sagrada Família (Sacred, or Holy, Family) Cathedral which is his masterpiece (and is still under construction).





We were going to go into the Sagrada Família late on Sunday afternoon but it was closing in about half an hour.

Monday we went up to Montjuïc and visited the Olympic Park and took the gondola ride up the hill.



There was a fantastic view of the harbor up there, but the sky began to look a little shaky.



There was a pretty cool little fortress at the top called Castell de Montjuïc, and we wandered around for a while.



The weather cleared up while we were there and I managed to get a couple of good pictures of the city and the harbor…



and then this ugly guy got in the way…



On Monday we also went to see the Palau de la Música Catalana which is this amazingly ornate music hall. It was one of the few things there that was not designed by Gaudí. Actually this is untrue, but there is a lot of his stuff there.



We missed the last tour by about ½ hour, and it was getting too late to head back to the Sagrada Família, so we decided to go the train station to take us back to Girona. We were spending the night in Girona because we had an early flight Tuesday.

In spite of not getting to see a bunch of stuff that I would have liked to, I was really impressed with Barcelona. I would definitely like very much to go back in the spring or autumn. The food there though, was not really up to par for what I’ve come to expect of Spanish food. I guess it was because we were in a rather touristy area. We did have a couple of decent meals off the beaten path, and one very good meal in Girona on Monday night (I had the confit of pig’s cheek and some fries).

I must say that the Paella I had Saturday evening was probably one of the worst I’ve ever had. Oh well, I guess no place is perfect!

Next time: My new car!

Here is todays Wordle...

Barcelona

It is Saturday morning, 17 January 2009, and I wake at slightly after 3:30 AM and stagger into the shower. I’m up at this ungodly hour because a friend is coming by to pick me up at 4 AM. We are headed to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (which is, interestingly enough, about 1½ hours from Frankfurt). Once there we will board a Ryan Air 737 that will take us to Barcelona, Spain for a long weekend. So I can’t really complain about the early hour.

This is what the Rheingau looked like a week earlier…





How happy do you think I’ll be to arrive in Spain?

We arrived at the airport in Girona, and took the bus into Barcelona. Once we got to our hotel rooms, we dropped our bags and headed for the center of town. On our way we stumbled upon a parade. One that was complete with a very tall bare-chested-bird-headed woman (I’m basing the woman part on the chest, not the bird head).



There was also a bare-chested-bird-headed male, and both were wearing crowns. I am unsure of the significance of these two characters.

These two youngsters were part of the next group. I believe one kid has grapes suspended above him, and the other has a hop cone above his head.



Wine and beer ... I think I’m going to like this place.

A couple of groups later had a fire breathing dragon. The dragon actually had a long tube of some sort protruding from its mouth with a constant flame of about 6” long. Within the same group were little children in dragon outfits, complete with safety glasses and gloves. The dragons which they were wearing had a roman candle attached to their mouths. The roman candles were periodically changed out and new ones were lit by the adults walking with them.



Check out the size of this kid…



Look at all the proud parents and grandparents in the crowd. I don’t think this type of thing would ever be able to happen in the U.S.

God I love Spain!

After the parade we went to La Boqueria. Which is the big market in Barcelona. They had everything a good market should have…

Fruits



Vegetables



Peppers



Ham



Lambs heads



And assorted feathered and furry animals.



While we were out wandering around town we saw the Columbus monument.



I was walking around the base of this impressive monument and photographing the various statues. Now I’m not the most politically correct person in the world, but even I was taken aback when I saw this one…



A proud native bending down to kiss the ring of … wait a second … he looks familiar.



Oh my God! It’s the 30th District Congressman from California, Henry Waxman!

Barcelona is a beautiful city. It is full of parks and large open areas, has some amazing architecture, and is right on the Mediterranean coast.

Our two week trip to the Czech Republic was cancelled (or at the very least postponed), so it looks like I’ll be in the office for the next two weeks. This will be the longest stretch since September I think.

I’ll be posting more pictures from Barcelona this week along with pictures of my new car and my latest food project.

Please stay tuned…

Turkey (the country) and Choucroute Garni...

The weather in southern Turkey was beautiful, incredibly clear skies, with clouds appearing only one or two days.

Our work was done on Thursday, so that night we went into the nearby town of Adana for dinner. We had an incredible meal there. The waiters just kept bringing out starter dishes. The table was so full of food that they were balancing plates on the edges of the plates because there was no more room at the table. There were six of us, and we had enough food to serve 10 people easy. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera to get a picture of the feast.

Everything was delicious. There were plates of hummus, baba ghanoush, tomato salad, a tzaziki-like cucumber-yoghurt sauce, a garlic and red papper paste, various breads, some type of tahini paste, and much more. As it turned out, one of the girls with us was ordering everything. We had thought this was standard fare, nobody at our table had even been handed a menu by this point. There were four or five waiters constantly bringing and taking plates away from our table.

Friday we flew to Istanbul where a couple of us were spending the weekend. One of the guys with us is from Istanbul, and is going to show us around a bit. He still has family there and wants to spend some time with them, so we end up hanging out with him Friday and will be on our own until our plane leaves Sunday afternoon. It is cloudy on Friday and I am hoping that the weather gets a little better so I can get some good pictures. Friday night it starts to rain, and it is constantly drizzling until we leave on Sunday.

We still got to see plenty of stuff, and have more great meals, but the weather really prevents us from doing everything we would like to. It also prevented a lot of my pictures from turning out.

We visited the Hagia Sophia which was the main church of the Eastern Orthodox religion. That is, until it became the Ayasofya Mosque under the Ottoman Empire. When the Republic of Turkey was formed, Atatürk had the early Christian icons uncovered, and turned the whole place into a museum. It is really quite an impressive structure, and has an amazing history for a single building.

We saw the Blue Mosque on Friday, although we did not go in until Sunday.

Over the weekend we went to the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market, the local fish market, and we saw the outside of the Topkapi Palace but did not have time to go inside.

Early Friday evening we found ourselves inside a mosque at the time of the evening prayer. I was assured by my Turkish friend that it would be OK to look around as long as we stayed quiet and remained near the back. There were a couple of rows of men praying, kneeling, standing up… kneeling… bowing… etc. It was probably a better aerobic workout than a catholic mass.

We were walking along in the back when Eric whispers my name and points toward the wall. I look over at the wall and see an electric box with a big shut-off handle and immediately I am trying to stifle my laughter. It looks like one of the switches that Marty Feldman throws in Young Frankenstein. If it was labeled “DO NOT throw this switch during prayer time” it couldn’t have been funnier. I think I may have even snorted a bit. Needless to say we got the hell out of there as soon as we could. I figured that an international/interfaith incident was not really the type of thing I was interested in at this point in time.

Istanbul is a wild town, and I would like to go back when the weather is better. It is this incredible melting pot of eastern and western culture and religion. Everyone is trying to get their hand into your pocket, but they would rather sell you something overpriced than steal from you. Everyone was very nice to us, and there was not a time when I felt unsafe there. I will definitely go back.

On new years day I made a big pot of Choucroute Garni for some friends of mine. Choucroute is the French word for sauerkraut, and the Garni part means pork (I think). What I do know is that a plate of Choucroute Garni is a plate of sauerkraut, potatoes, and a splendid assortment of pork and pork products cooked in riesling. Mine had a pork shoulder roast, kielbasa, two kinds of bratwurst and two kinds of blutwurst. I did not get the pork belly or liver dumplings, but I think I was forgiven.

It is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition is to eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year ’s Day to bring good luck. It really was wonderful, and if eating all this pork on January 1st doesn’t bring us all good luck … then I'm afraid nothing will.

(more pics on my flickr page HERE)

Which is it?

A bottle of cheap French wine ...



... or could it be ...

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?


OK, I admit it. I've been to lazy to post anything substantial.

And that is something that is not going to change today. Just wanted you to know that I am still here. I do have a bunch of pictures to post from the trip to Turkey, and hopefully will get to that sometime this week.

For now here is a picture of my pantry with several sausages and the Rose de Lautrec garlic hanging.



I did not make any of these sausages, but I am hoping to make some this winter.

Please stay tuned...

Oh yeah, and I'll post a picture of my new wheels then too!

Nîmes …

My previous entries on our journey to the South of France took us up the Cassoulet Trail, but now we were going to see some really cool stuff. Our next stay would be in Nimes before heading back to Montpellier the night before flying back to Germany.

Nîmes is an interesting town. It as a substantial amount of Roman era buildings/monuments/etc. which are still intact including the Miason Carrée…



It also has a coliseum that is still used for the Bullfighting festival (among other things)…



Nîmes has a heavy Spanish influence also (hence the Bullfighting Festival). We wandered around and took some Pictures of some pretty cool stuff.



That night we ate a restaurant that was mentioned in one of the Michelin Guides that I looked at in a used bookstore. It did not have a Michelin Star, but it did have a “Bib Gourmand”. A “Bib Gourmand” is basically a picture of the Michelin man licking his lips, and is supposed to signify that the establishment has good food at moderate prices. While I do not want to quibble with the Michelin judges over what is a moderately priced meal, I feel that I must say that this was, hands-down, the worst meal I had in France. The worst for the price anyway, which while not too dear, was definitely too much. Nothing about the meal was really bad, but nothing was very good either. They had wines that were damn near as old as I am (and probably had better life insurance as well). I felt like Steve Martin in “The Jerk” when I asked the girl if she had anything “newer”.

The next morning we had breakfast at the market. This was good, a simple omelet and some coffee. The market was also fantastic, although I didn’t get too many photos inside. They had the “Rose de Lautrec” Garlic that I had been seeking out for a friend in Kentucky. So I picked up two kilos, and kept one for myself. I also picked up some dried salami that was pretty good.

Here is a picture of the Garlic and Sausage and the Cassoulet bowls that I purchased in Castelnaudary…



After the market we headed out to Pont du Gard, which was the whole reason for coming to Nîmes. The Pont du Gard is the longest surviving stretch of an aqueduct that once carried fresh water for the city from a point some 50 kilometers away. This thing is impressive.





After walking around and gawking at the aqueduct for the better part of the morning, we headed out for Montpellier. Even though it is a sister city of Louisville, Kentucky, I just did not feel the need to explore Montpellier. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, so we headed down to the beach for a couple of hours and watched the sun set on the Mediterranean.



The next morning we flew back to Germany.

The last two weeks I’ve been out of town for work. I’ve visited the Christmas markets in Wiesbaden, Nuremburg, Heidelberg, and Mannheim. They all have pretty much the same stuff, and they all have Glühwein.



For those of you who don’t know, Glühwein is a mulled (spiced) red wine that is served warm. And yes it tastes just like you’d imagine it would (i.e. not very good, too sweet, and any other adjective you would like to apply). However, even though it tastes as bad as it sounds, I have sampled the Glühwein at all of them (for strictly scientific purposes).

Last Thursday night in Mannheim, a couple of us dined at a Turkish restaurant. I had the Lammskopfsuppe (Lambs head soup), and no, it didn’t stare back at me from the bowl. It was very tasty, although I kept hearing Mick Jagger singing “Angie” the whole time I was eating it.

The Turkish restaurant was a good prelude, because I’m flying to Turkey tomorrow morning. We will be there for work through Friday, but a few of us are going to spend the weekend in Istanbul. One of the guys going with us is from Istanbul, so he’ll be able to show us where to go and what to see.

Stay tuned, it should be fun!

As always more photos on the flickr page.

Carcassonne and Toulouse …

The weather predictions for Montpellier looked promising; highs in the mid-50’s and sunny. That was before we left. It wasn’t bad when we touched down in Montpellier, but then we started driving away from the coast it got chilly and started to rain a bit. I should have checked the weather predictions for the other areas we were going to, and not just the town where we flew into. I might have brought warmer clothing, as it stood I had a hooded sweatshirt and a light waterproof jacket. I wished I would have brought a sweater too.

We drove to Carcassonne, checked into our rooms, and headed across the river toward the Medieval City.





We were able catch glimpses of it from between buildings…



We crossed a bridge over what used to be a moat…



And we were in…



Carcassonne is a completely walled city; some of which dates back to the 6th century. It was rebuilt in the 19th century, so although some of the walls and foundations are very old, much of it is not. It is still a neat place to stop, and the lower town has some very good cassoulet. Here is another picture that I took a few days later from the highway.



After leaving Carcassonne we drove up to Toulouse, stopping along the way in Castelnaudary for some more cassoulet. Toulouse is a nice town that has some areas that are very well kept up. In the downtown area we saw little or no litter or graffiti. There was the occasional beggar, but nobody was very pushy about it. We walked around Toulouse and took some pictures...







We stopped at a couple of markets, had some grub, and drank some good wine.







And no I did not eat what is in that last picture; although, I will be going to Barcelona in January and there is a place there that specializes in them.

I did get the chance to try a little of someone else’s andouillette. An andouillette is basically a chitterling (intestine) sausage. This was not one of my favorite things.

Click HERE for more pictures on my flickr page.

On the Cassoulet Trail…

On the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, I was contemplating the past couple of meals I’ve had. We have just completed eating three meals of cassoulet, in three different restaurants, in three different towns, in just under a day and a half.

Tuesday night dinner in Carcassonne was Cassoulet…



Wednesday afternoon lunch in Castelnaudary (the home of cassoulet) was Cassoulet…





And Wednesday night dinner in Toulouse was also … well … Cassoulet (sorry but I don’t have any pictures of the Cassoulet from Toulouse).

The one in Carcassonne was by far the largest and arguably the best. Neither one of us was able to complete it, but we had both had appetizers beforehand. My appetizer was a big slab of foie gras. So take it from me kids, if you are sitting down to have a meal of cassoulet, you can skip the appetizers (and any side dishes for that matter).

Lessons Learned.

Thursday is Thanksgiving, and right now I think I’d give thanks to someone who passed me a salad and didn’t ask me if I wanted anything else.

The French wines have been good, the food has been great, and the weather has been colder than expected. However, cassoulet is a good cold weather meal. It’s a real “stick to your ribs” (or in my case – “stick to the region right below the ribs”) kind of meal. If you google it I’m sure you can find a decent recipe. It is by no means fast food; however, if you take the time I’m sure you’ll find it worth your while.

I purchased 3 cassoulet bowls for under 20 euros in Castelnaudary as well as a couple of other goodies that you will have to wait to see. I am out of town right now and don’t know how much I’ll be able to update this before the weekend. I took a lot of photos so I’ll try to post a few later on this week.