The Spanish Coast

Spain is known for its beautiful beaches. For years, northern European tourist have flocked to Spain--especially to the southern part--for the sun and sea. Each of Spain's coastal areas has its own name: the Costa Almería, the Costa Blanca (White Coast), the Costa Brava (Rugged Coast), the Costa Cálida (Warm Coast), the Costa Del Azahar (Orange Blossom Coast), the Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light), the Costa del Sol (Sunshine Coast) and the Costa Dorado (Golden Coast).

http://www.charmingvillas.net/blog/tag/spain/

Granada is near the Costa del Sol, and several weekends ago, we went there with a visiting friend. The beaches in the Costa del Sol are beautiful, rocky beaches. (In Spanish, the small rocks are called chinos, meaning pebbles or stones). Check out Rick Steve's review of the Costa del Sol. The water of the Mediterranean was VERY cold, so we (adults) didn't get in, but Phoebe put her feet in and splashed a bit.

We ate lunch at a famous chiringuito (beach bar) on the beach called Chiringuito Ayo that offers all-you-can-eat paella. Although the location was amazing, the paella was rather bleh.

http://denerja.es/chiringuito-ayo-nerja/

We spent last weekend with our students in Cádiz on the Costa de la Luz. This beach was an enormous golden sand beach. (It wasn't quite this crowded when we were here!)

Playa Victoria de Cádiz (Foto: Trekant Media)

Along with the beautiful beaches, Cádiz has tons to offer. The food was amazing, so much seafood of course, and even the prices of food and drinks along the beach were reasonable. Cádiz is the oldest city in Western Europe, and we were able to see Phoenician ruins dating back to 1100BC, a watchtower dating from the 17th century, and a beautiful cathedral, built in the 1700-1800s.

http://www.onthepulse.es/spanish-guides/guide-some-oldest-cities-in-spain-150605

Día de la Cruz

May 3rd is el Día de la Cruz in Granada. According to www.lovegranada.com, "The festival was first celebrated in Granada in the XVII century, when an alabaster cross was erected in 1625 in the district of San Lázaro, and all the locals celebrated by singing and dancing around it". Today businesses, churches, schools, and other groups of people decorate crosses around the city. Here are some examples:

Campo del Príncipe

There is a competition run by the city council that awards prizes to the best crosses. The crosses are decorated with flowers, and the areas around the crosses are decorated with all sort of things, such as pottery, guitars, coins, etc. One typical decoration is an apple with a pair of scissors in it. Phoebe learned at school that this is a way of warning people not to say the word "but", as in "This cross is pretty, but...". In other words, you should not criticize the way the cross is decorated.

Scissors in an apple

Many people (especially children!) dress up in typical dress of Andalucía, called moda flamenca, that flamenco dancers also wear.

The Basque Country

The Basque Country, or País Vasco in Spanish, or Euskal Herria in the Basque language, is in northern Spain (on the map, it's the red section). The Basque Country is one of 17 autonomous regions of Spain, all of which have a large degree of autonomy from the national government. (Some may have heard that one region, Cataluña, has held a vote on whether or not to leave Spain). The Basque country has its own language, called Euskera, spoken by around 37% of the people who live there, although signs and posters are all in Basque. It is not at all related to Spanish, although some Spanish words come from Basque, as Basque is much more ancient than Spanish. An example would be the word for left: izquierda in Spanish comes from ezkerretik.

We traveled first to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim Bilbao, an incredible modern art museum designed by Frank Gehry.

Guggenheim Bilbao

We then travelled along the north coast to see Guernica, the spot that inspired the the famous Picasso piece. Although the actual Guernica by Picasso is in a museum in Madrid, the town has this tile mural reproduction.

We spent the next several days in San Sebastián, which is known for its food and beaches, especially pintxos, which are little snacks that sit out on the bar that you can pick and choose. Our favorite in San Sebastián is called Taberna Aralar.

We also traveled to Getaria, a small town outside of San Sebastián, to go to a txakoli tasting at Gaintza. Our guide was the grandson of the founder, and he was amazing! He spoke three languages, saying his first language is Basque, second is Spanish, and third is English. This is very typical of the Basque people--to see Basque as their first language.

We returned to Bilbao to fly home, and we happened upon BasqueFest, a festival of Basque culture, where we were able to taste apple cider, txakoli, and participate in some traditional Basque competitions, such as ontzi eramatea, or churn carrying.

Phoebe carrying weights that stand in for churns.

We love the Basque Country and its culture and can't wait to return soon.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Granada

One of the pasos

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is the week leading up to Easter, starting with Palm Sunday. This week is celebrated throughout Spain, but Andalucía is known for its processions and celebrations. Sevilla is perhaps the best known for Semana Santa, but Granada is a close second. The newspaper comes out with a small booklet filled with details about all of the processions that will take place throughout the city. Starting on Palm Sunday, there are processions of cofradías (which I believe to be groups from congregations of different churches around the city). Each group dresses in certain colors with hoods. These are called the penitentes and they march solemnly along the streets, most of the time with a band playing, and carrying a big religious float-type piece called el paso (yes, like the city in Texas, yee-haw baby!).

The Penitentes

The crowds watching the processions are huge, and it's difficult to cross streets or get to certain places in town while the processions take place.

Crowd on Gran Vía

In some of the cofradías, children participate too. Many were dressed as shepherds, and they came in all sizes.

Cute baby in procession

These processions happen all week, with somewhere between 4-6 each day. Each one has a different paso from their particular church, and each cofradía wears different colors. 

A paso of the Virgin Mary

We spent most of Semana Santa in northern Spain, and here are a few pictures of the different groups we saw in Bilbao, too.

Granada Meals

In our second installment about food, we want to talk about meals. Breakfast in Spain tends to be small, usually a piece of bread (kind of like a baguette) with jam or olive oil or tomato on it. At school, the kids have a snack around 11:00. At Phoebe's school, the snack is normally a piece of fruit, and on special occasions, they get a piece of toast with olive oil. Lunch is around 2:00, maybe a little later. At Phoebe's school, lunch is included, and they normally have pasta or a soup for the first course and meat, fish, or a Spanish tortilla for the second course. The second course comes with salad, veggies, tomato, or potatoes as a side. They have yogurt as dessert; once a week they get natilla, which is a cinnamon custard. You can see the menu for April at Phoebe's school here:

If you look at Thursday (jueves) the 20th of April, you will see that the second course is croquetas. This is one of Phoebe's favorite foods at school. Croquetas are made of potatoes, meat, or cheese, and then normally fried in olive oil or other oil. Here's a link to a recipe if you'd like to try it at home.

When we go out to eat, we usually just have tapas. (Dinner service doesn't normally start until close to 10:00PM, so we're not out that late). But frequently, Phoebe does not like the tapa. One of the things we have discovered, though, is that just about any restaurant will serve a meal for kids of two eggs over easy with french fries (dos huevos fritos con patatas fritas). Phoebe loves this meal, and even though it never appears on menus, every place we've asked has been able to make it. And the meal has been delicious! Yet another reason we love Granada.

Tapas in Granada

Today we want to talk about our experience with food here in Granada. Although you can find tapas all over Spain, Granada is special because when you order a drink, you receive a free tapa. Sometimes this tapa can be simple, like olives or potato chips, but more likely, you'll receive a small plate, like a crepe with cheese or a small ham sandwich. Tapas generally occur around lunchtime and again at American dinner time (starting at around 7:00PM). Each restaurant / bar has different varieties of tapas. Some of our favorites, such as Taberna de Jam always offers small ham sandwiches; Bar Damasqueros (our Wednesday night hangout) normally offers crepes with cheese and tomato; La Botillería serves small hamburgers as their first tapa. For each drink you order, you receive a new tapa. You can tell which places have the best tapas, as they are always very full. There are several streets in Granada known for their tapas, such as Calle Navas and Calle San Matías. The phenomenon of free, substantial tapas is only here in Granada. It is just one of the things that makes Granada our favorite place in Spain.

Calle Navas is a little touristy but still offers nice tapas.

Bar Damasqueros

Taberna de Jam

Politics

When people find out that we are from the US, the first question is always "What do you think about Trump?" Many have asked if I am here to escape Trump, and others have jokingly wondered if I'll be able to return, or if he will have banned women from flying. Everyone I have spoken to is anti-Trump, and they can't understand why we elected him. Many ask for clarification on the way our elections work. It has always fascinated me how much the average Spaniard knows about American politics. I spent 10 minutes yesterday talking to the women who owns the papelería near my house about Trump, the American educational system compared to the Spanish system, and America's relationship with Mexico.

At a birthday party the other day, the Spanish parents and I spent quite a bit of time talking politics--Spanish and US--and the joke was:
Q: What was the most googled phrase the day after the US elections?
A: Immigration to Canada
Q: What was the most googled phrase in Spain the day after the US election?
A: Melania Trump desnuda
Everyone laughed, acknowledging that yes, that did seem like a Spanish thing to do. However, I frequently wonder how many Americans could name a world leader--any world leader--much less the president of Spain.

Phoebe and I attended the Women's March in Granada on January 21st. The march was attended mostly by other Americans living in Granada. I met several other professors here on sabbatical, some military people from Rota (the American military base in Spain), and other interested people from around the world (Australia, Japan, England).

Phoebe had made a sign to carry, and we saw many pithy signs at the march. Here are some examples:

My favorite one (I didn't photograph it) was: Make America Mexico Again. Phoebe and I both chuckled about that one. The march turned out to be a fun event, and I was very glad that Phoebe and I participated. We had several moments of explanation (why were women dressed like cats?), but we were both happy that we came.