Food and Cars

Over the weekend, the Gallego Musical Festival was going on at our local park. And who are we to deny this festive occasion, literally a three minutes' walk from our house? Although we showed up with no musical acts scheduled, we obliged ourselves to enjoy the Galician culture and revel in what they are best known for -- their food!

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We salivated just by looking at the sign: "Gallegan Gastronomic Tasting".
A classic display of hanging hams, sausages, wine and cheese.

Bollas Gallegas -- rustic round loaves of white bread. With its crackly thin crust and sweet, airy interior, it is one of Galicia's treasures.

Oh yeah. Cut us up a piece of that empanada, one of the most popular dishes from Galicia.

Pulpo, or octopus. Ehhhh....not my thing, but I was told that it was overcooked. Maybe I'll give this suction-y creature another try.
Lacón is cured ham from the front leg, sprinkled with olive oil, salt and paprika.

This is so bad yet oh so good! Fernando's weakness - truffle cake. My weakness - real cheesecake!

It's not a festival without fun stuff for the kiddies. We hit up the other side where Paloma got a chance to test drive some cars. Vroom!!

She felt this one accessorized well with her outfit.

Why can't people just pull over to the side when there's an emergency?

Who's coming with?

The VW bug would be great to drive along the Mediterranean coast with the girls, no?Roomy passenger seats, leather interior...likin' it!

Ehh. An ancient Ford Model T. Next!

Much better. But does this model go zero to sixty in 3.2 seconds?

Now this is more like it. Eat her dust!

When in Rome

Last Friday was a holiday here in Spain, the day of Sant Jordi. Sant Jordi, or St. George, was a romantic and chivalrous guy at heart who inspired Barcelona in seeing this day as the most giddy and amorous day of the year. He also happens to be the patron saint of Catalunya.

Locals celebrate by exchanging gifts between sweethearts -- men give their women roses, and women give their dudes a book.

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Daddy didn't fail us. We got our roses, suckas! The thing is the guy doesn't even have to think for this holiday.

Our gift to the family guy "Crónica del Pájaro que Da Cuerda al Mundo ("The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie") by Haruki Murakami and " La Tienda de Los Suicidas" by Jean Teulé.

Rose stands are everywhere in the city.
Books, books, and more books. Although we didn't make it downtown this year, an official event has famous authors signing their literature for the throngs of visitors.
P was in quite the festive mood.

Short post. Maybe next year we can go to the main event and can have much more interesting pictures to share. Lates!

The Beaches of Sitges

Back in Sitges, this time with baby! Sitges is a small city southwest of Barcelona renowned worldwide for its Film Festival and Carnival. Between the hills and the sea, it is known for its much-frequented beaches, nightspots, and historical sites. We met up at this beach town with Rafa, Katya, Pau, and Fernando's cousin's family for some paella.

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And we're off! Taking the train to the beach beats crazy parking fees in SoCal.Arrived safely at the restaurant. Pau gives Paloma a classic Spanish two-kiss greeting. Watch out, ladies -- gentleman in training.The babies make a Blanca sandwich.
Fer and Pau share an inside joke. Must have been hilarious.
Fer shares a buddy moment with Blanca's son, Jorge.
My kid doesn't just fall asleep in anyone's arms. Just call Nico "the baby whisperer", folks.Pau scavenges the restaurant, leaving no stone unturned.
We took a stroll after lunch. Some beach-goers make the best of this semi-gray day.This guy's job was to tell jokes to passers-by. As usual, I zone out in the middle of lengthy jokes in Spanish -- only later to have them explained to me slowly afterward so I'm not excluded.

I was tempted to run into this sandy masterpiece, but I resisted for the sake of amused tourists.

The traveling trio. Blanca and her family have lived in several cities around Spain and will most likely stay in BCN for a few more years. Yay for us!

Now our turn to make a Blanca sandwich.

Pau made a real effort in getting his cousin's attention, but Paloma was feeling aloof that day.
So still sits the Med Sea.The white walls of the historic downtown Sitges.
Fifth Avenue! Who wants to hit up Saks with me?Me on Fifth Ave. pretending like I'm some model or something. Oh, please!
It's hard to make it in this rough economy. Hopefully it's just an extra weekend gig.

Thanks for letting me share!

Sevilla in the Spring

I’m way behind on posts, but that’s a good thing. We’ve been busy here trying to catch up with all the events that are happening around Barcelona and have run into a few good ones by chance. Now that it’s officially spring, more activities are popping up all the time. I love it!

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Sevilla. We had a wonderful time catching up with the family.

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A classic shot of abuelo and Paloma.

Abuela plays with her granddaughter in the garden.
Someone feed this hungry munchkin.
Luna guards the garden.
Fairy godmother, Isabel, drove four hours just to visit Sweet P. We're glad she stayed overnight so we could spend some QT with her.
Rodrigo, our favorite cellist.
And the concert begins. Silencio, por favor!
Fernando's cousin, Felix, with Paloma.
Felix's little bro, Alvaro.
Paloma had a fun time with Ana Celia.
We got a free show of some fancy dancing from couples Ana Celia and Paloma, and Damariz and her BF.
We had lunch with our good friends Dani and Caitlin, who are officially tying the knot this August in NY. And we get to witness it!Our friend, Borja, just had an adorable baby, Alejandro, who's seven weeks old. The two babes together!

If we're friends, you can see the rest of the pictures here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=161743&id=541354101&l=21e4530e15