Lazy November

It has been a fairly normal couple of weeks. Working, dealing with the weather’s mood-swings, tapas, etc.

Halloween was a blast. Angel and I dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oyl (“Pop-ay-yay” y Oliva) except Angel wanted some gore so he was “Scary Popeye” . We went out with a bunch of friends so some bars and discotecas. There may have been some karaoke involved… Fun night.

We have also been going rock-climbing a little bit lately. We usually drive up (in the opposite direction from the Sierra Nevadas) to outside of a small town called Alfacar. It is exciting!

Angel and I have also reached the six month mark. While we didn’t do anything to specifically celebrate that day, we have done some more adventures lately.

One I particularly enjoyed was a Sunday when we drove up through the Alpujarras (the small villages scattered about in the Sierra Nevadas). We started in Lanjaron (the village has natural springs and provides a lot of the bottled water for the country) and tested the waters. Then we made our way up to the tippity top- Trevelis.

This is one of the highest pueblos in Spain, and FAMOUS for it’s jamon. (I toured one of the factories in February with Paul and Gillian). We walked around the town for a bit with Gusanna, bought some roadside raspberries (frambuessas- mmmmmm!!) and finally selected a small but cozy bar to eat a big feast of jamon and cheese and meats and fruits. Delicious!

After we ate we jumped back in the car and drove over to another pueblo- Capileira. By this point the sun was setting and the wind was UNBELIVABLE- we’re talking gale-force plus. And so we didn’t get the chance to walk around too much but settled in for a glass of wine and a tapa before heading back home. A very successful journey.

The following weekend we took a daytrip on the moto-de-campo.
We drove up through into the mountains through the heavily-forested areas and ended up on the ruta de vaca. (A really pretty little drive with lots of cows.) We also went to see a jazz concert that night as there is a festival in town and it was pretty good!

Because it has been so long since my last post, I will treat you to not one, but TWO tidbits of information.

SABES QUE

According to Angel (I’ve done no thorough research on this topic) Beetles in the dessert are able to survive by storing water/dew in little deposits in their forelegs. This suffices for the entire day’s supply of hydration.



SABES QUE
Tapa literally means ‘cover’ or lid’ and way back in the old days originated when people would place a slice of bread (or ham or cheese) on top of their jar/glass/mug to either keep out the flies, or prevent drunkenness (reports vary). Now they can be anything- many restaurants and bars are very creative with their recipes. My favorite is still the classic piece of toast with jamon Serrano or Iberico and a slice of Manchego cheese. Here are some other recipes:
http://www.arrakis.es/~jols/tapas/index2.html