Seville: 3rd Stop

I have to admit that I was very reluctant to make a second trip to Seville. I had been there once before and was decidedly unimpressed. In fact, I pretty much couldn't wait to leave. But I wanted to be fair and had heard good things about the city so we booked a couple of nights there at a upscale-ish place, Hotel Murillo, located just off Plaza Santa Cruz. Due to delays getting out of Toledo, we didn't arrive until 8PM-ish but we were determined to make the most of our time and to take Mike and Angie's advice about a great little tapas place with a Mom and Pop flamenco bar near by. The action didn't start until midnight anyway so we actually had plenty of time. The tapas bar, Las Golondrinas, didn't disappoint and almost was the best tapa of the trip. It was a simple was a thin pork cutlet on a slice of baguette, called a Punta de Solomillo. With a glass of red wine; fantastic. The link to the bar has some great photos so check it out.

We hung out there till just before the doors opened at midnight at Casa Anselma (the flamenco bar). The link pretty much explains the situation. A small bar that is run by the Patrona, it gets totally packed to the point you are trapped in your seat. Throughout the night various guests come up to sing or dance with the house musicians. The show started with some standards by the house band. Then a couple of young ladies from the audience did a great little dance number (video below).



Finally, what must have been a professional singer in the audience, came up to sing and close the place down to the shouts and cheering from everyone (video below):



The next day we hit the tourist hot spots starting at the Alcazar, which I had somehow missed the first time around. In fact I think I was too cheap pony up the entrance fee. Lesson learned. The palace was beyond description and one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The detail, beauty and opulence were amazing. The way they used light and water was spectacular. I couldn't imagine the decadence that this must have been when built over 500 years ago.

Then a little bit of a wander around to try out a few of the recommended tapas joints, where at La Flor de Toranzo, we found the best tapa of the trip, the Lomo con Manzana. It's a little ciabatta type roll with a thin slice of ham, apple and a bit of creamy white cheese. Wash that down with a glass of Tinto de Verano. Awesome-ness

Then to the Giralda Tower, Cathedral and off to the oldest tapas bar in Sevilla, El Rinconcillo, founded in 1670. Yeah, it's that old. You must go to this place if you are in Seville. The character was so cool and rich. Also try the amazing spinach and garbanzo bean tapa. We would have stayed longer but had an appointment at the Arabic baths for an hour of soaking before turning in a bit early because we had to catch the 6 am train to Granada. Ugghh.

Check out all the photos here

Toledo: 2nd Stop

After Madrid; the late late night tapas, amazing museos and LOTS of churros, we thought it would be a nice change to go to the small nearby town of Toledo. Both Ben and my Dad highly recommended it as a sleepy romantic diversion. So a short 30 minute train ride from Atocha station and we were in the outskirts of Toledo. The train station had some amazing Moorish tiles and woodwork as well. We ended up at a great, central, cheap hotel; Carlos the V. After some exploring and watching the sunset from the Puente Alcantara, we had a nice dinner at Kumera. It got mixed reviews from us but was situated in the wonderful little Plaza Marron and it was a warm clear night. I had an interesting (what seemed like) pot roast ravioli with a Dijon mustard sauce. Jodie had the prix fixe menu with calamari and egg plant (interesting). The rest of the evening we wandered around the town which had basically shut down around 10 pm. A big change from Madrid. The next day we visited the amazing Cathedral, the Puente de San Martin and plazas. Lunch in Plaza Zocodover and then off to Sevilla. Short and sweet.

Check out the photos here

Madrid: 1st Stop

Two weeks in Spain! First stop, Madrid. Jodie and I landed and met up with a couple of old friends from San Francisco that just happen to be there as well. We took their lead and booked a room in the same hotel, Hotel Analina, for a couple of nights. The place was cheap, central, clean and we got a free churro y chocolate breakfast every morning at the Maestro Churrero. There was a very noticeable hangover over the entire town as the previous night was Noche en Blanca, where the whole place goes nuts with music, art, dance.... Turns out Michael and Angie missed the whole thing as she took a header down some steps and they spent the whole time sorting that out. She was fine, disappointed, but fine.


We spent a day each at the Reina Sofia and then the Thyssen and the nights dining on amazing tapas like those at Taberna Tempernillo, Lolina Cafe and the Taberna at the Plaza de Guardia de Corps. Awesome! Great food, wine, museums and friends. Seriously, the best museums I've ever seen. Too much in fact. We both got art burnout so badly that we passed on free tickets to the Prado (from a previous visit, one of the most complete museums I've ever seen).

Check Out the Madrid Photos

Spain Bound

It's late and Jodie and are are just finishing all the packing and prep for our two week trip to Spain tomorrow morning. We are flying into Madrid, then to Toledo, Sevilla, Granada and then a meet up with Sylvia for a week in Barcelona. This is going to be great!

It also got me to thinking about a post I never published when I was in Istanbul last year, about what it is to be a traveler versus a tourist. Here it is:

Being in this town, with the throngs of tourists such as myself rummaging around, I've been thinking about what that means, to be a tourist.

I guess on the most basic level it involves you dragging yourself somewhere you don't live and experiencing 'stuff' (monuments, trees or what have you). Maybe learning the history and context of the 'stuff'. Why and how it got there... etc.

But what does it mean to say, 'I did -insert historical place here-' It makes me think of someone ticking things off of a list and that, in a way, it's like an unspoken competition to 'do things'.

Is it fair to say there is a difference between a traveler and a tourist? Or is that just creating more of a us versus them dichotomy? Well I'm going to say there is a difference and shades of gray and all that.

When I travel the thing that always comes to my mind is that quote, 'traveling isn't about going to new places but seeing with different eyes'. It's about going somewhere and being open to trying to understand what and why and not judge and just experience something.

But I think it's also a process of getting to know and learn about yourself, of appreciation and being present. And I can't tell you how many times I've felt like trying to get that just right photo is really separating you from being there, always looking for that perfect photo so you can remember that moment forever shot. Why not just be present? Just take a moment and look around, take a deep breath, smell the air, feel the heat or cold or whatever... and be there for that moment and remember it forever that way.

and then I read this (and ripped it off and pasted it in here without permission) from the new magazine that Jodie is working for, Afar, and I thought it really fit how I'm trying to think about this trip tomorrow. I also thought that I should at least put the whole thing in here to be fair to them:

Founder’s Note: The Real Experience of Travel

PEOPLE USED TO JUST WANT STUFF. The more, the better. And not only more stuff, but fancier stuff. Many of us took the same approach in our travels. We went to the most glamorous places, stayed in the trendiest spots. We took pictures so we could show that we had “acquired” these places just as we had acquired stuff along the way. We came, we saw, we acquired.

But something has changed.

Many of us have realized that life is about more than how much we consume. Instead, we now search for meaning wherever we can find it.

So when we travel, we go beneath the surface of a place and look for experiences that enrich and stretch us. We try to connect with people. We embrace what makes each culture distinct, even as we recognize that we have more in common with our world neighbors than we may have thought. We discover insights about others—and ourselves.
My business partner, Joe Diaz, and I have traveled this way for years. Sometimes we have a specific purpose in mind: I’ve volunteered in Johannesburg and Borneo; Joe has returned to his roots in Spain. Sometimes we’re more spontaneous— we decide where to start a trip and where to end it, but we let chance determine what happens in between and whom we meet.

We have learned that it is not the physical surroundings or the iconic sights that give a place meaning. Rather, the people and their stories are what make a trip memorable: the heated political debate in an Irish pub, the conversation with an Argentine about communicating with his teenage daughter, the breakfast with a swami at his academy near Mumbai. As Joe says, “I may forget what I ate and where I stayed. But I’ll remember those experiences all my life.”

In January 2007, Joe and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to India. Sitting on a beach in Goa, we realized there are many people who travel with this mindset but few resources to guide and inspire them. That’s why we decided to start Afar.
Afar is for readers who are curious about everything the planet and its people have to offer. That’s what the magazine delivers: fascinating individuals, intriguing neighborhoods, cultural discoveries, unusual and local places to stay and eat, and reports on the world’s arts, languages, products, and music. And for every issue, we send a writer off on one of those unplanned, spontaneous journeys that Joe and I like to take. We think you’ll enjoy the results in Spin the Globe, page 30.
The magazine is only the beginning. In early 2010, we’ll launch a Web site that will connect you with like-minded global citizens. We hope to create partnerships in television and on radio to bring you the sights and sounds of the world’s cultures. We are planning a series of books and events. And because we strongly believe that travel benefits both the individual and society, we have created the Afar Foundation, which will sponsor cultural education and immersion travel for students who cannot otherwise afford to experience another part of the world.

Joe and I invite you to take part in any or all of these endeavors. We have met many travelers like you on our journeys, and we believe you share both our passion and our values. Tell us what you think of Afar and our plans for the company. And be sure to tell us where travel takes you.

Kansas 2009

It's been a few years since I've been to the Kansas homestead so Cheryl and I spent the Labor Day weekend visiting. We got to see how a tornado 'remodeled' one of the barns, the new black lab Snickers, the latest batch of kittens (Cali Jr. and Ivan) and the hinny. We spent Sunday at the Freeport church and took a tour of the one building 'downtown'. We even got treated to some fantastic thunder and lighting the night before we left. Check out a few of the photos at the link below:

Here is the photo gallery

She Said Yes

I had been planning on asking Jodie to move in for a few weeks now but the timing was just wrong. So I plotted and schemed. I picked out a special bouquet for her and made two very different cards, numbering them as to the order they should be opened. One was a mock up of me as a real estate agent selling her on the virtues of the house on Folsom street and the other one was the real thing.

I had them delivered Friday morning, August 21st, and kept waiting to hear that she got them... but nothing. Then I got a call from the front desk saying that something had shown up for me. I figured that flowers showed up at my work somehow. When I got downstairs, I saw this box waiting for me with photo of moving trucks and our two places:


with this inside! So Jodie is moving in this weekend. Not that we aren't in the middle of our trips to New York, Kansas and Spain. Busy month.


Final note, my other 3rd floor workmates all saw Jodie and I in the parking lot 'congratulating' each other and left me a funny voice mail about getting a hotel room or something...

Pig Ice Cream

If you live in San Francisco then you know there has been a decent number of restaurant openings in my neighborhood over the last few months. To name a few:

Haus

Flour and Water

Dynamo Donuts and Coffee

Schmidts

I've been meaning to go to the new ice cream joint 2 blocks from me, Humphry Slocombe, and tonight was it. I've heard about the experimental flavors; Secret Breakfast (bourbon and corn flakes), Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, 8 Ball Stout, Jesus Juice (coke and red wine)....

That's all fine and good but I had to go for it and try the Boccalone Prosciutto. Tasted just like prosciutto ice cream. Weird. Got the Jesus Juice instead.