Paseo de los Tristes and Hola Pizzametro

Dia Cuatro

Paseo do los Tristes

Mushy croquettes

We started the day late again and decided to explore the city. As soon as we reached the Calle de Darro we were ready for food, but more importantly it started to rain. We snagged the first open table we found under the terrace in the Paseo de los Tristes, overlooking the side of the Alhambra. The restaurant served the typical set menu with two courses for 10 euros - we had expected to pay a little more in the tourist areas. The restaurant, called El Paseo, turned out to be the worst meal of our trip. Not only was the service not great (mostly because the few waiters were spread thin), but the food was disgusting. I'm not that picky, but this was bad, especially after all of our previous delicious meals. We ordered a salad and tortilla espanola for our first course which took about 45 mins to get out (both are cold dishes!). Luckily we got a tapa while waited which was some type of stew and pretty good. My tortilla espanola was about half the portion that the rest of the tables around us were getting. My guess is they ran out, had to make more and sent out smaller portions. Sadly people before and after me got at least double. Our waiter wasn't rude per se, but gave up on most communication (like taking our food order) when he realized we couldn't talk fluently. He was busy laughing with the large groups. Our actual meal was a real disappointment. I got pollo asado (grilled chicken), which I thought no one could screw up. It was a grilled chicken soaked in oil, set in a puddle of oil, with fries soaking in that oil. Boston Market's chicken would have been gourmet compared to this. My boyfriend got croquettes which he said tasted ok, but had the worst texture inside (complete runny mush). The dessert was flan that was nothing special and pre-prepared. Please don't waste time eating in this area when there are great place a few blocks away like the Parilla Paella Bar. I guess you need some bad meals to make the good ones taste even better.

Pollo asado - more like chicken in oil

Hola Pizzametro
After the horrible lunch we walked off our sick stomachs and covered most of the city. That night we were ready for something other than tapas and headed for Neapolitan style pizza at Pizzametro. This place was great! It was a rainy Sunday and inside it was packed with locals. The pizza was affordable and large. We got the half meter and it was 8 gigantic slices (probably best for 3-4 people). Two people should get the pequena if you don't want leftovers. We had a fridge to take it home to so it wasn't a problem for us. We got the margherita, which was delicious and made with fresh ingredients (basil and mozzarella). Our total bill was around 16 euros. The wait staff was very friendly and service was quick. It was the perfect meal for when you need a break from tapas. http://www.holapizzametro.es/

Our half meter pizza with two slices eaten!

Paella, Cassata, and a Flamenco Show

Dia Tres

Paella mixto at La Parrala Paella Bar

La Parrala Paella Bar

The mystery tasty tapa

On Saturday we again left late and went straight to lunch. We made it down to Calle Darro, which is packed with tourists and anyone trying to make money off of them. We walked toward the city center and up a side street from plaza nueva. We ended up in La Parrala Paella Bar, which I had remembered seeing on trip advisor. We got paella mixto and sangria. They have a deal for sangria and paella for around 9 euros or 10 euros for seafood. We ordered sangria and the paella mixto (which turned out to be a seafood paella - even though that was listed separately on the menu in the 9 euro section). We aren't big fans of seafood, but the paella was very good, although quite burnt on the bottom (maybe that's normal?). The sangria was delicious and as we waited for the paella we got one of the best tapas on the trip. We have no idea what it was, but it had some noodles in sauce with maybe an egg? We got a ton of food for about 25 euros. The waitress was extremely friendly there and we were the only non-Spanish speaking customers at the time. I would recommend the bar for paella, but it wasn't the best paella I've ever had.

Los Italianos Ice Cream Shop

I do not consider myself a connoisseur of food or wine, but I know my ice cream and this place was amazing! We walked by and saw a large crowd here and decided to grab some ice cream. I was looking at flavors when I saw someone order one of their specials called a "cassata." It looked like a slice of an ice cream cake put into a waffle cone. We ordered one and that description was pretty accurate (2.40 euros). There were layers - chocolate, strawberry-like with pink candies, and a creamy vanilla. It was delicious and I have never had any type of dessert like that before. As we walked down Gran Via on a warm sunny day tons of people had ice cream from there. We'll be back and maybe I'll try and figure out if they have other flavors of cassata. 

Jardines de Zoraya

That evening we went a flamenco show in the Albayzin at Jardines de Zoraya. We bought the 35 euro menu for the 10:30 show in advance through their website. We arrived around 10 and showed the hostess a digital pdf of our reservations on an old smart phone I brought. We were a little worried that we couldn't print out tickets, but it wasn't a problem. The hostess and another waiter there spoke English so ordering etc. wasn't an issue. The waiter also seemed to know many other languages, including french. We were seated by the stage which was up close, but at an odd angle. There didn't seem to be any other non-Spanish speaking tourists there. You can check out what is included with the set menu at jardinesdezoraya.com‎. Our welcome tapa was a potato puree. For the first course my boyfriend got the pumpkin soup and I got a goat cheese (a brie style goat cheese) salad. For the main course we had fish and pork, both delicious. For dessert I got a crem brulee and my boyfriend got a chocolate ganache torte. Everything was large portions and good quality. We ate during the hour long show. The show itself was fantastic, I can't say enough good things about it. If you are looking for a cultural experience this is a great option. The performers were all of a high caliber and very impressive. Even though this is a relatively expensive dinner and show, in my opinion it is worth the splurge! Also, pre-paying was easy online and at the end of the show the staff just said thanks and we were good to go. 

Eating in Albayzín and Calle Elvira

Dia Dos

Gazpacho

Lunch in the Albayzin

Albodingas (meatballs)

After sleeping late on Thursday we ventured out around 2pm to find lunch. We stumbled across tables in a laza (I'll try and figure out the name) and sat down. It was gorgeous out and a small band was playing. We figured out that we were eating at tables for Bar Panero. The waiter was very friendly even though we speak only a little Spanish (not always the case). We immediately got some paella with the two waters we ordered. I then tried to order some additional tapas (or so I thought). This was the first time we encountered a menu del dia or menu diario - menu of the day. These typically have a first and second course with bread and dessert included. They range from 7.50 to 12.50 euro, with 9-10 euros being the typical price. So what I thought was 1 euro or 1 euro prices was actually first or second course. The waiter explained and we ended up with gazpacho and salad for the first course and chicken meatballs (albodingas) and jam and melon for the second. We never got our dessert, but we gave up on it in the end. The food was very good overall and the final bill was around 20 euros. At first I thought getting these set menus was a tourist trap, but looking around most other people had done the same. We noticed in Granada most other tourists spoke Spanish, so it was hard to tell a tourist from a local. These set menus are a great deal if you want a large meal (which seems to usually be a late lunch in Spain). If you want small things, order many drinks or find a bar that you can order additional tapas. Maybe all bars do this, but we have rarely seen a tapas menu.

Jamon y melon

Calle Elvira
Because we ate lunch so late we ended up hungry for dinner around midnight. It seemed crazy late to us as Americans, but as we walked down to Calle Elvira, a lot of places seemed packed with people. We finally found a table in a small restaurant/bar that was worldly themed - meaning they had more than just Spanish tapas. It wasn't anything that special so I'll pass writing anything. I will however suggest Calle Elvira as a popular destination for bars and fast food places. Not a real family friendly feeling. Tons of hookah bars on the side streets and many street vendors selling the same "Arabic" things. Let's just say, if you see the same exact items in 5 shops, they probably all come from the same factory. If you are looking for something unique or handcrafted, this isn't the place. If you want cheap (both in price and quality) "Arabic" style decor this is the place to get it.

Granada Trip

The following entries are a kick-off to my new travel and food blog.
Currently my boyfriend, Mike, and I are on a two week trip to Spain and England. We decided to write this as a guide for others going to these places to help them find their way. Each post will have subsections that are reviews of things we did that may help you decided what's for you. Mike is taking photos that I will upload when we are back. Also, we live in the south side of Chicago so we would like to continue blogging when we return to talk about a different side of Chicago. Hope you enjoy!
-Courtney (and Mike)

Dia Uno
Madrid Airport
We arrived in Madrid at 8am. The airport was very nice and modern, but oddly deserted. I'm not sure if it is the recession or just the fact that we were in early. There was not a soul at customs so we were actually confused for a moment if we were going the right way. I had also forgotten different small things in Europe, like the fact that there are few paper products. I went to go wash my face in the bathroom, but there was only a hand dryer. You also have to remember to throw away your toilet paper, rather than flushing. I suggest bringing plenty of extra tissues and toilet paper (restaurants did not always have tp). There were plenty of ATMs at the airport to get cash and I wouldn't recommend exchange booths - they usually don't have a great rate. If you are looking for a great card to travel with, I recommend Schwab's checking card that has no ATM fees worldwide, nor exchange rate fees (Bank of America has both).

Getting Around Madrid
We took Renfe to the bus station where we were catching an afternoon bus to Granada. I hadn't realized that renfe had a train system throughout the city (similar to the metra in Chicago) in addition to the high speed trains throughout the country. The bus station was in an ok, but boring, neighborhood in the city. If you have time, I would recommend storing your bags (5 euros for up to 24 hours) and hopping on the underground to check out some sites (12 euros for a 10 trip pass that you can share). We were exhausted after about an hour of sleep on the plane, but managed to walk around like zombies to the palace and the Retiro park. I would equate Retiro Park to the Central Park in NYC. It was beautiful out and a ton of people were paddle boating - if we had any energy left we would have gone.

Supra Alsa Bus
We took an Alsa bus to Granada. We opted for the "supra" alsa bus that was slightly nicer and more expensive. I think it took about 4.5 hrs. We had opted for this because we learned that the train becomes more expensive as the date gets nearer and we missed the cheaper fares. For slightly less than the train we booked the bus. It was a really enjoyable ride. We had a stewardess that served a sandwich and later snacks. There were complementary drinks, headphones, and newspapers. There was a bathroom on board and you can feel safe storing your luggage in the bottom bus compartment. We reclined and slept most of the way. Compared to the train , I think it was a great choice and we also got to select our seats which we couldn't do with the cheaper bus or train options. If you don't really care about the ride, the normal alsa I'm sure would be fine. We may be taking that to Malaga later in the week, so I'll update.

Apartment Rental in Granada
We arrived in Granada that evening and the person from whom we were renting an apartment for the week picked us up in his car. He wanted us to call his cell phone when we got in and that proved to be a challenge. Usually if I travel for a while I buy a local SIM card for a small European cell phone I bought on previous trips. We figured there was no one to call so we didn't get a SIM this time - also my current SIM for the UK would probably work just fine, but just cost more to call Spanish phones. In the end we tried for a while to use a payphone. Little did we know how challenging that would be! The trick we finally figured out was that you don't need the country code for a local number - seems simple right? Once we got a hold of Javier, we got picked up and taken to our apartment. The apartment is cute and a nice medium size right across from a hippy park in the Albayzín. The apartment was in the low 50's and took hours to warm up with the small electric radiators. There was little to no insulation with the windows/doors that opened to the street, but in the 50's and 60's that's a bit cold. The two person beds were also much smaller than our double back home. Everything in the apartment is heated by electricity, including the hot water, so we did run out of water in the morning sometimes. If little things like those above are an issue for you, go for a hotel, otherwise we really liked having an entire apartment to ourselves. We had a kitchen for cooking, a washer (no dryer), and a separate living room. It was also a great deal ~40 euros or $50 a night.

Our First Taste of Tapas

Patatas Volcanicas

We got in pretty late, around 8pm, but that wasn't an issue for grabbing food. We walked around the Albayzin around 9:30 for dinner and found a great little bar called Casa Torcuato del Albayzin. The place was full and lively inside, but we managed to snag a table. We got two red wines "vinos tintos" (we learned you don't get much choice in type of wine or beer unless you can speak Spanish well enough). We got delicious Tempranillo usually. With our wine we got some fried whole fish. They also had a menu with cheap tapas on the wall. We ordered patas volcanicas, which were delicious crisped/blackened potatoes with warm red sauce in the center - I would highly recommend. We also had some secreto, which is a "secret" cut of the Iberian pig near the bacon. It is very rich and buttery - unlike the typical cuts of pork in America. All of the food was delicious! Our total bill was only 12.20 euros, which was a great deal.

Secreto

        

Edinburgh

I am sitting in flat in Edinburgh right now. I am actually the first up (by hours) when it come s to all my flat mates which is a very new experience for me! I've always wanted to be that person that was up first and already taken a shower and gotten ready then everyone else gets up and I always feel like such a lazy person seeing them. The funny thing is I got up at 10am - they just don't get up remotely early. Maybe I'm finally starting to get up early and without an alarm! And I don't feel tired even though I only had about 7 hours - when I think about it this is great!

So yesterday we went to Edinburgh Castle. It literally is on a really tall hill in the center of a giant metropolitan city. It was pretty cool! There were a ton of Americans there and they are so easy to tell with the accents. I'm starting to be able to distinguish UK accents a little too!

This city is packed with "stag dos" and "hen weekends" apparently they go on large group trips for their bachelor and bachelorette parties. They all love to were matching themed clothes too lol. We went to this club and it was packed with them. It looked like a giant themed party, but there were like 25 themes. The guys either were a themed outfit or they wear custom made shirts and they usually have nicknames on it or numbers! I have never seen so many guys coordinating their outfits it was pretty funny.

So some things that I have learned about English people - they actually do drink a lot of tea, they go out to pubs all the time, for the most part they are pretty polite and they don't eat as unhealthy as I would have imagined. They use "I just couldn't be bothered" instead of the word lazy. For the most part they like America and almost everyone has gone to Disney in Orlando lol. The flat were we are staying for the weekend seems to hold the people who are the exceptions to the rules. Other than the people we know living here the other are actually pretty mean! I walked out of the room this morning and saw one of the roommates and said a friendly hello. She literally just looked at me and walked away! I tried to hang out with them a little bit yesterday (I was the only one brave enough to go out and sit with them). I tried to be in the convo, but they just answered my questions then ignored me! These people need to learn some manners! Luckily I haven't met many people like them.

One funny story before I have to go: so the day after I got back from Belgium it was Monday and I had lab. I usually get up around 8:30am. So I actually woke up before my alarm and I checked the time. My phone ( the only clock I have) said 9:10pm - at first I was just like o well this must be wrong. I got up to find my parents phone that they left me and it also said 9:10pm. Then I started to panic and I was in shock that I could literally sleep from midnight to 9pm the next day. I got up to look outside and it was sunny - unfortunately it stays sunny really late so I still was in a panic. I ran out into the kitchen and looked at the clock, but it wasn't a digital one so I couldn't tell anyways. Finally I turned on my computer and googled England time and it was 9 in the morning. It was one of the stupidest thing I have ever done and I was literally about to call up Michael (my professor here) and apologize for not making it in to lab!

I may be coming back for July. Almost all of my flatmates will be gone on summer break by then so I will have to make all new friends again! Hopefully it won't be too hard! OK well hopefully everyone gets up soon and we can go shopping at all the vintage stores!

Belgium

Yesterday - It’s 7pm in Brussels and we are lounging around our hotel room snacking on some chocolate we bought today. Candied oranges covered in chocolate mmmmmm! We have on the British sports channel and it’s all about football. They can’t actually broadcast the game on normal cable so they are playing radio coverage of the game and just posting up flats on the screen. The football fans must go crazy trying to get an update without actually seeing the game! The games all just ended and now they can show dramatic shots of fans and players. Liverpool just won 3-1 and it looks beautiful in Liverpool – too bad I’m out of town lol! Everton also won so it’s a good day for Liverpool. Liverpool got second in the League and sadly they had the least number of loses, but they had ties which hurt their score (it was their highest finish in 7 years). Newcastle just got knocked out of the Premier league and they are showing all the old men crying on the tv, but I have to give them credit because although they are crying they are still singing their team’s song and clapping for them – how dramatic. I have a lot of respect for football players and fans – they play a ton of games compared to our sports and the fans are so loyal. Well the season is over and I never actually watched a game lol. You have to go to certain bars to watch matches and everyone I know either went to the games or didn’t care about football.

Hello Blog!!

So... I am a slacker blogger. I've never been a big writer lol. But I'm going to try and be better for the second half of my trip :) So an update: I am living in a little dorm style flat that's a few minutes walk from my lab, I have amazing flat mates, everyone in lab is soooo nice and I have gone on a few trips!!

So my first weekend here was my birthday and I was kinda nervous about potentially having nothing to do and no one to do anything with! But, I met lab people in the morning for some early morning drinks at a pub before a LFC game (I just stuck with oj lol) and then at night my flat mates took me out down town. It was fun and it was a good time to get to know my new flat mates. And the best part of the evening is that I got carded and I got a bday shot! So now I'm legal :) and at the clubs here I'm way over legal, they usually don't even bother carding me lol such polar opposite from gville.

The next weekend I went on a day trip to the Lake District (a pretty national park in the north of England). There are all these "walking trails" in the area it always cracks me up that they just call it "walking" and not hiking here-prbly because there are no mountains! So I actually didn't end up going on one of these trails, but I visited a castle and beautiful mansion! It's so crazy how there is so much history everywhere here!! I'll upload some pics!

So the next two weekends have been spent with my mom and dad. We went to London last weekend and saw a ton of amazing things like Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. The Queen was at Windsor Castle!! The castle was crazy giant and it was like a museum with all of its giant portraits and cool treasures (although it was all prbly taken when countries were taken over by the British). I was really hoping to catch a glimpse of one the two princes lol. Stonhenge was alright. I was right by a highway, cold, rainy, and windy - not really the right mood. You will see in the pictures what I'm talking about. Bath was amazing and the streets were so beautiful and packed with people! There was this amazing shopping street, but of course the bus didn't stop there lol. Apparently some famous people lived there and some celebrities live there now. I am going to try and go back so I can really venture around the city!!!

Right now I am sitting on a hotel bed in Bruges (Belgium) watching Jerry Macguire. They don't really have many choices with only two stations in English. I feel like all I have done in Belgium is eat... frites(fries), waffles, gelato and chocolate. The waffles are pretty much cake made in the shape of a waffle on a griddle - really really rich and sweet! We went on the most boring city tour in Brussels today. It was a walking and bus tour of the city. We walked around for about 15 minutes and saw a hidden (on the locals know where it is) statue of little girl peeing -lovely- and people were actually posing next to it for pictures! Then we went on a bus and instead of being one that is accommodating for sightseeing it was a coach with tinted windows lol. I actually fell asleep lol. I can't imagine what the people in there car passing the bus thought of the tour with half the people on the bus sleeping. We literally had about 2msec in front of their palace before we passed it because we couldn't stop lol. It was like being held captive on this bus watching all the amazing sites go by. Luckily we got two 3min picture stops at two places lol. I say we're better off on foot! By late afternoon we were on a train to Bruges! Bruges is nice and I was picturing this picturesque little town with amazing buildings. Well it is picturesque and has some amazing buildings but is defiantly not undiscovered and it is not so little. We get in and the taxi has to fight the crowds to get us to our hotel. There had to have been thousands of people out on the street! We walked around and went into all of these cholatiers - gourmet chocolate shops. Luckily a few had samples :) Tomorrow is our buying gifts day and I'm sure we're going to be buying pounds of chocolate! It's late and I have another day in Bruges and Brussels ahead of me so I am going to sleep. I will be better about posting stuff now :)