The Real Deal

As exciting as being in Spain is for me, having my dear family visit was almost too exciting! My parents made the great journey from the Midwest to the land of sangria, flamenco, paella, and old sights, and we spent ten glorious days breathing my Spanish life together.

It was such a rich time; there are barely words to describe it. We drank café con leche, saw the sights, watched flamenco, ate great food, walked the city…my dad even attended my Arabic history class (of which he probably couldn’t understand much)!

We ventured by train to Grenada to see the Alhambra. Staying right inside the Alhambra walls, we were surprised with a great fireworks show, intimate flamenco, and a Palm Sunday choral concert in an old church.

Taking the bus through the Sierra Nevada mountains towards the Mediterranean Sea, we traveled with dark, looming clouds that were magnificent to watch as they rolled through the mountains and out to sea, just as we did. We landed in a small little town right on the Mediterranean, in a quaint hotel with a room that looked out onto the expanse of uninterrupted sea. We had a wonderful meal at a table next to a food magazine editor, explored the tiny town, saw the preparation of Semana Santa pazos or floats, had an impromptu a lunch from the man selling rotisserie chickens, found a Scrabble board to play our favorite game, walked along the beach, and drank deeply of our time together.

One of my favorite times together was our shared meal at Victoria’s. She had the three of us over for lunch, making a meal of mammoth proportions. We had gazpacho, a typical cold Spanish soup followed by fried fish, salad and bread. THEN the main course came of chicken with cabbage that is to die for! She surprised us for dessert with what she knows is my favorite- vino tinto pears. These pears are cooked in red wine and simply irresistible. It was so fun to have my family and my Spanish family together at one table. My parents brought Victoria beautiful gifts, which she simply loved. Leave it to a great cook like my dad to know what another great cook would want; I never would have thought a handheld flat grater would be so rejoiced over as a gift. It was a true gift to share my families with one another.

I don’t know if we could have had more fun together during my parent’s visit. It was all so very, very good. Family: it is the real deal.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sgauche, The Rents Come to Visit