A 50-minute flight from Bordeaux to Barcelona, followed by a 1.5-hour train ride down the Costa Daurada to Reus, and I’m greeted at the train station by Alex Frisch, Resident Chef of Cal Compte guesthouse in Torroja. He’s here as every Tuesday to visit the local market, chat with the vendors and do some shopping.…
Back in October, I visited Rioja and Navarra on a 2-day INSEEC class trip to learn about Spanish wines. Our group spent the evening in the seminary of Logroño, a rather grim-looking building, which seemed particularly cold after an afternoon of tastings and warm moments with new friends. A quick pre-game with Tempranillo freshly purchased (ex-chateau)…
After some time melting my sins away in the dry sauna of our Saint Nectaire hotel, I shocked my senses awake with an ice-cold shower before suiting up in sweater, coat and Uggs and heading out again for dinner. We had made a reservation at L’Auberge de l’Âne, a charming, rustic tavern-type restaurant at an…
We rolled into Saint Nectaire at 2:00 a.m. at 40 km/h in a snow-white Fiat 500 with no chain on the tires, careful not to brake on the patchwork of slush and black ice that greeted us on the road. A surprise destination, I knew nothing about the Auvergne region (except that it was half-way between…
“Poland Springs Sparkling with Lemon. White Cheddar Cheezits. Wheat Thins (original). Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon. Brown Bread with Raspberry Jam from HiRise Bakery. And above all, triangles (by which I mean spanakopita), in large quantities, please…” That’s the answer I give when my mom asks what she should buy 2-3 days before I…
A very rainy hour-and-a-half drive up along the coast in a rented cherry-red Fiat 500 brought us to La Rochelle, the picture-perfect capital of Charente Maritime. Two solid months of non-stop rain and all of the emotional ups and downs that come with such weather had ignited our cabin fever to the point where we…
Arriving just in time for our Saturday night reservation at El Nacional, I was already quite certain I’d be in for a great piece of meat – an entraña, a vacio or costilleras imported from Argentina or Uruguay, some chimichurri tapped gently on, nothing on the side. I had heard rumors that they serve Salta-style…
There had been a lot going on in the month of October with a trip to Barcelona, getting back to work, back to school, going to Rioja with school, and the next day leaving to Boston with a 22-hour layover in Lisbon. Somewhere in the middle of all that I met a friend from work…
About a week and a half ago, I found myself wandering the hilly avenues of Lisbon, snapping, ‘gramming and ‘fbing the experience, and waiting for suggestions from my social media network about how to spend 22 hours in the Portuguese capital. I got some great recommendations, which was pretty cool. The poll function on Instagram…
It’s not possible to arrive somewhere at 1:00 pm and leave that same place at 11:00 am on the same day – a fact I spent exactly 90 euros in long-distance calls trying to explain to the professionally inept ladies and gentleman of TAP Airline’s Bookings Department. The only way to fix this screw-up was…
It starts in line at La Bodega del Sol. I’m clutching a bottle of Ca L’Arenys Guineu IPA Amarillo. Why? Because it’s delicious and has a fox on the cap. My friend next to me has found for herself some obscure Danish artisanal microbrew, carefully chosen from a vast selection. La Bodega del Sol is a…
I had been looking forward to a trip back to Barcelona from the morning after I first left, back in February. But when the chance finally came, I never really made an itinerary for what I’d do while there. I knew I wanted to walk a lot, to spend time with friends and revisit some…
