Back in 2013, we spent 2.5 weeks traveling Spain. It was quite the trip…check it out HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE (2015) and HERE. Our favorite destination was San Sebastián and little did we know that T would be coming back for work! This past trip was accompanied by great weather, lovely co-workers and some fantastic pintxos hopping. T revisited some of our favorite pintxos bars and found some new ones. Here are some of the highlights of the trip.
Two years ago when we were in Barcelona we learned that El Born/ La Ribera was transforming into the new happening district. Having stayed in this area we got to explore and found it to be one of our favorite spots to dine, wine and play! This past trip we stayed at the W Barcelona for the night on our way back from Mallorca and spent most of our time in El Born/ La Ribera after a hot lap through the Mercat de La Boqueria. Continue reading “Barcelona – El Born/ La Ribera Districts”
Mallorcan cuisine is just as beautiful as the scenery. Its fresh, flavorful and carefully prepared. We enjoyed eating dinners out and snacking during the day at the hotel and Nikki Beach. Here is our Mallorcan Food Story! Continue reading “Tastes of Mallorca”
So why did we pick Mallorca – why not? Mallorca is part of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean known for its beach resorts and protected coves. The island sits off the coast of Spain (a 30 minute flight from Barcelona) and is a popular holiday destination for Europeans. Yes Europeans – not Americans…which makes it that much better! The island is actually bigger than we expected and has very different terrain. Flat land, mountains and fertile plains. If this place isn’t on your list of travel destinations…it will be after this post! (We hope!) Continue reading “Mallorca”
T.W.O. spent last summer traveling around Spain and had some amazing paella. Each city was different – from Madrid to San Sebastian to Barcelona and Sevilla – there was a spin on each dish. Today we are featuring some of our favorite ingredients in a seafood paella. It’s an great dish full of flavor, protein and culture – – when in España!
Ingredients:
– 1 tomato, diced
– ½ cup white wine
– ½ red onion, chopped
– 1 sweet onion, chopped
– 1 pound fresh rock fish
– 2 lbs fresh seafood miz (mussels, calamari, shrimp)
– ¼ cup olive oil
– 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
– 2 cup Arborio rice or bomba paella rice
– 2 teaspoon Spanish saffron threads
– 4 cups low sodium chicken stock
– 1 cup frozen peas
– 1 can artichoke hearts
– ½ cup lemon juice
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1 teaspoon sea salt
– ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
– 1 teaspoon Spanish pimento smoked paprika
Directions:
1. Heat the wine and ½ red onion and ½ sweet onion in a saucepan over high heat until it begins to bubble. Add the mussels and cover and cook for five minutes.
2 Remove from the heat; throw away any unopened mussels, and drain, reserving the liquid to use later in the recipe.
3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan (great if you have a paella pan.) Add the extra onion and garlic. Cook for five minutes, or until onions have softened.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, artichokes, smoky paprika & cayenne pepper. Season with sea salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. Stir in the reserved liquid from the mussels, then add the rice and stir again. In a separate bowl, blend the saffron with the stock and stir into the rice mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes without stirring.
6. Put the peas, seafood mixture and rock fish on top of the rice. Push them into the rice, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, turning over halfway through, until the rice is cooked. Add the mussels & lemon juice for the last 5 minutes to heat through. If the rice is not cooked, add extra stock and cook for a few more minutes.
7. Allow to rest for 5 minutes prior to serving.
¡Buen provecho!
If you haven’t already noticed, T.W.O. enjoys traveling. And like most people, we usually get a souvenir (well actually, we should say souvenirs) when we travel! One of those souvenirs has to be a hat. Yes – a hat. It’s an item that we will wear the rest of our trip and get to bring it back home to the States. Beach hat, winter hat, ball cap – doesn’t matter! Here are some of our favorite hats we got a long the way.
Spain:
Happy Travels!!!
Sevilla is the capital and largest city of Andalusia, which is located in the southern part of Spain. The locals would describe it as a city of “passion.” With narrow, winding streets, this romantic city has heritage of art and architecture. In T.W.O.’s eyes, the traditional Spanish culture that was envisioned prior to the trip was depicted in Sevilla. During the summer months, the town is less populated because of the hot weather. 99.9% of the stores close at 2PM for the traditional siesta so they could rest and get out of the heat. The most popular time to visit this town is in March/ April when the weather is more manageable. T.W.O. enjoyed their time in Sevilla-we just wish it was a tad bit cooler!
Getting There
T.W.O. hopped on a jet plane in Barcelona and made their way to Sevilla. The flight was a little less than 2 hours…a hop, skip and a jump!
Accommodations
T.W.O. stayed at the Hotel Casa de Santa Cruz located in the Santa Cruz district. This was the “walking district” of the city. The hotel encompassed a traditional Spanish theme….textiles galore! The rooms were clean and the hotel staff was very helpful. There was a bottle of cava waiting for T.W.O.’s arrival in the room…Cheers! Highly recommended hotel!
Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (Sevilla Cathedral)
Catedral de Santa María is the largest Gothic cathedral and the 3rd largest church in the world. It was located near Hotel Casa de Santa Cruz, so T.W.O. was able to walk by this iconic church a couple times a day.
Plaza de España
Plaza de España is located in Parque de María Luisa and was built as an example of the Renaissance Revival style in Spanish architecture. The semi-circle building is filled with tiled fountains, brick, exploration stories and a river. While T.W.O. was exploring the historical plaza, a commercial was being filmed. They asked us to be in it, but we had to decline…
Casa de La Guitarra
Casa de La Guitarra is located in the Santa Cruz district and is a small, quant place to watch a flamenco show. It was a good thing that T.W.O.’s hotel made reservations for us because we received VIP seats….front row. Doesn’t get any better than that! The experience was amazing watching the guitarist play, while a gentleman sang and clapped and stomped his feet to create a beat. The flamenco dancer was passionate and eloquent. This is a must do while in Sevilla!
Located near the Cathedral, T.W.O. stumbled upon this ristobar while looking for a snack. The pizza slices in the window caught our eye! It wasn’t your traditional American slice though; it was a fluffy bready-square topped with cheese and fresh vegetables. Yum! T.W.O. made friends with the waiters who treated us like royalty. Who wouldn’t like that? The fresh salads and the ice cream bars kept calling T.W.O.’s name, so we went back a couple times! Definitely stop by and enjoy the atmosphere of Gusto!
Bar La Terraza (@ EME Hotel)
Little did T.W.O. know, but this hotel had one of the best rooftop views in town. After dinner one night, T.W.O. decided to check out this boutique hotel since there was a lot of activity outside of it and we heard music. After riding the elevator up to the roof, T.W.O. was pleasantly surprised to see that this was the place to be since it had the best views of the Cathedral. The atmosphere was lively and the music was even better. Cheers!
Night Strolls
T.W.O. enjoyed their night strolls in Sevilla. The weather was perfect, people were out and the gelato was plentiful!
When you hear the word Pamplona, what do you think? First guess- “Running of the Bulls.” Correct? Okay, T.W.O. thought so! While in Spain, T.W.O. had the chance to experience the weeklong festival celebrating San Fermin, patron Saint of Navarra for one day. Actually, lets clarify….a couple hours!
Getting to Pamplona from San Sebastian isn’t hard, but making a day trip of it can be a little bit challenging if you wanted to see the run at 8am. (The first train that arrives is at 8:30am, which is already too late to see the run.) The solution….car service! T.W.O. travelled to Pamplona in style with a private driver. Arriving in Pamplona around 7am, T.W.O.’s first mission was to get the gear…the white capri pants and the red scarf. CHECK! Next, T.W.O. luckily had some family friends that were saving a spot on the last turn before going into the bull ring so they were able to see the run from the first row. Well, behind the barricades that housed the police and medics…so second row. CHECK!
The town was lively, full of “hydrated” people roaming/ stumbling the streets of Pamplona. Ambulances lined the city streets… re-assuring, right? Balconies were filled with spectators, anticipating the run as we watched them hoping the balcony didn’t collapse. Needless to say, it was quite the scene!
8am…..GO TIME! It was the fastest 30 seconds of T.W.O.’s life, watching people run for their lives….Some making it, others eating it on the cobblestone and the rest jumping over the barricades to escape the large beasts. The bulls wore bells around their neck, so the runners heard them coming. Torro! Torro! Torro!
It was a trip well-made and T.W.O. was glad that they can say they “ran with the bulls”.
Ole! Ole!
It’s one of Europe’s best beaches, home to the gastronomic lifestyle of pintxos and one of T.W.O’s favorite cities in Spain. San Sebastián (SS) is located on the northern coast of Spain in the Basque region near the border of France. T.W.O. enjoyed 5 nights in this beach town and took day trips to Pamplona to watch the Running of the Bulls and to Biarritz to check out the surf capital of Europe.
Accommodations:
T.W.O. stayed in the Iztueta Apartments located on Miramar, which is the street overlooking La Concha beach. Jon, the owner, was very friendly and helpful in recommending local attractions and restaurants. The selling point of this apartment was the location and view. T.W.O. enjoyed many sunsets on their balcony with rosé and cheese while looking at La Concha beach. Being so close to the water, T.W.O. would fall asleep to the waves breaking onto the shore….doesn’t get any better than that!
Pintxos Bars:
Bar Zeruko: A MUST! T.W.O. went here their second night in SS and was a little bit intimated at first by the ordering process. They quickly learned that there was a second menu that you could order from; and that is what they did! T.W.O. highly recommends getting the steak (served on slate) and the papas fritas (French fries).
Atari Gastroteka: T.W.O. didn’t only visit this place once; they usually ended the pintxos bar hopping here every night! Located right across from the church, this place has it all. Great cupas riojas (glass of red wine), pintxos and cute servers! T.W.O. highly recommends the tomato salad and the arroz del día (rice of the day).
A Fuego Negro: Known for their burger pintxos, this place had a great atmosphere. T.W.O. stumbled upon this little gem trying to avoid a rainstorm and was very impressed with it’s menu. You can walk in or make reservations for the tasting menu. T.W.O. love the record-style menus!
La Playa
La Concha: is the larger of two beaches in San Sebastian and is more protected from the open sea. Many fishing boats are anchored here, so it makes for a beautiful setting. T.W.O. spent most of their time on this beach since it was right across from their apartment. They would grab some fresh bread, turkey, and cheese and a bottle of rosé and head to the beach for a couple hours. Of course there was a gelato break here and there! The beach was backed with people from all over the world, which made for great people watching! Some had their bathing suits on, some didn’t! The water was the perfect temperature to cool off in the 80 degree weather. As the day grew longer, the tide came up and then it became a party on the beach! Your sand neighbors became your friends!
La Zurriola: This beach is located east of the old town and river. Known as being the surf spot of SS, this beach has more waves and less people. If you want a quieter beach with a ton of Aussies and locals, come here!
The Old Town
The town itself is filled with shops, bakeries and mercados. T.W.O. enjoyed strolling through the streets and exploring the shops. The panaderías (bakeries) were plentiful and delicious! T.W.O. found the best goat cheese in a local mercado that they can’t seem to find here in the US.
Hike to statue of Christ
An easy hike, T.W.O. ventured to the statue of Christ one morning before the heat. The statue is located on top of the mountain between the two beaches. If you want great photos of the city, take the hike! There were many look-out points along the way to capture shots of the city. Beware of the wild-life….wild cats were roaming around! The old canons near the castle still exist, which is pretty spectacular to envision that those were once used to protect the city. Make sure to bring water; there are no water fountains along the way.
T.W.O. absolutely loved spending time in San Sebastián and would highly recommend this city to anyone. T.W.O. hopes to come back one day and visit their favorite spots again.
Happy Travels!
After a plane flight, metro ride, and adventure walking with our suitcases over cobblestone, T.W.O. made it to our first stop in Spain- MADRID!! Ole! Madrid is an amazing city full of history, architecture, exquisite restaurants, friendly people and not to mention, ZARAs on every corner! T.W.O. was in heaven!
T.W.O. was in Madrid for 4 days at stayed at the Vincchi Soho hotel in the heart of the historical area of Madrid. T.W.O. would definitely recommend Vincchi Soho- it is clean, modern, the staff is very friendly and it is in a great location of the city- walking distance to everything!
While in Madrid, T.W.O. explored everything- from plazas to palaces, ZARAs to bull fights, restaurants to mercados, and Rosés to papas fritas. T.W.O loved it all! Here are just some of the highlights of T.W.O.’s adventure in Madrid!
Plaza Mayor was one of the biggest plazas in Madrid. T.W.O enjoyed stopping by this plaza one, two, even three times a day to see this beautiful site.
Mercado de San Miguel is a must-see if you travel to Madrid. This mercado is a great spot to head for lunch if you don’t want to deal with a restaurant. Inside the mercado, there are over 30 merchants selling their respective tapas specialties. T.W.O would highly recommend the burrata cheese crostini with pesto and the croquette with cheese and jalapeno.
Palacio Real de Madrid is another site to see in Madrid. Pay the 12 euros and enjoy the breathtaking art and architecture inside the palace. You won’t be disappointed.
Plaza de Santa Ana was T.W.O.’s favorite plaza in Madrid. They spent everyday in this plaza whether is was for breakfast, lunch, dinner or their siesta!
When in Madrid, go to a bull fight! T.W.O. enjoyed this amazing experience and would suggest everyone see one if they are in Madrid. The art of this sport is spectacular and the local people are so passionate about it. Bull fights typically take place on every Sunday during the summer months.
Lateral was T.W.O.’s favorite restaurant in Madrid. It is located in Plaza de Santa Ana (how ironic!). T.W.O. would suggest the stuffed piquillo peppers, goat cheese with caramelized onions, and the patatas bravas.
Strolling around Madrid and Parque del Buen Retiro
T.W.O. enjoyed strolling around Madrid, especially when it involved shopping at Zara! During the stroll, T.W.O. walked through Parque del Buen Retiro. It was absolutely gorgeous and reminded T.W.O. of Central Park in New York City. This park is a nice place to take a picnic, go for a run, or just enjoy an evening walk!
T.W.O. truly enjoyed Madrid and would definitely go back- well actually; they did, for one day! In terms of the future, Madrid will be revisited. It is a great city for everyone- young adults, couples, families and elders! T.W.O. me encantό Madrid! #gemelasenespana
T.W.O. 