Tag: food

Cologne 2025 – post 2

by ginnyinshanghai

That church we saw when we stepped off the train………it was time for a visit. 

A bit of information about the Cathedral:

~Construction began in1248, then halted in 1560. Work was ultimately completed in 1860 after funding in the 1940s, literally off and on for 632 years. The completion of Germany’s largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event in 1880.

~The Cathedral is Germany’s most visited attraction for tourists and pilgrims and one of the oldest and most important pilgrimage sites in Northern Europe.

~It is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, and the third tallest church in Europe. Being built from different types of rock which weather to varying degrees, rarely is the cathedral seen without scaffolding.

When American troops entered the city on March 6, 1945, one of the only buildings standing was the Cologne Cathedral. The twin spires were an easy navigational touchstone for the Allied bombers. It endured 14 bomb hits and was heavily damaged, but key parts remained standing.

Immediately after the war, building materials were procured for repairs needed to bolster the Cathedral. Repairs were competed in 1956.

Walking up, the entranceway was imposing.

A number of prophets also line the entrance; here was Moses with the 10 commandments. Hmmm, my photo looks a bit weird and makes Moses have a shortened statue. Yep, the angle wasn’t the best. Next time…………..

One visit there was a service going on and we had a chance to hear one of their two organs.

As noted above WWII saw a lot of destruction……………………some of the windows were saved and are traditional.

A more recent addition is this modern stained-glass window – interesting.  Not really sure how I feel about that.

I did like the colors as they hit one of the cathedral’s walls.

This church was built to hold relics from the ‘Three Wise Men’.  Sharing ‘relics’ was big business in medieval times.  Parts and pieces of important religious figures were shared amongst a number of parties. Back in the day…………………it was a big business to have ‘relics’ for the masses to make pilgrimages to honor said relics. Pieces and parts of individuals were divided up for multiple religious sites for the people.

Whenever we’re in churches, I try to look for things that most miss, like these burial sites that most visitors walk right over.  Loved the intricacy of the designs.

Exiting the cathedral this greeted us. Okay, I’m sorry, this might seem sacrilegious…………….but I took this photo right in front of the cathedral.  Oh my goodness – not a good likeness.  ☹

Actually, I was going to start this post with our evening brewery tour then I remembered the church.  I have to talk about the church. I’ve always loved walking into the European churches since most are older than the U.S. has been a country.

Originally, we had a food tour scheduled for Cologne, but Eric got an email that it was canceled.  He found this brewery tour at the last minute.

It was a large group and ultimately had 2 tour guides, so we were split up.  Our guide was interesting, that’s all I’ll say.  Not the best guide, but we needed to lower our expectations.  It was advertised that we would be stopping at five breweries, but only beers at the first three were covered.  The last two stops we needed to pay.  Eric forgot to read that tidbit of info and we were pretty low on cash with barely enough to cover.

The first three stops were Brauerei Zur Malzmuhle, Sunner & Whale and Peters Brauhaus.

Sorry, this photo was the only one from the second brewery. Yes, that is a depection of a while, hence the name.

No photo for the next stop as it was at a mini convenience store – everyone covered their own expense.  I didn’t deem it photo-worthy. The last spot was Fruh Brewery, also a restaurant and after most of the group left, we stayed to order food. Let’s talk about the beer.

This is how your kolsch beer arrives. The tray is called a ‘kranz’. The slender .2L glasses are called ‘stange’.

Kolsch was defined as an ‘easy-drinking pale ale’. Most breweries have one single beer on tap and you know that place focused on their beer and care about their product.

One important piece of the Kolsch-drinking culture was the coaster called a ‘deckel’. The coaster was marked with tallies to keep track of how many glasses of Kolsch you drink. Glasses will continue to arrive until you put the deckel over the top of your glass. Take the deckel to the cashier and payment was based upon the number of tally marks. You always have a fresh and cold beer in front of you. Okay – I like that.

I’m closing with a (unplanned) fabulous photo of the church. I sent this to some friends back home and they wanted to know what I did to enhance the shot. Nothing. I just got lucky with the angle of the sun.

One more full day in Cologne and a chance to find the remaining Christmas markets in the city.

Ginny

Strasbourg Xmas 2025-part 2

by ginnyinshanghai

We’re here for the Christmas markets, but also for the food. I had a request when we got to Strasbourg………………a repeat visit for a tapas restaurant we visited earlier. Eric made the reservation.

One advantage to a larger group, more items can be ordered and shared. We had plenty, but only needed four for the two of us. First two: foie gras and quiche with goat cheese.

Local sausages and pickled vegetables.

Pork roll in a delicious broth.

Naturally we ordered dessert – which was also a repeat and just as good as my memory: toasted kougelhopf cake, marinated pears with a local fruit puree and a scoop of ice cream. Yum, yum delicious. Not a drop was left on the plate. 🙂

It was a good meal at a repeat location – thanks hon.

Let’s get back to the Christmas decorations. Later in the evening, this wall also had some projections they added.

Now this was a large advent calendar, counting down the days until Christmas. All the numbers were represented, even if you can’t see them in my photo.

Decorations didn’t have to be over the top, sometimes simple and classic is best. Here’s Eric waiting patiently (not!) for my photo.

This was one of my favorite photos. In May, we had dinner at the restaurant in the background.

Several displays had giant bears in their windows.

This was seen on a side of a church, subtle but nice.

Those glasses I mentioned in the previous post?

Before coming, I read that collecting the Christmas market mugs was a ‘thing’. In Strasbourg, it was all about these (plastic) glasses. After getting your chosen hot beverage, a euro was charged for the cup. You bring back the glass, you get back a euro. Let’s just say that we are coming home with a collection. I convinced Eric these plastic glasses were much better (and lighter) than mugs for packing. We were on a hunt to not repeat a glass – we succeeded.

During our wandering, we came across some oysters – Eric needed some. And, maybe just maybe, I had a few of them – very salty.

Another ‘snack’ was a raclette sandwich – O.M.G. Their line was so long, Eric stood in line to pay for the sandwich, while I waited in the other line for pick up. Here was one of the many ‘burners’ melting the cheese before it was scraped onto a bun. You could add a protein and we got the ham.

Oh, and some gherkin pickles was the finishing touch. There was plenty for us to share with the one sandwich. We only needed one.

I needed one more photo of the cathedral while the sun was setting. I didn’t enhance this photo but the beauty of the church was stunning.

These last few photos were show some whimsical shots of Christmas I saw while walking around.

Merry Christmas a bit early.

Ginny & Eric

France 2025 – post 5

by ginnyinshanghai

Final photos and experiences in Strasbourg before heading to Paris.

One morning Rich and I got up before the others to walk the streets early morning. There was something going on……………..

We discovered there were multiple races occuring simultaneously, various lenghts and ages. We made the way to the finish line and this gentleman picked up his daughter about 20 feet before the finish line – very cute.

Walking the historic center, I curated a number of photos. A number of bridges exist for walking or driving. It seemed like all those we crossed had ironwork, nice.

I really don’t like the locks, but I see them everywhere – even in Iceland. Really? Really!

A few city or neighborhood parks were sprinkled throughout the downtown area.

Another use for a tub. This one had a few vegetable plants along with herbs sprinkled amongst the flowers.

One afternoon several of us walked to the University’s botanical garden.

Some of the flowers were similar to those seen at home.

And one I didn’t know……………

I r.e.a.l.l.y liked this insect house we came across in the garden. Hon? Can I have one of these? Can you build me one?

All too soon, our time was up in this city.

We grabbed a ride to the train station before looking to eat somewhere. This place was 1 block away – serving really good food, Restaurant D Steakhouse. I’m sure there are bad restaurants serving bad food somewhere (chains maybe?) but no complaints for the meals thus far.

A meat & cheese plate and duck foie gras were the starters we shared.

A nice goat cheese salad was all that I needed.

Veal cordon bleu (left) along with veal scallops (right).

What is a meal without desserts?

We enjoyed our time in this lovely city. Eric and I visited with friends in 2005 and I remember very little of that time. This visit was an excellent experience. Who knows, maybe we will be back. One last group photo in front of the cathedral.

Let’s get on the train and head to Paris!

Ginny

France 2025 – post 4

by ginnyinshanghai

Food glorious food! We had several more meals that were memorable. Let’s start with another food tour this time in Strasbourg!

Our meeting spot was a bronze display of the historic city center in a nearby park.

Our guide shared details using the bronze map giving us an idea of our walking path and the stops we were going to make. The cathedral can easily be seen below.

Before our first ‘official’ eating spot, we had to make a slight detour and pick-up. This tasty treat – kougelhopf – was being shared at the very end of the tour. But to be sure the bakery still had some available, an order was placed earlier for us to pick up. They have a unique shape (and baking instrument), somewhat similar to a bundt pan. You can see part of one behind the sign below.

Our first stop was the Meteor Brewery – an independent, family-run brewery since 1640.

The beer was easy drinking and served with local sausages, meats and cheese.

Next up – a bit of cheese.

Yes, one of those were a local Munster cheese.

Time for a sit-down break at the next stop at Le Gruber. Most of their patrons were sitting outside, yes, the weather was that nice. We went inside since our group was larger.

Choices were meat or vegetarian. We got one of each to share. 🙂

The last stop on our food tour was a ‘dessert’ tarte flambe.

Remember that first stop we made to pick up the ‘kougelhopf’? Yeah, we were too full and we each were given a mini kougelhopf to eat at our leisure. Thank goodness.

We had walked past this restaurant a number of times as we traversed the area. One day we stopped for lunch – delicious! Another fine choice for eating.

Two rooms and an outside terrace (of course, that’s where we sat) gave this restaurant a capacity of almost 50. It was a privileged gastronomic experience. The salmon with creme-fresh (left photo) and the duck foie gras (right photo) was a heavenly way to start the experience.

All of the main courses were well chosen:

Beef Carpaccio with pesto and Parmigano Regioano.

I chose the creamy risotto with spring vegetables (white asparagus). It was the creamiest!

Pork shank braised in beer & honey.

Steak with tiger sauce and mixed vegetables.

Delicious desserts.

Excellent eating!

While the restaurant noted above was a great lunch spot, we made reservations for one of the oldest establishments in Strausborg for our last evening of dining…….Maison Kammerzell.

Written by numerous journalists around the world as one of the 1000 places to see in your life. Located at the foot of the Strasbourg Cathedral, it symbolizes the Renaissance art of the city. The wood sculptures, murals and the 75 windows with stained glass in a cul-de-boteille fashion, exalt the virtues combining medieval nobility and ancient culture.

A quick shot before the feasting began.

The duck terrine with hazelnuts and snails in Alsatian style started our dining. Seems like every meal has foie gras or a terrine – what living.

My chicken supreme marinated with lemon and ginger (and don’t forget the frites) was some of the best chicken I’ve eaten.

Pan-fried sea bass fillet with saffron rice and veggies.

Veal kidneys and mushrooms, pasta and more mixed veggies.

The last meal selection was Pike perch fillet, ‘Matelote’ style, a Riesling sauce, tagliatelle and crispy bacon – of course it needed the bacon. 🙂

Desserts were no less fabulous: chocolate & banana tart (left) ice cream & sorbet (right).

Pistachio biscuit, w/ yogurt mouse and yogurt sorbet.

We would definitely eat at this restaurant if we ever make it back to the city – yes, it is that good. Then right around the corner……………..

One last post for Strasbourg and then headed to Paris.

Ginny

France 2025 – post 2

by ginnyinshanghai

Strausbourg Dining:

Our first night of dining was absolutely amazing. Rich found a tapas bar that specialized in regional food and this was one of the top rated: Restaurant les Chauvins. They welcome you in a modern and warm setting in preparation for discovery of the flavors of Alsace. Their mission is for their diners to rediscover the authentic taste of fresh quality products, including organic farming and the know-how of local producers. The owners make it a point of honor to work with fresh products grown on Alsatian terroir.

Days into our trip and we were still talking about some of the food from that night. The first thing to arrive was ‘tarte flammbee traditionnelle’, a lovely thin-crusted item with a special cheese base, thinly-sliced onions and bacon pieces. Truly, it is the only thing I remember from our trip in 2005.

Next three items to arrive were: foie gras de canard (duck), aslacian pork and mini-burgers.

We still wanted more food: white asparagus, rolled meat & herbs rolled in egg pasta and hot dog aslacian.

This item was liked the least: escargot in mushroom cap.

Desserts? But of course. Eric ordered ice cream……..raspberry and citrus flavors, with sparkling white aslacian wine poured into the glass. It was pretty good.

However……………..this is the dessert we talked about the remainder of our time in France: Kougelhopf pain perdu with ice cream and a v.e.r.y tasty sauce. Most similar to French Toast – only better.

The kougelhopf was a local specialty of the Alsace region. It is a yeast brioche cake with raisins and almonds although googling recipes found a multitude of fruit and/or nuts that could also be added. I am going to make this at home! Don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, but at the point this photo was taken, I had been up 32+ hours. Yikes – I’m too old for this.

Walking through the historic area, one gets hungry. Lunch was at Au Petit Bois Vert, outside on the terrace around the foot of the oldest tree in Strasbourg.

While not a tapas place, we continued to share and taste each other’s selections. Never going to be a bad meal when sitting next to water – just saying.

No surprise, I got another tarte flambe with plenty to share.

All shared the homemade duck foie gras and the assorted venison meat & cheese platter.

Eric chose the traditional choucroute garnie (sausages, pork and sauerkraut).

While Rich and Hunter had the ‘wild game (boar) from Alsace. The presentation wasn’t exactly what they were expecting, but enjoyed their selection.

The guys all got dessert with Eric choosing raspberry glace (ice cream) and cafe gourmand for the other two.

So far so good our first few days in Strasbourg. Next up, Strasbourg Cathedral.

Ginny

Madrid 2025 – last post

by ginnyinshanghai

Concluding our 2025 Spain trip was sad, but looking back over these photos – we had some great times, saw interesting sites and undoubtedly had awesome food experiences. Let’s wrap this up!

One of our stops was at Point Zero in Madrid, found in one of their most famous spaces – Puerta del Sol, in front of the Government of Madrid Community. The ‘point zero’ tradition comes from the Roman Empire, dating back to the time of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Remember ‘All roads lead to Rome’. And I discovered it almost matches the authentic center of this country.

Let’s talk some food. One afternoon we stopped in this establishment for a ‘light snack’. Sangria went nicely with the cheese & bread they brought us.

Even something that ‘mundane’ just tasted better in Spain.

Naturally a meat platter, an egg tortilla and a salad were thrown in for good measure.

We made another visit to Mercado de San Miguel. Yes, it might be filled with tourists but it was definitely worth going back for one last visit. We wandered until we found a spot where 2 or maybe 3 can sit then one goes off to bring back food.

Most of the photos below are easily identifiable. The top left was octopus – delicious!

Eric had anxiously been awaiting his dining experience in Posada de Villa Madrid.

Back in the seventeenth century there was only one Flour Mill in Madrid, which became in 1642 the first Posada de la Corte, under the protection of the Arab walls, where food and lodging were given to all travelers who arrived in Madrid. It was in 1980 when it was rescued (from disrepair) after 2 years of meticulous restoration, by an individual from Madrid to ensure the tradition continued. We were there when it opened at 7pm for our reservation.

Bread and olives started our feast.

Then the reason Eric made these reservations………………….Quarter lamb roasted in a wood oven – shared by him and Adrienne.

I ordered chicken and truth be told, all three of us could have eaten off of the lamb that evening. Their kitchen offered a cuisine prepared with dishes belonging to Castilian and Madrid gastronomy.

There were some ‘sides’ that came with the meal, but totally not necessary. What we did need…….was dessert. ha!

After eating, these Floratine cookies were brought with the check – like we needed more food. BTW – no crumb was left.

I have one more eating experience to share – cava street crawl. Although looking back at our photos, I don’t think we drank any cava. Ha!

This was our first stop. Pitchers of sangria were already made. They added some juice and ice and they were ready to serve.

This next place was s.u.p.e.r crowded. We squeezed into a spot along the bar. Really, we ‘made’ a spot for us to stand.

This third stop had an interesting twist. The hostess led us down some stairs so I assumed we would have horrible service. Not so much. Why was that? In one of the photos below – a doorbell when you needed something or someone.

It quit raining and it started getting thick. Both with people and with cars. There were people living above all the restaurants streetside. Yikes!

Last stop – we were getting full.

One last look of Cava Street before we left to crash at our rental. The colorful umbrellas drew your attention.

You may have noticed Eric was sporting a new look. Eric felt a new wool hat was needed. Once he saw the bronze plaque indicating a 100+ years existence in front of this store – he was sold, a blue wool hat was purchased.

Our last night we were able to see one of their iconic emblems fully lit. Read one of my earlier posts for why this advertisement continues to exist. 🙂

We enjoyed Spain – central and northern Spain. Food was great and expenses were not totally outrageous and our AirBNBs were well situated. We hope to be back and explore the southern parts of Spain.

Adios!

Ginny

Oviedo 2025 – post 1

by ginnyinshanghai

On our way out, I wanted one last photo from San Sebastian: Peine del Viento or ‘The Comb Of The Wind’. Located in the western area of San Sebastián and at the foot of Mount Igeldo, the Peine del Viento is one of the most celebrated sculptures by Basque artist Eduardo Chillida. Here are the first two sculptures.

Installed in 1977, the artwork is a series of terraces built of pink colour granite and three anchor-like iron shapes welded into rocks. This is one of the most visited places by tourists and locals, especially on stormy days, when waves pound against the cliff rocks. And this is the third sculpture.

All my photos had been from the Old Town, but here is one last shot of San Sebastian, taken near the sculptures, looking towards the beach and the Old Town.

We are headed West towards Oviedo and halfway there we started thinking about eating. Googled ‘places to eat near me’ and in 5-ish minutes, we would be near a highly-rated restaurant. Okay, let’s do it.

What’s in a name? We knew it didn’t open until 1pm and that was our arrival time. Once again, we were the first ones inside the restaurant.

Let’s just say they took pity on us and shared they could set up in a table in a side room for us. Okay. It was a set menu displayed in the entrance. Eric caught on before I did and possibly, he searched the internet while we waited.

We had walked into a Michelin Star restaurant – without a reservation and we were being seated. OMG. You might see the price above and go ‘yikes’. For foodies and for anyone wishing to eat at a Michelin star restaurant – this was a deal. We tend to look for ‘Michelin recommended restaurants’ which are less expensive but quite frankly just as good.

First to arrive was their bread, butter and marianito. We all really enjoyed the parsley butter. What was so special about it? It was just darn good and not seen before.

The foie gras curd topped with orange gelee’ arrived, complete with an ivory spoon and edible flowers on the rim. Both Adrienne and Eric reaped the benefits of my selective eating. I tried everything that was brought to the table. Some I liked (or not) and this was one that after the orange gelee was eaten, i could eat the foie gras curd underneath – not an entire cup mind you. And yes, I ate some of the flowers. 🙂

This dish we talked about several times after the visit. Several cockles were nestled amongst the green peas. The light green round items were potato-shaped garlic bombs (my word, not theirs).

Our next plate was probably the one I liked the least. The mushrooms had been formed into a ‘log’, with fried (?) garlic dough balls on the ends. I didn’t love the flavor profile but the other two enjoyed the remainder.

Okay, I knew the meat in the next dish I would eat, but somewhat hesitant about the smoked eel. Our server said it could be altered, but also shared it was a small part of the dish. I didn’t change a thing. I tried both, but let’s be real. By this time, I was getting full. Add in wine and rustic bread……………I was reaching my food intake limit.

The creativity was good, I liked the fresh farm egg yolk and the crunchy ‘chips’ which did add some flavor to the wheat rice. The other two were starting to be selective when finishing their dishes as we still had more to come.

I enjoy mullet but never been served with it roasted. The cauliflower and sauce was interesting. I had plenty to share.

The beef was very tasty and I enjoyed the ghnocchi. Again, I had plenty to share with the other two. We made it through all of the courses. I am truly stuffed.

Two different dessert options were available so naturally between the three of us, we got to try both. Their homemade ‘torrija’ was the clear winner. I enjoyed my coffee brownie with the two different types of ice creams, but the other was perfect.

To top off the meal (like we really needed more food – LOL) coffee and petit fours (Yuzu, passionfruit, jellied red fruits and white chocolate arrived for each of us.

After the meal was concluded, our server took us over the other side of the building. The main dining room looks out over the valley, but more importantly, there were two open kitchens where all the food was being prepared (same menu) and part of their experience. Really, it was the only difference between the two eating spots.

Speaking of views………………

Behind the restaurant was a vineyard.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Before writing this, i looked at the website for Eneko. Oh my goodness. They shared the timeline of their restaurants.

~2005, first restaurant opens here, Azurmendi

~2007, first Michelin Star

~2010, second Michelin Star

~2012, third Michelin Star

~2013 thru 2016, numerous awards and Azumendi opens in Thailand, chef selected to form group of European’s Young Leaders

~2017, opening of Eneko at this location, earned Michelin Star, also opened in Tokyo

~2018 thru 2020, earns number of sustainability awards

~2021 thru 2024, opens restaurants in Seville, Madrid (2) and Bilboa, Chef Eneka Axta wins Vanitatus Chef of the Year

I have to end this post here. The remainder of our drive to Oviedo, pales in comparison. The adventure will continue in the next post.

Ginny

San Sebastian 2025 – post 4

by ginnyinshanghai

Our last day in the city and we made the most of it. We found a little market and bought cheese (for Eric) and bread (for myself) which I used for toast the next several days – yummy.

The beach along the bay had different activity this morning – sports.

Our goal today was the San Sebastian Cathedral as it is commonly referred to or the full name is Cathedral of the Good Shepherd of San Sebastian.

Its construction took place in the last years of the 19th century in a Neo-Gothic style. One of the most astonishing features of this cathedral is the bell tower, standing at 75 meters and is one of the tallest points in San Sebastian.

Once inside, it is imposing.

One of the first chapels on the right held this clock. I haven’t seen one of those spaces dedicated in this way.

naturally there a multitude of stained glass windows.

I discovered another set of windows with this anchor, undoubtedly closely linked to the people of San Sebastian.

One of the highly ornamented chapels:

Lately I’ve started noticing the columns of these churches and all of the extra ornamentation. Always someone watchng the congregation – be it person or beast.

As we were leaving the building and area, the bells started ringing.

One thing I discovered on the internet about the Cathedral I found interesting. They have a subterranean pumping machine in their basement to prevent flooding in San Sebastian. The presence of this underground infrastructure demonstrates the historical significance of the cathedral in the city and its ability to adapt to the community’s needs. They are intertwined amongst crucial moments of Spanish history. During the Spanish Civil War, the cathedral as a field hospital.

A number of hours had passed since our food tour the previous night and it was time for mourishment. Eric wanted a repeat from an earlier foray – pig ear.

He was happy with his selection, and I ate another braised beef cheek – such a hardship, not!

We revisted the place with the ‘potato salad’ and saw another pintxos being prepared – we wanted one. Tomatoes with tuna – delicious!

Another stop at the Oyster place, which I discovered I never got a photo of the outside. We were there so much, the guy recognized us – by us, I mean Eric and Adrienne.

Believe it or not, we were trying to hold back. We had dinner reservations at a seafood restaurant tonight and wanted to go with a (semi) empty stomach.

It was a good restaurant. I wouldn’t call it fantastic, but with so much food and michelin stars around, what is ‘good’ is relative. There were a few reasons Eric wanted to eat here. First were the barnacles. It would be a first for Eric and truthfully, there’s not many new things he hasn’t tasted.

Okay, interesting. We asked the best way to get to the meat and a manager came over to show us. Don’t think I mentioned, we were the only ones in the restaurant. Our reservation was when it opened – which is way too early for locals to eat. Actually, they did seat us and let us order wine before they opened and we could order.

Back to the barnacles. Did I eat them? Yes, and here’s proof.

The had a special item on their menu that we got for sharing. Crab was the main component. It was okay. Truth be told, I would have rather eaten more of the barnacles.

Here is the second reason Eric wanted to eat here……………………Turbot. First, they brought out the uncooked fish, sharing its weight and cost. Yes, they wanted it. I say ‘they’ as this is a dish for two. Adrienne was all in and wanted to be part of the ‘two’.

It was served table-side.

What did I eat? Shrimp and frites. Both were good.

This was to be our last night in San Sebastian.

We packed and cleaned up the apartment, basically pulling together our recyclables and items to throw away. In the morning, drinking our coffee, we heard clapping. Looked outside our window and saw this.

A few minutes later, groups of runners arrived.

The photos were taken from our apartment – a great locaiton by the way for eating and walking. We hope to be back to San Sebastian for more food adventures.

Ginny

San Sebastian 2025 – post 3

by ginnyinshanghai

After visiting the church, we explored the city and nearby harbor. It was a gorgeous sunny day.

We could see a kayak slicing through the water, and waaaaaay in the distance was a swimmer. OMG – the water was cold.

There was a staircase, leading down into the water. Naturally it needed investigation. Hmmm, what was Adrienne taking a photo of? Oysters and barnacles on the framework, of course.

Then these two gentleman walked past us – definitely looking like they were heading into the water. Yep, that was where they were going. Unfortunately, the gentleman with the black swim shorts changed while standing and it took me a second to see that he was naked and putting on his swimming attire. That second – I saw way too much. Really? Really! Eric said the look on my face was priceless.

City Hall was along the waterfront………….

……….along with a small park for kids to play in and others to set on benches to people-watch. I wandered over to these trees and noticed some were using screws to keep them from splitting apart. Interesting. Looks like they need some maintenance as one of the screws wasn’t doing much good.

Continuing our walk along the promenade, we came across these sand designs when looking over the railing.

But then we saw a sand artist at work.

The finished design:

And just in case one wanted to contribute to his cause……….Adrienne dropped a coin, but missed the sheet. Wop wop. You could also see the tools he utilized for his masterpiece – three rakes.

All this walking called for a bit of lunch. Instead of ordering some tapas and standing around table tops, we were looking more for a restaurant – and found Bardulia.

Iberian ham, roasted peppers, frites and veal cheeks. Enough to make us through until tonight’s adventure – a highly-rated food tour.

Walking through the town, they had some spring flowers in full bloom. We never see tulips in Florida and several beds were planted with them. Pansies were mixed in the same bed.

Also found this candy-stripe tulip.

Always drawn to purple flowers.

But let’s talk about one of the absolute highlights of our time in San Sebastian – a food tour. Not just any food tour, but one that has a 5-star rating after 574 reviews – that is nothing short of amazing……..and so was our tour.

We met our tour guide, Eski, a few blocks from our apartment and after some introductions, food likes/dislikes we were on our way. One thing extra special………we were the only ones on her tour that evening. That’s what happens when you visit a place in the off-season – which was perfect for us. 🙂

Our first stop was:

We learned the proper way to pour cider, which gives it some body and carbonation. This cider is not sweet at all. Eski provided the demonstration.

Then we all got to try it.

Since we are good with tasting and sharing food, every place we stopped, we got to try different things based upon our likes. We got scallops, braised beef and didn’t get a photo of the third item. 😦

Next stop:

I had a potato dish, similar to potato salad that was f.a.n.t.a.s.t.i.c. Throughout the remainder of our trip in Spain, when possible, we ordered it again. We’ve looked up the recipe so we’re expecting Eric to recreate it once we get home. The other two items were fried shrimp and a fried sardine.

We could also choose our drink at each of the stops. This time we all had local white wine.

Eski was quick to pivot on our tour to either expand our culinary options or find better choices. This next stop was a favorite of Eric’s.

It was all about the foie gras for those two while I had the grilled oyster mushrooms.

We were not done yet, we still had two more stops.

As we walked into this establishment, we were greeted like family and brought back to a table in the back. We either got a hug, or a kiss on our hand by the owner? Father of the owner? Didn’t matter, he was a real charmer. Our guide is well-known and has a fabulous reputation. She holds every place we stopped to a high standard. Here we had croquettes, octopus and Iberian ham.

By this time, I was done eating. It was way too much food for me. Add to the fact the tour was an evening tour and all that food would be sitting on my stomach. I had already switched to drinking water at this point.

Eric and Adrienne had been at our last stop the previous day and was underwhelmed by their pintxos.

She ordered two of the same ones and because the owners know her, they make her pintxos fresh. Oh, what a difference in taste – according to Eric and Adrienne. What were they? Truth be told, I don’t know. I was ready for bed and fading. Stuffed pepper? Salmon?

Looking back on our experience………..it was a great tour. Here is the review that Eric left and I couldn’t agree more.

She had a chance to respond:

We do hope to be back. We enjoyed San Sebastian and all the food it offered.

Ginny

Oops, had to add one more photo – our group from the tour.

Madrid 2025 – post 5

by ginnyinshanghai

Mercado = Markets

When we were at Barcelona several years ago, we stopped at markets that not only had produce for purchase but also places to eat inside the market. We loved that! If possible, we definitely stop at those places for eating. One of the best reasons the three of us enjoy these………we can each order the type of food we desire and are not limited to one restaurant’s menu.

We’ve already hit one such market in Madrid, but we have found several more. Let’s start with Mercado San Ildefonso.

They are billed as the first street food market in Spain inspired by the street food markets of London, Singapore and New York. Opening in 2014 it’s near where the traditional food market was located until 1970 when that was demolished

It offers 18 stalls and three drink bars on three floors devoted to different gourmet products. There are no boxes of vegetables, no fresh fish or meat to take home but an establishment to take a break during a shopping day or meet friends after work.

Enough talk, let’s see the food. I ordered the chicken skewers and fries.

Eric ordered a few things to share:

We enjoyed our meal, but so far, the first market we visited on Day 1 beats this.

We were splitting our vacation between three cities in Spain and before taking off to northern Spain, we wanted to stop at Mercado de san Miguel. We had been told that this was mainly a tourist market that locals no longer visit. Well, we’re tourists. Let’s go!

This market is a monument to Spanish cuisine located in the heart of Madrid. They welcome more than 7 million visitors each year. 100+ years have passed since this was inaugurated as a food market. This historic building allows visitors to take a tour of the flavors from each of the corners of Spain.

You know what? It was full of tourists – but we enjoyed it. 🙂 It had a ‘vibe’ going and after finding seats……it was a fun experience. People were continually moving around so after finding a table spot for the three of us – we were set.

Mostly I sat at our spot, trying to keep our stools, but upon occasion, I left them and did some exploring on my own inside the market.

Let me show you some of the vendors I came across. Perfect little sausages to pop in your mouth with their own holder.

Always enjoy a good fish display.

Several different types of paella.

First time seeing octopus on skewers.

There were a few stalls that had oysters, all from France.

Having the little figures in front of their cheese displays made it much easier to decipher the beginning ingredient of their displayed cheese.

There was at least one vendor that had sweets after you finished your savory choices. A great way to top off your meal – just saying.

But what did we eat? Let’s see………………

Oysters from two different vendors.

Octopus, very tasty and not chewy at all.

One of the last dishes was the paella with the squid ink. It turned your tongue black.

But we ultimately finished with Ibersian ham (of course) with nuts and crackers.

Yes, we can say the place was full of tourists but I would still recommend anyone visiting Madrid to stop by and pick up some goodies. We would definitely stop by again.

Ginny