We've Sailed Away To Spain, Again!

So, after an exciting and challenging couple of days, we *might* be resurrecting this ancient blog we started the first time we sailed away to Spain in 2010! The girl on the right and the boy in the middle were just glimmers in our eyes back then, but now they are very much here with us on this adventure.

August 12, 2025, was our departure date to Valencia, just one month short of 15 years since Ted and I arrived in Barcelona in 2010. That was an unforgettable, wonderful year for both us. 

So much has stayed the same and so much is different. We find ourselves once again in the throes of 'piso-hunting', an exhausting experience that prompted us to look up our old blog, Spanish Boots of Leather, to recall how we navigated this same challenge so many years ago. It is strangely comforting to read that it was torturous that time around, too!

What has changed:

• Pre-teen and a teen in tow.
• We packed super light, considering we're now a family of four.
• Our castellano is mucho mejor.
• We have iPhones with unlimited International calling, and no longer need burners!

What has stayed the same:

I sweat like hell in the Spanish heat of August. We've have old friends in Spain - Nuria, Jano, Marcial, Dani, y Caterina - that we can't wait to see fifteen years later. And (who needs Instagram?) we're resurrecting the act of blogging on Blogger.com! 

!Hemos encontrado los Calcots!

?Parecen estos a calcots?

Hemos los encontrado a Berkeley Bowl en Berkeley, California. ?Puede creerlo? Berkeley Bowl es un mercado un poco similar a la Boqueria, pero no tanto fantastico.

Me voy a escribir de la fiesta un unos dias....

Desastre en La Cocina

Después de muchos meses en los Estados Unidos (San Francsico, CA), tuvimos ganas de comer una tortilla perfecta como comimos muchas veces en Catalunya.

La otra noche, Teo y yo hicimos uno pero fue un desastre:

?Alguien sabe que paso? 

Es posible que no usemos aceite suficiente o usemos demasiado patatas.

No lo sabemos. !Ayudados!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Now that we've been back a while, I can admit to being completely nostalgic for a few things from our previous life, right? Here goes, in no particular order:

Carrer de Lleo, Our Street

I always loved walking home, seeing all the same people going about the same business on our block. It's just not the same kind of community in a car-culture. I wonder if the neighbors miss me as much as I miss them?

Never Knowing What You're Going to Get

When we first arrived in Spain, I was longing for familiar foods like burritos, but I quickly became a fan of trying dishes I previously never considered food items, such as Rabo de Toro (Bull's Tail):

Weekdays Between 6pm and 9pm

This is when the neighbors come out on the plazas to have a beer or a chat or a kiddie game of street ball. The whole world slows down, lets the day go and actually enjoys time outside with friends. It's a beautiful thing.

Totally Un-P.C. and Sometimes Just Wrong

I once wrote about how the Spanish can seem offensive when viewed through an uber-politically correct American lens, but sometimes their awkward humor is just down right funny. I loved seeing odd uses of the American language, such as the following name for a clothing store. Do you think Granny realizes what she's posing under?

Celebrating Barsa

Clearly, if you read this blog, you know we are devout Barsa fans. Watching every game at BJ's 100 Club with all of these crazy fans was definitely the highlight of every week. We still stream the games live from our laptops, but jumping up and down by one's lonesome just ain't the same.

Sunday Paella

Is there anything on earth more tasty-looking? I don't think so.

For my birthday is this weekend and I'm making myself a big pot of paella to help cure my Spanish-homesickness. The Sunday Paella tradition lives on...!!!

 Note: This list does NOT include any of our dear friends we miss terribly. Come visit!

Back in the Bay

After barely escaping an all-out brawl with two thugs and the pilot on my return flight, we finally made it back to where we started. I would say "back home" but we're couch-surfing (thanks everyone!) and don't know yet where we'll land.

First stop in San Francisco: El Metate for tomatillo sauce, black beans and enchiladas. Mexican food never did taste so good!

Next stop: our lovely storage closet:

How in the world did we go from carrying everything we need in these two backpacks to an entire room full of junk?!

Ted couldn't find the charger to his beard trimmer in all that mess, so he went around like this goofball for a while:

But the real question we're asking ourselves is, did we ever leave? Everything here seems just as we left it, minus a few new babies and talking toddlers. A year goes by so fast! Did we just dream up that Catalan adventure?

We made it: Santiago de Compostela!

After two weeks of trecking across Portugal and Spain, we finally arrived in Santiago de Compostela. We hiked over 200 kilometers and somehow escaped blisters, sickness, dog bites and all other major dramas.

The best part of the trip were evenings spent chatting with and cooking dinner with people from all over the world. I highly recommend the Camino Portuguese to anyone who likes walking, meditating, eating good food and making new interesting international friends.

We can´t wait to be back in California next week!

Portugal into Spain

And, on the seventh day, they took a rest.

To celebrate our re-entry into our adopted country, Espana, we´re taking a pause from all the walking to  enjoy the beautiful town of Tui in the region of Galicia. We´ve heard the food here, especially the seafood, is outstanding, some of the best in Spain.

This morning we crossed the river Minho which separates Portugal and Spain and it was a bit sad to leave that lovely country. The people of Portugal were exceedingly friendly and helpful. Once, we were invited into a family´s home to spend the night after a long day of walking. The family fed is three meals and treated us like honored guests. It was an unforgettable experience of generosity and warmth.

More later (like everything in Spain, the library is taking itś siesta now. I must gooooooo!)