San Lorenzo de El Escorial and Toledo

Now this is what I'm talking about when I say I want to see the old shizzle in Europe......ginormous castles built in the 16th century!

This is El Escorial located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and built by King Phillip II in the 1500's.  (I know it was Phillip II because our guide mentioned his name at least eleventy billion times.  Would have been a great drinking game.)  It's now a monastery, school, museum, and burial site for past kings; however, King Juan Carlos will not be buried here.....there's apparently no room for him.  He's doesn't seem too buggered by it, stating, "What do I care.  I'll be dead!"

It was recess time for the kiddies when we got there.  Quite a playground!

No photography was allowed inside, so this is all you get to see from me, but you really should Google it.  The inside mausoleum and cathedral are simply stunning.

Click on the below picture and see what I mean in the previous post about those four awful buildings dominating Madrid's skyline.

After that, we headed to Toledo for lunch at this hotel.  Lunch was mediocre but the hotel looked really nice if you're ever in the area!

Again with the pizza oven envy....

These are suckling pigs and they're scrumptious!  Fortunately they don't come to your table this way, or I never would have eaten it!

After lunch our guide took us around the perimeter of the city.  Purdy, eh?

Toledo was known for it's great religious tolerance with Christians, Muslims and Jews all living peacefully together until the expulsion of the Jews and Muslims in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

One of the most beautiful cathedrals I've seen which, by the way, took over 250 years to build.  There should have been some heads rolling over that!!

And since I'm an Ohio girl......

Toledo, Spain also happens to be a sister city to several other cities around the world, including Corpus Christi, Texas and Havana, Cuba.  That will come up in the quiz later!

Madrid

So it's been awhile, huh?  It doesn't seem like we've been gone for almost two weeks.....it's flown by.  We're currently sitting off the coast of a small French island.  We'll be here until this evening and then we head to Falmouth, England where we'll disembark from The World, head into London and then make our way home on Tuesday.  It's been fabulous, but I'm ready to get home and make out with my dog!   I've really missed his face.

So, I'm going to break the trip down into several posts because there's just way too much to show and tell in one.  

We started off in Madrid, Spain where neither hubs or I had ever been.  He'd been to Barcelona on business a few times and I'd visited Costa del Sol and Marbella when I was 15, but that was 20 years ago :), so I didn't remember much.  

We spent the first two days tooling around Madrid, starting off at this market.  Reminded me of a mini Eataly in NYC.

I really wanted to take a couple of cherries out of the bottom of this display just to see what would happen, but I behaved.

This Port Sangria was the only Sangria I saw the entire stay in Spain.  It kind of surprised me because I remember Sangria being such a huge thing when I visited the first time.  Maybe because I was just 15 and thought it was so cool when my parents let me drink a glass at dinner one night.  I now prefer my wine without fruit.  And can I just say that in the U.S., we have adopted the whole "tapas" phenomenon much more than the Spaniards.  We asked our concierge for a recommendation for a good tapas restaurant and he looked at us like we were wearing tennis shoes and fanny packs....stupid Americans.  He sent us to possibly the worst restaurant in all of Madrid.

From the market we just kind of walked around aimlessly checking out the city.  There are parts which are what I expected.....old European architecture and small, alley-like streets.

And lots of pictures of Rafa.....whom I imagined was the most popular Spanish sports hero.

Until I remembered that this is soccer, or futbol, country.  This is Real Madrid's stadium right in the heart of the city.  I didn't see Christiano Renaldo anywhere but, believe me, I looked!!

The next day we hired a guide and a driver to show us the highlights of the city.

The first things we saw were these buildings, designed by some fabulous architect, I'm sure; however, they just kind of ruined the city for me.  I know, I know.....they deserve buildings with modern plumbing too, but my favorite part about coming to Europe is seeing cities where the newest building was constructed in 1850!!

Instead, they have these.  When you're outside the city this is what dominates the Madrid skyline, not the bell tower of some fabulous 14th century Cathedral.  I can see this all over the U.S.  I don't want to see it in Europe, but that's just me.

I want to see things like this centuries old bull fighting ring.  It happened to be "bull fighting season" while we were there.  We didn't go.  It's a little too brutal for me.  Did you know that the bulls only get to fight one time?  The theory being that the first time he's in the ring he doesn't know what's happening so the risk to the bull fighter is minimal, but if the bull were to enter the ring a second time, he'd have it figured out, so buh bye fighter.  Hence the single trip.  After that first trip, they kill the bull.  Nice sport, eh?

The statue of Christopher Columbus in the Plaza de Colon.

This is Alcaia Gate which was commissioned by Carlos III in 1778 and was intended to be the primary entrance to the court.  The middle arch was for the King, the two arches on each side were for members of the royal court and the rectangular openings were for the commoners.  I'm glad I wasn't around back then.  I know I would have been pissed about having to use those small doors and done something stupid like trying out the middle one and ended up without a head.

We also got to visit the Royal Palace.....well we got to see about 50 of the 2800 rooms.

Seriously?  Who needs 2800 rooms?

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia don't actually live here, but it is still used for official state occasions.

And that was pretty much our tour.  After the palace visit we walked to lunch.

I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant.....really good food.

The best part was this.......I have pizza oven envy!

I'm yet to find a pizza oven in the U.S. built in 1642.

Gone Fishin!

Our crib for the next eight days is two decks above that middle life boat.  We're on The World and it is the total shit.  In a good way!  We boarded yesterday in Gijon, Spain after spending a few days in and around Madrid and are on our way to Bordeaux, France for several days of vineyard hopping.  That's the good news.

The bad news is there isn't enough bandwidth on the ship for me to upload several pictures at once so rather than cheat you out of some beautiful scenery and the inside scoop on The World, I'm just going to wait until I get back to the states next week to share my trip with you.

TTFN!!

Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

I'm sitting in DFW for the next four hours waiting for my flight to Madrid.  I know, I know.....I just got home.  For hubs and I,  May is travel month.  We just got back from Cabo with the children and now we're heading to Madrid with some friends for a few days then hopping on The World and cruising to Bordeaux to guzzle some wine for several days.  Then June 1, I'll be checking into Betty Ford!

Since all you'll see here for the next couple of weeks are pictures of old buildings, centuries-old grape vines, and drunk people, I felt like I should post a recipe.  And I'm gonna keep it simple...Tomato and Mozzarella Salad.  It is without a doubt hubs favorite thing on earth.  He became addicted when we lived in Germany and were within walking distance of an incredible Italian restaurant.  And since I ended up in tears every time I went to the grocery store because my German SUCKED, we ate at this restaurant A LOT!!!

When we returned to the States, I made it my mission to perfect tomatoes and mozz.  And in my world, I have.  This shows up on our dinner table in some form at least once a week.  Probably more in the summer when I can get fresh, garden tomatoes.  We eat this as a salad, tossed into pasta, on top of crostini....you name it.  When I'm pooped or just too lazy to accomplish anything brilliant in the kitchen, this is what I make.  It's also been known to make an appearance when fancy company shows up for dinner and it's always devoured.

The only trouble is, that it's sooooo hard to make!  NOT.   Obviously this is best in the summer, when all of the ingredients are fresh, but I find grape tomatoes in the winter are a great substitute.  I think they're the sweetest.  Simply combine tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese (I prefer the bocconcini, or small balls), fresh julienned basil.  Drizzle with olive oil to coat and a high quality balsamic vinegar  (hubs likes a lot of balsamic!).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and some hot chili flakes if you're feeling frisky!  Toss and let sit for at least 30 minutes so all the flavors can get to know each other.  Then do with it as you will!  Enjoy

It will be back to normal here in a few weeks, but in the meantime I'll be taking you along on my trip!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I'm a believer in the idea that one can never have enough banana bread recipes.  I love me some banana bread, but lets face it, it's not exactly diet food and after my week in Mexico and the upcoming trip I need to check myself before I wreck myself!  This bread is a perfect way to feel like you're having a little treat but without the guilt.  Plus it's delicious and the rest of my family has no idea it's healthy!!

 

Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, beath together the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.  Add the bananas, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth.  Add the flour, then the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth.  Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, smoothing the top.  Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Bake the bread for 50 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning.  Bake for an additional 10 m inutes, then remove the bread from the oven; a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean.  Allow the loaf to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan, and cooling it completely on a rack.

Doin the Cabo Wobble

Did anybody miss me?  Anybody?  Hello?  Is this thing on??

I had to spend the past several days in Cabo.  Totally sucked, but someone had to do it.

I mean look where we had to stay.

Another crappy Exclusive Resorts property.

With horrible views.  I actually had to sit in that hot tub and look at that.....ALL WEEK!

And if that wasn't bad enough, ER also provided us with a fabulous housekeeper all week.  She would show up first thing every morning and cook all of us a huge breakfast, clean up  all of our messes, do our laundry, make our beds, and THEN whip up enough guacamole and fresh salsa to last the entire day.  Can you imagine?

Then someone would show up every night and light that fire for us.  We hated it.  Not once (it was actually seven times) did we sit out there and roast marshmallows and eat smores or drink wine and laugh.  Not once (seven).

To make matters worse, I had to spend the week with these guys.  You'll probably recognize them from past vacations.  They're not fun at all.  Never make me laugh or do nice things for me.  They actually had the nerve to get me a surprise massage for my birthday.  That was torture.....didn't relax me at all.  I hated the fact that the therapist worked that huge knot out of my right shoulder.

They invited these two.  That's Keith and Emily.  He's not funny (his pool gymnastics routines deserve their own reality show) and she can't cook (made the most amazing baked brie dish I've ever had....which I'll be stealing and claiming as my own!)  Oh, and they had the nerve to treat me to an awesome pedicure.  They're never invited back!

So that's where I've been.  Don't cry for me.  I've managed to come to terms with it.  In hindsight, it may not have been so bad.

If I remember the pina colada's......

.....and Corona commercials,  I can actually conjure up a few good times.

For Hubs and I that was just the beginning of a rough month of travel.  We're home for a few days and then back on an airplane heading to Madrid for a few days then several days in Bordeaux tasting stinky wine then ending up in England....all while aboard The World. Not looking forward to that at all.

Maybe he'll take his razor on that trip.