Day 77: The Beach and Exotic Food

Day 77: The Beach and Exotic Food

Word of the Day: пляж [plyazh]: Beach

Day 77, the 28th of June. The beginning of a great weekend. Max and I made plans to go with Mariu and Pepe to their beach house in El Puerto de Santa Maria. We were really excited to be able to just enjoy family, the beach, and good food. Before we left, we hung out with Felipe and Emma for a little bit and I finished up a few assignments that were due. Emma captured these beauties...

Sucked into our virtual worlds.

After Max and I packed for the weekend, we said our temporary goodbyes and walked to meet up with Mariu and Pepe. On our way there, I noticed that Emma had typed into Google translate on my phone and took a screenshot of it. She is awesome! Take a look...

A few things we saw on our walk to meet up with Pepe and Mariu...

It didn't take to long for us to walk to the place we agreed to meet up with Mariu and Pepe, but when we got there, they weren't there yet. While we waited for Mariu and Pepe to meet up with us, we randomly ran into Mariu and Marisa's father, Eugenio. It was totally out of coincidence and a great opportunity for me to meet more of Max's family. We talked for a little while about his house that he restored as an architect. I never got to see his house, but from what I heard, it is an old, historical three story home with a large court that fills up the center space of the home. In the middle court, there is a large fountain that is surrounded by plants and flowers. After drooling over the thought of how beautiful his house must be, we talked about more general things like life. He didn't speak much english, but I could understand most of the conversation when he talked slowly. After some time Mariu and Pepe came. We said our hello's and then walked to the car. Here are a few pictures that describe our two hour drive to the El Puerto de Santa Maria...

Mariu Driving

This is the Osbourne Bull, which is a "billboard" advertising for Brandy. It has become a popular sight in Southern Spain. Here is a little history about how these bulls came to be so well appreciated: The Osborne sherry company (founded by Thomas Osborne Mann in 1772) erected large images of bulls starting in 1956 to advertise their Brandy de Jerez.^[1] The images were black (with the brand "Veterano" in red on it) advertising boards located near major roads throughout Spain. The original image was smaller and slightly different in design. The current larger image was created to comply with a law that prohibited advertising within 150 metres of a road.In 1994 a law was passed prohibiting all roadside advertising, and the bulls were therefore to be removed. By this time the signs were nationally renowned, so although some campaigners wished them completely removed to fully comply with the intent of the law, public response resulted in the signs being retained, but completely blacked out to remove all reference to the original advertisers. The Court eventually allowed these signs to remain on the grounds that they have become a part of the landscape and have "aesthetic or cultural significance", thus turning the bulls into public domain images. (wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_bull)

Here is one of the two signs in Spain with the word "Osbourne": There are now only two signs in Spain with the word "Osborne" still written on them. One is at the Jerez de la Frontera airport in the province of Cadiz, and the other is in the nearby town of El Puerto de Santa María, where the Osborne headquarters is found. (wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_bull)

I could see the beach poking through as we got closer and closer to the beach house. 

Their beach house is to the right and that walkway takes you right to the beach. It was so close! 

After we brought our stuff into the room we would be staying in for the weekend, we hit the beach! We quickly got dressed in our swimsuits and climbed down the stairs. Feeling the sand in between my toes was refreshing: I was in paradise. I lathered on the sunscreen (because I am pasty white and therefore more prone to extreme sunburn) while Max set up our beach chairs and secured the umbrella in the sand. It was a windy day, so we had to find rocks to keep the umbrella from blowing away. After setting up our stuff, Max and I took a long walk down the beach. On our walk, I saw a lot of children playing in the water, people sun tanning with already brown leathery skin, men in speedo's, and topless women (I was warned by Max's whole family about this, but it still shocked me every time.) After spending many hours on the beach, we went back to the apartment to rinse off, change, and get ready for a tapas adventure! Tapas are small spanish dishes that could be compared to appetizers in the U.S. You can either stay at one tapas bar or move from bar to bar to try new and different things. We decided to try a variety of foods from different tapas bars around El Puerto de Santa Maria. I would not typically try the things that Mariu and Pepe ordered, but I think I was more willing because of where I was: Spain! I had to put myself out there and try new things...it is part of the adventure and fun of life. We drove just a few minutes away from the beach and parked next to a bull fighting ring. It was pretty neat to look at.

For the first round of tapas, we ate some snail with a side of fanta lemon (one of the best drinks ever made besides Dr. Pepper). When the snails first came out, I was shocked. Mariu and Pepe dug right in and encouraged me to do the same. I was quite intimidated by their little antenna looking eyes and little sad faces. I stared at them for a few minutes, periodically looking at Max to see his reaction. The waiter didn't believe that I would eat one...so the challenge began (I am very competitive, in case you didn't know). I grabbed one, looked at it some more and then went for it. The whole table was instructing me how to eat the poor little snail. I was told to just suck it out of the shell, chew, and swallow. I did just that. The first one tasted a little bitter with a hint of ramen from the juices (you know, like ramen noodle soup). The next one, I didn't chew as much to avoid the bitter taste. Max on the other hand was eating one after another, but I soon realized why...we had to finish the whole cup of snails, he knew I wouldn't eat very many, and he was trying to finish them as quickly as possible. I don't think that he minded them, but I also don't think that they were his favorite. After finishing our snails, the waiter came out to the table again and I made sure to tell him that I ate a whopping two whole snails. He was impressed. (check out the video as proof that I actually ate a snail if you don't believe me ;)

For our next tapas adventure, we walked for a little bit. Here are some sights that we saw...

Mariu and Pepe 

When we reached the next tapas bar, Mariu ordered the usual drinks for us including Fanta Lemon and a few different tapas dishes. She wouldn't tell me what they were so that I could enjoy it and not think about what it really was. Despite her attempt to ease my mind about what I was about to eat, I was still a little nervous. When the first tapas came out, it didn't look bad at all. It was something fried with a hint of green. I took a bite and thought it was pretty good. It kind of tasted like fried spinach. After I tried it, Mariu told me what it really was: fried sea anemone (the place where Nemo lives in Finding Nemo). 

Fried Sea Anemone

 When the second tapas dish came out, I was a little bit more hesitant. It was something black and oily. If you really think about it, we don't eat many black things, except for licorice. So, you can see why I was a little hesitant. Despite my uncertainty, I was ready to try it and see if I would actually like it. I had a few bites, and to be honest, I don't really remember what it tasted like. It was a little bit chewy, but that was it. After I ate some, Mariu told me that it was Squid with its ink on top. Take a look...

After eating a bunch of different exotic foods, we stopped by a ice cream shop where everything was handmade in-house. It was creamy, delicious, and a perfect end to our exciting day.