December 28, 2007
24-Hour Flying People
Bob and I are home and although we received 12 hours of sleep in the World's Most Comfortable Bed, aka our own Austin-located bed, we are also sick, though not with the Spanish Flu of 1918. Our journey across seven time zones took 22 hours and by the time I was seated in the emergency exit row (probably a bad move, but nothing, not even an aviation emergency, was going to keep me from getting on that plane) on an Austin-bound flight late last night, I was thoroughly dizzy and felt like the plane was flying backwards.
I watched "The Darjeeling Limited" on the tiny screen on the London-Chicago leg of the flight yesterday. This film cemented one bit of lore regarding Americans traveling abroad and that is a fascination with the OTC cough syrups of other countries. Bob and I brought home bottles of some crazy Spanish syrup that's full of codeine, and a UK version of NyQuil called Night Nurse that guarantees clear breathing and a good night's sleep. I will add that to my collection of Canadian caffeine headache pills and my newly acquired Spanish maxi-pads. Overseas druggists rock.
Here are some pictures:
I was too tired to remember you should photograph your food BEFORE you start eating at it, but this is what passes in Barcelona as a breakfast taco. All the constitutent elements are in there: bread, egg, potato, a tomato-based sauce, only in a spiceless, European package. That cafe con leche was so good I sloshed it all over the table. Si!
Here we have some jamon iberico (giant pig thigh with hoof still attached) in a jamonero, aka a Ham Vice. This was at a restaurant where we had la comida (the big midday lunch) that specialized in hams. You can mail order one of these babies (including the jamonero) for 330 Euros!
This is Clara, the lady who sold Bob his new collection of Commedia dell'Arte masks. Clara was the only Espanola that we had any sort of conversation with, and it was one scrappy, dictionary-dependent conversation at that, but it was good. Bob wants to do a mask show and name it after Clara, so when Bob tells you about CLARA! the mask show, this is who Clara is. She was very sweet!
Orgasmic vegetarian foods from the Organic stall at La Boqueria, the Largest Open-Air Market In the WORLD!
No comment here. I just like the sign.