Market finds + Salad with Figs & Arugula

Here is what we brought back to the casa from the Cadiz market. We would have loved to have gotten some seafood, but we'll need to remember to bring a little cooler with us to do that. All of this was purchased with some Euro coins Meghann found at the bottom of her purse. It's amazing how inexpensive fresh produce is here.

Big, beautiful sunflowers for a Euro a stem.

A few delicious pears. 

Thirsty Jueves: Rebujito

Last Friday, we went down to the beach to enjoy the sunset with some beverages and snacks.

We packed up the ingredients to make rebujitos - the unofficially official beverage of feria, but also a refreshing drink for summer.

The most important ingredient (there are only 2, unless you count ice) is manzanilla. Manzanilla is a type of sherry - let's stop right there. We know what you're thinking. Gross, the stuff that you keep in the kitchen and hardly ever use, unless you're from Maryland and you put it in your cream of crab soup. Unrelated note: Marylanders are weird and particular when it comes to crab products. 

But that is not Spanish sherry and definitely not manzanilla. Manzanilla is a dry sherry and can only be made in the town of Sanlucar de Barrameda, home of the beach horse races. Because it is produced so close to the sea, people say that there is a faint salty taste to it. And more importantly, it's delicious. 

Ferry to Cadiz

On Saturday, we took the ferry from Puerto to Cadiz. Cadiz is close (we can see it across the bay from our bedroom balcony!) and we've been many times by car (we went just a couple weekends ago to see the Tall Ships). But we had heard the ferry was fast, cheap, and easy (just how we like it...?) so we decided to give it a try.

It was a gorgeous (and very hot) day.

Cadiz is (according to the Spanish) the oldest, continuously inhabited European city. Whether or not that is true doesn't really matter, Cadiz is a beautiful and ancient city, full of character and winding streets. 

Flashback Friday: Cordoba

¡Feliz Friday! For the second week, we're continuing to be timely with our procrastination, by putting up some pics that were taken a while back but that we still want to share. Last week it was our trip to Barcelona, this week it's Cordoba. We've actually been twice, but these pictures are from our first trip in  November. Cordoba is known for its stunning mosque, which is preserved inside of what is now a church. Beyond that it is a lovely town, filled with Moorish history and architecture.

Casa guest

We are currently fostering a dog from the Rota Animal Welfare League, the animal shelter on base. She had a broken leg and is hanging out with us until it is healed. 

Flashback Friday: Barcelona

Hola and feliz Friday! We've had a full week - Graham has been busy with work, grad school courses, and golf. Meghann had her first horseback riding lesson, has been volunteering at the animal shelter, and taking care of a foster dog with a broken leg that is on the mend. And we've been filling any spare gaps with watching the Olympics (even if that means lots of badminton, archery, and table tennis, thanks to the fact that we're watching East Coast television coverage).

So, we don't have another blog post put together for this week. But since we're such great procrastinators bloggers, we do have some pictures from our trip to Barcelona way back in November that we'll share with you. Let's call it Flashback Friday and we might make a habit of it, because we love alliteration (almost as much as we love procrastination).