So back for a little nostalgic look at my beloved Spain. And in preparation for my next trip abroad to Asia this Sunday. Cloudy and about 12C or 54F but no rain, and in my wonderful Madrid is sunny as sun and same temps at mid-day time.
Let me go into my Spain latest news that took my attention
The new local of the Mercado de la Reina (Queen’s Market Group such as Diurno , Mercado de la Reina, Museo Chicote, Terraza de la Reina) , and now the Taberna de la Reina, located at Gran Via, 10, is a different gastronomic space. Castizo, original and Spanish cuisine that recovers the spirit of the old taverns and traditional food houses. The large bar with table area and high chairs where tapas is the perfect place for snack time. The restaurant offers two independent rooms: a large lounge of chairs and colorful tables ideal for an informal lunch or dinner in a relaxed atmosphere where you enjoy and share classic recipes presented with pleasure , and the room that overlooks the Calle de la Reina, with windows of more than eight meters of height and a roof that is a nod to the Spanish Dehesa, with a family of pigs in real size grazing under a holm oak. Classic stews like the bull’s tail(delicious), the Madrid callos, the Iberian ham 100% Acorn of D. O Guijuelo, etc Grand. More here: https://tabernadelareina.com/en/
Group Mercado de la Reina here: https://grupomercadodelareina.com/sobre-nosotros/
Hoyo de Monterrey (something to enjoy in Spain from Cuba, I do not smoke but know how to make them from grandparents teaching) . It presents its first Reserva, in its iconic model: Epicure No. 2, one of the symbols of the brand and one of the most popular Habanos (cigars) vitolas in the world. It is, without a doubt, one of the robust ones most appreciated by the cigar smoker. The selection of the 2012 harvest leaves for this epicure No. 2 Reserva has been subjected to a long and careful aging process for 3 years. The selected mix has been produced by expert blenders, and has been evaluated in joint tastings organized by the Institute of Tobacco made with more than 50 experts tasters: members of the National Tasting Commission from the most prestigious factories of Cuba, and experts of the Cuban industry and of Habanos S.A., in which evaluate all the organoleptic conditions of the blend proposals to be selected. It consists of a unique world production of 5,000 numbered boxes, representing the brand’s absolute excellence. Each box contains 20 cigars. They come with a ring that accompanies the traditional ring of the brand with the name of the brand and vitolas. https://www.intertabak.com/fr/nos-produits/marques-de-habanos
A bit on the essence of wine and especially that of my beloved Spain. It’s been a long time since the wine stopped being just food. We seek the experience , a wine that knows how to tell something and transmit its particular history. Everything goes to look for a tipicity, an expression of the origin of where it is born and done. You have to differentiate, because there are no bad wines. The future of wine is not to lose sight of the past, with everything we already know today. The highest degree of differentiation comes from grapes and soil. This is why autochthonous grape varieties are also being chased and rescued. The grape with which a wine is made will be more and more watched. The mark will be the name but the variety will be his surname. Or who knows if vice versa. A new classification of vineyards will also be entered as a result of the intention of rearranging the wine-growing territory of many appellations of origin. In fact, this zoning is already underway in Campo de Borja, in Priorat, La Rioja and Bierzo, to point out those that have more advanced their projects.
Wine tourism has a lot to say in the experience of wine culture and it will not be rare to finally rescue the wine routes beyond the simple walk through neighboring wineries. The neighborhoods of Bodegas; the underground caves where the wine was made until recently, such as those of La Rioja, Campo de Borja, areas of Galicia or Castilla y León; The changing landscape during the vine cycle and everything that accompanies the wine from the characters to the gastronomy, contributes to enrich a product with soul that will be exploited by tourism. And they will definitively break the traditional concepts of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva and special attention shall be paid to subtitles relating to the elaboration and viticulture as “grain to grain”, “fermented in cask”, “Teardrop Wine”, “on Lees”, “by Bleeding “… The ratings will become more complex but more accurate. The result will be an even greater increase in brands that, contrary to what can be thought, benefit the lifelong by representing a safe value. A vibrant world full of novelties, with a dizzying figure close to the 20,000 references looking for a perhaps smaller audience, but definitely more select. Wine is presented as an increasingly richer, more varied, more complex and much more numerous world. Translation by me from El Confidencial newspaper. And Wine/Food from Spain official webpage here: Food and Wine from Spain
The prestigious Maison de Champagne Louis Roederer announces its alliance with Martín Berasategui, the most Michelin-starred chef in Spain, for which the 3-star Michelin restaurant Martín Berasategui de Lasarte (Guipuzcoa) becomes the official ambassador of Louis Roederer in Spain. Louis Roederer, for many the most prestigious Champagne house that today remains independent. Louis Roederer made history also this 2018 being the first champagne of the world to receive 100 points of the prestigious publication Robert Parker. In addition, Louis Roederer Brut Premier was awarded in 2018 as the best champagne in the world by the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (CSWWC), the most prestigious competition in the sector, known as “the Oscars of champagne and sparkling wines”. The restaurant here: https://www.martinberasategui.com/en/inicio
The Champagne Louis Roederer here: http://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/brut-premier
About 400 years ago came to the world Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, one of the most universal painters of history although his date of birth is not known exactly and only consists in the records that was baptized on January 1 1708 in Sevilla, with the experience of an early orphan and the plague at the gates of the great metropolis of the 17C, became expert in scenes customs as young beggars or children eating grapes and melon’.
But it is sure that he did not spend long periods of time away from his hometown. On one of these occasions he traveled to Madrid to meet his countryman Velázquez, already seated as a chamber painter at the service of king Felipe IV. His connection with royalty gave him a status of great Baroque genius. Four centuries later, the art historian Pablo Hereza deserts the idea through his documentary review ‘ Corpus Murillo ‘, which draws the figure of a teacher with enough creative freedom to reach quotes above his counterparts in the Court. The launch of the book was part of the events with which the city council reinforce the genius of the artist. As a great climax, this past Thursday opened to the public the first exhibition anthological in the Museum of Fine Arts, composed of almost 70 works of Murillo from the UK, France, Germany, Mexico or the United States that the public can enjoy until March 17, 2019. The exhibition is entitled ‘ Murillo IV Centenario ‘, with the aim of making the figure of the great Baroque name in Sevilla better known. More here: Fine Arts museum of Sevilla
More in the city of Sevilla on Murillo 400 anniversary are:
This is the exhibition of Aplicación Murillo: Materialismo, charitas, populismo or Application Murillo: Materialism, Charites, populism, an exhibition with five spaces that demonstrate the validity of the work of the painter in the 21C. More than 600 works of artists make up a sample in which you can see works by Picasso, Man Ray, David Hockney, Jean Luc Godard, Víctor Erice and Patti Smith, among others. Given the breadth of the exhibition, this can be visited in five permanent spaces in Sevilla such as in the Santa Clara space, the exhibition hall Atín Aya, CICUS, the Hospital de la Caridad and the Hospital de los Venerable de Sevilla. In addition, there will also be specific points of the city dedicated to this exhibition such as the Patio, the Cultural Factory Center or the co-working room of the Faculty of Fine Arts.
The musical innovations that were being lived in the Europe of the 17C. The Turina space is the place chosen for the performances and where the orchestra Capella Cracoviensis will parade with the program ‘ Seven Deadly Sins ‘, the formation Marco Beasly ‘ which brings to Seville its program ‘ Odi et amo ‘ as well as the grouping Alternative history. That the figure of Murillo again has the relevance of the one that was enjoyed in life, back in the 17C, when he became the most celebrated painters of the Spanish Baroque. More here: Espacio Turina Sevilla
A bit of philosophical thought here as I do try to bring me back to Earth. Franz Kafka: “No escribo como hablo, no hablo como pienso, no pienso como debería pensar…”or in English would be something like “I don’t write as I speak, I don’t speak as I think, I don’t think how I should think… ” Think about it in today’s world.
And now for the season to be merrier , Merry Christmas to all my readers and friends, family that looks at my blog.
From last Friday November 23rd Madrid Lights up for Christmas. The lighting, for which more than 7 million LED lamps have been used, has counted with the creativity of different Spanish architects and designers. Streets like those of Jorge Juan, Marcelo Usero, Pedro Laborde, Boltaña or Gran via (whose luminaries emulate a starry sky, with a cat trying to catch the Stars), premiere design. In addition to the traditional lights and chain, the firs and cherry blossoms will illuminate spaces in the center and in the districts such as the Glorieta Carlos V( roundabout), the Matadero ( slaughterhouse) or the Plaza de Oriente.
From November 29 to January 6 2019, the bus transports of Madrid (EMT) and the City Council of Madrid make available to the citizens a special service of tourist buses discovered to enjoy the illumination and the Christmas decoration of the capital. The route of the already traditional Naviluz, which lasts 40 minutes approximately, has a unique stop of access and descent in the Plaza de Colón (in front of 30 Calle Serrano) and an optional stop only of descent in the Gran via, to the area of No 49. The traject is done by going to the following streets Calle Serrano, Puerta de Alcalá, Cibeles, Calle de Alcalá, Gran Vía, Callao, Jacometrezo, Santo Domingo, San Bernardo, Gran Vía, Calle de Alcalá, Cibeles, Puerta de Alcalá, Calle Velázquez, Calle Ortega y Gasset y Calle Serrano.This runs are done between 18h to 23h (last trip at 22h) every day except Dec 24,31 and Jan 5. More on the bus ride here:. https://naviluz.emtmadrid.es/es/
And if planning for 2019 in my beloved Spain is not too late, here are some suggestion for something off the beaten path in Spain, everything under the Sun.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is one of the most charming places on the peninsula. Thanks for that , it became the home of the Game of Throne. Its success is due to its composition: An island beaten by the Cantabrian, a narrow bridge and a beautiful hermitage. More info: https://www.euskoguide.com/places-basque-country/spain/san-juan-de-gaztelugatxe/
The gorge of the Gaitanes is a canyon dug by the river Guadalhorce in the municipality of Alora, famous for the path that runs past it from the heights. This road, in its beginnings, allowed the maintenance of the water channel. The path of the king, inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII, is 400 meters high and requires prior reservation to be able to access it. More info: http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/servtc5/ventana/mostrarFicha.do?idEspacio=7401&lg=EN
Brihuega has been known for a long time with the addition of Jardin de la Alcarria, thanks among other things to the lilac color of those fields in which lavender is cultivated. In the middle of July is celebrated in the city the Festival of the lavender. The rest of the year can also be visited for only 2 euros.More info in Spanish: http://turismobrihuega.com/index.php/nuestras-fiestas/floracion-de-la-lavanda
More than 300 meters of free fall where the water fades to collide with the rock of the mountain, that is what awaits you in the waterfall of the Nervión. The beauty of the place lies in the impetus of the flow, so it is recommended to visit after a period of heavy rain or thaw. Otherwise we will find a dry gorge, since most of the river Nervión passes through the interior of the mountain.More info: https://tourism.euskadi.eus/en/routes/nervion-river-falls/aa30-12375/en/
Considered the Versailles of the Middle Ages, Medina Azahara, this summer, also as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The place is the perfect complement for your visit to Cordóba. Tickets to the place are free for residents of the European Union and 1.50 euros for the rest of the visitors.More info: http://www.medinaazahara.org/en/
To enjoy some salt mines is the Cultural Park of the Mountain of Salt (parque cultural de la montana de sal), in the municipality of Cardona, Barcelona province. After closing the mining site in 1990, it ended up becoming the park that is now since 2003. In it you can see the history of the industrial exploitation of the valley and visit the interior of the galleries of the mountain of salt in a guided tour to 86 meters of depth. The price of the ticket is around 21 euros. More info: http://patrimoni.gencat.cat/en/collection/cultural-park-salt-mountain-cardona
Fervenza do Toxa is a spectacle of water, light and sound, formed by a waterfall of the river Toxa between the parishes of Pazos and Martixe, in Silleda (Pontevedra), considered the highest in Galicia in freefall. The route to this waterfall allows some detour as the one that leads to the Pazo de Oca. An idyllic place in summer (inviting to the bath) and in winter, when the waterfall flows full of water. More info: http://www.santiagoturismo.com/monumentos-naturales-mcs/fervenza-do-toxa
Enjoy Spain, everything under the sun. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 