Feb 4 2019
We started our day with a breakfast out--fresh orange juice, coffee and croissants. Funny we never eat croissants at home, but it's such a standard part of our breakfast here, and a pretty lovely habit to fall into when traveling. And oranges are everywhere here!
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| Central Market |
The Central Market was much less crowded today. It was a chilly morning, though temperatures are expected to hit 60 today and then 70 by week's end. Everyone we interacted with was very kind and patient with us. We were trying to find tarragon and the proprietors were going above and beyond, calling out to their neighbors. One woman even asked as we left if we had luck. We did.
We did more shopping at supermarket at the local department store, El Corte Ingles (no relation to the WNC stores!). We had the cart for all our beverages, and it was straining at the seams. We are pretty set now with basics, but I anticipate more morning outings to Central Market as that is such an adventure and so much fun.
I love finding the ingredients for a specific recipe in a market like Central. I think that Lorena starts to panic because I could spend hours and hours seeking the best cauliflower. I get lost trying to get back to the best one I have spotted and once I pick the best you have to you throw in the best price! The hunt can take hours and then you move onto the next ingredient. I am thwarted by my lack of language. I could not find shelled pistachios. Plenty of pistachios with shells but I can’t ask why I don’t see unshelled. I would be chatting them all up if I could taking even more time.
We headed to a different neighborhood, Russafa, in the afternoon. Last night I was perusing restaurants and came across "Canalla Bistro," one of several in the area run by chef Ricard Canalero. I had found it in
Lonely Planet, and then Kitty was doing her own research from our host's writings this morning and settled on this one as a destination. The stars (or maybe Tarot?) seem to be aligning.
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| Putti Tutti |
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| Canalla Bistro |
We walked about 20 minutes into Russafa, and arrived at the restaurant just at opening time. Good thing as again we had no reservation in a very popular spot. The place is described as "fusion" and had elements of Asian (both Indian and Korean featured in our dishes today). We did the menu of the day and we had Priorat wine that was outstanding (Clos Dominic 2016). I'll let Kitty handle the details of the meal. It was another good one. "Wow Wow" as my father Sydney used to say.
The fusion part of the restaurant is intriguing to me. I think it’s Asian and Indian and Spanish? The chicken salad reminded me of the chat we get at Chai Pani - peanuts and green mango. The potato salad to me was pure Spanish - they said Korean? And the Curry was a good hot Indian dish. What fun. Lorena picked the wine. I encouraged her to get what she wanted. Aren’t I lucky to have her choosing.
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| Canalla Bistro |
We wandered back through the neighborhood that is known to be more diverse with a large immigrant (here mostly N. African) population. I had to use the bathroom, so we stopped in a café that is also a bookstore, Uzik Café. This was a wonderful place with a decidedly leftist vibe. I had a beer and Kitty had coffee. For starters, the bathrooms were wonderfully decorated: one had images of black women and the other of black men.
It struck me as a good way to signal that they are welcoming. I entertained myself by walking around and reading first lines of books I knew well to see how they translated from English, or in the case of
100 Years of Solitude, how they sounded in the original Spanish. For some reason it was emotional for me to read the lines I knew so well in English in Spanish: Austen, Woolf, Dickens, Coetzee and Morrison.
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| Uzik Café |
The meal has lasted us all evening, so we managed with a few pistachios for supper. We will have to go back to Russafa again. For now, I'm enjoying Borges (English translation). This apartment seems to fit us well--even the book choices work.
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| Uzik Café |
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