Tienda de quesos holandeles. Dutch cheese shop

Tengo el blog muy abandonado!! Aunque aun tengo muchas cosas que me gustaria dejar en esta clase de diario. 

La semana pasada estuvimos en Holanda visitando a la familia, desde marzo de este año estamos en Europa, pero eso no significa que nos estemos quietecitos, jeje! 

Aprovechamos para hacer unas compras y como no, entramos en una de las tiendas de queso. Solo queria compartir un par de fotos porque se que al verlas llaman mucho la atencion, aunque en mi caso, ya he llegado a verlas normales.

Para mi, como el queso manchego no hay ninguno, pero ya que estabamos alli, nos trajimos un par de trocitos de "Oud Gouda", queso holandes curado con cristalitos de sal, riquisimo! 

Voy a proponerme ponerle un poco mas de ganas al blog porque se que hay gente por ahi que lo encuentra curioso :)

I have abandoned the blog lately, even though I still have too many things to write about!!

Last week we went to The Netherlands to visit our family. We are in Europe since March, but that doesn't imply that we are not moving around anymore, hehe!

We took some time to do some groceries and we entered in a cheese store, of course! I wanted to share a couple of pictures because I think this kind of shops are pretty interesting. In my case, I have to say that I already see them as something normal, but still the world of cheese is awesome to me.

My favorite cheese is "manchego cheese", but since we were in Holland we took a couple of pieces of "Oud Gouda", which is cured Gouda cheese with salt crystals inside, delicious!

I'll try to post more often because I know that lately some people have shown a lot of interest and it is one of my favorite hobbies!!

Cheese store in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Tienda de quesos en Tilburg, Holanda.

Comida alsaciana. Alsatian food.

Hola!! Como sabeis, nos encanta comer, probar cosas tipicas, cocinar, ir a restaurantes buenos, jeje! Asi que no podia dejar de hablar un poco sobre la cocina alsaciana. La gastronomia alsaciana es una mezcla de cocina tipica francesa y alemana. Se puede decir que los platos son muy contundentes, suelen usar ingredientes sencillos, son bastante caloricos, jeje! Pero se nota que son platos muy tradicionales y sobre todo, del lugar.

El numero de restaurantes de la ciudad es enorme, los hay de todo tipo, pero entre ellos, destacan por supuesto, los restaurantes alsacianos.

Hemos probado muchos de ellos, pero ya vamos haciendo nuestra pequeña seleccion. Entre nuestros favoritos estan "Chez Yvonne" y "Saint Sepulcre", sus platos son exquisitos, aunque hay varios que no he probado, ya que se cocinan muchos organos y la verdad es que no soy fan de la casqueria.

A continuacion, vamos a hacer un recorrido de algunos de los platos alsacianos mas tipicos, aunque quedan muchos por probar!!

Hi!! As you all know, we love eating, cooking and trying all kinds of restaurants :) Of course, being in Strasbourg, I have to talk bout Alsatian food. It is a mixture of the very traditional French and German cuisines. The meals are pretty satisfying, the ingredients are simple and the food is in general high in calories, hehe! However, they are all very traditional dishes and that is what we like the most.

There are hundreds of restaurants in the city and one can find food from different parts of the world, but a big number of them are Alsatian.

We have tried many of them and we are already making our list of favorites. So far, "Chez Yvonne" and "Saint Sepulcre" are the ones we liked the most, but there are other places where food as well as the environment are very nice.

Almost all the dishes are great, even though I still didn't try many of them, especially the ones with organs, something very used in Alsatian cuisine.

Here I post a list of the dishes we have tried so far, even though there are still many more on our list!!

Empecemos con el foie. Es uno de los productos estrella, ya que estamos en la capital del foie. Hay tiendas especializadas, se sirve en casi todas partes y en muchos sitios es casero y esta muy bueno! A mi personalmente no me apasiona el foie, pero he probado pequeñas porciones en algunos restaurantes y he de decir que estaba delicioso! El que veis en la foto es de "Chez Yvonne", exquisito!!

Let's start with the foie. It is one of the star products since we are in the foie capital. There are specialized stores for foie and in many places they have their own homemade foie. I have tried small portions in a couple of places and it is delicious! I'm not a big fan of foie, but the one I tried was delicious! The one you see on the pic is from "Chez Yvonne", exquisite!!

Foie from Chez Yvonee. Foie de Chez Yvonne.

 Hay una gran variedad de entrantes, pero entre ellos, la tarta de cebolla (tarte a l'oignon) es deliciosa. La sirven en muchos sitios, pero solo en algunos de ellos le dan el punto perfecto. Es una especie de quiche con cebolla, panceta y huevo, riquisima!

There is a big variety of starters, but the tarte a l'oignon is delicious. It is served almost everywhere, but only in a few places they are able to prepare it in the perfect way! It is a kind of quiche with onion, bacon and egg, delicious!

Tarte a l'oignon

Como no! El choucroute es otro de los platos mas tipicos de aqui. El mas tradicional consiste en una cama de repollo fermentado (sauerkraut) y encima lleva salchichas, panceta, charcuteria y otras clases de carne. En esta zona, se sirve de varias formas, incluso con pescado, trio de pescado, de carnes, etc. 

Yo aun no lo he probado porque no me hace gracia tomar tanta carne de una vez, pero Thomas si lo ha tomado.

El plato es bastante contundente y lo cierto es que es solo para comerlo de vez en cuando.

Of course choucroute is another typical dish. The most traditional consists of a bed of sauerkraut with sausages, bacon and other meat on top. There are places where it is served with fish and other kinds of meat.

I haven't tried it yet, but Thomas has. This meal is pretty satisfying and I think we'll only eat it once in a while.

Choucroute

Uno de mis platos favoritos es "Bouchee a la reine" o "volavent". Creo que todo el mundo conoce los volavent, que normalmente se preparan como canapes y de un tamaño mas pequeño. Aqui se prepara con pollo y/o pequeñas albondigas de ternera (joven) en una salsa cremosa de champiñon. Se sirve normalmente acompañado de tallarines o de pasta alsaciana, que me encanta!! Algun dia hablare de este tipo de pasta porque no tengo foto aun, pero esta deliciosa!

One of my favorite dishes so far is "Bouchee a la reine" or "volavent". In Spain we eat them sometimes with something else on top, just like a snack. Here they are bigger and filled with chicken and veal meatballs, very soft meat. The meat is cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce. It is accompanied with noodles or Alsatian pasta, delicious!

Bouchee a la reine

El siguiente plato es otro de los que mas me gustan, aunque no es tan novedoso sin sorprendente. Es pollo al vino, tipico frances. En concreto aqui se prepara con Riesling, uno de los vinos mas tipicos del lugar.

Es un plato que se sirve casi en todas partes, pero es muy facil estropear la salsa y ponerle litros de nata. Donde se prepara bien, no se usa nata y el plato queda delicioso. La verdad es que me encanta el pollo, el arroz con pollo, en pepitoria, al vino, en fin...un plato perfecto para mi!

The next plate is also one of my favs, even though it is not so new. It is chicken cooked with wine, typical French. Here it is prepared with Riesling, one of the most typical wines here.

It is also served in many places, but it is often spoiled by adding too much cream to the sauce. In the real good places, the sauce doesn't have cream and it is delicious! The truth is that we also have this kind of plate in Spain and I love chicken, with rice, sauce and with wine...it is the perfect meal for me!

 

Coq au riesling

Las manitas de cerdo tambien son tipicas y tambien, el codillo. Thomas pidio el otro dia este plato, que estaba muy bien cocinado y sabroso.

Pork knuckles are also typical here. Thomas ordered this plate last weekend, it was very well cooked and savory.

Manitas de cerdo. Pork knuckles.

 En algunos restaurantes se sirve jamon, pero no como el iberico, jeje! Esta asado y a veces tiene una costra de hierbas y pan alrededor. Se suele servir con "crudites" o vamos, verduras crudas :)

Ham is also served in many places, but it is not like the Iberian ham :) This one is oven cooked and it has herbs and bread around it. It is served with crudites.

Jamon. Ham.

En la siguiente foto estamos con varios amigos en Saint Sepulcre. Siempre llevamos alli a los amigos y familia que nos visita. En esta ocasion, ademas de tarta de cebolla y sopa de cebolla de primero, tomamos muchas cosas diferentes de segundo: bouchee a la reine, costillas, queso blanco al estilo antiguo y jamon. Todo buenisimo!

In the next picture we are with several friends at Saint Sepulcre. We always take our visitors there. We had tarte a l'oignon and soup a l'oignon as starters, we had different main courses: bouchee a la reine, spare ribs, fromage blanc old style and ham. Delicious!

Alsatian dinner with friends. Cena alsaciana con nuestros amigos.

 Ademas de estos platos tan contundentes que he mostrado, hay muchas otras cosas, como por ejemplo, tarte flambee o flammkuchen. Son una especie de pizzas con una masa mucho mas fina, suelen estar cubiertas de una salsa cremosa y como ingredientes, los mas tipicos son el bacon y la cebolla. Por supuesto, las hay de todas clases y algunas de las mas ricas llevan queso muenster fundido. Estan muy buenas!!

Apart from the big meals I have just shown, there are many other things. For example, the famous tarte flambee or flammkuchen. They are similar to pizzas but with a much thinner bottom. They have a creamy sauce on top and the most common ingredients are bacon and onion, even though there are all kinds of tartes. One of the nicest ones have melted muenster cheese. Yummie!!

Tarte Flambee o Flammkuchen

A continuacion muestro un par de curiosidades. La primera, los llamados "tartiflette". Si quereis calorias, solo teneis que comer esto. Es una cacerola con patatas, nata, bacon y cebolla, todo cubierto de queso munster y al horno. Lo pedi pensando que era diferente y comi una decima parte el plato, es alucinante, jeje!

La segunda curiosidad es un plato que se pidio mi suegro el otro dia: lengua de cerdo. Yo no la habia probado y tampoco lo hice el otro dia, pero es uno de los platos estrella del restaurante al que fuimos. Por lo visto, estaba muy bien cocinada :)

Next I show a couple of curiosities. One if the so-called "tartiflette". If you want to have some calories you have to try this. It is a caserole of potatoes, cream, bacon and onion with tones of munster cheese on top and cooked in the oven. I ordered it once and I ate just a small portion...

The second curiosity is what my father in law ordered the other day: pork tongue, hehe! I have never tried it and I didn't try it the other day, but apparently it was very well cooked :)

Tartiflette

Lengua de cerdo. Pork's tongue.

Por ultimo, un par de postres de los mas ricos, jeje! Creme brulee y "Ba ba au rhum", vamos un bizcocho borracho, jeje! La creme brulee esta buenisima en casi todos los sitios en los que la hemos probado, bieeen!!!

Finally a couple of desserts ;) creme brulee and "ba ba au rhum" or a small cake soaked in rum. Happily for us, creme brulee is delicious almost everywhere we have ordered it, yay!!

Postre!! Creme Brulee y Ba ba au Rhum

Este post es solo un principio, puesto que estoy segura que encontraremos muchas mas cosas que comentar!! El vino vendra en otro post y algunas curiosidades mas!! Adios!!

This post is only the beginning of a series of posts since I'm sure we'll find many more interesting things to comment about!! Wine is something important to mention and some more curiosities!! Byee!

The Cellar, last time...The Cellar, la ultima vez

Nuestro ultimo dia antes de dejar Chicago fuimos a nuestro restaurante favorito: "The Cellar", en Evanston: http://www.thecellarevanston.com/

Desde que lo descubrimos al principio de llegar alli, hemos pasado momentos inolvidables disfrutando de su fabulosa cocina, cosa que, con todos mis respetos, no es facil encontrar en USA, aunque por suerte hemos disfrutado en sitios maravillosos.

Este lugar, merece un post exclusivo para ellos, pero por ahora, dejare mis ultimos recuerdos del lugar. El viernes, disfrutamos de nuestros platos favoritos con nuestros amigos y como despedida, nos invitaron a este exquisito postre, una seleccion de casi todos los postres de la carta. Gracias!! Si pasais por Evanston, vais al campus de Northwestern en Evanston o visitais la zona, os recomiendo pasar por alli. De momento, dejo aqui nuestras ultimas fotos, pero pronto le dedicare un texto con fotos de nuestros platos favoritos.

To say goodbye to Chicago and Evanston we went to our favorite restaurant in town: "The Cellar": http://www.thecellarevanston.com/

We've been there many times enjoying their delicious food since we discovered it at the beginning of our time in Chicago. Their cuisine is exquisite and to be honest, this is not an easy thing to find in USA, even though we have found many wonderful places.

This place deserves an exclusive post, but for now I'll just leave here my last memories in the restaurant. Last Friday we enjoyed our favorite dishes with our friends and we were invited to a great selection of their desserts. Thanks!! If you guys are in Evanston, visiting, working in campus or just around, I highly recommend this place. For us, the best place to eat, with no doubt.

Here you can see some of our last pictures, but a full post is in process.

Seleccion de postres. El antes... Dessert selection. Before...

 Y despues...And after...

 The girls: Elena, Christina and myself.

Las chicas: Elena, Christina y yo.

 The boys: Thomas and Lyle

Los chicos: Thomas y Lyle

Finalmente, la foto con nuestro barman favorito, Richard. Nos hizo entrar a la barra para fotografiarnos con el vaso de "Kwaak", la cerveza favorita de Thomas y la que el siempre bebe alli. Terminamos la noche brindando con cerveza :)

Finally the picture with our favorite barman, Richard. He made us enter the bar to take a picture. Thomas has a "Kwaak glass". That's his favorite beer and the one he drinks always there. We ended up the night toasting with beer :)

The Rice Table

Ayer fuimos con nuestros amigos Christina y Lyle a cenar a un restaruante de Andersonville, una zona de Chicago con millones de bares y restaurantes interesantes. Fuimos a "Vincent", un restaurante holandes, si, si, lo que leeis, no se exactamente que tipo de comida cocinaran :) pero el restaurante es holandes! De todas formas, ayer no fuimos por la comida holandesa, sino por comida indonesa. Este evento, llamado "The rice table", se celebra cada año en Chicago y la empresa alquila un restaurante distinto cada vez. Este año fue en Vincent, asi que compramos los tickets online y nos fuimos a disfrutar de la comida.

Yesterday we went out for dinner with Christina and Lyle. The restaurant we went is in Andersonville, a cool area of Chicago with many interesting bars and restaurants. We went to "Vincent", which is a Dutch restaurant, yes, exactly what you are reading, a Dutch restaurant :) I don't know exactly how is the food there since we went there for a tasting of Indonesian food. The event is called "The rice table" and it is celebrated every year in Chicago. The company rents a different restaurant every year and this time it was in Vincent. We bought the tickets online and went there to enjoy the food.

Llegando a Vincent. Arriving in Vincent.

El restaurante por dentro me recordo realmente a los restaurantes holandeses por la decoracion y la luz, que aunque hacia la estancia muy acogedora, no me permitio hacer una foto en condiciones, jeje!

El menu consistia en numerosos platos pequeños para compartir cocinados con especias tradicionales indonesas. Entre los platos se incluian arroz frito con salsa de coco, pollo con jengibre, ternera picante, noodles con verdura, judias verdes especiadas, tofu, ensalada con salsa de coco, patatas fritas con salsa dulce, etc. Lo cierto es que me gusto todo, estaba muy bien cocinado y pudimos repetir. Algunos platos eran algo picantes, pero con limite y todo muy sabroso.

De postre un riquisimo pudding de arroz, un estilo al tradicional arroz con leche, pero mas espeso, todo ello con caramelo por encima, buenisimo! El cocktail que me tome estaba delicioso, era de champan con un licor especial llamado "San Germain", se llamaba "burbujas y flores" y espero tomarlo otra vez dentro de poco :)

The interior of the restaurant really reminded me of the Dutch restaurants. The decoration and the light was very Dutch and cozy, but it didn't let me take a normal picture of the food!

The menu consisted of many small plates to share based on all kinds of typical Indonesian food: fried rice with coconut sauce, chicken with ginger, spicy beef, tofu, sweet fries, salad with coconut, etc. I absolutely liked everything, the food was well cooked, a bit spicy but with a limit and everything very juicy. 

Desert was also delicious, it was rice pudding, very similar to the traditional "arroz con leche" but more dense and with caramel on top. I also ordered a cocktail that was delicious, it had champagne and "Saint Germain" liquor, I hope to drink it soon again ;)

Aqui podeis ver como se sirvio la comida, aunque la luz era fatal para las fotos.

Here you can see how the food was served, even though the light was awful for the pictures.

 The menu. El menu.

 Rice pudding. Pudding the arroz.

Posando con Christina. Posing with Christina.

Despues de cenar dimos un paseo por el barrio y me encontre este caballito tan gracioso!!

We walked around the neighborhood after dinner and we found this cute horse :)

Fue una cena estupenda, buena comida, risa y amigos para disfrutar de nuestras ultimas semanas aqui :(

It was a great dinner: good food, laughs and friends to enjoy our last weeks here :(

Pancakes!

Me encanta empezar los domingos asi!! Con pancakes hechos por Thomas :) Es la unica foto que tengo, no es muy artistica, pero estaban buenisimos!! Como nota, la leche condensada, llegada en un paquete mandado por mi madre desde Ciudad Real con destino Chicago :)

I love starting my Sundays like this!! With pancakes made by Thomas :) It is the only picture I have, it is not too artistic, but they were delicious!! The blue jar of condensed milk arrived in a package sent from my mother from Ciudad Real to Chicago :)

Big food portions. Grandes raciones de comida

Algo que aun nos sorprende de la vida americana son las porciones gigantes de comida que se sirven normalmente en los restaurantes. Exceptuando algunos restaurantes mas selectos, en los demas uno se puede ir rodando de alli, jeje! Tengo millones de ejemplos, pero este es de hoy, aqui veis la mega ensalada de pollo que he pedido; lo que lleva encima son tiras de tortillas mejicanas, algo muy comun aqui tambien en ensaldadas y sopas :) Thomas se ha tomado una hamburguesa en tiempo record, como siempre, jeje! Lo bueno de todo esto es que normalmente te puedes llevar a casa lo que no puedas terminarte, con lo que la comida no se tira a la basura.

If there is something that still amazes us of our American life is the huge food portions that are served normally in the restaurants. There are some exceptions in some more exclusive restaurants, but for the rest the amount of food is really incredible and people leave the place completely satisfied, I believe :) I have many examples, but this one is from today. The day was beautiful and we wanted to eat something enjoying the sun in a terrace. Here you can see my huge chicken salad with stripes of tortillas, something very common here in soups and salads :) Thomas ordered a burger and ate it in a record time as always, hehe! The best of all is that you can take home everything you can't finish so food doesn't go to the trash.

The taste of Chicago

Despues de estas semanas con problemas en el blog (no era capaz de subir fotos!!!) por fin he encontrado la solucion. He cambiado de browser, ha sido la unica solucion, pero bueno! El caso es que justo se estropeo el blog cuando tenia mas cosas que contar :) Hace dos domingos se celebro "The taste of Chicago". Una feria culinaria con comida tipica de aqui, jeje! La verdad es que despues de tres veranos aqui, tenia ganas de ir, aunque Thomas ya habia estado y me advirtio sobre el tipo de comida que era. Por supuesto, nada de exquisiteces, pero si mucha comida rapida. Claro! Lo tipico!

I've been having problems with the blog already for two weeks. I wasn't able of uploading pictures and finally I tried using a different browser. It works like this, so I'm happy! Actually, the blog crashed when I had a lot of things to share :)

Two weeks ago we went to the "Taste of Chicago". A gastronomic festival celebrated every summer in Chicago. They offer all kind of typical American food :) Thomas went there in 2010 and he asked me not to have too high expectations since there were not many delicate things to eat, only fast food :) Of course, typical!!

La feria se celebra en Grant Park y consta de puestos de comida, estilo casetas de feria :) La verdad es que hubo pocas cosas que me llamasen la atencion, pensaba que habria barbacoas americanas que son distintas a lo que estamos acostumbrados a ver y quiza, algun tipo de plato mas elaborado, pero no, a parte de salchichas, perritos, sandwiches, algo de comida oriental, tarta de queso frita y algo de comida mejicana, no habia nada mas. Lo bueno es que estaba a reventar y da gusto ir al centro de Chicago con esa animacion.

It is celebrated in Grant Park and there are tons of food tents. There were not too many things that caught my attention. I thought there would be more American bbqs for smoking or some more elaborated dishes, but it was not like that. Apart from sausages, dogs, sandwiches and cheese cake there was not a lot more to choose. The good thing was as always the crowd, nice environment in the city center :) However, it is surprising that everything had such a high fat content...

Como con todas las experiencias se aprende algo, nosotros por fin descubrimos lo que era un "corn dog". Yo pensaba que era un perrito caliente hecho con carne de ternera alimentada con maiz, como suele ser la carne aqui, pero no! Es una salchicha hecha de carne de procedencia desconocida, rebozada y pinchada en un palo :) Ole ahi, la explicacion!!

There is always something to learn from every experience and this time we discovered what a "corn dog" was. I thought it was a sausage processed from corn-fed animals, as it normally is here, but it wasn't!! It is a sausage which procedence is unknown, battered and placed on a stick!! Nice explanation!!

Probamos algunas cosas que nos gustaron, como las salchichas a la barbacoa brasileña, sanwich de "pulled pork", el famoso corn dog y por supuesto, un perrito caliente al estilo Chicago :) De postre, un platano helado bañado en chocolate, que para ser sinceros, no nos gusto demasiado.

We tried several things we liked as for example Brazilian bbq sausages, pulled pork sandwiches, corn dog and of course, Chicago style dog :) We had frozen banana covered with chocolate, but to be honest we didn't like it that much.

A parte de la comida, lo mejor es ver la mezcolanza de gente que hay por alli, digamos que la mayoria no eran los mas finos de Chicago, pero segun mi modo de ver las cosas es lo mejor, viva la gente!! Me encanta ver de todo y conocer todo, incluso en el "Taste of Chicago" :) A continuacion algunas fotos del evento, yo me lo pase bomba a pesar de los 40 grados que habia. Estoy deseando que haya alguna cosita como esta pronto!!!

Apart from the food I love the mix of people we found. Let's say most of them were not the most refined of Chicago, but I love that, viva la gente!! I love seeing all kind of people in all kind of places :)

Here you can see some pictures we took. I had a great time despite the 100 F...I'm looking forward to go to one of these events again :)



Panoramica del festival y la ciudad de fondo.

Panoramic picture of the festival and the city in the background.

Barbacoa americana para ahumar carne.

American bbq for smoking meat.

Intentando comerme la mitad del perrito con varias salsas, eso no hay quien lo coja...

Trying to eat the Chicago dog with several sauces, there's no way to bite it...

Puesto de tarta de queso. A la izquierda estoy con mi "platano cubierto de chocolate" jeje!

Cheese cake tent. To the left I'm holding my "chocolate covered banana", hehe!

Puesto de frutas cubiertas de chocolate.

Tent of chocolate covered fruit.

Thomas con las salchichas brasileña y yo con el "corn dog", una de mis fotos mas ridiculas :)

Thomas with the Brasilian sausages and me with the corn dog in one of my most ridiculous pictures :)

Puesto de perritos :)

Hot dogs tent

La multitud en busca de fast food!!!

The crowddddd!!!

Foto divertida. Toda la hilera de servicios portatiles con los rascacielos de fondo :)

Funny pic. The array of portable toilets with the skyline in the background :)

Despues del festival de comida, nunca mejor dicho, nos paramos a beber algo tranquilitos y sentaditos. Por lo visto, mi chiqui tenia hambre todavia y se pidio un trozo de tarta de queso con proporciones americanas :)

After the food festival we stopped by Benningans to get some drinks and apparently, Thomasito was still hungry. He ordered a piece of cheese cake with American proportions :)

Thomasito y su "trocito de tarta de queso". Thomasito and his "small piece of cheese cake".

Volviendo a casa con la tripa llena!! Going back home with super full belly!!

Monkey bread

Hoy he estado cenando con Christina y Lyle, siempre cocinan taaaan bien!! :) Queria escribir este post solo para enseñar el "monkey bread" que ha hecho Christina. Es una masa que se corta en trozos, se hacen bolas, se mojan en mantequilla y azucar, se deja que la masa suba y luego se cocinan. No es muy light, pero de vez en cuando es una delicia!! Se que en España no es un postre comun, asi que si alguien se anima, que me invite a probarlo, jeje! Lo he disfrutado mucho, especialmente por la compañia ya que llevo varios dias sola hasta que llegue Thomas mañana de Korea. Aqui os dejo la foto del monkey bread y tambien un enlace para la receta.
I've been eating dinner with Christina and Lyle tonight. They always cook soooo well, everything they make is delicious! I wanted to write this post to talk about monkey bread :) It is a sweat made with normal dough, which is cut in small pieces and then converted into balls. The balls are dipped in butter and covered with brown sugar. After this the dough needs to raise and then the balls are baked. I guess this is known here in USA but if anyone in Spain wants to cook it please let me know, I'll be happy to taste it! I've enjoyed it a lot, especially being with Lyle and Christina. I've spent a lot of time alone lately since Thomas is in Korea, so I had a very nice time. Here you can see the picture of Christina with the monkey bread and I also leave here a link for a recipe, even though I don't think it is as good as hers.

http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/monkey-bread-recipe.html

Visitando Palma de Mallorca. Visiting Palma de Mallorca

Durante nuestra estancia en la isla tambien visitamos la capital, Palma de Mallorca. Era la tercera vez que iba alli, pero las dos veces anteriores fue en viaje de estudios y no disfrute del turismo en la misma medida que esta ultima vez :)

Solo ibamos a estar alli una mañana, asi que solo visitamos la catedral en profundidad, el centro de la ciudad y poco mas. En otras ocasiones ya habia visitado el castillo de Bellver y otros puntos interesantes.

During our week on the island we also visited the capital, Palma de Mallorca. It was the third time I was on the islad, but the previous times I was on a trip celebrating the end of my studies and I didn't enjoy tourism so much :)

We stayed there for only half a day so we visited the cathedral, the center and some other nice streets. I had already gone to the Bellver castle and other interesting places previously.

Thomas, su padre y yo llegando a la catedral. Thomas, his dad and I arriving at the cathedral.

En la entrada principal. At the front door.

Interior de la catedral, con una pequeña contribucion de Gaudi sobre el altar. Cathedral's interior with a small Gaudi contribution over the altar. 

Detalle de Gaudi. Gaudi's detail.

En el año 2001, el artista Miquel Barcelo pudo realizar una de sus obras en una parte de la catedral. El tema esta dedicado al mar, hecho en escayola. Las figuras marinas se hicieron desde la parte de fuera de las paredes, haciendo las formas hacia el interior de la catedral. Es una obra polemica, puesto que no encaja con el estilo gotico y romano de la catedral, pero hay opiniones para todos los gustos. La mia es que la obra tiene su encanto, pero no en la catedral, no tiene ninguna conexion segun mi parecer.

In 2001 the artist Miquel Barcelo built one of his pieces in a part of the cathedral. It is dedicated to the sea and it is made in a kind of plaster material. The figures were made from the outside of the walls, creating the desired shapes to the inside. This piece of art is pretty controversial since it doesn't really match with the Gothic style of the cathedral. There are many opinions about it but I personally find the construction very interesting, but not for the cathedral. I don't find the connection between this part and the rest of the cathedral. 

Barcelo's part. Parte de Barcelo.

Labores de restauracion. Restoration work.

Despues de visitar la navel principal de la catedral, las capillas y el museo, pasamos al claustro. Son mi parte favorita de las iglesias, me encantan!

After visiting the main part of the cathedral, the chapels and the museum we went to the court yard. This is my favorite part of the churches in general, I love them!

Despues de la catedral nos fuimos dando un paseo hasta la Plaza Mayor, tiene mucho encanto, no es una  plaza enorme ni señorial, pero tiene ese toque mediterraneo de color y vida que tanto me gusta. Ademas, habia estatuas humanas muy chulas.

After visiting the cathedral we went walking to the Plaza Mayor. It is very special, it is not a big or rich main square, but it has a Mediterranean touch of color and life, I really like that. There were also pretty amazing human statues.

Desde aqui buscamos un sitio tipico mallorquin para degustar comida tradicional y no turistica (y/o alemana...). Nos tomamos unas buenas raciones de todo lo mas tipico en una tasca muy taurina (soy anti taurina, pero el sitio era asi...).
From here we looked for a typical Mallorcan place to enjoy traditional Spanish food, not too touristic (and/or German...). We had "raciones" of the most typical food in a bar decorated in the classical bull-fighting style (I hate bull-fighting, but the place was like that...).

Terminamos el dia comprando una rica ensaimada casera, que rica!! Un dia muy humedo y caluroso, pero yo lo disfrute mucho, me encanta visitar sitios interesantes, culturizarme y conocer la gastronomia. Pasamos un buen dia!

We finished the day buying an ensaimada, a typical Mallorcan sweet. It is delicious. 

The day was too hot and humid, but I don't care about that :) I love visiting places, knowing the culture and the gastronomy. We had a very nice day!