Wine tasting, attempt #2

If you recall the post from June 23, we bought some 2-Euro chuck that turned out to have a flavor equal to its price. This time, we decided to take a step up in the world and try a 3-Euro bottle of the same brand of wine. The previous wine was "joven" (young), which means it hadn't undergone any aging before being bottled. Today's wine, however is "crianza", meaning it has been aged at least 2 years with at least 6 months in oak.

The verdict? This wine was slightly less terrible than the previous one, but still required mixing with various sodas. In better-tasting news, I turned some of my Spanish jamón into bacon. I would like to thank Sir Francis Bacon for his invention. So smart.

4th of July

On July 6, Señorita Vagabond and I decided to celebrate America's 237th birthday in true Spanish style --- two days late -- by eating a hot dog for lunch. Fortunately, in the Gracia district there is a store called The Dog is Hot.

Unfortunately, we showed up right at the beginning of their scheduled siesta hours.

Damn you, Spain, and your reasonable treatment of the labor force! Undaunted, we found another option, a store that was sure to be open a mere two days after the 4th of July. That store is called Taste of America, and it is glorious.

Inside, we found exactly what we were looking for: hot dogs in a jar and marshmallow fluff. Crisis averted.

Tinto de Verano vs. Calimocho: Spanish Smackdown 2013

As someone commented last week, 2-Euro chuck isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Fortunately, the Spaniards have a way of dealing with situations like this: just add soda! Two common options are tinto de verano, which is red wine mixed with Fanta Limón, and calimocho, which is red wine mixed with Coca Cola.

On the surface, neither of these options sounds very appealing to me, but I figure that the result can't be much worse than the wine by itself. So, let's give it a shot! Mixing equal parts wine and soda results in a nice maroon color in the case of tinto de verano, while the calimocho exhibits a deep shade of purple.

In the end, the results weren't too bad. Given the quality of the ingredients involved, I would say that this is one of those situations where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I definitely prefer a good wine over either of these, but I can see how they would be fairly refreshing during a hot summer day on the beach. The final verdict: 3/4 of a thumbs up for the tinto de verano, and 1/2 of a thumbs up for the calimocho.

 

Jamón + Vino de la semana

This week, I went with a variety of cured hams. First up is jamón de pato (duck):

I found this one to be way too greasy and fatty. Not so good. Next on the list is "llom de gall dindi curat", which Google Translate tells me is "loin cured turkey". Thanks for the help, Google Translate!

This one was much drier than the duck, but also not very good. The flavor just doesn't compare to the jamón ibérico. I feel like a snobbish Spaniard now. Next, I bought some chicken patties.

It's hard to read, but these chicken patties turned out to be 25% pork. I shouldn't be surprised. Finally, I decided to buy some red wine, from the Rioja region of Spain.

This bottle of wine only cost 2 Euros, and all I will say is: you get what you pay for.

San Feliu de Guixols

During the week of June 3-6, I attended a workshop on topological insulators. I learned that if you want to get the top people in your field to attend your conference, then you should hold it in a place like San Feliu de Guixols. Here's a sample of the conference location:

In related news, Mistress Vagabond has finally arrived in Spain. In fact, she timed her arrival to coincide with the aforementioned conference. Thus, while I spent all week trapped in a room listening to people talk about Chern numbers and time-reversal invariance, Mistress Vagabond spent her first week in Spain on the beach.

Prague

One nice thing about living in Spain is its proximity to the rest of Europe. For example, the thought of hopping on over to Prague for the weekend is one that never occurred to me when I lived in the western U.S. However, the fact that Prague is just a 2.5-hour flight from Barcelona has turned this dream into a reality. Hence, I spent this past weekend in Prague with a friend of mine (plus her husband, baby, and two of their friends) who lives in Germany. I didn't know much about Prague before going there, except that there are a lot of old buildings and pilsner-style beers. I found plenty of both.

That last beer there is the Czech version of Budweiser, brewed in a town called Budweis. It is 100 years older than the American version of Budweiser, and approximately 100 times better.

In addition to all the old buildings, there were some other interesting places to see, including the famous Dancing House and a few very specific museums.

I agree; I should be an exhibit in the Sex Machines Museum.

All in all it was a good time. Funnily enough, my now-living-in-Germany friend was my neighbor and a high school classmate, and we used to walk to school every morning. Sixteen years later, we were able to recapture some of the old walking days.

Jamón of the week

This week I went with another 5-Euro pack of thinly-sliced jamón.  This one was called Jamón Curado Bodega.  It was also pretty tasty, but about the same as the one last week.  So far there seems to be a distinct correlation between flavor and price.  Is it time to start getting more extravagant?