Life: Idiotropic

Ahhh.  Now this is Christmas.  Like candy cane to the USA or a Printen to Aacheners, these turrones bring Christmas home for the Spanish.  They come in all flavors and varieties with each region having their speciality, but no matter what the flavor, locals love them and buy them in slices to take home and share. 
Turron de Alicante is a sweet white crunchy nougat full of almonds.  You'll also find loafs of nut filled chocolate, mazapan, and yema, Spain's answer to egg liqueur.

And in grosser subjects.  Isn't is lovely how the Spanish don't waste anything?  Yes, it's a good thing.  Or at least that's how I'll choose to think about it. 


The fish market isn't quite as disturbing except that several are still quite alive which always makes me feel a little sad for then sitting there on ice out of water.  The fishmongers were at their grouchiest today now putting up signs at several stalls that prohibit photography.  As if a photo will disturb either their business or the flavor of the fish.  Hmph.

Today it rained.  I tell you this because it was the first rain in a month and my feet were ill prepared (in $2.50 Old Navy flip flops).  Couple that with the sad fact that most of Valencia's sidewalks are large squares of slick marble and I was practicing my ice skating skills all over the city much to my fright and embarrassment.  


Our next stop was just a slide away across the street:  La Lonja.

This magestic building that is free to enter is the place where the silk traders met to, well, trade silk.  I've been here a few times.  Didn't bother to take photos until we got to the upper room which I don't always go in.  I'd forgotten how beautiful it was.  The ceiling is all wooden, intricately carved and painted, and made us stop and stare long enough for my feet to dry.



I'd love the know the stories of the characters here.  Both men and creatures mythical and real are depicted here.   The sheer number of different faces is amazing.  There are no repeats.



Ahhh.  This is a taza de chocolate unlike any that I've ever tasted in Spain or out of Spain for that matter.  After living here over a year, I have finally found the best, and rightly so, at the well known Spanish chocolatier, Valor.  Here the chocolate is dark and rich and smooth with added flavors if you want that aren't overpowering, but aren't so subtle you can only smell them.  It is heaven in a cup.  The latte by its side was just about perfect and to go with all this was the perfect order of churros, not greasy like those of street vendors at Fallas, but tender, sweet, and delicious.  The chocolate clung to them just right and we walked away, no I skated away, quite content with my chocolate lunch.

So it's raining.  Not hard, but enough to wet the slick streets making them slicker.  Enough to tread lightly and with great trepidation.  Enough to send us to the shopping district.  What else are two girls to do with time to kill and a need to stay dry?

And I made my friends proud.  I went local.  I walked straight into the store of all stores in Spain, El Corte Ingles, and found a beautiful sleek pair of high healed dress boots and I bought them.  Of course, I had to leave them there, run down 4 floors to buy a pair of socks, then run back up to buy them and put them on straight away so that I could jog to the train station, but it was totally worth it.  I now am the proud new owner of "big girl shoes."  No more rainy day flip flops for me!  ;)