September = Spanish Food!

After spending the afternoon in a car, ferry, bus, and then train, we are sitting on a shuttle to Leonardo da Vinci Airport across from a very young couple who are planning their fall wedding. They look calm, well rested and organized - they have clearly planned ahead and are hours early for their flight home to Atlanta. Needless to say they are looking at us like we're complete lunatics as we dig through all our stuff trying to find the plane tickets to Barcelona. When I finally find the tickets I have a smirk on my face thinking 'we may look crazy but we do this all the time and it seems to work out' until I read Ciampino Airport on the ticket, at which point I start to act exactly like the crazy lunatic they are envisioning. There are two airports in Rome!? How could they!? Of course we are on the direct shuttle so we can't get off, but eventually make it back to the city and plead with the various cab drivers to take all our money and drive us to this mysterious Ciampino Airport.

I'm not sure if it was because I was physically and mentally drained, or it was actually that hysterical, but I find myself in tears laughing at the spectacle that is a Ryanair flight. It's extremely hot and humid waiting on the tarmac so you would think everyone would just sit still and keep to themselves to make the situation more bearable - WRONG - instead every single person decides to play this game where whoever pushes the most buttons and makes the most adjustments to their reading lights, seats, and air (which won't turn on no matter how many times they twist the nozzle) wins! Oh and you get extra points for pushing any buttons the flight attendants tell you NOT to push - I guess no one speaks any of the five languages these warnings were made in.

After arriving in Barcelona and leaving the circus behind I stupidly thought the best meals were behind me, consumed in the various regions throughout Italy. I say stupidly because this assumption (along with many other assumptions I have when traveling) was way off. As an apology for my lack of faith in Spanish cooking, the recipe section for the month of September will be filled with recipes similar to those foods devoured in Barcelona and San Sebastian, two cities belonging to very distinct culinary regions.

San Sebastiano

Barcelona - Las Ramblas