Tortilla, Spanish Omelette

Tortilla is a typical Spanish dish and usually served as a tapa. It can be eaten hot or cold. My children likes to eat it too. Embarrassed to confess that I haven't learnt to cook any Spanish dish for the past few years. Late better than never,  with Eduardo's birthday coming in August, I thought of preparing some Spanish dishes as I have invited a few Spanish and Singaporean friends. Apart from pinchos that I have in mind, I decided to try to make my own tortilla. 

The process and ingredients are not difficult but the challenge is to flip the tortilla over and to keep the juiciness in. If you would like to find out more, you can check it out on You Tube for tortilla.

Well, my first attempt was not too bad. Enrique said "Mummy I like the tortilla" And I was like dancing in the kitchen. My hubby gave me 7/10. For first try, I am contented. 

I was told that I have to add more eggs and to slice the potatoes, not diced it . I am grateful for the feedback from my Spanish friend. I will try again before the birthday celebration. If it turns out to be good, I will post again with my recipes.

Below are the photos for my first tortilla. Please don't follow the ingredients as its not up to standard yet.

Above: The ingredients 

Above: In the making of my first tortilla

Above: The flipping over 

Above: Shirlyn's tortilla 

Above: The fillings for showcase

New Love, Chunky Necklace

Do you wear or have you have any chunky necklace. If you remember my previous post, I wrote that I am not a fan of chunky necklace but Spain is just a country of FASHION. As you can see, I spent four years before I started to appreciate and love them. Girls from teenage to senior citizens just love to wear it.

I started to hunt for these necklace from the start of the summer sales and now I am proud to own four of them. Personally, I love the designs from Teria Yabar, a Spanish designer. She also designs clothes and bags and I love them too.  Bimba y Lola is another Spanish brand that I like to shop for accessories, clothing, bags and shoes.

Where you can find these two brands?

Bimba y Lola, they have more than 20 shops in Madrid. You can also find it in department store, El Corte Ingles.

Teria Yabar SL

Claudio Coello 56

Madrid 28001

Above: From Teria Yabar

Above: From Teria Yabar

Above: From Teria Yabar

Above: From Bimba y Lola

Above: Earrings from Teria Yabar

Sans Sebastian, Spain

In June, with a group of friends from Singapore, we decided to drive up north to the coastal to enjoy the sun and the beach. Sans Sebastian or call it Donostia located in the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain is one of the most popular beach during the summer. It has three main attractions, the Old Town, the Centro (Romantic area) and on the east, the Gros where it showcase its architecture and culture of the city.

There are three beaches. In the Gros district, it lays the Zurriola beach which attracts many surfers. Crossing the bridge we will reached Playa de la Concha (the Shell) and towards the west is the Ondarreta beach.

I have heard a lot of good reviews of this stunning city. Indeed, it is very different from other cities that I have traveled before. Here, you feel that you are in a city full of life and colours, with many young people, everywhere is so lively. The bars are very crowded during dinner time. The typical food in Sans Sebastian is pintxos (miniature cuisine) and of course seafood is available too.

Above: Constitución Square

Above: At the old town

Above: The popular pintxos for our meal

Above: Zurriola Bridge

Above: María Cristina Hotel

Above: Playa de la Concha

Above: Playa de la Concha

Above: Playa de la Concha

Above: Interesting signs and the city tram

Above: Beautiful sights

Above: Peine del Viento (Wind Comb) by sculptor Eduardo Chillida

To have the magnificent view of the whole city and the beaches, it is best to go up to Mount Igeldo. Up on the mountain, there is a family fun park which consist of a roller coaster, haunted house and the "Mysterious river' ride. While the men are enjoying the view and busy taking selfie. My kids and I decided to hop on for a train ride.

Above: Mount Igeldo

Above: Mount Igeldo

Above: Train ride

Above: Background of the city

Above: Sans Sebastian

Up next, is our road trip from Sans Sebastian to Bordeaux, France. Stay tuned.

Cuenca, Spain

Have you heard of the Casas Colgadas or the Hanging house in Spain? It's located in Cuenca which is about 170km from Madrid. Currently, the Hanging house is an Art Museum. 

We have visited this small city about three years back but did not stay over night. Therefore, this time we decided to spend a night and revisit the Enchanted city (Ciudad Encantada) the next day.

Above: Boys striking posed at the hill top overlooking the city.

Above: View from our apartment, Alizaque Lodge.

Above: Someone painted eyes on hill. 

Above: Sample of houses, people are still living in it.

Above: Colourful houses along the main street, next to the Cathedral

Above: The Hanging House, now an Art Museum

Below is the Enchanted City. The rocks are said to have formed about 90 million years ago. Due to the weather, the rocks eroded and formed in many different shapes such as the Bears, the Lovers, the Turtle and many more up to one's imagination. You can find out more at Spain info,search under Cuenca, click here.

VIG in Madrid part III - Zaragoza

This is the last part of our road trip before returning to Madrid. From Barcelona, it is about 300km to Zaragoza. Therefore, we decided to stop over for lunch also to view the El Pilar Basilica. It is one of the two major cathedrals in Zaragoza and it is the second most visited pilgrimage destination after Santiago de Compostela. We also posed with the iceberg look alike fountain outside the cathedral for some photos before continuing our journey back to Madrid.

Stayed tuned to my blog. Next group of visitors were here in end of June and we traveled to north east of Spain and we too cross the border to France.