Pastries and churros and crepes- OH MY!It would seem that Spain has quite the plethora of dulces to offer. There are pastelerias on every corner, and the divine smell of freshly baked chocolate croissants wafts through the air every morning on our walk to school. (I am proud to say I have only had one of those thus far.) Grabbing a pastry or stopping for tapas while strolling down Calle Mayor is a social norm here. Socializing revolves around eating and drinking. Needless to say, I have been enjoying a few of these Spanish delicacies -- soley for social purposes of course ;). A few of my favorites have been:
-rosquillos: doughnut-like pastry only found in Alcala
-costrada: creme based pastry also a specialty in Alcala (looks like I picked the right town to live in!)
-churros con chocolate: this is a real Spanish tradition. don't be fooled, the mug is not filled with hot chocolate. it is basically a chocolate bar melted in a cup!
-crepes: lo siento, this is not actually a Spanish postre, but, since our weekend trip to Paris revolved around them, I feel they are definitely worth mentioning
-bueno bars: an appropriate name; these are definitely bueno! addicting. enough said. there are some people in our group who will have some serious issues returning to the states without these. With all this incredible food, I have also found it necessary to supercharge my enthusiasm for running while I have been here! But really I love just heading out the door on a run, meandering through streets, and exploring the city. My favorite running spots are the park that is about a mile from my house and the river trail. The park is the hot spot for all people over 60 and their dogs. I love the enthusiastic old men who cheer "corre, corre, corre" from their cute little park benches with their pint sized terriers. The river trail is absolutely beautiful as well; it runs next to the river (obviously) between the edge of Alcala and the mountains. I run here when I want to just go forever -- last week I went over 10 miles on one of my runs there!
I have also found some awesome running buddies in my group who are willing to wake up early on our weekend trips to get our workouts in. Funny story:
Last weekend we traveled to the south of Spain and spent a couple nights in Sevilla. One morning we needed to get up at 5:45 (just a bit earlier than usual) in order to be ready to leave with the group on time. As we headed out on our run we realized that something was very different about this city at 5:45 in the morning...it wasn't actually morning yet! We ran through throngs of people still out for the night and partying hard. A number of people tried to start running with us, but, when they stated tripping over themselves, I think they realized that they were a little bit incapacitated for such "strenuous" activity. I would say Sevilla is the city that never sleeps, but I am pretty sure that all the late night fiestaers had a nice long siesta the next day. What a lifestyle!
Well thats the recap of my eating and running endeavors here in Spain, mis dos cosas favoritas!
Te Amo,
Brooke
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