February 9, 2014

            Freakish weather continues batter the north of Spain and we, here in Valencia, are mostly experiencing windy conditions.  The sun continues to play hide and seek, but that does very little to dissuade the outdoor diners.

            La Infanta Cristina, who along with her husband has been named in a scheme to defraud the government by falsifying tax returns claiming shadow expenses, testifies yesterday before a judge.  Her testimony lasted six hours and, for the most part, consisted of ‘I don’t know”; “I don’t remember”;  “I don’t recall”; I trusted my husband”; and, my favorite “I never asked where the money came from that I used to pay the household staff and to finance my trips and purchases”.  Her lawyers afterwards congratulated her for answering every question to the best of her knowledge and the public reaction has been predictable.  The court of public opinion sees her as guilty as charged.  Now we will have to wait and see how the court of law finds. This is yet another corruption scandal that seems to be prevalent in every nook and cranny of the country. Here is a link to the Reuters news service that affords greater detail http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/08/uk-spain-corruption-idUKBREA1708720140208?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

            Friday we had lunch at Mood Food.  Our goal was to sample the menu and we did so in grand style.  For 26 Euros we got to sample six courses and everything we tried was eye appealing and delicious.  In no particular order we enjoyed a steak tartar, a tuna tartar, shrimp, clams, a dish made with mushrooms, black truffles and secreto ibérico topped with a slow cooked egg.  For dessert we shared a slice of lemon cake.  We accompanied the meal with three glasses of wine, two bottles of water, two coffees and a chupito and the damage was less than 70 Euros.

            Yesterday Susan and Pepe worked together to produce an exquisite lunch.  The menu consisted of pita bread, hummus, tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves and a lamb tagine.  Pepe was the author of the tagine and Susan was responsible for the rest.  Susan had prepared the grape leaves on Friday and everything else was made in Pepe’s kitchen.  Karim, a fellow magician and friend, was in town for two performances on the café/teatro circuit and he joined us for lunch.  Needless to say we dined extremely well and a little after 4:30 we all went in search of places to take a well-deserved afternoon siesta.

            Susan is currently visiting with Zahava to listen a speech that Zahava will be delivering in Toronto in the near future and I am working on a new magic effect.  We will head to The Ginger Loft in a little while to enjoy their Eggs Benedict while we still can.