Marty Kaplan's Blog

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Pepe is currently involved in a bit of a tug-of-war with Google+.  He has a blog called Malditos Magos that is always an enjoyable read.  The header that he sues for the blog, among other things, features a young woman’s butt with an Ace of Spades tattooed on it.  I don’t find it very provocative, nor do I find it sexy.  I would be reluctant to call it offensive given the images that predominate in today’s print and television advertising.  Google+, however, found it objectionable and removed it.  Of course it is consistent with the cultures of both countries.  In the USA nudity is always the reason that a film receives an R or NR rating.  Spain rates its films by being age specific.  For example you will see a film with the rating “Under 7 not permitted” or “Under 16 not permitted” and when a film is prohibited to the younger members of an audience it is always because of the violence in a film, never because of nudity.  Pepe in response posted an image from Goya’s La Maja Desnuda, but that image has been taken down, too.  Draw your own conclusion.

I got in a brief afternoon workout yesterday and when I got back home we went out to lunch.  Since we had not had lunch at A Nou for a while we simply crossed the street and there we were.  The restaurant was crowded and Javi, as usual, was the only one on the floor.  We ordered an arroz con embutidos y habas as our main course.  The appetizers of the day were a revuelto de langostinos, a puff pastry studded with slices of lamb and a carrot and yucca soup.  The soup was rather bland, but the other two appetizers were excellent.  The rice arrived soon after and it was studded with a variety of sausages and beans.  It was both tasty and appropriate for a cold day.  It was a little after 5:00 when we finished our lunch.

In the evening we attended a 9:00 PM performance of an Israel Horovitz play called My Old Lady, which in Spanish is called Querida Matilde.  The original play was set in Paris.  This version is set in Madrid.  The premise of the play is that a middle-aged Argentinean comes to Madrid soon after the death of his father to sell the apartment that his father willed to him.  He discovers that the apartment is inhabited by an elderly woman and her daughter.  It turns out that she had sold the apartment to the young man’s father at a very low price with the proviso that she could live in it until she died. Revelations and complications follow.  The play was well acted and the only criticism that I have is that I wish the actors had been miked because from our seats in the fifteenth row it was sometimes difficult to pick up the rapid-fire dialog.

After the play we stopped in at The Ginger Loft and shared a Thai Noddle Salad and some Vietnamese Pork.  Santi asked me to taste three of the new red wines he is considering as additions to the wine menu.  Two of the three were quite good.  The second one I tasted was ordinary.  We chatted with Mike and Santi for a while and then left to brave the cold on our walk home.  It was 12:30 by the time we got home.  We puttered around for a while to let our meal digest and we went to bed a little after 1:00.

The offensive? image

Teatro Principal 1

Teatro Principal 2

Teatro Principal 3

Friday, February 3, 2012

Walking home last night a little after midnight the cold was very noticeable.  Still and all it was nowhere near as cold as it was in other parts of Spain where temperatures dipped well below 0 Celsius.  The cold snap is predicted to last until the weekend and forecasters are really unsure of what next week will look like.  The truth is that when you are retired and really do not have to be anywhere at a specific time weather, although an inconvenience, is never a major factor.

After doing some cardio at the gym yesterday it was close to 3:00 when I got back home.  Susan said she was in the mood for the food at Carusel so off we went.  All the outdoor tables were empty – no big surprise given the temperature – but most of the indoor tables were occupied.  We chose paella made with artichokes and ribs as our main course and then waited until the appetizer board made its appearance at our table.  Today’s offerings included a variety of homemade breads, wontons filled with spinach and morcilla, a Valencian pizza, a salad made with a variety of lettuces and studded with walnuts and raisins and a warm puree of beet soup.  All the appetizers were a treat for the eye, as well as the taste buds.

Jordi joined us at our table and we chatted about this and that.  He is thinking about doing a week that will focus on American food and asked for some suggestions.  We came up with several and we promised to do a bit of research.  He also talked about his desire to make Sunday lunch a special occasion that would attract entire families.  He is thinking about having a performance space outdoors where magic or puppet shows could be performed with the younger set in mind.  He might even be interested in having someone do balloon animals for the kids.  He then asked if I would be interested in doing magic for the kids.  I said that I would.  The shows will not start until the weather turns warmer – late March or early April – and there are several details that need to be ironed out – but it looks like I have found at least one opportunity to do some kid magic here.

After lunch we headed towards the Nespresso store and to the Corte Inglés.  On our way we stopped off at The Ginger Loft to chat with Mike and Santi.  They are thinking about doing a New Orleans night with Cajun specialties and a jazz band.  It will happen around the same time as Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Our next stop was the Nespresso store and from there we made our way to the Corte.  Our goal was to get another set of towels just like the set we had bought the other day.  We found one that had been marked down to 17 Euros from its 45 Euro regular price.  I also found a warm sweater that will be put to good use in the upcoming weeks.  It was well after 6:30 when we finally returned home.

Paco de Andrés is undergoing radiation therapy and is in no shape to receive company, so the meeting of the veteranos took place at Pepe’s house.  There were only four of us in attendance – Paquito, Gioco, Pepe and I.  We watched several videos, including Dani Daortiz’s latest and around 9:30 we sat down at the dining room table for a light supper.  We each had a sandwich and Pepe poured us a glass of wine.  Sara returned home at 11:15 and asked us to do some magic and so Gioco, Pepe and I each did something.  I was feeling sleepy so around midnight I excused myself and made my way back home.  Susan was watching TV and I checked my e-mail and a little after 1:00 we retired for the evening.

Jordi

Valencian Pizza

Puree of Beet Soup

Spinach Won Ton

Ensalada de frutos secos

Carol and Joanna

Dessert

Thursday's Menu at Carosel

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Say, what?  It’s snowing in Barcelona?  A number of schools have cancelled classes?  The Polar Express is paying a visit to Spain.  Truth be told, although it is snowing in the center of Barcelona, there has been no accumulation of the white stuff.  However, in those neighborhoods that are closer to the mountains there has been some accumulation and it is causing problems.  The highs for the next few days here in Valencia will struggle to get into the mid 40’s and nighttime temperatures will be below freezing.  Normal temperatures should return on Sunday.

I did get a workout in yesterday, along with some cardio.  Susan got to her Pilates class in the afternoon.  Sine we are both out of the house at lunchtime, we fend for ourselves.  Susan had made a couple of soups, a cream of carrot and a cream of zucchini, trying to replicate a dish she had at Refugio.  She pronounced it a success.  I ended up snacking on some ham and cheese and that was just fine.  My conversation class with Nico did not happen because Nico needed to cancel.  That gave me the chance to read a bit and edit an article on René Lavand for Magic Agora.

René Lavand is one of the stars in the firmament of magic.  He is one of the best card magicians in the world.  His presentations are pure poetry both in word and deed.  He is the inventor of lentidigitation a term he coined to serve as the antonym of prestidigitation.  His catchphrase is “It cannot be done any slower.” Another factor that makes Lavand unique is that he only has one hand, having suffered an accident when he was only a child.  Here is a video clip of one of is effects. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS1ogWcIO5Q.

Susan headed out around 4:30 to climb to the top of the Torres de Quart to shoot some pictures.  I used the time to play around a bit with some magic.  At 6:30 we headed off to Cines Yelmo to see the American remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”  We saw the original version several months ago in Pasadena and we were curious about the Hollywood version of the same film.  I must confess that the main title sequence was of the noisiest and stupidest creations that I have ever seen.  The music (?) was created by Trent Razor he of The Nine Inch Nails fame and the images are of people being coated in tar.  It looked like a bad acid trip.  The film itself was very well done.  I am sure that, given the amount of nudity, this was probably the European version.  I thought the ending was too drawn out and was used to set the scene for the second film in the trilogy.

We decided to have dinner at La Fórcola and that was a good decision.  We shared a salad that had a variety of field greens, cherry tomatoes, nuts, raisins, and Parmesan crisps.  We then shared their calzone doc that is stuffed with jamón serrano, mascarpone and mozzarella.  We passed on dessert and coffee.  When we left the restaurant at 11:00 it was sprinkling.  Surprise!  We played around on the computer for a while and then read for another twenty minutes or so.  It was well after 12:30 when we went to bed.

View fron the Quart Towers

The great soup experiment

Ensalada de frutos secos

Calzone DOC

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

RABBIT, RABBIT!  That is what everyone at Foxcroft used to say on the first day of every month we were at school. It is a tradition that has its origins in Great Britain and supposedly if you say it in the first day of the month, it will bring you good luck the entire month.  Here’s hoping.

Yesterday both Susan and I exercised at home and by the time I had finished it was well after 1:30.  I abandoned the idea of doing cardio at the gym and we decided that we would program in a long walk during the day that would, in essence, be our cardio.  We decided that we would head over to Cánovas again and see if one of the restaurants that had been recommended to us, Rincón de Roberto, was open on Tuesdays for lunch.  It took us a good half hour to get there and it was indeed open.  The restaurant was not very crowded, but we knew that we would find good things to eat here.

We started our meal with some baby artichokes that had been sliced thin and cooked on the flattop with some olive oils and salt.  The dish was a simple as things can get and absolutely delicious.  Our main course was a plate for two of sliced tenderloin cooked with ajos tiernos, which are the tops of the green onion plant, and served with potatoes and green beans.  The meat was both tender and tasty.  We passed on dessert and had coffee instead.

On our way back home we stopped off at El Corte Inglés and I made a very fortuitous mistake.  The Corte Inglés occupies three separate buildings on Calle Colón.  Each of them carries different items and inevitably I am told that what I am looking for is at the Corte Inglés down the block.  Today I was looking for a warm winter coat that could be worn with a nice pair of pants.  As we rode up the escalator, it became clear when we reached the top floor that the men’s clothing department was in the store down the block.  However, the “bargain” section was located here and it included items from just about all of the stores.  I found a great-looking black woolen coat that was on sale.  It was close to half price and it fit perfectly.  Since it promises to get down to the low 30’s and the high 20’s the next few nights I will be well equipped to deal with the cold.

We continued on our way and Susan was jonesing for an ice cream.  We knew that Linares was not an option, but we had enjoyed the ice cream that was served up at a small place close to the Lys Theaters.  We walked by and it was closed.  We decided to give a restaurant called Bertal that is located in the Plaza de la Reina a try.  Unfortunately for us it was open.  It was some of the crappiest ice cram we have tasted here in Valencia.  A return visit will not be part of our future program.  It was a little after 6:00 when we got home.

An hour later we were back on the street on our way to the Cines Yelmo.  I really wanted to see the animated film, Arrugas, and I decided that yesterday would be the best time to do that.  It turns out that the film is Spanish, not Argentinean as I had thought.  The trailer features Miguel, who is one of the two protagonists of the story, and Miguel is from Argentina and so is his accent.  That is why I thought the film was Argentinean.  It is a charming film that charts the lives of a number of people who inhabit an old age home.  It is a film that quickly draws you in and makes you laugh and makes you cry.  Above all, it makes you think.

On our way home we decided to stop at the new restaurant, El Salatën that had opened on Quart a couple of weeks ago.  Here is a link to their page http://elsalaten.es/wordpress/.  We tried three dishes off the menu.  We began with an ensaladilla de colores that was made with purple potato, carrot, tuna and green beans.  It was absolutely delicious.  Next came a plate with four buñuelos de bacalao, which are essentially cod fritters.  They were served with a romesco sauce.  They were excellent.  Our last tapa was a plate of eight shrimp that had been cooked on the flattop.  They were fresh and tasty and smelled of the sea.  This is one place that deserves a return visit and that will happen soon.

Once we got home, we called Rachel via FaceTime and caught her between conference calls.  She was having a busy day and was hoping to be able to escape this evening to go and see a movie.  Having purchased the graphic novel that was the basis for Arrugas I decided to take the cellophane off the book and take a look to see how closely the movie followed the book.  When I opened the book I was surprised to discover that there was a CD inside with the original soundtrack of the movie.  Given the fact that that the package cost 15 Euros, it truly turned out to be a great bargain.  We read for a bit and it was close to 1:00 when we turned off the lights.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Yesterday began as most Mondays do.  We had breakfast; straightened things up a bit and then hopped on to the computer to catch up on the news of the day.  I worked on the blog and when I took a look at the clock it was already 1:00 so I put on my workout clothes and headed to the gym for some cardio.  Susan headed off to La Petxina thirty minutes later for her Pilates class.

It was a little after 2:30 when I returned home and I raided the refrigerator to put together a little lunch for myself.  At 4:30 I headed down the street to Las Torres to meet with Melissa for our Monday afternoon English conversation class.  I settled into a table and five minutes later Melissa walked in.

Melissa had recently returned from Granada where she attended her sister’s wedding.  Our main topic of conversation was the wedding, but we also talked about the classes she is taking and her upcoming exams.  It was a lively hour and at 5:30 we said our goodbyes.  I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my magic.

At 7:30 we both headed out.  Susan and Zahava were off to the movies to see the new George Clooney flick and I was headed to the CIVAC for a lecture by French magician, David Stone.  When I walked in preparations for the lecture were well under way.  Several people were working on adjusting the lighting for the table where Stone would be doing his magic and many of tonight’s attendees had already taken their seats in anticipation of what promised to be a very interesting lecture.

Pepe was behind the bar working on last night’s paella and Paquito was busy dispensing beverages.  I chatted with both of them for a while and greeted other members as they entered.  It was great to see Juan Luis in attendance.  I had not seen him for a couple of weeks.  His recovery from tendon surgery on his little finger is progressing well and in ten days he should be out of his cast.  His fall a while back while jogging caused a goodly amount of damage, but thankfully it seems that all will be back to normal shortly.

I took my seat and watched as Stone paced the room and it appeared that he was psyching himself up for his upcoming performance and lecture.  Stone is a study in perpetual motion.  Sometimes it appears that his spring is overwound, but, in truth, that is who he is both on and off the stage.  The lecture was divided into two parts and after performing a number of effects, he would then proceed to give the explanation of how they were done.  Everything that he did was available for sale after the lecture.  The good news is that in addition to the commercial aspect of the lecture, he was also sharing very valuable performance information.  The first part of the lecture included coin effects, a bottle production and a variety of card effects.

After a fifteen-minute break that allowed us to stretch our legs and to buy some of his effects, we all took our seats for the second part of the lecture.  Stone asked me to sit at the table as one his two assistants.  He was delivering his lecture in English and one of the club members was translating into Spanish.  His other assistant was a very charming young woman named Sofia who is the newest member of the club and the ONLY FEMALE in the club.  The second half was purely card magic and it was a demonstration of the newest effect that Stone has produced for the magic market.  His aim was to show the versatility of the prop and he must have shown us close to a dozen ways to use it.

He concluded his lecture with a brief discussion of the need to have an ending for the effects that we do.  He feels that his point is particularly relevant when it comes to making an object disappear.  His point is that the audience appreciates the disappearance, but always wants to know what happened to the object that disappeared.  For example, when you make a cigarette disappear the logical conclusion to the effect would be to make it reappear.  He then proceeded to show us another effect that rarely has an ending, but needs one.  In this case he inflated an animal balloon and pretended to swallow it like a sword.  He then reproduced it, making it seem that he was extracting it from his stomach.  In order to show us how he did it, he proceeded to drop his pants and show us the method.  Without going into too much detail I will tell you that it involved pantyhose.

After the lecture everyone helped to clear the lecture area and set up the room for dinner.  Pepe’s paella was finished and the twenty-five of us who had signed up for dinner took our place at the table and proceeded to make quick work of a most tasty paella.  I left a little before midnight and walked through the door a minute or two after Susan had returned.  She and Zahava had enjoyed the film and afterwards had stopped of to have a little nibble.  It was around 12:30 when we were able to reach Rachel via FaceTime and we chatted with her briefly before she was called away for yet another conference call.  It was well after 1:00 when we went to bed.

David Stone and I

El Rey de Paella

Monday, January 30, 2012

I am about to head off to the gym for a bit of cardio and some exercise.  Susan will do Pilates early this afternoon.  This evening I will be attending a lecture by French magician, David Stone at the CIVAC and Susan and Zahava have a movie date.

Yesterday we started off the day with a breakfast of bagels and lox.  The bagels came for Kosherbest and I had purchased them a while back.  The lox was from Mercadona and I found some Philadelphia Cream Cheese at Opencor.  We added some red onion and some sliced tomato and we were good to go.  When we finished breakfast, we read the Sunday paper and lounged around until a little after 1:00 when we headed out to do a couple of errands.

We stopped at El Parisien to pick up some bread and dessert for last night’s dinner and since Vilma’s birthday was yesterday we stopped by El Molinón to drop off a scarf that we had bought her for her birthday.  We then returned home and Susan got busy making a salad for our lunch.  She used the leftover salmon along with some chorizo to make yet another amazing salad.  We had some of the raisin and nut rolls that we had bought at the bakery and enjoyed a glass of white wine.

While Susan busied herself getting things chopped and diced for what would be our dinner quiche, I headed out to FNAC in search of reading material.  I was looking for two things in particular.  One was a graphic novel entitled Arrugas (Wrinkles) written by Paco Roca, which has recently been turned into an animated film and had its debut here in Spain on January 27.  Here is a link to the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fAi0P7hHr8. I was also in search of several novels written by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán that feature his most famous literary creation, Pepe Carvalho.

Carvalho is a detective who is also a lover of good food.  He has a manservant, Biscuter, and his love interest is a prostitute named Charo.  I think there are fourteen or fifteen books in the Carvalho series and the last was published in 2003 when Vázquez Montalbán died in Thailand.  The novels are set in a variety of countries around the world and, as expected, Pepe always gets his man.  There was a television series based on this character and there have been a book or two of recipes that were based on dishes that were described in the novels.

Vázquez Montalbán served jail time under Franco because of his views and his first essay, Informe sobre la información, was written while he was still imprisoned.  He was a prolific writer and in addition to being a novelist was a poet and essayist.  His novels are always an enjoyable read and always contain interesting tidbits of information about the cities in which Pepe finds himself and the food and the places where he eats.  I found four Carvalho novels that I had not read and I bought three of them.  I also found a copy of Arrugas and I purchased it, also.

At 8:00 PM we set out a few snacks for us to munch on while we waited for the quiche to cook.  There were chips, boquerones and olives to accompany the red wine that Susan and Zahava opted for, while Klaus and I enjoyed a beer.  Klaus filled us in on his recent visit to Malta and what he discovered while he was there.  He had such a good time that Zahava has booked a return visit for the both of them in March.  A little before 9:00 Susan took the quiche out of the oven so that it could cool for ten minutes and at 9:15 we were gathered around the table.

We started with a salad and then dug into the lovely vegetable quiche that Susan had made.  This was a new adventure since she prepared the quiche with two cheeses that she has not used in the past.  Since ricotta and cheddar were not available when we shopped on Saturday, she ended up using a requesón made from goat’s milk that is lighter and less salty than ricotta.  The recipe calls for either cheddar or feta and Cristina sold us a feta that had to be the best feta I have ever tasted.  There were a variety of vegetables used in the quiche including spinach, zucchini, onion and red pepper.  Everyone had seconds.  We had a pan de castro along with the meal.  It is a much denser bread than a baguette and was the ideal accompaniment for the quiche.  I opened a bottle of a Valencia wine called Mala Vida and it was absolutely exquisite.  For dessert we had some fresh fruit and some macarons that we had purchased at El Parisien.  The macarons were quite good, but not as good as the ones that Sumi Chang makes at Europane in Pasadena.  We finished the meal with a liqueur and when a FaceTime call from Rachel sounded at 11:30 we were all amazed that three and a half hours had flown by.

After Klaus and Zahava left we did a bit of tidying up and called Rachel back so that we could have a more leisurely chat.  Rachel was about to head off to Ikea to return some tables that she had bought a while back and to look for several other things.  When we hung up from her, we read for a little while and then called it a day.

Sunday Morning Fruit Salad

Bagels and Lox

Sunday Lunch Salad

Sunday, January 29, 2012

It’s sunny again in Valencia after a brief bout with rain early Saturday morning.  Since most of the rain fell between 1:00 and 8:00 it really had no effect on yesterday’s activities.  Klaus and Zahava are coming over for dinner this evening and we still need to pick up a few things for dinner.

Given the fact that we had not been to the Central market all week, supplies were quite low.  We loaded up on fruits and vegetables, boquerones, ham and a variety of cheeses.  Since our guests this evening are vegetarians, Susan will be making a quiche that is prepared in a spring-form pan and is much higher than your usual quiche.  Since Cheddar cheese seemed to be a difficult find yesterday, Susan will use requesón, a cheese similar to ricotta, but less salty, and feta.  The quiche will also contain spinach.  I picked up a few bottles of a locally brewed beer called Tyris, which is one of Klaus’ favorites so we are in excellent shape.

When we got back home, I decided that it was time for the great router adventure.  I unplugged the old router and hooked up the new one.  My MacBook saw the new router and I typed in the password to join the network.  A few seconds later the check mark next to the network appeared and I thought I was good to go.  I opened my browser and…nothing.  The computer was not connecting to the Internet.  Not good.  I decided to go back to the old router and deal with the issue later.  I hooked up the old one and … nothing.  I plugged and unplugged every device and still nothing.  In the process Susan tightened one of the cables and magically there was a connection.  Was a loose cable the problem?  So it seemed.

While working on a project I happened to notice that our network had gotten unlocked in the process and was available to anyone who cared to use it.  I accessed the router and while I was reprogramming the security settings contact was lost between the computer and the router and, as a result, the router was inaccessible and we now had no connection to the network and, consequently to the Internet.  The solution seemed to be to give the new router another try.  We set it up and joined the new network.  I used my iPod Touch to make sure that it had a designated network address and that it was functioning normally.  That was a good sign.  I then tried to access the Internet on my computer and… nothing.  What’s a boy to do?

While sitting at my computer pulling out the few hairs left in my head magic happened.  All of a sudden my screen lit up and I was looking at my Facebook page.  Somehow the network and my computer shook hands and the connection was made.  We then proceeded to connect each and every device we own to the network.  The list of each and every device is as follows: Susan’s MacBook, my MacBook, Susan’s iPad, my iPad, my iTouch, the printer, the Apple TV and a repeater.  Every device found the network.  I then proceeded to check the download speed of the new router.  With the old router we were getting 6 MB on a good day and 2 MB most of the time.  With the new router we were getting 16 MB, which is the download speed that is advertised by ONO.  When I looked at the clock it was a little past 4:00 and we had not had lunch yet.  We decided to give the recently opened London Café a try.

London Café is located near the Central Market and has been opened for two weeks now.  Based on our experience I am left wondering how much restaurant experience the owners and staff have actually had.  There was one waiter on the floor when we took our seat at a booth and he and the bartender were deeply involved in trying to solve some sort of a problem with the computer-based cash register.  After about five minutes he rushed past the table telling us he would be with us in a minute.  The menu features 100 different sandwiches, several hamburgers and several salads.  There are also several other menu items that we did not study at all because we knew what we wanted.  We ordered the London Café Salad, which is your typical salad you find all over Spain with the difference being the inclusion of a few slices of ham.  We also ordered a revuelto with potatoes and ham.  The salad and the revuelto were both very tasty.  The atmosphere of the restaurant was not very welcoming and the service was poor.  With time they may solve these problems.  I doubt we shall return.  This café is not our cup of tea.

We spent our evening reading and watching Almodóvar’s latest offering on DVD. La piel que habito is called The Skin I Live In in English.  Antonio Banderas plays the role of a creepy plastic surgeon, for lack of a better description.  This film is more of a step backward for the director.  The movie is beautifully filmed and all the other necessary cinematic touches are present.  The problem is that the protagonist is so unsympathetic that one cannot empathize with him and an important hook to the film is missing.  If you are an Almodóvar fan think of other of his recent films like Volver or Háblame and think of your reaction to the main character in those two films.

After viewing the film we read for a while longer.  I am now between books and looking for a new novel.  I have sampled a few books thanks to iBooks, but I have not found anything that has grabbed my attention.  I’ll keep looking.  We finally shut off the lights around 12:30 and went to bed.

Vistas de Vida

Vistas de Vida

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I can’t believe it.  It’s Saturday and we have nothing planned.  However, I have the sneaking suspicion that we will find something that will fill up our day.  We have not been to any museums this time around and today may just be the day.

It was overcast when we woke up yesterday and it even started to drizzle as we headed out to do a number of errands.  We stopped off at Miguel’s to pick up a cable box that his assistant, Alex, had used before ONO gave him a new one.  It is about six years old.  I took it, but I doubt that I will use it.  From Miguel’s we went to La Petxina to see if there was any available space in any of the morning Pilates classes, but it turned out there wasn’t.  On our way back home we stopped at Mercadona and picked up a few staples.  Tomorrow we will head to the Central Market because we are just about out of everything fresh.  Also, we will be having company for dinner on Sunday and we need to make sure that we can feed our vegetarian guests.

After we unpacked the groceries, I headed off to the gym to do some cardio and Susan headed out to meet with Zahava for lunch and a movie.  They went to see the new Glenn Close film, ‘Albert Nobbs”.  On my way home from the gym I stopped off at a computer store called Apps that is just around the corner from our place.  I had a chat with the tech/salesman about my router issue and he thought that the simplest solution would be to try a new router.  I plunked down my 21 Euros and took the baby home.

Lunch was leftovers that I supplemented with a fresh loaf of bread.  As I read over the instructions for installing the router I was dismayed to notice that the accompanying mini-CD that would allow one to install the router painlessly was intended only for Windows machines.  I was instructed to turn to Appendix 1 for Mac instructions.  The only problem was that Appendix 1 had instructions for Windows Vista and Windows 7.  I knew what the solution was since I had to reprogram the router that we now have, but the truth is I did not want to futz around with a brand new one.

After editing a Magic Agora piece I headed back to Apps and explained my problem.  The young lady behind the counter now told me that even though I had a Mac the installation would be easy.  She started to walk me through the steps and then she said, “You know what?  It will be just as easy for me to program it for you than run you through the necessary steps.” And that is just what she did and I headed home knowing that all I have to do now is plug the baby in, attach the connection from the modem and connect my computers via Wi-Fi to the new modem.

On my way back home I discovered that there is a brand new restaurant about to open on Calle Quart.  It looks like it will be a very fancy tapas bar that will also serve breakfast.  People were busy inside polishing things up and getting chairs and tables in place.  It looks like they could open this weekend.  This is the second restaurant to open close to us in the last week or so.  The other is called London Café and it is close to the Central Market.  It boasts having 100 different sandwiches available, as well as a variety of hamburgers.  We have yet to visit it, but it might be just the thing after a CIVAC meeting.

Susan returned home a little after 7:00 having enjoyed both the movie and her lunch at a Japanese restaurant near the theater.  I have included some photos of her meal.  We hopped a cab a little before 9:00 so that we could meet up with Ofelia at La Hamburguesería Mediterranea where we were going to have dinner.  Ofelia was already seated at our table when we arrived.  In the course of our meal we conversed about a number of topics some related to art, some related to politics and some related to life in general.  We started our meal with a shared Caesar Salad followed by some Indian pakoras.  Next came the hamburgers.  We had all ordered a different gourmet burger and each of us enjoyed our own particular choice.  Dessert was not really an option, so Susan and I had a coffee while we continued to chat.  Ofelia asked if I had brought any magic along and I performed a new effect that I have put together called Perception Deception.  It played very well.  We paid our check and left in search of an after dinner drink.

Ofelia had suggested a nearby café, but when we walked past it was jammed.  As we continued on our way a young woman, Candela, who was handing out promotional flyers and cards for nearby bars and restaurant, approached us.  In our conversation with her we discovered that last night was her birthday and that she was celebrating it by standing out in the cold and misting Valencia evening and handing out promotional material.  We asked her where we should go for a drink and she suggested Café 52, which was just across the street.

The bar was not very busy and we easily found a table.  We continued our conversation over a drink and took a few pictures to amuse ourselves.  When Candela returned from her stint on the street we invited her to our table and, in honor of her birthday, I fashioned for her a napkin rose, a pearl poodle and an origami butterfly.  She was genuinely touched by these little tokens and once again reinforces in my mind that magic moments in life do not always have to be accompanied by a deck of cards.  We chatted a while longer and a little after midnight we left the bar and walked to the Gran Vía to catch a cab.  We did not get to bed until 1:00.

Candela, Susan and I

Friday, January 27, 2012

Today’s paper focuses on the seriousness of the unemployment crisis in Spain in general and in Valencia in particular.  In Valencia the unemployment rate is a pinch above 25%.  That figure is not considered to be accurate because there are many who feel that, in actuality, it is higher because it does not include people who have left the country to look for work, people who have returned to their country of birth because there is no work for them here and those people who have stopped looking for work.  Most of the unemployed are young and the repercussions of that fact are unknown, but they cannot be promising.

I took most of the day off yesterday trying to defeat the bug that had decided to visit my body for a short stay – I hope that it’s a short stay.  I did have a chance to chat with Miguel about the router problem and we came up with a couple of solutions that do not involve ONO because, as I finally have discovered, the router that we are using for Wi-Fi was not installed by ONO, but rather by a friend of Miguel’s.  I also had enough energy to walk down to FNAC and pick up several DVD’s including Almodóvar’s latest. “The Skin I Live In”.

Susan had left earlier that morning for a visit with her hairdresser, Jorge.  She called about 1:30 and asked if I was interested in doing lunch close to where she was.  That seemed like a good idea so I made my way down to the Cánovas neighborhood and after a bit of searching we once again ended up at Lambrusquería.  We arrived before the afternoon rush and easily found an indoor table.  I started with the spinach salad and Susan had the pumpkin soup.  We both chose a pasta entrée and our dessert was a very light chocolate cake.  I had a beer and Susan had a glass of red wine.  We both had coffee.  The bill was under 20 Euros.  It is no wonder that it is next to impossible to find a table at this restaurant at lunchtime.

We walked home and stopped off at a store that specialized in things for the home and picked up a few items.  As we continued on our way we ran into Santi who was doing a couple of errands.  We always seem to run into him in our travels.  He told us that Mike had been fighting stomach flu and that they had to close down the restaurant for a few days while he recovered.  When we finally got back home, I e-mailed Pepe and told him that I would not be at the meeting of the veteranos that evening because I had decided to crash.

Susan left a little after 6:00 to catch up with Ofelia.  They were going to attend a lecture on laughter therapy and then get a bite to eat afterwards.  I spent the evening reading and relaxing.  I also watched the latest episode of Glee.  Susan returned home a little after 11:30 and that was the signal for me to go to bed.

A rathe rinteresting store window!

Pumpkin Soup

Spinach Salad

Pasta Genovesa

Chocolate Cake

January 26, 2012

Yesterday was a low-energy and minimal-activity day.  The technician for our cable company, Ono, was supposed to call in the morning between 9:00 and 12:00 to let us know when he would be arriving.  That call never came.  Our schedule got turned upside down for a variety of reasons and I did not get to the gym and Susan did not get to her Pilates class.  I met with Nico at 4:00 and we worked together for a good forty-five minutes.  We started off clearing up some of his grammatical doubts and then we spent the rest of the time chatting.  I was home by 5:00 and that is when we started preparing a rather late lunch.  Oven-baked potatoes and a steak were the features of this meal.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and around 7:30 we got changed and a bit later we headed out to the Teatro Olympia to see 40 El Musical.  It is a show that features some 30 songs from the past ten years or so that are linked together by a rather worn narrative.  The foci are the singing and the dancing because the libretto is filled with the usual stereotypes – the failed romance, the father who is dying, the athlete who suffers an accident and becomes paralyzed and the guy who realizes that he really is gay.  The show lasted almost three hours.  The audience loved it and Susan and I enjoyed it.

As we walked through the door at midnight FaceTime was signaling and it was Rachel calling from Boulder.  We had a pleasant conversation and were happy to discover that her travel plans for March are now complete.  She will be going to San Francisco for a games conference and from there will head to Valencia.  Needless to say, we are looking forward to seeing her.  We went to bed soon after we hung up from Rachel.