Marty Kaplan's Blog

Sunday, March 9, 2014

            Well, it certainly has been a whirlwind weekend.  Little by little the streets are becoming more and more crowded and traffic is backing up nicely, thank you.  Since a lot of the action is taking place at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, many people are making use of Calle Linterna to get there.  Parking is always improvisational in Valencia and it has now become creative. The weather has been holding in the mid-60’s during the day and cool nights.

            Friday we had tickets for the symphony.  It turned out to be a very popular program and there were very few empty seats.  We were at the back of the auditorium for this particular concert, but the sound was excellent.  The program started with Haydn and ended with Tchaikovsky.  It was the first time that we heard the orchestra play an encore.  That’s how good the concert was!

            On the walk back home we stopped at a faux 50’s diner here in Valencia called Tommy Mel’s. Since Mel’s is a copyrighted name they chose the name Tommy Mel’s.  Interestingly enough it is hard to make out the Tommy part of the sign.  I wonder why that is.  The menu is essentially burgers with a bit of chicken and Philly Cheese steak thrown in.  Sakes and sundaes occupy a prominent part of the menu.  Susan and I both had burgers and we shared a side of fries and a side of onion rings.  Susan had a vanilla shake and I had a couple of beers.  We split a sundae for dessert.  The burgers were okay. In truth, I do not expect to find standout burgers here and this was probably my third burger in the last three years.  The bottom line is we had a good time and that’s what counts.

            In a previous post I mentioned that Susan and I had been named falleros de honor of the casal Plaza de Jesús and last night was the opening event.  It took place in a tent erected close by the physical casal and it is one of many tents that populate the city during Fallas.  As a matter of fact, on Monday they will erect the one outside of our apartment building.  Festivities began at 8:00 and it consisted of a series of introductions and acknowledgements of those people who make all the events associated with a casal happen.  Additionally, a number of falleras from different casals were introduced.  After the rather lengthy presentation, supper was served.  There were a variety of cold cuts and cheeses, albóndigas de bacalao, ajo arriero (similar to a brandade), empanadas and individual casseroles of huevos rotos which consists of a base of French fries, various sausages all topped with a fried egg.

            Dessert and coffee were served and a bottle of cava made its way to the table and we all toasted to a successful Fallas 2014.  Next the falleros de honor were recognized and Susan and I received a small gift basket with sweets and a small bottle of mistela.  There was a musical presentation scheduled after the meal, but it was getting close to 12:30 and our energy was flagging.  Juanjo drove us home and we did not get to bed much before 1:30.

            Sunday presented us with a bit of a dilemma. Last night we were invited to witness the paella competition at the casal and taste the results.  That invite came rather unexpectedly.  We had plans to visit with Jerry Lazar. Jerry is a magician from LA who is spending time here in Spain and is currently in Valencia.  We were scheduled to have lunch at Carosel at 2:00.  We did indeed have lunch at 2:00 at Carosel and Susan helped solve the problem by showing up at the casal at 11:30 and taking pictures of the competition.

            The process is fascinating.  First of all the street is blocked off.  It is strange to see a sign that reads, “Streets closed because of paella!” There were twenty-five contestants and each had their cooking space delineated.  A layer of sand is first laid down to prevent damage to the street’s surface.  Next the wood for the fire is placed under a metal stand that holds the paella pan.  All the contestants start with the same ingredients and are then left to their own devices.  The contest brings out a cadre of observers and critics who suggest the cook needs to do this or that.  Most advice is ignored.  When the paellas are done, the judging begins.  And the winner was our friend, Juanjo, who along with Vilma did an outstanding job in order to win the competition.  They stopped by the house later to deliver a generous serving of the winning paella.  It will be tomorrow’s lunch.

            Our lunch with Jerry Lazar was very enjoyable.  Jerry has been involved in the world of print media and television for a goodly number of years.  He is a member of The Magic Castle and a friend of David Groves, a magician whom I know from time spent together at Dean’s Shoppe.  Jerry is spending a week here in Valencia, having spent six weeks in Valencia.  Thursday he is off to Madrid for a week and from Madrid he will head to Seville for another two weeks of magic and fun. We finished up our meal around 5:00.  I will meet up with Jerry tomorrow evening and take him over to the CIVAC so he can meet some of our members.

            The rest of our day was uneventful.  We did watch the third episode of the first season of Sherlock.  I have already downloaded the second season and the third season is on our future download list.  Now it is time for bed.  Goodnight, all!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

            We had two spring-like days on Friday and Saturday with temperatures in the mid-70’s.  After a stop at the Millennium Medical Center to get the results of the blood work for our annual checkup – everything checked out fine – we made our way to the City of Arts and Sciences.  One can buy a year pass that covers the entrance fees to the Aquarium, Science Museum and the Planetarium.  The Planetarium also has an IMAX theater.  It cost the two of us a little more than 100 Euros for the two passes  and we plan to make good use of these passes.

            We stopped at The Ginger Loft for lunch and enjoyed a vermicelli salad with Asian overtones and a Thai curry with chicken.  Mike and Santi’s plans for the future are still in the air.  They are exploring various alternatives, but at the moment everything is in a state of flux.  Stay tuned for further details.

            Jordi’s wife, Carol, had invited us to join her, Joana and another couple for lunch.  We made our way over to Carosel at 1:30 and we learned that the other couple would be unable to make it to lunch.  Joana’s Montessori teacher, Felicia, was having lunch with friends of hers from Toronto. We decided to join them and so we said hello to Adria and Eric and their daughter, Calla.  Adria is a producer who is currently working on a Civil War documentary detailing the role of women and Eric is an actor, as well as a scriptwriter.  It turns out that Felicia was Calla’s teacher in Toronto.

            Carol had prepared a salad of lettuces, cherry tomatoes, avocado and queso fresco that was absolutely delicious.  We sampled some of the paella that Adria and Eric had ordered and then we sampled Carol’s coq au vin.  We had a little wine, a little dessert and coffee and before we knew it, it was almost 5:00 o’clock.  We made our way home and rested up before we headed out again for a guitar concert at the Museo de Bellas Artes.

            The concert, sponsored by the Amigos de la Guitarra de Valencia was, as usual, outstanding.  The soloist was Dimitris Kotronakis from Crete.  You will find a copy of his program at the end of this entry.  When the concert ended we decided to walk back home because the weather was so nice.  There was not a great deal of activity on the streets and that was a bit surprising for a Saturday.  When we got home we raided the refrigerator and then read for a while.  We have no big plans for today since it is both cold and rainy.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

            Valencia tends to miss a lot of the systems that make their way across the peninsula either from west to east or south to north.  What we do tend to get are the winds that drive the systems in either direction.  Today’s winds are averaging 30 miles per hour and there have been some very impressive gusts that we got to experience as we made our way from a camera repair shop to Carrefour that reminds me of a Super Target.  We went there in search of grape leaves for a Saturday cooking get together with Pepe.  The culinary focus will be the Middle East and Pepe will prepare a lamb tagine and Susan’s contribution will be pita bread, hummus and tabbouleh.  I have graciously volunteered to eat everything.  What a guy!

            Last night we finally caught up with the Oberles.  It had been more than a month since out last get together.  Brian has been busy with his work at the consular office here in Valencia and Ofelia at the art studio she shares with a number of other artists.  The two of them spent several days in Madrid helping Ofelia’s mother get settled in her new apartment in Madrid.  We had a lovely dinner at Appetite Cantina as we caught up with each other’s comings and goings.

            I am following the political scene here with a great deal of interest.  As you know form previous posts the Partido Popular won an absolute majority in the last elections and has been ramming through legislation without any discussion and totally ignoring the will of the people. They have pushed through significant cuts in education, health, welfare, culture and pensions.  The have raised the VAT to 21% and, as announced yesterday, unemployment has reached the highest rate since 2007.  The party’s strategy for the upcoming elections will be to introduce a number of tax cuts that will be of scant benefit to the 26% of the overall population that is out of work with youth unemployment hovering at 50%.

            The PP has defended the interests of the wealthy providing the funds for a bank bailout occasioned by the tidal wave of mortgage loans that should have been never made and by stacking the boards of local savings and loans with cronies and then funding ridiculous construction projects carried our by friends.  The Catholic Church continues to receive 14 million Euros a month and the royal family continues to be staunchly defended in spite of their rather immoral and slimy goings on.

            The Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, hides behind his ministers who do all the dirty work and become the public face of the party.  The ministers, all longtime supporters of the party, are, to be kind, a group of bumblers.  They frequently make pronouncements that they soon retract claiming they were misquoted and they make policy decisions from which they backtrack. The latest hullabaloo involves the abortion question with the party putting forth a proposed policy change that would greatly limit access to abortion for any reason whatsoever.  There has been a great deal of pushback within the party itself and the reaction from other political parties here in Spain and all over Europe have been negative, to say the least.

            The decision has now been made to not make any changes until after the elections for the European Parliament in 2015.  The PP’s popularity numbers continue to plummet and there is widespread talk that the two parties – the PP and the PSOE – that have alternated being the party in power since the mid-70’s may find themselves on the sidelines after the 2016 elections.  We shall see how it all plays out.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

            This has been a week of starts and stops.  Not much happened on Monday and Tuesday as Christmas day approached.  We spent Wednesday in Pedreguer with Pepe and his family.  Thursday was marked by a performance at Valencia’s Ronald McDonald House and yesterday I had an unwelcome visit from a 24-hour bug.

            Pepe was already in Pedreguer so on Wednesday we made our way to the train station and caught the 11:41 train to Gandía.  It is a quick 58 minutes from station to station and when we arrived Pepe was waiting for us.  We all piled into a rather small Ford Smart and we were at Pepe’s mother’s house by 1:30.  We gathered around the dining room table as the first wave of relatives came by for a visit. At one point, when I looked up, there were fourteen of us assembled around the table.  In preparation for what was to be a rather substantial meal – a puchero – we warmed up our appetites with a variety of cold cuts, sardines, white asparagus and a never empty bowl of chips. At 2:30 the first wave returned to their nearby home for their meal and we made our way upstairs to María’s apartment.  María is Pepe’s sister. There were twelve of us gathered around the table when lunch was served.

            We managed to make a dent in the puchero, but, as usual, did not eat enough to satisfy Pepe’s mother.  It seems that Spanish mothers are like Italian mothers who, in turn, are like Jewish mothers. A parade of desserts followed and to top everything off we opened a bottle of champagne and toasted each other.  We then got up form the table and went to the home of Pepe’s aunt where we had our coffee.  As I looked around the table I could see people starting to nod off.  That being the case we went back to María’s apartment and quickly fell asleep in front of the TV.

            Thirty minutes later we made our way downstairs only to discover that another branch of the family had gathered around the table and was enjoying coffee and dessert.  In the midst of all this celebration our friend, Jordi Morera, made an appearance.  He had spent the day in Denia with his sister and her family and since he was heading back to Valencia he had kindly offered to take us along.  The ride home was rather interesting because Jordi’s car was being buffeted by strong winds – winds that were strong enough to move the car from the left hand lane to the right hand lane all by itself.  When we returned home I spent some time getting my things ready for Thursday’s magic show.

            Gurrea had received a letter from a friend of his in Barcelona telling him that the Ronal McDonald House in Valencia was looking for performers to come and entertain the children and their families who were living at the facility while they were undergoing treatment at the Hospital de La Fe, which is close by.  I made an appointment with Cristina who is the director of events at the house and Gurrea and I met with her the evening of December 18.  She gave us a tour of the facility and afterwards we chatted about when she would like us to perform.  We decided on the day after Christmas.

            Gurrea came by the house a little after 3:00 and we headed out.  Our start time was 5:00 and by 4:00 we had everything set up and ready to go.  Cristina came by and said that before we went on a few people were coming by to sing some Christmas carols after which we would go on.  The few people happened to be an entire chorus and the few songs turned out to be many and their performance lasted a good thirty minutes.

            We were concerned on many levels.  Having already sat for a half an hour, how much stamina would the children and their parents have now that it was our turn to perform?  The other problem was having done the necessary psychological preparation to go out and perform, that energy had dissipated while we listened to song after song. 

            We began our show at 5:30 and the room was full.  There were about thirty people all together.  The delay turned out to be advantageous on one level.  Two of the kids who were receiving treatment were able to make their way to our performance space in time to see the entire show.  I led things off and did about thirty minutes and Gurrea followed and did an additional thirty minutes.  The energy in the room was high.  There was a lot of laughter and a lot of oohs and ahs.  Afterwards the adults stopped by and thanked us for taking the time to bring some amazement and laughter into the lives of their kids.  Needless to say, it was a very satisfying experience.

            To celebrate the performance Susan and I decided to have dinner at Appetite, one of the highest rates restaurants on Trip Advisor.  We enjoyed a six course meal that featured a fish taco, beef won ton soup, sticky shrimp, Thai mussels, roast duck and, for dessert, Pannetone with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. In the course of the meal we also had a beer and three glasses of wine. This outstanding meal cost 67 Euros and we knew that back in LA this would have cost us triple that amount.

            And so another Christmas has come and gone and we were fortunate enough to spend quality time with our friends here in Valencia and do the things that are most meaningful to us.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

            It’s Saturday and while I am still trying to recover from turkey stupor we will venture forth this evening for another Thanksgiving dinner at the Oberles.  Olivia is in town and missed the Thursday version so Brian will accommodate her with a traditional Thanksgiving meal two days after the fact.  It will be fun.

            Susan went all out for our Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.  When all was said and done we had a group of friends around the table that included Mike, Santi, Jordi, Carol, Joana, Pepe, Brian, Vilma and Juanjo. Everyone brought a little something so that when we finally sat down there was an abundance of food and drink.

            We had beer, champagne, white wine and red wine and, if I remember correctly, we even had some water at the table.  In addition to the turkey we enjoyed mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, stuffing, spinach rice casserole cranberry relish, Bundt cake, pumpkin pie and pecan pie. The festivities began at 2:30 and our last guests left at 7:30.  The good news is that everyone pitched in to help cleanup so that the only task that needed to be done was to clean the oven and that happened yesterday.

            On a different note, the oatmeal saga has finally reached a conclusion.  Let me explain.  Susan likes oatmeal and, now that the weather has turned decidedly colder, it tends to be her breakfast of choice.  Back in Pasadena it was easy to buy McCann’s Irish Oatmeal since it seemed to be available everywhere.  That’s not the case here in Spain.  In searching the Internet I discovered a website called iHerb that had the oatmeal available at a reasonable price and so I ordered two tins and with shipping the final price came to a bit more than $26.  A week later I discovered that the package was being held hostage at customs.  In order to set it free I first had to send a copy of the bill of sale and fill out a customs declaration.  Time passed and I next received another document in which I had to once again specify the contents and for what purpose the contents were to be used. The other day I received a communication from customs informing me that in order for them to release the package I would have to pay a total of 44.67 Euros to set my package free.  In dollars that would be an additional $61.  If I do not pay the fees the package will be returned to sender.  I hope the carton has a pleasant journey back to the states.  By the way, the major portion of the fee has to do with its going through customs.  The actual duty on the product is $5.00. 

            That’s what has been going on for the past few days.  I hope your Thanksgiving was as enjoyable as ours or even more so.  I think I am going to take a nap to rest up for tonight’s task.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

            We are back in Valencia after a rather busy week in the south of Spain.  Our motivation for heading south was to attend the Festival de Hocus-Pocus put on annually by Miguel Puga in his native Granada.  This was the twelfth time that he had put on the weeklong event.  The events that take place on Monday through Wednesday are intended for non-magicians and Thursday through Sunday there are lectures for magicians only, as well as a series of stage shows.  In checking out prices it turned out that it was cheaper to fly to Seville and take the train to Granada than any other possible solution.  Since that was the case, we decided to spend some time in Seville before we made our way to Granada.

            Our flight left Valencia at 1:30 and the 50-minute flight to Seville was a smooth one with a slight bit of turbulence as we climbed to cruising speed.  Our luggage was waiting at the carousel by the time we reached the terminal.  It was easy to locate our bags since there were only five checked bags on our particular flight.  A twenty-minute cab ride took us to our hotel, the Alfonso XIII, which is part of the Starwood Collection.  Since Susan receives a substantial discount on a room because she is a Starwood alum, we were more than happy to pay the 70 Euro price for what is normally a 210 Euro room.  We unpacked a headed out in search of some lunch.

            It was a brisk afternoon and as the week progressed the temperatures continued to drop.  We discovered a restaurant, Casablanca that was a short distance from the hotel.  The place was jammed and that is always a good sign.  Even though it was a little before 4:00 we still had a fifteen-minute wait for a table.  As it turned out, the wait was worthwhile. We lunched on a dozen gambas a la plancha and a fritura (a selection of small fish, shellfish and fish filets that have been fried) both dishes recommended by our waiter. Fortified with a little wine, a little coffee and a little dessert we set out to explore the old part of town.

            We spent a good couple of hours roaming and exploring and that afforded Susan the opportunity to shoot a goodly number of photos.  Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit.  We ventured forth again around 9:00 PM in search of a bar, Enrique Becerra, that our friend, Andrew Handelsman had recommended. He insisted that we had to try the lamb meatballs made with mint and so when we sat down at the bar that is what we ordered. Susan liked them so much that she asked for the recipe at which point our server produced a book by Becerra himself with a variety of his favorite recipes. Since he was a short distance away from us, working on some project or other, he was more than happy to sign the book.  It was a short walk back to the hotel and we called it a day around 11:30.

            We left the hotel Wednesday a little before noon and after a quick breakfast we continued our adventures. We paid a visit to the cathedral, which is enormous. Every time I visit an ornate cathedral I have the same impression.  I think that the money would have been and could be better spent helping out parishioners who are in dire need.  Since there are six million unemployed in Spain that list would be a long one. After our visit to the cathedral we went in search of our lunch destination, a restaurant called La Azotea, another Handelsman recommendation.  We walked for quite a while and, since our destination still seemed rather far away, we hopped a cab and ten minutes later we were within hailing distance of the restaurant.

                        We walked in and introduced ourselves to the owner, Juan, who spent five years in Southern California, ending with an extended stint in San Diego.  His wife, Janine, is a California native and we had the chance to chat with her later.  Together they own four restaurants in Seville and all of them are wildly successful. We had arrived a little after 2:00 so finding a table was easy. That would not have been the case had we arrived later.  We started our meal with a scramble of wild forest mushrooms and ham, tartar de salmón marinado and a plate of sliced steak.  All dishes were both eye appealing and very tasty.  For dessert Susan chose crema de naranja con helado a la hierbabuena y granizado de ginebra  – an orange cream with spearmint ice cream and a gin granita. I went a more traditional route and had a chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream. We finished the meal with coffee and a little magic. After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.  We packed up our few belongings in preparation for the next day’s train ride to Granada.

            The train trip from Seville to Granada takes a good three hours.  From the train station we took a cab to our hotel, Hotel Casa 1800 Granada. Located in the old quarter it is a former barracks that has been renovated and turned into a very nice and welcoming hotel.  We unpacked and then went in search of lunch.  It was rather late in the afternoon, but we stopped in at a nearby restaurant that the desk clerk at the hotel has recommended.

            We ended up eating twice at Carmela Restaurante during our four-day stay.  The food was excellent and so was the service.  Standout dishes were homemade croquetas de jamón and croquetas de morcilla, a boldly sauced dish made with monkfish and shrimp and a plate of seared tuna. We also had lunch one day at Los Arrayanes, a Moroccan restaurant.  They make a great lamb tagine.  A Saturday late lunch at Los Manueles was also remarkable.  We had a great grilled vegetable plate and a dish that featured clams and shrimp. Sunday there was a farewell luncheon at a local restaurant where, of all things, we enjoyed sliced roast beef, oven roasted potatoes and several vegetables.

            The Festival was one of the best magic events that I have ever attended.  I cannot even begin to imagine the number of man-hours that went into the preparation of this event.  It is intended for the citizens of Granada and magicians are invited to attend, but the number of attendees is limited.  This year there were fifty of us.  All lectures took place in a facility called La Expositiva and all stage shows took place in the Teatro Isabel La Católica, which has a capacity of 700. Truth be told I only attended a few of the lectures because we wanted to do a bit of sightseeing since this was out first visit to Granada in thirty-three years. The two stage events that we enjoyed the most were Jandro TV on Friday night and an international gala on Saturday night.  There was also a Sunday evening show that we had to miss because we needed to pack everything up for the following day’s return trip to Seville.

            We paid a return visit to The Alhambra on Saturday and, to be honest, it was a bit disappointing. Many changes and upgrades have been made to the tourist experience necessitated by the throngs of visitors who come here every day. Dirt roads have been paved and marble has replaced the dirt floors of several patios.  The patio of the Lions that used to be surrounded by a ring of ever changing flowers according to the season is completely surrounded by marble and seems lost on the expanse of white.  Thirty plus years ago it was easy to imagine yourself back in the day when the caliphs used to roam the grounds.  I found the modern-day version to be a bit sterile and antiseptic.  The buildings are still a wonder to behold, as are the gardens of the Genralife.

            Monday we trained back to Seville and checked in at the Alfonso XIII where they upgraded us to a spacious room that overlooks the pool.  We visited La Azotea once again, but it was the one on Calle Zaragoza.  We had a lovely meal of baby clams and baby artichokes, a sashimi of lemon fish and a small prime filet.  Juan’s brother, Davis, runs this restaurant and we stayed until the place closed down for the afternoon.  Then it was back to the hotel where we packed up the few things that we had taken out of our suitcases during the day and then it was an early bedtime because we needed to be up at 6:00 to catch our 8:30 flight back to Valencia.

            It felt good to be back home.  We have traveled quite a bit this fall and now it is time to stay put for a while.  Susan is busy preparing thing for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving meal.  There will be fourteen of us gathered around the table and it promises to be a fun event will all the traditional dishes on our table. The weather promises to be cold and that brings back memories of the many Thanksgiving Days we celebrated back east. I will post photos after Thanksgiving.