I'm moving to Barcelona in one and a half weeks but it doesn't feel like it. I'm still at work, my room in the house still isn´t rented (starting to worry me now) and I haven´t packed anything yet. Life continues as per usual. This weekend is a Bank Holiday so I don´t think it will really hit me until I get up on Tuesday morning and I don´t have to go to work. Then it will be four days of mad organisation until Saturday when we get on the plane to Bilbao.
Erik and I have planned a weekend away to take our final look at the Irish countryside, which, let´s face it, is a million times nicer than Dublin. First down the middle of the country to Cork, then up the west coast through Dingle to the Aran Islands (which I have never been to but everyone says they are beautiful) and then home. Annoyingly, this weekend is the Galway Races (biggest social event of the year) and practically all affordable accommodation in Clare and Galway is booked. Despite the race chaos we have booked a darling B&B for Sunday and the rest of the time will be spent in hostel dorms - uncomfortable but affordable. Plus some friends are going to be in Cork and Dingle with us, so I´d say time spent in the hostel will be minimal. I´ve got to get all the Guinnesses I can into me before I fly away!
On Tuesday morning we´ve planned to head out to Newgrange, which is not too far from Dublin if you have a car. It´s like the Irish version of Stonehenge, or something...well, to be completely honest I don´t really have a clue what it is, but it´s famous and I´ve done all the other crap you´re supposed to do in Oirland (kissing the Blarney stone, the cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry, the Giant´s Causeway, the Burren, etc.) so I´d better just complete the set. I remember when I first came to Ireland a half drunk Irish lad said he´d drive me out there if I showed him my chest - an offer I politely declined.
Right now my new obsession is food. Anyone that knows me will think, hang on Lucia, that´s hardly news, you've always been a pig...*ahem*...I mean, obsessed with food. But I´m coming at it from a slightly different angle - while I still enjoy the consumption aspect of food (and how!) I am becoming ever more interested in the preparation side. It´s gotten to the point where Erik is beginning to wonder aloud why one person would need so many cookbooks (it´s only just occurred to me what a wonderful fusion that is; reading, and cooking). To be fair, he didn´t bat an eyelid when I came home the other day with a hardback, 640 page "Darina Allen´s Cookery Course", hardly practical when every gram of possessions we own have to be hauled 1000 km to Bilbao. But it is a gorgeous book, with both simple and complicated recipies, lots of useful tips, information on how to select the freshest and the best ingredients, and a conversational style which makes you think it´s your aunt in the kitchen with you making the dish. Not to mention the food porn, which is not too abundant (nothing disappoints like a cookbook with more pictures than recipes) but very appealing. Talking about food porn - I´ve recently become aware of the existence of food blogs. They always floated on the periphery of my concience but now they have become a serious threat to my day-to-day productivity levels. My current favourite: Cream Puffs In Venice. Oh god the cakes. I went through a big biscuit phase last year but I think my next project is definitely cupcakes. I expect the icing to present a challenge but I am ready for the long hard slog in the kitchen. I just hope to make friends quicky in Barca because I don´t want to eat them all myself!
All this recipe obsession coupled with the fact I´ll be living in Barcelona, home of the world-famous La Boqueria market, will mean Erik´s stomach will be facing some trials in the months ahead - I forsee liver, duck eggs and rabbit stew in the near future. As long as he doesn´t get food poisoning I´m happy.
For now we´re subsisting on stuff we´ve previously frozen, cans of asparagus, olives, tuna and roast peppers, pasta, and basically anything we´ve got in the cupboards and don´t want to take with us. So I´d say any home cooked, complete meal we get in Spain will be a welcome change, even if it is liver!
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