My Euro Tour Part 20 Spain

Hello !  Renxkyoko Iglesias here !

I’ve been hella busy these past weeks……… exams, work, and  stuff are getting in the way of blogging. As usual, there’s nothing on my mind  at the moment, but then I’m always like this, right? I’m a slow starter.  Funny thing is, when I get going,  there’s nothing that can stop  me from  taking off.  So, let’s see where this post goes.

My signature name here, Ren x Kyoko .  It goes without saying that  isn’t my real first name.  The name comes from one of my most favorite mangas ( Japanese graphic novels) SKIP BEAT.  Yep, I read mangas, and really, really enjoy reading them.  They are drawings, cartoons, with very few words to read, and basically depend  on facial  expressions to convey what ‘s going on in the story.  Did you get to read my Valentine’s post here ?  It conveys a lot just looking at the drawings, doesn’t it,  with  minimum number of words, 13 short sentences, and really, the drawings say it all.  Oh,  I’m not rationalizing my fondness for stories with pictures. I read to entertain myself. That’s all there is to it. But, I have to admit  some manga stories do lower the level of my IQ a few notches. Or, have   irreversibly killed a few brain cells.  ( Eh. I’m not worried about my IQ.  I’ve been called a walking Encyclopedia once,  and I believe I can give Jeopardy contestants a run for their money.  )

The other stuff  thar I read.

Quite  a few mangas  have scarred me for life, though.  Like, what, you ask.  Like Incest, that’s what.  Like 2 siblings who are into forbidden love, and in the end, both comitted  suicide.  Or,  twins who have  fallen in love with each other, and have ran away to another country to be together. There are tons of forbidden love stories like these, though some are cute, especially those that involve love between two  non-blood -related siblings.  There are so many plotlines like these that it makes me think, is this actually  a cultural thing in Japan?

Back to SKIP BEAT…… it’s a series that I’ve been reading for 6 years now, and still ongoing. It’s at Chapter 198 , to date, and the truth is, it’s been on going for 10 years already..  What’s amazing about this manga is that, the timeline of the story  as of the last chapter is barely over a year .  A chapter comes out every  5th of the month, and I tell you, I always get butterflies in my stomach everytime I turn on the computer to check if  a new  chapter has already been uploaded. That’s how addicted I am to this  pure  love story. It’s a comedy, too.

You know, I visualize myself  already a grandma, sitting in a rocking chair, sipping hot cocoa, clucking my dentures, and still reading Skip Beat. ( *_*)  For the love of God, hurry up and kiss already ! ! Gosh !  * like  that’s gonna happen * (6_6 )

Oh, well. * turns off fangirl  switch *

I did say I was going to post a few left-over photos  of Spain. I hope  a reader from Spain can recognize them.  I don’t know where these pictures were taken, but I’m sure it was before our trip to Burgos, Spain. I was wearing the same dress.

.Above photo is a bullring.

Photos below are our Optional dinner at Barcelona, which cost each person $75, and  includes Spanish Flamenco Dance entertainment. I think this was the best  dinner in our 27 day tour……. a sumptous  Spanish buffet !  The dishes were  like the foods we cook at home…. estofado, paella, etc.  There was even a squid soup dish that included the ink… the way we cook it at home.

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Ooooh, there’s the black rice with squid ink.  That’s how we cook it at home too. We saute garic, onions, lots of tomatoes, then the squid with the ink, then water…. then we eat it with rice, and the rice turns black in color because of the squid ink. Guys, it’s an acquired taste, but it really tastes good.  Trust me.

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There’s rabbit stew on the plate but I’m not sure which one. Rabbit estofado was delicious, it really was, but,  it was difficult to swallow Roger Rabbit..

.Desserts !

I ‘m going to blog about the foods we had in Europe, something like a food critique.  One thing,  we had the best in Spain. And very generous portions, too. More to my taste, anyway.

After dinner, we watched a Flamenco dance group.

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Oooooh, passionate dance, passionate people.

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.That’s it for Spain…. the land of my ancestors.  Beautiful country. Good-bye.

Peace and stay cool.