Paella + Tapas + Flan + Bocadillos = Espana

I really wasn't sure I was going to have time for Spain. I already spent a semester abroad in Spain back in 1998 so I was able to spend a good amount of time visiting all the major cities. I loved my past experiences in Spain. Spain was my first trip to Europe and Spain was also the main reason why I wanted to live in a big city after college. I loved the fact that everyone walked everywhere and I loved the incredible energy of the people and the culture. To top it all off, I loved the food! The food is the reason why I decided to go back to Spain earlier this week. My trip was only 40 hours and 4 of those hours were spent in the aiport. I already spent a week in Croatia so I had almost 2 days in between Croatia and London. I could have extended my time in Croatia or gone to London earlier but why would I do that when I have the world's best paella waiting for me? The obvious choice was to fly to Madrid and indulge myself in the best Spanish food.

My biggest concern when I arrived: I only had 36 hours outside of the airport! 12 of those hours would be for sleeping if I slept 6 hrs each night. That left me with only 24 hours for eating which adds up to 5 meals. FIVE MEALS...that's it?!?!?! I listed all my favorite dishes prior to arriving in Madrid and it included 10 different entrees. How was I suppossed to choose 5 out of the 10? Well, I always believe that you can have everything in life. Maybe not all at once but you can have everything over time. You may have to compromise in certain areas and work really hard to get what you want but in the end, you can have it all. I found the solution to the "you can have it all" scenario....I must pull an ALL NIGHTER. No sleeping for 36 hours. I would have to eat every 4 hours and then buy a meal to go for the plan ride. This is exactly what I did and I got all 10 meals in!!!!

What did I eat? Paella twice (I had to try the meat paella and seafood paella separately), endless amount of different tapas, 3 different bocadillos (which are sub sandwiches), plenty of pastries, and of course flan. Was it worth the trip? ABSOLUTELY. The food in Spain actually ranks as high as Italy on my list. I like tapas in the U.S. too but it does not compare to Spain. People have been asking me if I have put on weight because of all the food I am eating or if I have lost weight because I'm walking around so much. The answer is: I have lost 5 pounds which is a result of running 5x a week and walking around all day. I probably could lose more because I am on my feet all the time but I eat wayyyyyy too much. Every time I'm in these countries I seriously act and think that I'm never going to eat again when I see all these different types of food. It's sort of true in a way...I will be eating those certain dishes only during that short period so why hold back?

Aside from all the eating, I did take a day trip to Salamanca while I was in Spain. Salamanca was the city that I lived in while I was studying abroad and it is a 2.5 hour train ride from Madrid. So if you are doing the math right now, a combined 5 hours of my time in Spain was on a train. This did not hinder my eating schedule because I always grabbed a bocadillo for the train ride so that I can check off my itemized food list. Anyways, as soon as I stepped foot in Salamanca, so many wonderful memories came back to me. I revisited the university, our favorite hang out spots, the warm and cozy cafes, the tasty restaurants, and the street that I lived on. Even though it had been 10 years, I still remembered where everything was and it was so wonderful to see how somethings have not changed at all. At the same time, it was neat to see the subtle modern changes in the city.

I mentioned in the first paragraph that the only reason I went back to Spain was for the food. This is true BUT I'm so glad I made it back because my short time there made me realize how much I loved Spain and how much I missed it! My dear friend Jill has been back 3 times since we left 10 years ago and she still can't get enough of it! I always figured I would go see other places first before going back again but this visit to Spain was just as great as my first. It was wonderful being able to communicate in Spanish and understand the language. I definitely hope to use my Spanish more when I get back to the U.S. If I'm not using it for my job then I definitely want to use it in a volunteering position. I hope my next trip back to Spain will be much sooner than this last one. I left Spain yesterday morning and I am now in London. This will be my last stop in Europe. I fly out of here next Tue the 18th for Hong Kong. I will write about London later this week. So far it's been great! I was only planning on staying here for 3 or 4 days but I extended it for a week since there is so much to do and see!!! P.S. Thanks for the pep talk Jilly. I called my friend Jill the first night I was in Spain and I told her about my food dilemma. She started giving me a pep talk that would have been suitable for a Super Bowl team..."You can do it, Nancy! I know you and what you're capable of!"