When I offered to cook dinner for my friends last night I don't think I really understood what I was getting myself into...
First was the decision of exactly WHAT to cook. Typically I had left the house without really checking to see what was in the kitchen in terms of pots and pans etc so who knew what tools i had.
Second - my friends are spanish and french...it would have been exciting for them to try something Australian. but what is australian that can be cooked without a bbq?
Third - I can't read Spanish...and, obviously, all the tins of this and that are in Spanish....one must guess what things are from the pictures on the front - a slightly dangerous exercise.
Wandering round the supermarket i decided to ditch the Australian idea and go mexican instead with a fahjita kit that looked identical to the ones you get back home - and I figured that even with the directions in spanish i would be able to work out what i was supposed to do. Everything else was easy to find and I made my way to the checkout quite proud of myself.
What i didn't realise is that everyone here uses those environmentally friendly shopping bags and that if you're stupid enough not to they give you these teeny tiny plasic bags that split the minute you pick them up...well that wasn't going to work.
Back I went into the supermarket to get myself some environmentally friendly bags...back to a different checkout and the girl put through the bags and then reached for the chicken....'no. no.' I exclaimed....and then i had nothing. How do you mime that you've already paid?? Right - the receipt! only problem is that the girl had a grip on the bag containing the receipt and wouldn't let me get it...we faught over the capsicums. She was yelling at me. I was yelling 'NO!' at her...finally i made a sneaky move and grabbed the receipt out of the bag and waved it triumphantly at her...'SEE'! I screamed. Finally she got the message but was still babbling at me in spanish....she didn't seem to get that i wasn't replying to her for a reason...
....the fajitas went down well - and especially well when i explained the crazy antics i had to go through to get them....at least my life is entertaining i guess.
30 minutes south of Barcelona by train lies a chic little seaside resort called Sitges...in the summer it must be over-run with tourists and Barcelonians seeking a little spot on the beach or in the bars...this time of year it is sleepy and pretty with ancient churches peering down from the surrounding hills and the locals playing with their dogs on the beach.
Proudly managing to get myself around without anyone yelling at me i spent my day wandering along the beach in the gentle winter sunshine, stopping for a lovely lunch of tapas (shhhh don't tell the locals)and a beer before browsing a few little boutiques and heading back to the big smoke for dinner and friends...
till next time.
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