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Oh - To be fit

I don't know whether you've noticed from my previous postings - Luncheons are BIG affairs here with the E's family. Meals during festive occasions are especially elaborate, involving many (and I mean many, many, many) different courses including pre-appetisers (like in the picture above) and numerous bottles of (Spanish) wine.

Last year, I didn't dare to say "gracias, no"  too many times, especially to E's Tia C and Madre who are zealous cooks, so  I ended up feeling overwhelmed and a good few pounds heavier (90% of them piled on my cheeks). This year, I'm more prepared -saying no to generous portions (having practised saying "no" at least 10x a day before we came here, in front of the miror and accompanied by a picture of E's Tia C).

I've also been much more mindful about marginal enjoyment from consumption, stopping before I feel full (even if it means leaving stuff on my plate) and going out for walks outside in the cold even when everyone else is having a siesta or watching television in the warmth of the casa. Of course - you also know about my new party trick:  to swap a glass of vino or G&T for agua con gas and choose tapas with the least amount of carbs whenever possible (harder to avoid the fried tapas).

I've not been able to do this all the time - and especially not during Christmas/New Years eve and day but this is inevitable I think.  An unexpected and big challenge for me this year is to decline the after lunch-tray of turon which typically comes with coffee. All sorts of yummy flavours - chocolate, almond, pine nuts, caramel. All calling out to be tasted. 

I don't know whether I've avoided putting on weight these past few weeks here. I do know that I'm doing generally well given the many temptations and pressure from the various family and social events. This morning, I went out for an an hour's jog - discovering the nearby park which E's family have mentioned a number of times. It was very pleasant and I plan to repeat the experience in the coming days. I'm turning 40 in two weeks time and one of my goals for 40/2012 is to be as fit as possible.

4th attempt - More tapas from 2011

I've been trying to post here more pictures I took from my iphone relating to the different tapas we had during the last few days of 2011. They have all been unsuccessfully (as you've no doubt noticed). Aside from the usual problem with the app on iphone (which refuses to upload the pictures), LE has also been diligently helping me to  type whenever he sees me here with the lap top. Random "hsdNSGDFhsdikkkkfggg" is fine. Its the "Esc" which creates trouble. 

P.s. Yes, LE is back with us... and we are D.E.L.I.G.H.T.E.D.

Windy town in España

We spent most of the day at Huesca which is some 75km away from E's hometown of Zaragoza. The town is windy, significantly more than the city of Zaragoza. I was there accompanying the 2 Es to run errands and was subsequently treated to a cortado during a mid-morning break and for lunch, a delicious 3 course meal at a recently refurbished restaurant close to the train station. The bottle of wine we sampled at lunch was mediocre - a rare instance in E´s company and also very typical of the Spanish wine I drank before becoming acquainted with E. Later at home, E and I had a marathon viewing of the sitcome "Drop Dead Diva", finally completing the first series. I couldnt help myself and wanting to know more (and get on with my life) went on to the website to read the episode guides for Season 2 and Season 3. I feel better after knowing about what is going to happen but a tad bit disappointed with the writers for what I suspect is a string of tease and retreat. Still all very entertaining so all´s well I suppose.  

The restaurant where we had lunch  

We sat overlooking the train tracks

This traffic light was swaying because of the wind - I know this picture doesnt show this   

9 days later

So, I'm continuing writing and posting using typepad app on my iphone but it seems as if the posts are lost in transit and will never appear here.

Hmm. And hmmm. 

So --- what's the latest since 9 days ago? 

I am (we are) still in Spain for our year end holidays.

LE is now with his mum.

I continue to be tempted by all the delicious tapas that are on offer and indeed caved in a couple of times - i.e. consumed carbs & alkie. And not out of hunger and thirst, but simply for pleasure AND on several occassions too. Tsk, tsk, tsk. 

Not counting my smaller lapse during family meal times (where I am under the watchful eye of Tia C's eyes who takes pleasure in cooking and watching us eat) - the first big transgression was on Christmas eve: We (E and I) were in Madrid for 2 days, after saying goodbye to LE. On Christmas eve, we hung out with E's cousins and friends and my current drink of choice, "agua con gas" was sneered at and swiftly replaced by cervesa (which is incidentally something I like and would drink it at every given opportunity if not for my chipmunk cheeks). Gloves off,  I went on to enjoy all the fried tapas that were on offer.

The other occasion was just  few days ago when E and I spontaneously hopped from one bar to another for an extended lunch of tapas which included a delicious but totally WRONG plate of fried eggs and potatoes. The alarm bells were ringing but... the door for other plus calorie-evilness opened and I indulged in several glasses of vino blanco and sugary sweet mojito. We started our tapas lunch/tea/dinner/supper at 2pm and finished at 12.30 at night.  Hello Kitty (who is currently half a world away from us) came to my mind a few times.  Funny - I could imagine her joining us for the impromptu afternoon-evening out. 

Point of interest: One bar served Japanese tapas (see below). Another newly opened one served fried squids dipped in teriyaki sauce.  We met E's friends last week at a Japanese restaurant which served Japanese sounding food which looked like Spanish dishes (garlic mayonnaise, tortilla etc). I see a trend.

There are a few cozy bars in the old part of town (El Tubo). The picture below does not really capture the comfortable and pleasing bar we sat in for a few good hours drinking cocktails. 

Help?

Dear Fifity-6,

I would be grateful for your help regarding a pair of boots (MANAS DESIGN) I bought from your shop in Saarbruken, Germany (Bahnhofstrase 1-3, St-Johanner-Markt) on 8 November 2011.

I brought it home to Basel in Switzerland and upon wearing it - realise that 1 side was defective - i.e. had fur instead of wool on the outside.  I inspected it and realised that the fur which should be sewn in the inside was put outside and vice-versa (please take a look at the attached pictures). My friends laughed at me and my boots  - they turned out not to be so good for my karma -unlike what your pink heart shape paper (found in the shoe box) suggested.

A friend, who lives in Saarbruken, tried to resolve this issue with the manager of your shop on my behalf, even showing the pictures I sent of the boots. He told her he could not help and that the wrong fur would change into wool with time! As you would probably understand --- I found this extremely disappointing --bearing in mind that I have paid EUR169 for what I thought was fashionable and high quality boots! I would be grateful for your help  in this issue - either for an exchange for a good boot or a refund ---something you think would be fair as the boots I have now are not wearable and the problem arose because of a manufacturing/production issue. I am attaching here a few  pictures for your easy reference.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

 

 

PS I've also sent an email to MANAS in Italy. I would be very disappointed and aggrieved if I don't hear anything back.