June 29 to July 10, 2016
What do you do after you finish fellowship/become fun-employed, pack up all of your belongings, and prepare for a year abroad in Uganda? Go on vacation and attend a wedding, of course!
Vacation started by cheering alongside hundreds of Portuguese at the waterfront Praça do Comércio, rooting for team Portugal as they took on Poland in the Euro Cup. After a sunset waterfront walk during half time, we enjoyed amazing cheese, charcuterie, olives, and wine at the Mercado da Ribiera while watching the Portugal football team take the win. The streets were alive with celebration as we walked through the Bairro Alto district toward A Tasco do Chico, where the doors open at midnight, crowds gather drinking vino verde, awaiting to hear the local fado singers perform into the night. 
The following day we traveled to Sintra, where we spent the day hiking castles. Amongst the 19th century Pena National Palace, 15th century Sintra National Palace, 12th century Castle of the Moors, and the romantic densely forested gardens in between it was as if we had entered a fairy tale. Upon our return to Lisbon, we stumbled upon a community event at Associação Renovar a Mouraria, a small outside stage surrounded by local bars and gastropubs tucked into the surrounding buildings and rolling hills of the city. We tried the famous sardine on toasted bread, accompanied by cheap wine, sitting amongst the local community, and listening to music as the sun was starting to set at 9pm. The night continued with a delicious traditional Portuguese dinner at Restaurante O Trigueirinho, followed by acoustic guitar performances and Ginja (Portuguese cherry liqueur) at Boutique Taberna.
Saturday morning had the perfect start at Pastéis de Belém in west Lisbon, with a latte and the famous custard cream filled pastéis de nata. The area is most famously known for the Torre de Belém, a 16th century tower looking out on the estuary and the start of the Tagus river, built at the height of the Portuguese empire to protect and defend the capital city. In the warm sunlight we strolled past the Jerónimos Monastery and into the air conditioned National Coach Museum, showcasing innovations in stage coaches from the 16th through 19th century. After riding the Ascensor da Bica to the top of a hillside, we spent the afternoon enjoying cheese and charcuterie at Queijaria Cheese Shop, pastries at Confeitaria Nacional, and hiking the hillsides toward Miradouro do Parque Eduardo VII to look out on the city. Dinner was at the beautiful Casa do Alentejo, a 17th century Moorish-style palace that houses a restaurant and outdoor gastropub dedicated to serving the very local "peasant food" that was not of superb quality, but worth a conversation under the stars with a friendly if not slightly odd local over the history and origins of the house and pub.
Sunday marked the end of our Portuguese adventure and the start of our tour through Andalusia, Spain to visit the main capital cities of Moorish Spain: Córdoba (capital from 756 - 1010 AD), Sevilla (1010 - 1248 AD), and Granada (1248 - 1492 AD). The Frey chronology was a bit out of historical order, with the itinerary of Sevilla (June 3-5), Granada (June 5 - 7), and Córdoba (June 7).
An early morning flight on Sunday brought us to Sevilla. After wandering the narrow streets to our hotel, we promptly navigated to the Mercado de Feria for lunch. While the market was still setting up to receive the afternoon customers beginning at 1pm, we struck up conversation with two local gentlemen, one a professor of art and another a now retired professor of chemistry at the local universities. Over wine and tapas, we learned of amazing sites to visit, restaurants to try, and of life as a professor in Spain. A famous Spanish actor (ala Al Pacino or Robert De Niro) appeared in the late afternoon, leaving the professors star struck. 
As we left the Mercado near 3pm, the streets were virtually empty as the afternoon sun illuminated the city. Siesta time. We followed the local's example, emerging near 6pm to explore the Parque de María Louisa and the incredible Plaza de España. Upon our search for a dinner spot, we realized that Sunday was truly a day of rest, with most local restaurants closed. After trolling through several tourist areas, we found a tapas bar El Chiringuito with locals sitting outside in the alleyway, enjoying a cold beer or white wine as the night became pleasant with a cool summer breeze. We toured the city by night in hopes of finding flamenco, discovering that these too were not open for business.
Monday was a transformed city, as the streets were bustling with locals heading to work and tourists heading toward the sites at 10am. The first stop of the day was the Alcázar Real, a 10th century fort turned palace with beautiful Mudéjar architecture and fantastic gardens that many might recognize as Dorne from Game of Thrones. As the sun climbed high in the sky, the food tour of the city began and more than made up for all of the closed restaurants from the day prior. Casa Morales served delicious tomato and tuna, patatas bravas, and pimientos tapas while we dined next wine being aged in 8 to 9 foot vats. 
We then migrated to Freiduria El Salvador to try the recommended fish dishes. After our order of two dishes was brought out, we realized that we hadn't ordered tapas, but instead two whole grilled fish. Which we finished. Entirely. Then topped off with gelato near the hotel. Enter siesta time. 
Again after emerging near 6pm, the food tour continued with chorizo toast and sherry at Casa Moreno. This was followed by cheese, espinacas con garbanzos, and vino de naranja at El Riconcillo, founded in 1670 and the oldest restaurant in Spain. We continued to wander around the city to the top of the Espacio Metropol Parasol for a sunset view of the city. The fast paced Bodega Dos de Mayo had a crowd of tourists and locals inside and out; after sneaking to the counter we enjoyed ensaladilla de pulpo and intermittent conversation with our waiter as he rapidly took orders, shouted to the kitchen, served food, and readied the tableware for the next round of orders. The night and city continued to come alive as the weather cooled. We walked past the beautifully lit Catedral de Sevilla and stumbled upon La Azotea, where we enjoyed the last tapas of the night. At La Carbonería we caught the end of the first act of flamenco before continuing across the water to Casa Anselma in the Triana district. There Anselma herself was commanding patrons to order a drink before she sat down to sing with a band of gitano guitar players, complete with a very elderly gentleman who would alternating between crouching in the corner and getting up to actively dance in front of the band, with his cane in tow. As the flamenco closed down at 2:30am, we migrated back to the hotel with sore feet, full stomachs, and the lingering sounds of flamenco in our ears.
Tuesday morning was a whirlwind tour of the Catedral de Sevilla, where Christopher Columbus's grave and monument is located, before catching a train to Granada. After a much needed siesta, we hopped on a bus through the gypsy district of Sacromonte toward the Mirador de San Cristobal for a view of the mountainous city and the Alhambra on the hillside. We wandered through the narrow , curving, hillside streets of the Albaícin, the oldest and very Moorish district of Granada, admiring the Mudéja architecture. The 9pm sunset called for wine and tapas at Taberna La Tana, where we met a delightful couple from Australia. Dinner continued around the corner at Taberna de Jamón, where Dennis was in heaven with the platter of jamón iberico and manchego cheese.
Wednesday was the main tourist day, starting early with a guided tour of the Alhambra, or "Red Palace," an intricate and incredibly beautiful Moorish palace. The gardens have bright flowers while the outer courtyards are filled with orange trees. The walls are decorated with intricate middle eastern geometric art of the utmost detail. Balconies look out onto the city below, while secret underground passages are occasionally visible, built as an escape route for the rulers in the event of an attack. The tour continued at the Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta, a modern white 20th century building on the side of the hill, constructed by an artist and now used as an exhibition venue. Also with access to the underground tunnels. As we descended, the light became darker, the air thicker, and the temperature thankfully cooler as we descended deep into the hillside. After several stairs down, twists, turns, and occasional art found along the way, we were once again in daylight near the center of the city. Pomegranate decorated roadways guided us to Bar Patio Braserito for lunch before we ducked inside for the afternoon siesta. 
The cooler evening hours found us wandering past the Fuente de las Granadas, along the Genil river, and through the winding stair filled streets near Calle Molino, exploring the rich architecture of the city. We stopped for arabic tea and richly flavored middle eastern food. The evening tour continued toward Basilica de San Juan de Dios, with the windows lit the candles. We stumbled upon Tacon Flamenco, a delicious local bar where we tried the incredible salmorejo, a thicker and richer form of gazpacho. The tapa tour continued at Cisco y Tierra, where we had the bar to ourselves and talked with the owner over house-made vermouth, sautéed mushrooms, and her own delicious version of yet another cold summer tomato soup. The night once again ended at Taberna La Tana, with a plate of dessert and cava to top off the night.
Thursday morning was an early start, catching a bus out of Granada toward the city of Córdoba. We dropped our luggage at the train station and continued on to the city center toward the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, encompassing Roman, Visigoth, Muslim, and Medieval architecture. After filling up on history, we filled our stomachs at Garum 2.1 with a modern twist on salmorejo, followed by pork belly, an ox tail churro in chocolate dipping sauce, and goat's milk cheese cake. Once fueled up, we continued the tour at the Mezquita, a beautiful mosque turned cathedral with rows of red and white columns, intermixed with Mudéjar walls and distinctly renaissance works. It is truly the jewel of the city. Outside we crossed the famous Puente Romano over the Guadalquivir river, admiring the ancient cityscape. In true tapa fashion, we headed to the Mercado Victoria Córdoba for some local eats before boarding the train toward Madrid. Near the Reina Sophia we met up with Rebecca, a nurse from work, over tapas and cheese. When we finally made it to Azuqueca nearing 11:30pm, we were greeted by the bride to be herself, the amazing Linda Pagel. I couldn't believe it had been over 15 years since we met on the blazing hot tennis courts of North High, when she was a new exchange student from Germany during our senior year of high school. Now Dennis and I were attending her wedding in Spain, to a wonderful man named Juan. It was incredible to see the Pagel family once again, as it had been over 10 years since I last had the pleasure of seeing them (in Austria, none the less). We caught up until nearly 4 in the morning before realizing how late the hour had become.
Friday was filled with friends, family, and preparing for the wedding. We drove into the city for practice hairstyling, which I also received the details of the wedding from Linda to make sure they were set in place for the bride. The day quickly turned into Saturday, the big day! With transport, hair styling (with Linda's cousin Len as my chauffeur extraordinaire), and sneaking in cheese and jamón for lunch, we were soon whisked away to a beautiful ranch surrounded by hillsides and olive trees. The vows were held underneath a beautiful large tree in both German and Spanish, filled with customs from both cultures. The ladies carried traditional Spanish fans in lieu of flowers, while at the end of the ceremony the couple was surprised by a traditional German custom, cutting out a heart from a banner and stepping through together. The night was filled with laughter and dancing, with everyone begging the DJ to continue playing at 3:30am. It was a quick night in the hotel, we were off early to fly back to DC.On to orientation for GHSP!
