dining – kristilynk

It’s a Girls Day Out…

Crap, I was supposed to wake up, at the latest, 0700. The plan was to hit the 0915 Power Yoga class at Sutra Midtown ~ the drive is a little over 15 miles.

Yea, well Kiah didn’t wake me up until after 0800..no way were we going to make it.. Instead we figured we could make it to the Basic Yoga class at 1045, be done in time for lunch! Perfecto!

We left in a timely manner but stupid construction put us a little bit behind schedule..that and the weirdos on the road doing like five miles UNDER the speed limit..Honestly..I really don’t understand..

I wanted to take some pictures of the place for the you all but we got there just in time to toss our belongings into a cubby and head to class!

From the spacious front room – decorated with super cute yoga apparel along with walls clad with amazing local art – the front desk attendant walked us through the clean hall and into the “dungeoneaque” practice space. The entry door was really neat..it was made of iron and had welding marks.. like it was a bunch of little iron piece welded together..and it was a sliding door.

The room was dimly lit and was full of aspiring yogis in savasana setting all intentions. Kiah and I followed suit.

Just like myself..my yoga practice has been random and inconsistent. With that said..My skill level is somewhere between a beginner and the intermediate level. These past few months have set me back so my STRENGTH is totally at a beginner level.. This class actually worked out pretty well.

The instructor reminded me of Seth Meyers a little (1st impression) as the class (slowly) progressed..I was beginning to work deeper into going back to the basics. Damn…that was tough. I forgot how much hard work it is to build strength. I was surprised my legs were so weak, my wrists had a hard time holding on and that I actually broke a sweat. 😉 Mr instructor did such a great job at reminding us to root ourselves and to keep breathing. Those who don’t yoga..yes…we doing yoga…must sometimes be reminded to BREATHE 😉

Although I would have much preferred an intermediate class (they flow faster and require less strength..in my opinion) it was great to get back to the basics and the instructor did a wonderful job at reeling me back in. I will definitely be back to see what else Midtown Sutra has to offer!

And…next time I go back…I will take pictures..the vibe of the place is excellent..you have to see it..

After class, we jumped into the ridiculously HOT car (thank you to the brilliant man who invented window coverings for cars!!!) and drove downtown for a little lunch.

Again..traffic was HORRIBLE..guess who forgot this weekend was Phoenix COMICON.?? Yep..me..bad decision but we stuck it out. I am pretty sure we drove around for like 25 minutes trying to fight traffic and figure out how to get to the restaurant before finding the parking garage adjacent to out destination.

Walking to the Pizzaria Bianco was like walking in an oven..People..it’s friggin HOT here.

I have been obsessing about this place for months having heard it was one of the best pizzas in the nation..naturally I was curious! Surprisingly, the wait was not too long and we were seated within two minutes of arriving. The inside is super small, the tables too close together and the acoustics are not that great..it was loud. We opted to dine outside. Thankfully, there was a little bit of a breeze, some shading and we had cold cold drinks..I prefer dining outdoors so I was completely OK with it.

The staff was wonderful. So attentive but not annoyingly so…and the lady who brought us our AH MA ZING pizza margarita even entertained us and took a picture of me and my lovely when I asked her to. 😉 Thanks lady!!

Now..check out the goods:

Thin crust with just the right amount of crunch with every bite. The freshness of the tomatoes and sauce is well worth the 15.00 we paid for this little pizza. The mozzarella cheese was perfect and the basil…mon amie…I am not a pizza expert and have no idea what constitutes the best pizza in the nation but I would imagine this place deserves big props for what they create.

Here’s a tip thoug…if you are dining with a male…you’ll need to order two pizzas…Kiah and I could have probably eaten one per.. we are thanking ourselves for not because that would have been glutenous of us but..we totally could have..

We tossed around the idea of checking the menu again for maybe some dessert or a salad..luckily we just paid the check and left.

Half way home Kiah spotted a little cupcake shop she’s been wanting to try out so I swung around and we went in.

The Treehouse Bakery is a vegan bakery..

The selection was not big but they did have the vanilla, chocolate and an interesting combo of strawberry basil..I am curious about that one so I just might have to go back for that one.

The lady behind the counter amused me when I asked her to find the biggest one because Kiah and wanted to share one 🙂 and then she offered to us this cappuccino hazelnut delight!

I am not sure how, without butter, she made the frosting taste so buttery but it was super good!! Glad we stopped. 🙂

Spain III 2012

Coffee, was of course, my first thought upon waking up in Liereganes. The Bed and Breakfast had a homey feel to it so I felt comfortable enough to only put on some flip flops and make way down stairs to grab myself a quick cup of coffee. It was not as easy as I hoped, the wife/ innkeeper must have thought I looked hungry because she went all out and proceeded to try to sit me at a table so she could serve me properly. I tried to resist but stopped myself because she looked like she was really enjoying herself, instead I asked if I could be seated on the patio outside. She looked at me like I was insane, it was cold, windy and looked like it was going to rain at any moment. Outside the Inn every thing was green, flowers were in full bloom and the patio set was wrought iron with a table top decorated in mosaic tiles. I enjoyed the quiet and took just a couple of pictures while waiting for the coffee to be brought out.

I wish I would have taken a photo of the whole spread but shoulda woulda coulda..I didn’t. There was a carafe of coffee, a stainless steel pitcher of steamed milk and a basket of bread with jam. I think I have figured out why the coffee is so much better in Europe. I believe there are two main components, both of these having to do with the milk, their cows are not fed corn and grains to quickly mass produce so the milk tastes much better and they steam the milk. At home, I simply brew the coffee and throw in some cold half and half, most likely from an over corn fed cow..it does not taste any where near as delicious as the coffee I had in Spain!

Oops, I almost forgot! Here is a pretty flower from the garden at the inn..I don’t know what it is but it’s pretty 😉

After coffee I went back to the room to shower, get ready for the day and pack my things so we could check out. The guys were coming in around five to check into the other hotel, they made a reservation for an extra room there for us so we didn’t have to worry about that and we had some time to kill so we walked around the sleepy town of Lierganes. Here are some more photos for you to enjoy!

In a way I cannot explain, this is my most favorite photo I took from the entire trip. The history this man must have in his memories, I wonder has he lived in this quiet town his entire life or does he have amazing stories to tell from his past? I love that he is, most likely about ninety years old, still walking around his town and enjoying the beauty that is.

These little ducks had their own oasis in their owners backyard, I feel a little sad for the one on the right. It looks as though the other ducks are in a huddle talking smack about her, ha!

Notice the flared nostrils? Yea, so did I along with his stomping his front foot. He was not very happy that I interrupted his feeding session!

So pretty!

Dang it, I forgot until just now that I wanted to hike myself over up the wall to see what was on the other side!

Their were succulent plants all over this town, this was one of the most elaborate displays.

Sweet long shot of an elderly couple still in love.

So much green!

Looking back at these photos brings back to mind how quiet this town was, how many elderly people reside here and how much I kept thinking to myself….why on earth would a band like Hogjaw play a show in a town like this? Where will the people come from? Will they even like the torrential rock that would soon shake their town?

Spain II 2012

Waking up in Barcelona, getting ready for the day we packed our bags, checked out and lugged our stuff to the car. Before we hit the road for our next destination, Liérganes, Spain, we walked down to the local cafe for a much needed (or two) cafe con leche and a jamon y queso croissant (coffee with milk and a ham and cheese croissant). Have you ever heard someone with a strong southern accent try to speak in Spanish? I don’t remember if I mentioned this or not but my travel companion is originally from the Appalachian Mountains and currently resides in Salisbury, North Carolina. I may have blocked the whole feeling of embarrassment of listening to her try to communicate with the locals because I am having a hard time describing the experience but I will say this, It was painful to hear.

We weren’t in any rush to get on the road because we weren’t meeting up with the guys until the following day so we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.

Across the street there were a group of, what looked like, kindergartners getting a lesson from the local police in how to cross the busy streets of Barcelona. I was fascinated with this and ask one of the chaperones if I could take a photo of the event and she apologized but kindly declined my request. So..no photo..sorry ;/

The walk back to the car wasn’t horrible but it was raining and of course I only brought two pair of shoes for the entire three week stay, my flip flops and my silver glittery coach flats. I was wearing my flip flops, of course, I’m lucky I didn’t slip and fall on my face! Noted for next year and advice, most likely advice I don’t really need to give but just in case you are a dumb ass like me, three pair of shoes are necessary when traveling. Flips flops are a must, a pair for night life and a good comfy pair for loping around the town all the live long day. You will find yourself walking almost everywhere for long periods of time even if you have a car. Parking is just about non existent, think trying to find a parking space at one of the San Diego beaches on the 4th of July and double the frustration.

Back at the car we programmed the GPS and started the six and a half hour drive to Lierganes! The drive from eastern Spain to western Spain is not impressive -three hours into the drive we stopped at a little town to fill up the gas tank. Gas is very expensive, to fill up the Volkswagen Polo it cost us around 52,00 Euro, which is roughly 65.00. I drive a Volkswagen Jetta and for me to fill up it costs, today, around 40.00

As I was saying, the drive was not impressive and I was driving so no photos were taken during the drive time. I took the photo below at the town we stopped in to get gas. Nothing special but I thought they looked neat and I had never seen trees so stumpy before so I here they are. 😉

It wasn’t until we arrived in true western Spain that I had to pull over and take some photos of the beautiful luscious green landscaping. These are pictures of some random stop along the highway.

It wasn’t too much longer before we arrived in Liereganes, a small and quiet town lovely but my first thought was, ” Hmm, this town is in the middle of what seems to be nowhere, it is a very small town and the guys are scheduled to play a loud rock n roll show…here? I was more than a little nervous for them but the show wasnt until the following day so I brought myself back to the present time and attempted to find the hotel I had booked for us for that night. The GPS failed us – or it was an operator error – and we could not find this hotel! Frustrated, I turned left, spotted a local neighbor walking his dog and asked him for help. The problem with that is..although I could ask for help..I was not able to understand his reply, note for next trip and advise for those who plan to travel to Spain…learn Spanish, not only how to speak but how to understand it!

Luckily, this gentleman was just that..a true gentleman! He asked me to stay where I was, turned on my hazard lights for me, because he asked me to do so but…no entiendo, I told him (I do not understand) and then he walked away. Shirley and I sat there very confused as to what was happening but a few moments later the gentleman comes back, this time in a Toyota Landcruiser..a very cool, very old, Toyota Landcruiser. Because I could not understand his directions…this guy got in his vehicle so we could follow him to our destination! 🙂 Screaming Muchas, muchas gracias, senor!!” from my window with a huge smile on my face I found a parking spot, we unloaded our bags and checked into our hotel. Below is the outside view, the sign with the name of the hotel and the view out the window from our room.

Checking into the hotel was another fun treat, again I had no problem telling these locals what I need but I am not able to understand their replies! Finally, we figured out where to park the car, which room we were to stay in and that we basically had a curfew. This was, as I said earlier, a very small town and the inn keeper and her husband live in the hotel, they lock the door and when we were ready to come back we were to ring the bell and they would let us back in.

Strange to me but no problem. Time for us to eat again! Across the street was a bar that was filled with people watching the futbol match, we went in because I wanted to watch the match, a drink sounded wonderful along with some food. They were not serving food, bummer. Off we went to a restaurant down the street, this place was empty and looked if they were just about ready to close for the night but we were sat at a nice table draped in white linen, utensils set perfectly and wine glasses already on the table. The waitress was very friendly an happy to serve us, two minutes in..it was obvious she was a lesbian and was smitten by me. She was not inappropriate but i did feel a little uncomfortable when she sat down at our table to chat, I don’t remember the conversation because it was all over the place and again that language barrier was difficult! She explained the menu to us and we finally decided on pork chops with an egg and fries and of course a glass of their house red wine, yes I know..I was having pork and should have ordered a white wine but I don’t drink white wine so red it was…I’m a rebel like that 😉

The waitress went off to place our order with the chef and that’s when my travel companions mood took a turn for the worse. I don’t know if her meds were wearing off, if the problem may have been her age (she’s fifty) or if she was just showing me her true colors but whatever it was..I did not like it. She complained about how long things were taking, how much she just wanted to go back to the hotel and go to sleep, mostly at how long it was taking for our order to be brought to us. Once the meal finally came it was delicious and we devoured our entire plates. Of course Shirley’s bitch session was not over so she proceeded to complain about how long it was taking for the waitress to bring our check. A fore warning for those of you traveling to Spain in the future…service is good but it is very slow, the people are not like us in the states who want things now and get things now, don’t complain about it, embrace it and enjoy your life in that moment you are in. I promise, if you do so it will make your experience all the better!