eurovac 17

We've always been drawn the cheeses of the countries we visit. Spain will be no different, so I've put together a simple primer on Spanish cheese : queso Español Spanish cheeses can be divided into three main classes: Fresco:  fresh cheese which has not been cured or aged Semi curado:  semi-cured cheese which has been aged for two or three months Curado:  cured cheese that has been cured for upwards of 4 months More than half of the cheese consumed  in Spain is  fresco  or  semi curado . But many of the most prized cheeses are the aged and intense  quesos curados. In the USA, we're most familiar with aged manchego - with Costco leading the way with their own brand: I'm going to talk about a few cheeses we rarely see on the supermarket shelf. Arzúa-Ulloa This pale yellow cheese comes from northwestern corner of Spain in the region of Galicia. The particular cows that produce the milk for Arzúa graze along the banks of the Ul...

We'll be traveling to Madrid from Valencia on this beast: It takes 1h 38m to get there - at speeds of up to 195mph - and arrives at the Madrid Atocha railway station whose interior looks a lot like the atrium at Bellagio! I looked for somewhere central to stay in Madrid. It appears that  Madrilenians can't decide whether it's the  Puerta del Sol or Plaza Mayor. So I picked Plaza Mayor: It reminds me of a larger version of the piazza outside our hotel in Reggio Emilia in 2009. The Puerta del Sol appears to be a little more 'touristy' and is not all pedestrianized. The hotel we're staying at is the Hotel Intur Palacio San Martin which is a 5-minute walk from the Plaza Mayor, but is located on its own plaza - Plaza San Marin . The exterior of the hotel looks like this:   and the restaurant is set up in the plaza outside: I was going to call it al fresco dining, but remembered that it's an Italian word. However, it's also Spanish f...

According to many Spaniards, Menorca is the most authentic of the Balearic Islands. Together with Formentera, it is also the least visited. Since 1993, Menorca has been a protected UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It truly is a different world, full of  calas  (beach coves) and crystal clear turquoise waters. A total paradise. More beaches than Majorca!  Although Menorca is the smaller sister island of Mallorca, it has more beaches. There are nearly 700 square kilometres of beach on the island and 216 kilometres of coastline; lots of options to set up a new tanning spot everyday.  If we want to tour the beaches, the best way to go about it would be by car (we can rent one for around 200 euros). There are also many hidden or protected beaches that are only accessible by foot or from the sea, which means walking a little after parking and also explains why so many boats and yachts can be found anchored nearby various coves. When vis...

Menorca has some of the most unspoiled coastline in Spain. The few mass- market resorts are mostly low-rise and low-key, while elsewhere there are pine-fringed coves that can be reached only on foot or by boat. Since 1993, the island has been a designated Unesco biosphere reserve, which has helped it to preserve some of its most important wetland habitats, and to avoid the over-development which has blighted its neighbours Mallorca and Ibiza. Of the three main Balearic Islands, Menorca is the least dependent on tourism and has a very low crime rate.  Between the towns at either end of the island, Mao (Mahon) and Ciutadella, lies a landscape of meadows, Friesian cattle and dry-stone walls. Weather Between April and October, when the weather is reliably warm and sunny. In winter, the tramontana wind can almost blow you off the cliffs, but on calm winter days, it is still mild enough to picnic on the beach, alone with the sand dunes. The average air temperature for late june ...