(Salamanca, 09/11)

(Salamanca, 09/11)

For a week every september, Salamanca hosts a huge festival. There's lots of cultural events, but my favorite part was the casetas. Every bar moves into the streets, offering cheap drinks/tapas. This picture was taken in the morning, but from the late afternoon until the close at 12:30, I could hardly move in the crowd. Everybody was happy, the weather was nice, and the tapas were delicious. 

The second picture is from a tapas restaurant after the ferias were over, but that would have been available for 1.80 euros--about 2.20 dollars. 

(Cinque Terre, 08/28/11)

I'm feeling extra nostalgic for the italian riviera since it's been cold and dreary lately. 

Each of the 5 towns had a hiking trail between them, so we decided to do the hardest leg--Vernazza to Monterosso. It was not the easiest hike ever, but the views were worth it.

We bought focaccia to eat on the way. Cinque Terre is where focaccia (and pesto) was created, and it still stands as the best food I had on my trip. The store was tiny, and the guy heated my piece up for me. He loaded it with olive oil and salt, and it was perfectly crisp yet soft on the inside. Italy is food heaven.

(Venice, 08/21/11)

The first day we arrived in Venice, we walked by a hole in the wall pizzeria that proclaimed it made the best pizza in the city (see the black sign to the right). We pointed it out, laughed, and continued on our way. Two days later, we wanted an easy dinner, so we bought pizza there. Plain, because we didn't understand any of the other italian words. While we waited for our food, we drank coke (made with actual sugar) and watched the sun go down over the city. When our pizzas were ready, we sat at the edge of the water and feasted on...

...the best pizza in Venice. The best pizza I've ever had. The best pizza in the world, for all I know.

(Cinque Terre, 08/28/11)

(Paris, 10/23/11)

(Interlaken, 08/16/11)

The water in Lake Brienz and Lake Thun was a particularly interesting shade of green/blue--not from contamination, but from the minerals it picked up on the way down the surrounding mountains.

Fresh enough to drink.