This blog is to share with you some of my enjoyable times of my life. I talk about things I love to do and adventures I have gone through. I take the liberty to recommend places, activities and food that in my opinion are worth to try.
This is just a tool to help you to make your own decisions when you are ready to go to those places (obviously from my own point of view).
Spanish version: http://igotita-disfrutandodelavida.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Eufrasio Millán. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eufrasio Millán. Show all posts
This time the special recipe comes from Topo, Eufrasio Millán, a great Scrabble player that in 2009 had the first price of the Duplicates mode at the Scrabble in Spanish World Championship. But specially: a great friend.
He prepared this recipe for me and Curro on May 21st. We had been at his home during that weekend, also with Pochola. It was great!!!
The recipe is at the video:
Update of June 8th: a friend of the Scrabble web redeltras.com, Tonecha, used oregano instead of thyme and it was great as well! : D
After our route at the “Barrio Húmedo” in León, where we went to the bars: La Jouja, La Trébede, Hotel París, El Flechazo, El Tizón, and la Taberna la Ribera, we went back home to rest a bit before midnight. ;P
The dinner, as the rest of foods we have done at the flat, were absolutely great and that was simple due each one did what knows was our best dish. Actually, that´s why from next week and on and will also include some of those recipes in this blog. The menu of New Year´s Eve dinner was: shrimps with champagne done by Gloria, salmon rolls and salmon with onions and capers done by Curro, Parma ham brought by Topo, turkey and rice done by me. Pochola had done a tiramisu as desert, but we were so full, with no place even for whispering! So, we left it for breakfast.
We spent the night reminding and singing, enjoying the night. We stop for a while for going to the living room to take the grapes, hear the bells on tv and to give the hugs. After that we continue enjoying the dinner.
Here some images to remember:
After the dinner we went to the living room again to watch the videos of that afternoon and then… I had my first Scrabble game of the year with David! ;P He won, but I didn´t let that fact to influence me! :D
My Scrabble Club, the Scrabble Girona, organized a New Year´s Eve party in León, as far as we had gone for the tourney, that took place on Jan 2nd. and 3rd., renting a flat for 10 people.
Curro and I went in a car with Topo on Dec. 30th. at night. Montse, Patxi, Ma. Paz Yillera (Pochola from now on) and Gloria were already there. The ride was ok, nothing special to talk about, but a flash that shocked Topo for the rest of the night. We had a bit of troubles finding a parking place to left the car, but finally all ok.
Immediately after arriving, we had to go to the supermarket. It´s amazing how cheap is to buy out of Madrid! :P After finishing at the supermarket and to make honor to the originality of our group, the guys went home to prepare the diner while the girls went to have a drink in a bar close to home. What a nice pasta Patxi made!
You won´t believe it, but that night we didn´t play Scrabble… but Rummycub and Scenne it!. My team (Montse, Curro and I) won 2 times to the rival team (Gloria, Pochola and Topocholo). We went early to bed… at 3.00 a.m.! :D
On 31st. we woke up when each one wanted, we had pantumaca for breakfast and coffee. David and Susanna arrived that morning, at 6.00 a.m., they traveled in a night train.
With just 1 bathroom at the flat, it was really amazing to release that in the whole adventure we didn´t have troubles with the turns at the shower or similar, we just had a line at the mornings, but all the rest was like if we would be less at the flat.
Juan Carlos Ayala invited us to drink something at the city center of León, at the Barrio Húmedo to be precise (the translation would be something alike “the Damp Block”) (yes, I know, the name sounds like a joke, but believe me, that´s the real name) :) Believe me, it was marvelous to find places where you can have a wine and a bar snack for 1 euro, you see, with 5 euros you already had eat and drink enough as for being “happy”. Of course the group enjoyed the afternoon quite well, here some images:
On September 23rd. 2008 Claudia Amaral offered a reception to the Spanish Scrabble team at her home.
Claudia Amaral is a great Scrabble Player that was the Scrabble World Champion in 2004, something that just few females have done.
The reception was so nice. She offered us with delicious canapes. Some people were playing Scrabble (of course!!), some talking and even some singing and playing guitar. Remarkable: Carlos Puente playing guitar and Antonio Alvarez singing.
Iguassu is just… wonderful!!!! As I mentioned at the previous posts, I had been at Iguassu falls 2 times, I´m talking about the experiences at the second one, when I went with my friends Montse, Patxi and Topo in 2008. We had gone thru the Brazilian first and also Topo and I did a Helicopter Tour.
Most of the waterfalls are located at the Argentinean side and they had built a lot of gates for doing walking tours around and over the different falls. So, to go there means to walk a lot and also to climb a lot of steps (better if you take that into account) ;)
Our first visit was to the Devil´s Throat:
At the lunch time Patxi and I played Scrabble at the park! :D
After lunch we did the Adventure Tour, that is sailing, at the river, they put you as close as possible to the falls:
In 2004, the Adventure Tour was before the lunch time, I had the good luck of being seat at the side of a French boy that after sharing that great experience together, invited me to lunch! :D
Back in 2008, after the Adventure Tour at the river, we had a Jeep Tour:
And after that we continued walking thru the park, the wonders weren´t already over!
Oh yes! I would love to go back there again! I could say I have visited the falls at all the possible ways to… but… actually I think there´s something missing here: to do it diving, so you can cross them as well! ;P :D
The next day I went again to the hotel´s SPA to have a great massage. The only complain I have about it, is that they allowed kids to be at the Jacuzzi and at the SPA swimming pool… I really can´t understand it, the SPA is a place for relaxing, that means a place for adults… you can´t relax with kids playing around you! :( But well, I had a great time anyway.
As I mentioned at the previous part, I went to Iguassu in 2008 with Montse, Patxi and Topo. We arrived at morning, went to the hotel, leave the bags, eat and visited the Botanical Garden of the Hotel. We even had time to rest a bit at the side of the swimming pool before the bus picked up us for going to the Falls, at the Brazilian side.
The bus picked up us a bit late, but actually it didn´t meant a problem and it´s usual in Latin America, I´m afraid.
To go to the Brazilian side from the Argentinean one, means, to cross the border, of course. Always in Latin America that could be something not nice if you do it alone. Please don´t get me wrong. I´m not trying you to be scare about that, but you see, on one side, it´s about the power the person in charge of saying if you can or not to cross the border, it´s about the low payment they have, it´s about a lot of people trying to cross the border carry on things that aren´t allowed… and a lot of other reasons, the point is that depending on the day and the good or bad luck you have with the people you find at the border, that could be something so simple or could be almost a nightmare. You avoid at all the nightmare when you cross a border being part of a tour, the guide takes care of all that is needed, you just have to wait inside the bus/car and to give the guide your passport and your filled out form. So, as far as you can, my recommendation is to take a tour for travels that mean to cross a border in Latin America.
And here another recommendation: if you are visiting Iguassu from Argentina, it´s better if you stay in a hotel at the Argentinean side, the reason: you´ll arrive at the airport at the Argentinean side, from there you should go to the hotel to leave your luggage, depending on the time it will be, after that you surely will have your first visit to the Falls, usually at the Brazilian side, the they after you´ll have the tour at the Argentinean side and at the end of the day you´ll go back to your hotel and the last day you´ll go to the airport, again at the Argentinean side. So, if you do that all staying in a hotel of the Brazilian side, it would mean a minimum of 4 times you crossing the border. If you stay at the Argentinean side, you´ll need to cross the border just twice. ;)
But in case you are going from Brazil, I recommend you the Hotel Recanto.
At the entrance of the Park, at the Brazilian side, you have the option of visiting the Waterfalls by helicopter. I strongly recommend you to do that tour, this definitely gives you a different point of view, but also, just to experience the travel by helicopter is so exciting. I haven´t done that in 2004, I have no enough time to do it, and in 2008 I almost didn´t, due the price… but I finally did it, with Topo, and after doing it, be sure, you don´t think anymore about the price! :D He was in charge of taking pics, I was in charge of taking video… here the results:
You just can have this tour from the Brazilian side, in Argentina they are forbidden due the environmental pollution… and yes, they are right, but, well, maybe if they would propose another option like a balloon tour, but as far as right now this is the only one option, I´m afraid I vote for conserving the helicopter tours, I mean it, IT´S UNFORGETABLE! MAGNIFIC! AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE! :D
After this magnificent experience, we all did the Brazilian Side Tour. Almost all the falls are at the Argentinean side, but you appreciate them better from the Brazilian side, here what you can see from there:
I even interviewed my friends about their impressions of the Falls: :D
At the end of the day, we went back to the hotel, played a bit of Scrabble, of course, Topo and I went to the hotel´s SPA for a while and Topo was not walking but hovering after the great attention at the SPA!! :D
I had been twice in Iguassu and I would love to go again! Due the distances and the fact that you should cross the border for watching the falls from the Brazilian side, I think it´s better to do this visit in a concerted tour.
In 2004 an Argentinean colleague of mine did me the favor of searching a travel agency for arrange the tour, but I´m afraid I haven´t keep the name, so, in 2008 I had to search by my own. After comparing and searching info (at forum s, by example), the travel agency I recommend for tourism in Argentina is Rektour, that seems to work (or to belong to the same company´s group) of www.argenplus.com / www.argentinaamedida.com. As far as what they were recommending at the web wasn´t exactly what I wanted (due the number of nights and activities to do), I contact them by mail and a couple of times by phone (skype actually), and they really had a great attitude for helping me to find the best options. Maybe the only one thing that from my point of view they should improve, is about explaining in a better way the hotel options, but actually I think the problem was that they didn´t have enough info for explaining that point in a better way.
I had the very good luck that Montse, Patxi and Topo wanted to do this tour with me, so, it was a great and very funny travel.
Let me introduce you my friends. Montse and Patxi are couple, they met each other due Scrabble and they both are excellent players, but better people, maybe the most generous ones I know at the Scrabble environment. Patxi is from Murcia and he moved to live to Girona for being close to Montse, she´s from Girona., They are also a couple of winners. Patxi was champion of the National Tourney in Spain in 2008 and also at the Master´s Championship in Spain in the same year. 2008 was his best year and in 2009 is usually part of the podium at the tourneys he plays. Montse was the champion of the National Tourney in Spain in 2009, is with no doubts the best female Scrabble player in Spain and during 2007, 2008 and 2009 had been almost always part of the podium of the tourneys she plays. They are the ones that usually bring me hospitality when I go to Girona and it always means hours and hours playing Scrabble, mostly with Patxi. Topo is one of the most noble people I know. He´s brilliant in math as well in language matters. He´s always happy (or mostly) and his thought speed is incredible. He´s also an excellent Scrabble player… who would tell me I had been travelling with the Duplicates mode World Champion of 2008! :D
So, with that company, the joy was assured at this travel! And the Scrabble´s matches as well! :D
Our flight to Iguassu was early in the morning. So we went sleeping a bit.
We arrived at morning, so we had time to go to the hotel to leave the bags, it was the Hotel Cataratas, at the Argentinean side. The hotel is good, not excellent, but good. It´s best part was the swimming pool. It´s worst: the restaurant. Problem there is you don´t have more options due everything is so far away, but don´t get me wrong, you can eat there, just that is not exactly a delicious food, not a place to enjoy the Argentinean cousine.
We had time enough to eat and to have a walk at the Hotel´s Botanical Garden. Worth view! :D
As I mentioned in the first part, the second time I went to Argentina my departure was a night after Madonna´s concert in Valencia, where I have gone with my friend Topo.
The concert was great, it was my first Madonna´s concert. I had heard that she wasn´t a good singer in lives. Maybe with the new technology her team had changed it because from my point of view, just in one song she didn´t sounded fine, but all the rest she was great.
I´m afraid I really haven´t seen her in live more or less 3/4 of the concert due I was in the yard and I´m not exactly so tall… actually I´m small… so what I have seen more were others´ necks. :( I´ve decided not to stay at the yard in a concert so long ago. I have done that for so many years, with 20 something but I started to appreciate to watch a concert being sit (or at least with the possibility to get sit if I want), more or less in my 30s. You enjoy better the performance in general, you are comfortable, you can rest every time you want, you don´t lose anything from the scenario and nobody pushes you for having a better place. The problem in Madonna´s concert was the price. Sometimes it´s not about if you could or not to pay a higher price, but about if you think the concert/theater piece/whatever, deserves the price. Yes, I like Madonna (otherwise I wouldn´t travel to Valencia before travelling to Argentina just for her concert), but I do think the prices of her concerts are so high. The point here is that she will continue with those prices as far as her fans pay them.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the concert and was great to share it with Topo and his friends.
The ones in Spain that will participate in a Scrabble in Spanish World Championship usually can´t plan to go together in the same plane. First of all, because we are from different locations, but also due we are sure about if we are or not classified just when the season is over. In some works you have to give advice about when you´ll have vacations in January, so, if you think you could be classified, you should take that in consideration. Sometimes you need to wait to know if you´ll have the money. For others the problem is about family matters. So, usually what we do is to do our own plans and then to see if by coincidence your plans match with others´. In this case it was funny because a lot of us had planned to travel on Sept. 19th. but in different airlines. So, Topo had a flight from Madrid, but some hours after mine, he will travel with Patxi and Montse, in my case I´ll travel with Blai… and yes, I have to admit that I did it with Aerolineas Argentinas again (it was the cheapest option).
So, my journey to Buenos Aires was: Madrid – Valencia on Thursday 18th by train. Madonna´s concert that night. Valencia – Madrid on Friday 19th morning with Topo, in his car and playing things like anagramming with the words of the signs or to know who was the faster one adding the cars´ numbers or singing out loud. :D We had lunch at my home and had gone together to the airport in a cab. He had to wait a bit more. I was lucky and found a way to have sit with Blai.
Blai is a quite interesting person. He´s teacher in Lloret, but his talents are multiples. He´s brilliant with math and with letters as well. He had done different games that you can find at his web. He also likes to draw (and has great ones) and to build scale models (right now he´s doing a cathedral, for example). He had read and travel a lot and you notice about that when you talk with him, you always learn something with him. He had been in the whole life of the Scrabble Association of Spain one of the best players and even had won the World Championship in 1992. Plus this all… he also dances sooo fine!!! :D Yeap, it was an honor to share with him this travel!
Of course we had been playing a bit during the flight, but also talking about his experiences in other Championships, our travels, our lives… we arrived in Buenos Aires at 5.30 hrs. more or less.
This time the special recipe comes from Topo, Eufrasio Millán, a great Scrabble player that in 2009 had the first price of the Duplicates mode at the Scrabble in Spanish World Championship. But specially: a great friend. 
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