how did Bugs pull those carrots out so easily??

So we just spent 2 weeks in Gopegi, Basque Country (in Spain) at a farm called Padura.

It is a new farm, just started last year, and the family who built it really give it so much love and care.

The husband and wife, Miguel and Peggy are amazing people. Peggy is always reading about how to do things better/live better for themselves and for their farm. And Miguel is always at the farm, even when the weather felt like it could snow any second! They were even kind enough to take time out of their evening to give us Spanish lessons- twice!! We still can't believe how much we learned just from those 2 lessons alone... muchos gracias!

Also, Miguel makes a mean chorizo tortilla... honestly one of the best we've tasted. It was completely different from all the other tortillas in that it was ooey gooey inside. He used extra eggs to allow for the gooey inside. The outer egg/potato casing cooked to solidify the tortilla, but didn't cook all the way through, which gave it that most amazing, perfect, poached egg texture inside. yummy yum yum! (We are sorry to report that we were so hungry that night that we forgot to take a photo of the tortilla. Don't hate us!!)

In another house a few kilometers down from Gopegi is where we actually stayed. P&M's daughter, Maite, her boyfriend Ari, and their 2 other friends, Mickey and Nerea, all live there. It was a beautiful old stone house with its own grounds for a small veggie garden, chickens, and even rabbits (so sad we didn't see them give birth. We missed it by like a day!). At the time, and old family friend from Germany, Feli, was also staying there so we were definitely a full house!

(We're so sorry we don't have a photo with you, Maite!!)

Every morning we wake up with some coffee and bread, then us, Ari, Mickey, and Feli head over to work on the farm and the others go to their jobs as well. Because stone houses aren't exactly known for their insulation, Rachel is usually always cold so mornings were horrible for her. We would all leave the house wearing so many layersm which we would immediately shed as soon as we started working.

The great part about a large farm (and a new farm at that) is that there is so  many things to do. One minute we are spreading hay on the ground, then pulling leeks out, then re-arranging tree branches into equal "cheese" slices (A little joke we have with Ari. Hehe)!

Some of the work was harder. We definitely will probably not want to prepare the land for another single garbanzo bean- we prepped and planted at least 1000 meters of rows of garbanzo beans! But others were peaceful- watering the plants inside the greenhouse, or pulling weeds around the mint plants, constantly smelling that summery aroma.

One of the hardest tasks was definitely pulling out leeks. The green portion is mostly what sticks out of the ground, but its the white part, buried deep down in the earth, that is edible. It was so difficult because we had to dig deep before we could attempt to pull the leek out. But sometimes those suckers like to make sharp turns and not grow straight! So when you use your tool to dig, and then you hear that earth-shattering c-r-a-c-k, your heart mourns a little because you know you've just damaged the veggie. And we tore into A LOT of veggies (although Joel would like to argue that he didn't)... We definitely have a new appreciation for those gi-normous leeks in the market! Unfortunately, we ate so much while we were there that Rachel doesn't think she can eat another one for a while!

It wasn't all work and no play though! We definitely dabbled with cooking (and eating!) some of these amazing foods that we were working with.

The family recently slaughtered their own pigs and they made amazing chorizos and morcillas (black pudding).

Then Joel made a simple dinner one Sunday night using their leeks, potatoes, etc... It was definitely a big hit.

And one night, we were all in the mood for a little pasta so decided to make some lasagna. Mickey made the bechamel, Feli cooked the pasta and Joel made the meat/tomato sauce. It was the *BEST* lasagna any of us had ever had :) It took every ounce of will power to reserve some slices for Maite and Ari! Haha

So every day, as we close the gates to Padura, we felt fulfilled that we not only accomplished something, but helped create and nurture something that could possibly be around longer than the rest of us.

the rewards of scavenging...

There is an amazing street in Madrid called Cava Baja. Many of our favorite tapas places just line up one next to another all the way down this winding block, just waiting for you to give it a try. If you get lucky enough to stumble onto this block on a Sunday, like we did this week, you are in for an even bigger treat! (more on this later!)

So as we walked along Cava Baja, we took many mental notes to go back to that place or that place or that place in case we couldn't find anything else. For those food lovers out there who naturally scavenge their next meal for the simple desire that it be the *best* can fully grasp this feeling.

Somehow, we ran out of street. Cava Baja ended and we were no better off than when we began. But something told us to try one of the side streets across the way (probably just natural instincts from the many years we've spent scavaging NY). And then we found El Bu.

We were so surprised to find this place packed with people because it was deep into siesta-time. But here they were., instead of napping away the afternoon sun, they were all here- drinking, laughing, and eating way into another dreaded Monday.

As soon as we walked in, we knew this was the place where we needed to be. The place was packed. It seemed like there were 1 or 2 travelers, but it looked like they were mostly locals- young professional locals. No, not the kind that you find in midtown Manhattan during happy hour Thursdays, getting loose because of their stressful finance or *insert current yuppie trend here* jobs, but the kind of 30-somethings who are enjoying their Sundays, laughing, eating, and catching up with friends. As we maneuvered past people, pretending to look for friends, but realistically casing the place and trying to find our own spot to enjoy ourselves, our noses began turning our heads towards every other direction.

Everywhere we looked, there were mounds of delicious food passing us by. We immediately grabbed a menu and went to work. As we perused its Spanish-then-attempted-English-translation dishes, we instantly knew we picked an amazing place since we realized that we could not make up our minds on what to order.

We finally decided to stick to one classic- Pimientos del Padron, which are fried green peppers, and one new dish- Chopitos a la Andaluza, which we had no idea about since the English description was "Andulusian Chopitos" (great translation huh?).

The pimientos did not fail. As always, they were grill-charred and crunchy, with a slight bitterness that is unique to this item, perfectly balanced with sea salt. And as is always the case with this dish, we are forced to play a little Russian Roulette, hoping that that particular pepper you choose is not the one that ends up forcing you to finish the whole bread basket to induce any kind of sensation back to your mouth. Unfortunately, neither of us lost that game that day.

The chopitos were a different story. As excited as we were to try something new, you can imagine our shock when out comes our dish and.... its a plate of calamari!

OK, these weren't exactly the same calamari that you would get at your local pizzeria (seriously, can one even call that seafood??), but we were still pretty stunned for a few seconds. The negative reactions end there though. It turns out that these were baby squids and they were as fresh as if a guy with boots, a hat, and a big net just got off his boat and walked in when we ordered them.

We know that this may not be pleasant for some people, but we loved that each piece was an entire squid, tentacles and all. Each individual portion, covered in batter, fried, and perfectly seasoned (although we still don't understand what makes that "Andulusian"). Every morsel was hot and crunchy, with the squid so tender that it must have only spent seconds in the fryer. No mounds of greasy napkins for us at the end of the meal. And no fried-food-coma aftershock either. :)

 All in all, this meal was surprising, but completely satisfying. And we would go back there in a heartbeat... We actually tried to go back on our last day, but it was closed... so we just ended up somewhere else... just wait and see!

where art thou our gambas??

When we first visited Spain in 2009, we went to Madrid for 3 days and fell in love with the most wonderful restaurant. We had tried many places and we almost didn't even make it to this one, but we said what the heck, it was our last few hours so who cares if we already had 4 meals and it was only 3pm!

The name of the place is La Casa del Abuelo. It turned out to be the B.E.S.T. Gambas a la Plancha we ever had.

But all that is now gone...


When we first arrived, we couldn't believe the scent coming from this place.

Looking around, you saw napkins everywhere on the floor, which is always a good sign in Spain (its how you know that there's always people there). There are no sit-down tables so it isn't the kind of place where people mill around. They enjoy their gambas and canas (a small cerveca), then head over to their next destination.

There are a few 2-level, football-shaped, marble 'tables'- one smaller football above to exactly hold the shape of your gambas plate and the larger football below so people can put their drinks down. Other than this, the bar counter, and another small counter by the window, that's it. That's the number of 'seats' that this place holds. And its always jam-packed.




Since we came in the afternoon, there were a few other travelers, but mostly plenty of old grandfathers, chatting the afternoon sun away. When we went back at another time (in the evening), it was filled with all sorts of people- from young tapa-hoppers to older vacationing couples, who you imagine is what your aunts and uncles look like when they travel with their friends- with their guide books in hand, yelling to each other since they had a little too much to drink, and just having a grand old time. Yes, this was an awesome place.

But now we have to get back to the food.

In that magical first visit, the freshness of the shrimps as we watched the old man place them on the flat top was mesmerizing.




The grill so hot that it only took seconds to cook.

The plate came to us overflowing with mouth-watering goodness.

To this day, our mouths still salivate when we remember those precious first bites... It immediately brought us back to the Philippines, to the times when we were  too young to appreciate what we were eating and now looking back and cursing ourselves for not savoring it more then. Savoring that contentment you had as a child, just sitting and eating- actually getting to enjoy your food because there really is nothing else to worry about. This all came flooding back like a monsoon as soon as we broke open that first piece...

Since that moment on, we swore that we would do everything in our power to make it back to Madrid to get our gamba fix.

So with eager hearts and stomachs, we landed back in Madrid and immediately floated our way back to heaven. As soon as we entered the place, we had the same feeling as before- same smells, same sizzling sounds, same uncontrollable salivating. And we nearly fell to the floor with hysteria when we realized that the comparison ended there.

Our amazing gambas! What happened to them? Where did they go?? 

If we didn't have proof, we would've thought we were dreaming. But here they were sitting in front of us, sad and pathetic. Half the portion that they once were and even less than half the size. They were sad little gambas and we were even sadder. We stood there, meekly eating our pieces, quietly contemplating our current lot in life, too sad to even take any more photos.

We weren't even angry about the size of the dish in comparison to the price (9 euros for that!), we just wanted our old gambas back... But sadly, we knew that they would never return. (And sadly, we would also never return to that place.)

So now we say adeui to what seems like a distant memory. We will think of them fondly and will always remember them as our first loves. And deep down inside, we will always have a small glimmer of hope that the next place we find gambas will bring us back to that magical, childlike feeling once more.

**On a more pleasant note, we did happen to find another restaurant that served amazing gambas.... not entirely the same, but pretty darn close :)

we are so susceptible to signage!

Sunday mornings in Madrid must include a trip to El Rastro- the largest flea market in the city. (Well, unless you partied a little too hard Saturday night...)

We suggest starting from Pl. Cascorro as the street heads downhill and going the other way is definitely not as fun. Get ready for some tight squeezes though. Although everyone is nice enough not to really push and shove, there will be moments when you just can't get anywhere until the crowd is ready to go. So when in Madrid...






As we took our morning stroll through the already narrow streets, we came across some awesome finds.

And a sign saying 1 euro scarves caught Rachel's eye so after struggling through the herd, we made it across the street. She found this great scarf....

 

... but of course its not one of the 1 euro ones (damn you marketing scheme!). But still, how do you turn down a 3 euro scarf?? 

 So we meandered down the street some more and came across more jewels...

And now that our morning is done, there's nothing left to do but eat!

do you WWOOF?

planting blueberry trees & making bread

Some of you may have heard of WWOOF before, others may have not. WWOOF is an acronym for World-Wide Organization of Organic Farmers. It is a large organization of farmers from all over the world. You can find a WWOOF program for pretty much all the large, most commonly traveled countries. Each country has their own website and is basically its own separate entity.


If you want to become a member, there is a 1-year membership fee. This fee is pretty cheap (approx 20 euros), but unfortunately, you have to pay a separate fee for each country. This fee actually pays for your health insurance for every farm that you work at, so we think its a bargain. But take note- it only covers injuries that occur while working. If you break your leg while surfing on your day off, then that's just tough noogies.


You'll read plenty of articles out there about WWOOF- some good, some bad. But it really just all comes down to doing a little due dilligence. I've heard horror stories about friends having to sleep in closets and farms with 50+ wwoofers who were barely getting fed. Needless to say, we DID NOT experience any of that.


What we did experience were farms who we learned from and who fed us as much as we wanted and who happily gave us experiences (on and off the farms) that we would have never gotten anywhere else. So to us, WWOOF was nothing like a sweatshop...


We'll hopefully have more entries about these farms soon!


As we mentioned earlier, each country is different, but their websites are usually detailed and easy to understand. The farms are broken down into regions and sometimes show other options like language, # of woofers, etc. After you sign up and pay your fee, you will get an email with the password, which will allow you access to the list of farms with their descriptions and contact information. 


Our first piece of advice is PLAN AHEAD. Plan as early as you possibly can. Sometimes we've gotten lucky and approached the 1 farm that we wanted and received a confirm the same day, other times we waited 3 weeks and had to contact almost 10 different farms. So the best thing is to give yourself enough time. Try to contact the farms as early as possible- especially if there's a particular one that you want to work at. Sometimes that's not always ideal so the next suggestion would be to open up your limits. If its too last minute, you might just have to travel a little farther than you'd like. From our experiences, the best would be a 3-month window, but having at least 1 month is feasible.


Also, when looking at farms, don't just look at their location. Read everything about them. They usually mention if you'll be sharing a room or staying in a caravan. They also mention the kind of area they're at- pay special attention to this if seclusion isn't your cup of tea! And don't be afraid to ask questions. Ask them if they have wi-fi if that's really important to you. Ask if there are other wwoofers if you want to spend time with other travelers. And most importantly, ask how many hours you'll be expected to work, what your days off will be and what kind of food they will have available (even if you don't have dietary restrictions, this is a good way to find out what they actually feed wwoofers). 


When contacting these farms, be as personal as you can. You don't have to write a completely different letter for each one, but at least change the names! Also, try to include at least 1 detail about that farm- why it caught your attention, why you want to go there, how you can help them specifically. It'll help the farmers relate more to you and help separate you from every other email that they get. We also feel that it isn't fair to contact 100 farms at the same time. Pick your top 3-4, reach out to them and wait for a response. If you don't hear from them within a week, then try another 3-4 farms. Even though farms get rejection replies all the time, this will at least limit the number of farms that you'll have to reject. And if you are lucky enough to find more than 1 farm, please please please be kind enough to tell the others that you can't make it. We've talked to farms who don't even know if a wwoofer is actually coming or not because they just never responded. RUDE RUDE RUDE- We can't even say more.


Once you are actually on the farm, our biggest piece of advice would be to not over or under do it. Most farms usually expect 4-5 hours of work each day. Don't slack off and try to do less because they are providing you a service as well. But sometimes it gets hectic or they don't keep track as well as they should. So if you fulfilled your responsibility, then don't be shy to tell them. We don't mean stop in the middle of peeling a carrot as soon as your hit 6 hours, but you can start to wrap things up by then. There was a guy at one farm we were at that irritated us to no end. He was one of the laziest people we'd ever met- (and sadly, he was also from New York...) It got so bad at one point that we had altercation with him for not cleaning up after himself and expecting someone else to do it! Please DON'T be this guy.

We believe working hard is important, but even though we're working, its doesn't mean that we still can't have a little bit of fun!






With all its ups and downs, we still think this organization is an amazing tool to utilize as a frugal traveler. Its not only a great way to learn about the local way of life and local ingredients, but you also get to meet other awesome travelers. We made some amazing friends who we'll definitely never forget!

All in all, we will definitely continue to wwoof in more countries- we may even try some farms in our own backyard!


Have any of you tried wwoofing? What were your experiences?