Spanish Hooky- a not so still life

Whew. So many things to tell you as I slip under the spell of summer here at Camont with a glass of cold and bone dry rose' wine.

Ok, that's just the usual teaser used by people who live in France. We are snotty and protective about our perceived lifestyle and I, for one, try not to disallusion you, dear reader, too much. Actually, I am fighting the underdeadline-procrastination-book writing blues as my Spanish Hooky excuse of a book deadline looms overhead. The photographs are in the bag, the notes are being transcribed and 500 captions are not being written as we speak. But before I travel on to other parts of the world this summer spreading the Camp Cassoulet gosple as I go...(Old France to New Zealand anyone?) I want to leave you with these images of Espana... and a promise of more to come.

Spanish Hooky Bar

Summer Shoes

Catalan Table

Montserrat Morning

Basque Hooky- pintxos & tapas

Sometimes it's hard to convince some people that I am working.
Really I am.
R&D Basque style means research and devour along the gorgeous coast of Biskaia.

Tapas.
Pintxos.
Raciones.
Jamon de Jabuga.
Pelletas.
Bellota.
Bacalao.
Guindilla.
Pimient de Padron.
Kokotxas.

Txacoli.

Get the picture?
This was a week of Basque Hooky with an eye to the products and markets of my favorite parts of the coastfrom San Sebastian/Donostia to Bilbao. Yes, we also squeezed in a visit to the Guggenheim, that looks amazingly in scale now as Nuevo Bilbao grows up around it.

But my favorite night this week was the 4th of July in the old port area of Getxo.
Young, old, dogs and just 2 English-speaking voyeurs indulging in sangria, sidra and pulpo, chorizo in cider, anchovies and olives and the lights of the Port of Bilbao replacing the fireworks.

Perfect.

Milesker