My favorite things...

Yesterday I re-experienced one of my absolute favorite things: Driving in Europe.  I arrived in Marseille, France 24 hours after leaving my friends in New York City.  This trip should not have taken so long, but due to mechanical issues on the plane, delays, a last minute rerouting, and a lost bag, my little jump over the pond became quite an adventure.  Needless to say I was tired, a little out of sorts, and already running late for my hotel check-in time.  But all of that just added to my excitement as I got into my little rental car, tested out the clutch, and searched for a sign that looked French for exit.  

Once on the road all my problems disappeared and the hour long drive to my hotel in Arles was pure joy.  I love their no-nonsense style of driving here (read: very fast).  And even when I was super lost in the little Roman streets of Arles and was starting to doubt that the hotel even existed, I was smiling.  Finally I pulled over to check the map (to tell the truth, the guy behind me was honking and waving his hands at me like I was crazy and I panicked and pulled over), but before I had a chance to find my place on the map I glanced up and there, low and behold, was my hotel sign hanging right in front of me.  I've posted some photos of Arles below.

The moral of my story is, the long delays and lost baggage were totally worth it, because now I am in France, with a car of my own and adventures in front of me!

Today I'm going to visit Richard Esteban in Aigues-Vives.  Hopefully I'll have pictures to share with you from his workshop in the next few days.  Stay tuned....

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Ahhhh... España!

A while back I discovered a website written by Tapeña Wines, a family-run Spanish company operating 11 wineries throughout the country's best wine regions.  I was instantly drawn to the Tapeña website because it is all about the Spanish-inspired lifestyle that I love so much.  As I read it, I find myself smiling knowingly, nodding my head and thinking, Yes, exactly!  And God, I miss Spain!

For instance, in the section titled "the good life" (which in my mind is pretty much equivalent to "life in Spain"), they write: "Welcome to Spain, where lunch lasts two hours" and "every meal is a chance to make new friends."  Yes, exactly! God, I miss Spain! 

In a recent newsletter I received from Tapeña, they described Semana Santa (which is Easter week) in Sevilla.  Having lived in Sevilla and seen Semana Santa personally, I can tell you it is to this day, the most amazing tradition I've ever experienced.  Each church (and there are a lot of churches) makes an elaborate "float," a beautiful scene of a tearful Madonna or a sacrificial Jesus... and their parishioners carry it (no, they don't tow it, they actually carry it) from their church, through the streets of Sevilla, to the Cathedral where it is blessed, and then back to their church.  Sometimes rival churches even meet during the trip and have a sort of competitive face-off!

The round-trip journey can take days. They aren't marching constantly of course... this is Sevilla, after-all.  They make frequent stops at bars to have a cerveza and maybe some tapas, before they resume their pilgrimage.  It's absolutely amazing to watch.

In honor of my home (country) away from home -- which I get to return to soon for a buying trip -- I wanted to share the Tapeña Wines website with you: http://www.tapenawines.com/index.html.  They have great info on Spanish lifestyle, recipes, and of course wine.  Definitely worth a read as it has the power to transport you to what I consider heaven on earth: A place where good friends, good food, and good wine supersede any other life concern.

 

Above: Just another bar scene in Sevilla. 

Below: Jose and Pablo, two of my favorite bartenders in Sevilla.

 

Majolica – Maiolica – Mayolica

Majolica, pronounced my-yol-i-kuh in Spanish and Italian, muh-JOL-i-kuh in gringo English, is a ceramic technique in which earthenware is covered with an opaque glaze of tin oxide and then decorated with all-natural mineral-based pigments.  It was invented by Arabs in the 6th century, when they discovered that glazing ceramics with a mineral oxide mixture and firing them twice, made them stronger and more water-resistant. 

The majolica technique is anything but easy – it is a multi-phased process that takes time, patience, and exceptional skill. The earthenware clay is first bisque fired at around 1900° F. It is then painted or dipped in a creamy, oatmeal-colored glaze, made from silica, tin, calcium, and clay.

Once dry, artists paint designs over this base glaze with natural pigments (each color is made from a mineral – greens are chrome and copper, blue is cobalt, etc.). The pigments are absorbed into the base glaze, which is a porous surface similar to watercolor paper. Just like with watercolor, once applied, the pigments cannot be covered over or blended together, meaning there is no margin for error.

When the piece is fired again at a higher temperature, the glaze melts and fuses with the pigments. Because the end result is a product of chemical reactions between metal oxide colors, the glaze, and a precise firing temperature, it often takes the artist many trials before a new design is perfected.

While extremely time consuming and difficult, this process is what gives completed Majolica a distinctively warm look and feel. That’s because instead of the color lying under a clear surface, the color is actually in the glaze and of the glaze. Sometimes referred to as “fat glaze,” the result is more luscious and vivid. It’s what draws us to Majolica, both visually and physically – making it difficult not to reach out and touch the surface of a beautifully glazed pitcher or serving platter.