BOOKS RELATED TO OUR SPAIN 2014 TRIP

Dear Son,

We were mindful that you are now in your last year of high school and that you may be going away to college next year.  So we decided to travel to Spain this past summer as you are also 18 years old and, in Europe, it would be legal for you to imbibe alcoholic drinks.  In Spain, and as we planned, you had your first glass of wine--the 2009 Clos Martinet at Montiel in Barcelona:

We all then embarked on a wine and food tour of Spanish wine country -- San Sebastian, Rioja and Ribera Del Duero -- and then to Madrid. Throughout, you were you were exposed to most of Spain's greatest wines: Vega Sicilia, L’Ermita, Finca Dofi, Alvaro Palacios, Pingus, Aalto, Pedro Ximenez...you can see the Spanish Wine List HERE.  It is our hope, dear Son, that when you thus go away to college or wherever you go, and others encourage you to drink alcohol simply to get drunk, you might know enough to be turned off as most drinks imbibed for the sole purpose of drunkenness are "plonk."  Well, it's a hope by us, anyway, even when you did not like the concept of the spit bucket...

Anyway, our trip generated several additions to the library.  The first, of course, is a biography of the innovative chef who helped elevate Spanish cuisine with his forays into molecular-based gastronomy:  FERRAN: THE INSIDE STORY OF EL BULLI AND THE MAN WHO REINVENTED FOOD by Colman Andrews.

That was a great trip, wasn't it!  Fortunately, I don't need to summarize it here for you as my Spanish Journal was accepted for publication by a journal which, when it comes out, will also join our family library.  And we had a lot of fun with Uncle Dan and Aunt Mary who, when we returned to the U.S., sent over these books to commemorate our trip:

As well, Uncle Dan and Aunt Mary sent over these additional books since we did travel together to Gaudi's fabulous La Sagrada Familia and had a chance to see arguably the greatest painting of the 20th century (well, in your Mom's humble opinion), Picasso's "Guernica."

If life is about making memories, perhaps books are the best leaves pressed between pages, to lapse to a metaphor.  Son, metaphors be with you.

Love,
Mom and Dad