Argentina

When we decided to do family Christmas in Mexico, we knew we wanted beach, but we didn´t want anything too touristy. Out of sheer dumb luck we decided on Sayulita (about 24 km north of Puerto Vallarta) because a family we met in Mexico 5 years ago happened to mention it as a place they like to go. Turns out, they were right. Sayulita is an amazing little Mexican town that has the perfect blend of tourist infrastructure with Mexican culture and charm. Unlike large touristsy areas, Mexican families and tourists are living side by side and shopping together in the local fruit stands and fish markets. While there is some ¨Hey Gringo, fishing trip/ jet ski" kind of pitches on a daily basis, it's not nearly as annoying or persistent as other places I have been. People are also willing to tolerate less than perfect Spanish, rather than jumping directly into English. The Sayulita beach faces north and is a little curved lagoon that is beautiful.  Map for reference: Life ...

Arriving into Guadalajara was a little sketch as I had told my airBnB host that I would arrive at 8:30 pm, but after a few flight delays and inefficient customs, I was through the airport at 11 pm in a new city. Not ideal conditions for an arrival and a circumstance I almost always try to avoid. Luckily, my host had patiently waited and I was checked-in at 11:30 pm. After the rest of the familia arrived the next morning, we went to the centro historico de guadalajara. Our 20 minute taxi ride cost us 60 pesos, or 5 dollars. The first most obvious thing about Guadalajara is that there are no gringo tourists. Literally, walking around the most touristy part of the city where they have those open top double-decker buses, aka tourist ground zero, and not a gringo to be seen. Besides us of course. Despite our best efforts, there is simply no way for four gringos with heights of 5'10, 5'11, 6'2, and 6'3 to blend in. We even were asked to stand in a few family pictures for nove...

Alicante was just too relaxing. 2 weeks is just the right amount of beach time where you aren't tired of it yet, but you are ready to go. We had thought about exploring other cities like Cadiz and Seville, but why mess up a good thing right? After 10 days, we finally tried the mini golf directly in front of the condo. Sandra turned the putting course into a pitch and put. See the ball flying through the air?  The one day we managed to pull ourselves away from the beach we went to Alicante. Narrow streets and staircases that were similar to Lisbon.  Too cool for school Dinner with Sandra's family friends in Alicante. They had a young baby named Claudia that was crying until I busted out the classic weird sound trick, which confused the baby into silence. We met this 39 and 40 year old at the tapas bar randomly. Ended up having a 2 hour conversation about life. The tapas bar was Andaluz, which is from the province of Andalucia. Little did I know, but there are ...

Here are recipes for two classic Spanish dishes. Paella: Dice half of two different bell peppers and begin to saute in olive oil.   Add half an onion Introduce raw meat with a little bit of caldo. Traditional paella is made with chicken and beef, however, the seafood version is also very popular. You can also mix all of the above together. The caldo is very important. For seafood paella, you can get the caldo by boiling shrimp/ prawn shells once you have peeled them and added them to the paella. Of course, add salt to taste to the paella. For chicken paella you can just use chicken broth. There's a nice chicken broth at Trader Joe's that comes in a carton that will do the trick. Add salt to it though.  Colorante, or coloring, is used to give paella the correct yellow color. I don't believe it adds any flavor.   Make sure the meat is decently cooked if you're using chicken because once you add the rice you cannot stir. Add the rice in the propor...

 Alicante is an old school beach paradise. Alicante is in the south east of Spain on the Mediterranean and is a favorite summer destination for Spaniards. According to Sandra, each country in Europe has it´s popular destinations in Spain. Germas go to Mallorca, and the British go to Marbella. I have completely lost count of days here. We arrived on 8/9 and I have completely lost track of the day of the week and the time. Everything is a timeless mix of beach, pool, food, walks, and sleeping. The typical schedule is to wake up around 10 am. Make it to the beach by 12. Pool by around 2:30, lunch around 3:30, siesta from 5 to 6 (from all the exhausting activities of beach and pool), beach at 6, pool again at 8, tapas and dinner around 9:30. It´s easy to forget where you are and how you got there. We haven´t touched the car in 10 days. Everything is within walking distance. On the way to the beach. Even adults need boogie boards and buckets.  Out and about on a S...