Churros con Chocolate

Spain’s most popular dessert is churros with a side of hot chocolate. Walk through the main streets and you’ll be able to find it offered at almost every dessertery. It is, however, more of a day treat, so when we were looking for the cure to our dessert fix after dinner (which was around 11 pm because Spaniards eat late,) no one was serving it anymore. We made just fine with waffles and cream, though. We’re easy.

We ate churros three times throughout the duration of our stay in Spain, but my favorites were the ones in Madrid from Chocolateria San Gines. The venue was recommended to us by a friend (and TripAdvisor), so we set time out of our day (before Taco Bell and after Starbucks — I know, the culture just oozes out of us,) to pay a visit. We ordered our own individual churros, but shared the hot chocolate. Hot chocolate in Europe is not like American’s winter favorite. It’s thick, with the consistency similar to rich fondu; and I’ve noticed most people use it for dipping, not drinking.

The chocolateria was beautiful – walls lined with b&w photos of past celebrities, deep green, rustic seating, rich, gold accents, vintage-inspired decor, and simple table setting.

XO.

Sweet Treats in Spain

I love my American chained goodness, I do. But I adore how European cafes and restaurants all possess strong, unique branding. Or in Korean, “con-cept.” Little quirks – wallpaper, color combinations, type, presentation – when integrated to create one theme, have the ability to transport you to a new world.

My friend is currently studying abroad in Barcelona and was able to free up some of her time to show us around her city. (: Knowing my weakness for cute cafes and desserts, she led my roommate and I to a magical little dessertery called Pudding.

The entrance to a walk-in storybook. (:

I wasn’t joking when I called this place magical. The strung lights on red/white really made the entire room glow and charming wall decor added to the surrealism. Artificial trees completed the storybook theme – I was just waiting for a trail of gumdrops to fall from the sky and singing blue birds to start sewing my clothes.


We decided to sit in the sun room so we could have more natural light and also people-watch through the window. Exhibit A:

PS. Do you see how much CAKE those people left on their table?! Unfortunately, the people escaped before we made our entrance so I didn’t get to see exactly what kind of people in their right mind would deliberately leave behind perfectly good cake. Lucky them, because some dirty, dirty looks would have been sent straight their way. Whoever can’t finish their slice of cake is weird in my book, AND SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED! Maybe even more so than people who don’t like dessert at all, because these people know better…  (We were THIS close to scooting over and rescuing the left over pieces. Spoiler alert: We didn’t. Yeah, that was kind of a low point.)

White chocolate mousse pie.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

How did the cakes taste? Oh, even better than they LOOK. Each bite proceeded with a loud, dramatic “MMM,” because it is impossible to enjoy your dessert without an expressive, “MMM.” Ya just can’t. Cake was not meant to be consumed in silence.

And the three of us together before we curtsied to the dog posters and said farewell.

Thanks so much for showing us around, Kristen! You were a lovely host. (: Check out Kristen’s blog here to follow her Spanish adventures. Her photos on food and landscape are reason enough to check it out. And the hot dog on the left? My roommate! You can read hers here, where you will find ample posts on humorous vignettes, honest rants, and even more odd, disoriented photos… I know she’s kind of socially retarded and weird, but she’s my friend. So, just promise me you wont make fun of her! (“Mean Girls,” anyone?)

Enjoy! XO.

Friday Favorites: Brussels, Belgium

I didn’t know too much about Belgium prior to my trip there, so I did some digging and discovered some neat things. Like, that Brussels is the capital of the European Union, and home to not only chocolate, but also beer, french fries, and mussels. (: Um, say no more and put me on the next FLIGHT. The itinerary ended up looking like one long meal spread across the span of three days with random breaks to grab a beer. I’m not complaining. I’m actually surprised I managed to come back with pants still on — THAT’S how much of a foodie trip this was.

But anyway, Brussels is also a relatively small city rich with history and culture (not just food), and you can probably see the entirety of it in one day. Whether you have one day or one week, here were my favorites that I suggest you visit. (:

FAVORITE CHOCOLATE & PACKAGING | Mary’s : Mary’s is actually the warrant supplier for the royal court. There are two locations: one inside the Galeries, and the other original store on Rue Royale. Fun fact: When they remodeled Mary’s, they kept the store on Rue Royale FACING the congress to keep some of its history intact. This was where I purchased majority of my souvenir chocolates, a lot of their packaging can serve also as fun storage.

FAVORITE BEER | A La Mort Subite : If you know me personally, then you know I can’t drink. (And not just because I’m underage or my Christian beliefs — it’s a bit uglier than that). My face turns blotchy red, my head starts pounding, and after one sip, I’m ready to rest my head on the next thing that slightly resembles a pillow. #AsianProblems? But considering that beer is a way of life in Brussels, I wanted to drink up the whole experience. No pun intended. So we stopped by this cute little bar, (right across from the Galeries entrance in front of that funny pink bunny cyclist statue,) and ordered ourselves some authentic beer. Did I mention we did this little stroll at around 11 am? It’s five o’clock somewhere, right? We asked the server what his favorite beer was, and he recommended the au fut peche. And you know what, each sip was actually really enjoyable. It tasted like sparkling peach soda and nothing like piss! (: Now only if all beer tasted like that… If you’re a beer hater or a beer connoisseur or someone anywhere on that spectrum, check dis place out. 

FAVORITE PIT STOP | Mokafe : Mokafe is a cute diner located inside the Galeries. Due to its prime location and four-star reviews on Trip Advisor, this place tends to always be packed. You can find a seat easily if your party is less then 4 or if you don’t mind sitting outside, but if your group is any bigger, expect to split up. They have a nice ambiance — it feels like you’re eating at your favorite grandmother’s house — with a decent menu. It’s not the CHEAPEST, waffles are > 5 euros, but all my friends kept raving about their salads. For me, it was just the perfect place to rest my legs after walking around all day and thaw out my fingers.

FAVORITE DAY ACTIVITY | Flea markets : This one’s for you all you thrift junkies. Brussels has quite a good amount of flea markets dispersed along the skirts of the city center. There’s one in the Sablon, one near a train station, and a few more that pops up depending on the day. Although I didn’t buy anything, i did see a good amount of items from fun trinkets, to antique china, to decent leather purses. If you have room in your luggage to bring back goodies, definitely swing by one of the flea markets. It’s also just exciting to see the locals scavenging for their own treasures.

FAVORITE TEA | Frederic Blondeel : I think this spot was recommended by Rick Steve’s, but my friends and I stopped by here while we waited for our dinner venue to open. (Restaurants usually stay closed until 7pm since people generally eat later.) This spot is located near St. Catherine’s, so right near the row of all the famous seafood restaurants, so it’s a good spot to kill time, drink tea, and just debrief the day’s activities. Frederic Blondeel was one of my favorite places we went to. The interior design is stunning, the silverware, the tea kettle — the whole set up, actually — is so charming, and it makes you forget about your frozen toes and brings you to a fancy lil tea party. If you’re not into tea, they also have a variety of chocolates and other drinks.  

FAVORITE PHOTO OPP | I can’t recall what the name of this little square is, but it’s along Rue Royale, across from the museums. This, I thought, was the perfect view of the city, as well was my favorite place to take photos. One one side it overlooks the gardens and the city, on the other, is a row of really unique buildings, and right in the center is a water fountain.

I hope you enjoyed today’s friday favorites and that it was helpful for you if you’re planning an upcoming trip to Brussels! I tried to include less touristy spots like Mannekin Pis, Grand Palace, Chocolate Museum, etc., because they tend to be blasted on all other travel sites. Overall, Brussels was a relaxing getaway and would make the perfect location for a GNO. (;

On another note, I’m getting on a flight for London tonight! Have a good weekend errbody.

XO.

Overdue.

So many things I want to share with you all — like how I went to Belgium, or how I found an amazing church, or what I’ve been cooking, etc — but it will have to wait until I return from Paris next week. When I do return, though, get ready for a long overdue rampage of recollections.

Til then, here are some of my favorite photos from last week.

 

Week One Round Up

Happy weekend!

I can’t believe it’s already been a full week since arrival. It feels like time is alwaaays just slipping from our fingers. You walk into one store to look at one thing, you come back out three hours later. A quick bite of gelato? Say good-bye to an hour and a half. Life in Verona is a constant time warp. Or, maybe we’re just having too much fun that time is flying by. (; I don’t know which is more of the logical conclusion. Anyhoo…

School is now in session so this week was less of the leisure walks and four-hour meals and more… I don’t know, school. A very rude awakening that we’re not here on just vacation but to “study” abroad. Oh, yeah. Now my days are preoccupied with a four-hour class of Italian 101 from 9am to 1:15pm, followed by a second class from 2pm to 6pm — depending on the day. Classes range from art history, painting, and photography; and each class (usually) only meets once a week. If it is a full day, by the time we get out, the sun has already set and it’s time to make dinner and go to bed.

But even class tends to fly by. First off Italian 101 is less of a college lecture, and more of a continuous game of charades fused with pictionary. Can you even imagine such a thing? I mean, it’s a room of fourteen people — who are still hungover from the night before and can’t communicate in the same language — trying to formulate their thoughts into sentences. Picture that, and you got yourself Italian 101. But really. There’s a lot of funny hand gestures, drawings on the white board, exchanges of confused looks and blank stares. It’s because the teacher, Elena, speaks solely in Italian as a teaching mechanism to students who don’t know a word of the language (minus vino and ciao, of course). Although there is a lot of time spent on guessing more so than understanding, it is pretty effective because it forces us to THINK in Italian. Sometimes it gets confusing because my brain tends to pull together all my random knowledge of Latin, Korean, Spanish, and English, and then attempt to spit out an Italian answer. Yeah, that doesn’t work out too well. The second the languages seem to have distinct rules separating each other, they share the same word for bathroom or cat, tricking you all over again. Over all though, it’s a really enjoyable period because everyone in the class is eager to learn the language and is pretty cooperative.

Despite all those hours of sitting in class, no worries, we still manage to have our fun. Something new is always going on — a birthday, a special at a nearby bar, a burning of a witch, a chocolate festival, etc. It’s like we’re in Italy or something. For example, this week, our teachers took us to a random cafe in between classes for spritzers which was definitely a change of pace. And on Wednesday I took a class on how to make nutella!

My friend Debbie, back at home, told us that she hates words — and the English language in general — so I should stop vomiting now and just throw in some pics for her easy eyes to enjoy. Here we go, Debbie.

Highlights of the week:

Attended a witch burning, which is a tradition in Italy, symbolizing a new year — along with a really long back story. 
We went out to dinner to celebrate the lovely Lauren’s 21st birthday. Birthday girl below.



La pizza in its maximum glory. MMmmMmMmMm.

Attended the chocolate festival where all these local shops set up booths to sell their different slabs of chocolates and products.
The most delicious plastic cup of strawberries + nutella + cream. I’ve been deprived of produce for so long that these juicy, fresh strawberries shocked all my taste buds because they forgot what anything besides carbs or chocolate tasted like.

Truffels on hard bread. 





This man was doing his own little live infomercial. Quite entertaining because really, who would buy this. It costed like 100 euros or something.


It wouldn’t be Italy if vino wasn’t offered somewhere within a 2 mile radius. Or, should I say kilometers. 

I was THIS close to buying these beautiful chocolate covered heels. But then, I knew I would never be able to eat it because it was pretty to look at, and I would try to bring it back home four months later, whether it was in a solid form or not, and then it would melt all over my suitcase and I’d have to clean it later. And I hate cleaning, so. Just kidding. They were like 20 euros.


Hot Dog ordered one of these things and they were…. the most delicious thing ever. Yup, you got it. You’re catching on.



Bought myself a custard-filled croissant because it looked soft and chewy.

My face when I found out it was actually hard and crumbly.


Hot Dog and I went grocery shopping together to cook our first dinner. (: Eurospar is the local grocery store, comparable to a small Jewel.

Literally the most delicious sad we’ve ever had in our life. Made from scratch, might I add. 

Because I’m blogging so much later than the actual events took place, it’s getting much harder to recall different things that happened. Hopefully the pictures of the delicious chocolates kept you interested and distracted you from the lack of (poor) writing. Well, at least now that we have wi-fi in our home, we can expect for some more regular posts with relevant insights!

Thank you for following along on my first week here in Verona — and thank you to those who have been continuously praying for my time here. It’s sometimes hard to find time to reflect and meditate when there’s always something to do, but the Lord has been placing different issues onto my heart that need to be prayed over. Show grace, seek Him, keep fighting. They’re the same prayers, but in a much different context.

It’s definitely been a roller coaster week for me, spiritually — I’m wrestling with thoughts that are so new and different to the stuff that I’m so used to, and I’m learning I need to depend on Him in ways I’ve never thought of. Being without a Christian community, things feel a little unstable as of late. But regardless, I know that God will really expand my heart and eyes to new and better things. I can feel it already, and I get pretty excited.

Thank you again for praying for me and this trip. And let me know how I can pray for you. (: