Lost in translation

For our evening meal last night, Cas and I planned to start at a cocktail bar down the street from where we are staying, then go to a restaurant about a half a block away.  He had done a little looking online, and both places had good reviews.  We started at a place called the Garbola bar.  The bartender there was a young Italian guy who seemed to take great pleasure in making fancy drinks.  Everyone else at the bar was having beer or wine, but when we ordered a mixed drink, he really got to work.  

The place where we are staying has names for the rooms instead of numbers, and our room is called Zurriola.  There was a drink on the menu with the same name, so we asked what was in it. When he said it was vodka, passion fruit and Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) we were game.  What we didn’t suspect was the production of the thing.  He iced two large wine glasses, poured in a shot of vodka and some juice, then cut a passion fruit in half.  From there, he mixed everything well and added the Cava, placed two raspberries in the rind of the passion fruit, sliced a small berry to place on the side of the glass, added a sprig of cranberries and did about a half dozen other things to make the drink look like a work of art.  It was pretty spectacular.  

We decided we wanted to see what he recommended to follow that up, so we asked for a sugggetion.  He made something with Japanese whiskey called “lost in translation” next, which was pretty great.  The irony wasn’t lost on us, either.  An Italian making a drink with Japanese liquor in a Spanish bar for two Americans.  Couldn’t get much more international if we tried.  When we paid the check (after he handed us some pintxos on the house), we walked to the restaurant we had chosen, and there was a sign on the door saying they were closed until June 14th.  If we wanted to eat there, we were 24 hours early.  Alas, we went right back to the place we had left and had dinner at the bar.  It was Spanish ham and octopus.  

When dinner was complete, we walked the short distance back to our room, appreciating a little more that the place where we’re staying bothered to name it instead of numbering it.  Now, we just have to get up and make our way to the bus station where we started this adventure, of course, locating some breakfast on the way.  After that, it’s on to Madrid. 

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pfA2563myHYwVp6U7