Sanity Check: Learning, Lunching & Laughing

Wednesday I was invited to join several ladies for lunch in nearby Sanlucar. I'm always game for going out to lunch, especially when it's with a fun group of people. We took two vehicles since there were too many of us to ride in one, and I rode in my girlfriend's SUV. Uh... note to self... this is the reason why SUVs aren't recommended for driving in Spain...

We had the hardest time finding parking and even this parking space was difficult to fit into because SUVs are not only long, they are wide, and they take up a lot of space, therefore my girlfriend parked her big rig up on the curb to avoid sticking out too far into the street. We laughed so hard! All I could think about was the fact that I was thankful I wasn't driving our Yukon XL.

One of the ladies in our group is Spanish and originally from the local area and she took us to this place...

Here we tried several tapas (translation = appetizers) and as you can see, there were lots to choose from...

While we were inside choosing our appetizers, these Spanish men decided they wanted to have their picture made with some of us. Who were we to turn them down? So here we are with our new Spanish boyfriends...

Seemingly every bar/eating establishment in Spain has jamon (translation = ham) hanging from the ceiling. They love their ham here and it shows! It doesn't do much for me personally, but I've gotten accustomed to seeing it everywhere, so it's no big deal anymore.

And, of course, in Spain it's all about the bull, baby!

I actually really liked this appetizer. These are tortilla de camarones (translation = fried shrimp patties). You may be wondering what the little black dots are scattered throughout this dish. Well, I understood they were definitely NOT pepper, but rather the eyeballs of the shrimp. True or false? I don't really know and I don't really WANT to know.

These are chocos (translation = squid) and I admittedly chickened out on trying this dish. I'm sorry... I simply couldn't go there! They may have been delectable, but I frankly didn't care to find out. I also tried a few other foods... red peppers & onions, cooked fish eggs, cheese and some bread and I topped it all off with a Coca-Cola. How Spanish of me, huh?

These folks provided some musical entertainment during our lunch. Some other people came by our table trying to sell us beaded jewelry and we politely turned them down, however, I asked to take their picture and they quickly turned away. I probably offended them, unknowingly of course, but it didn't seem to deter them too much as they came back to our table a couple more times.

I'm taking this picture of my new girlfriends...