Weekend Trip: Toulouse/Carcassonne, France Jan 18-20

This past weekend we got out of snowy Amsterdam and headed to Southern France to check out Toulouse and Carcassonne, and ended up still running into snow.  I have had a new cooking interest of late, Cassolette, so it was nice to try the real thing instead of my imposter recipe from Cooks Country which is awesome as well. 

Weekend Trip: Cologne, Germany Dec 1-2

Trying to catch up with blog posts... our first weekend trip out of the Netherlands on early December.  We went to Cologne for the first weekend of the Christmas Markets, great brats, fried dough, and something new we hadn't tried before, giant steamed dumplings covered in custard.  After that I wanted to lay down in the middle of the park.  We ran into one food stand selling "Dutch Treats" and I had fried fish nuggets.  I haven't actually scene those anywhere in Amsterdam... will have to look around.  Cologne also had several animatronic umpa bands that played traditional music and also great traditional German songs like Billy Jean by Micheal Jackson and Rocky Mountain High by John Denver... awesome! 

Weekend Trip: Valencia, Spain Jan 11-13

I know there are some folks who are dying to find out which apartment we picked, but I have to delay that a bit longer.  I want to include photos of the place we picked, with our own touches, but we have yet to buy frames.  The next weekend we have time to go get frames we do so, and then we can take photos and announce which apartment we picked.  Until then, here is what we have been up to.

We took a short trip to Valencia the weekend of Jan 12.  The timing of the trip could not have been better as Amsterdam has been particularly cold since the end of last week, and the second snow of the season hit yesterday and today (Monday and Tuesday), Valencia on the other hand was sunny and in the mid to upper 60s... so nice.

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain and until recently not often visited by travelers.  The city has cleaned up, and it appears most of the buildings downtown have been renovated or is in the process of renovation as the old town is clean, charming, and great for strolls.  Valencia also has some world class modern architecture, museums, and a beach if you have the time.   Valencia is also home to one of the great dishes of Spain, Paella.  All this makes for a great couple days.