In Sevilla right now. Its great to be back in Spain. We are staying in a private flat, with a balcony overlooking a street with cafes, restaurants, coffee bars, and lots of deli. One thing I love so far on this trip is the delectable jamon serrano, cured ham. Ive never been a fan of ham; they have always been my last choice of filling in sandwiches. But the ham here is another story. Its not like the plain ol ham you get in Australia. Rather, the ham is a rich red-brown colour with a deep flavour, and sliced paper-thin. Delicious on its own, or with cheese and light toasted bread. The spanish cuisine seriously breaks down if you take pork away. I was thinking how cultures and religions can be vastly at odds with each other. Here, pork is a big part of Spanish gastronomy. In any given deli, local grocery store, supermarket or department store a whole section is devoted to (all types) of ham: often attractively hanging from celings. haha. But in India, I never saw a single slice of ham or any pork dishes. Pork is regarded as unclean for Muslims and Hindu alike. I wonder how a Spanish ham aficionado will cope with living in India; or how a Jewish, Muslim or Hindu think of Spanish cuisine.

Another aspect of the cuisine here is the coffee. The spanish love their coffee. You walk down a street and every few metres or so, you pass a bar with people perched on stools or standing against the bar having an (thrice-a-day or more) espresso or cafe con leche (coffee with milk, less strong than cappucino and without the froth) with pastry. My parents are hooked on this. haha me too.

Have you ever gone on a trip, visiting a list of different places or travelled across a number of borders, and bumping into the same travellers time and time again? My friend, Des told me how he once went on a backpacking trip around Europe with Kenny and he kept seeing these two guys (I forgot from where) throughout the trip. He said they bumped into them in at least 5 or so places (in different countries as well)! coincidence or what? On the last day, he decided to approach them and take a photo with them. hilarious.

Well, something like that has been happening to us. There are these two Korean guys we spotted in Barcelona, and then at Lisboa airport in Portugal, and then on our long bus ride to Sevilla! I am going to be very surprised if I seem them in Cordoba or Granada!! There are also two Polish guys who we met on the route from Lisboa and are also in Sevilla. We bumped into them as we walked out from Cathedral de Servilla (amazing archicture with gothic and renaissance influences). We chatted a bit and found out they were heading to Morocco for their next destination. They got me psyched up. it was funny, because he leaned over and in a low voice commented how he thinks Morocco is a lot more exciting country (he had visited 5 years ago). Then my parents started asking questions such as whether he thought Morocco is safe, and what it would be like for a solo female traveller (uh-oh). I was like praying in my mind he would give a favourable response. He started by saying Morocco is safe (whew). But then he started advising me to wear a ring and be prepared to give a story that my huband is ill in the hotel because of the Arabic culture. He went into detail about how the men are sexually repressed and crazy about women (it would have been funny if my parents werent listening to this). I thought my parents were later going to give me a serious talk about going to Morocco, or worse not let me go. But to my surprise, my mum exclaimed how she wished she had time to go - awesome - and the topic of conversation turned to spices I should get in Morocco.