My first Scrap Workshop tour of Spain - part 2 of 3

The first thing I did the next day after arriving to Zaragoza was to accompany my uncle and godfather to buy groceries. I love the food markets that are in every single town around Spain. The Boqueria market in Barcelona is arguably the most famous one, but by no means the best or prettiest. It has plenty of competition, though this one above is not one of the pretty ones. The quality of the food though was great and the prices very reasonable.

Another place I went to is the former Expo area, which is now being repurposed as the court houses and other institutions. It is by the river Ebro and the views are rather nice.

As are some of the more modern buildings, like the covered bridge on the right.

No visit to Zaragoza is complete without a visit to El Pilar. I went with my cousin Angela.

And on the way I indulge myself with one Palmera de Chocolate (My favourite pastry in the world) from la Bombonera de Oro, a traditional patisserie that my mum loves. After months of dieting, this tasted heavenly. I loved this English academy. The decor was lovely and very Bristishlite.

On wednesday the 18th I taught a mini album workshop at La Factoria Limonera Zaragoza. My cousin Angela came as a student. It was the first time that she did any papercrafting at all, and not only did she complete her project she was the first one to finish it. I guess it runs in the family!

It was a bit emotional for me. It was the first workshop I had ever taught in the city where I was born. It was fab group and had a fab time, I can not wait to go back.

Next stop, Barcelona.

My first Scrap Workshop tour of Spain - part 1 of 3

A couple of weeks ago I spent over a week teaching and traveling in Spain. I enjoyed it so much! it was a bit of an adventure!

I arrived on the 13th to Salamanca, ahead of my first workshop at Scrap by Diana the next day. We went for dinner in the centre. Although there was a great atmosphere it was dampened by the disastrous Spanish football team performance.

But the next day, we were ready for a full day of scrap. In the morning we made a mini album.

There we all are. I think everyone finished their project.

For lunch we had some tapas. Palomas on the left and croquetas on the right. Amazing and cheap. Food in Spain is really great.

On the afternoon we did more messy stuff but always with a twist of cleanliness as its my style. On the right the layout that one of the ladies made using different colours.

And here we are!

The next day I left Salamanca at eleven to make my way to Zaragoza via Burgos through small roads that would offer me the possibility to visit pretty villages (albeit without stepping out of the car) like Simancas (the one above) and Tordesillas.

Soon enough I arrived to Burgos. A provincial Castillian city that is gorgeous. Its rich with history and architecture, its food is famous and the landscape surrounding it is truly beautiful. Besides, Atapuerca is nearby which is where the oldest remains of hominids have been found in Western Europe.

Burgos is famed as being one of the coldest places in Spain. But it was a lovely warm (but not too hot) sunny day when I arrived. I had lunch looking at the beautiful cathedral.

After lunch, I made my way to the inside. The late gothic cathedral is well known in Spain. It is ver unique in my opinion due to this amazing windows:

There are windows on top on the ceiling. There are three, two smaller in two chapels and the one above, over the transept. A beautiful bridge between heaven and Earth. It literally took my breath away.

Just under it there is a simple tombstone. It is where EL Cid and his wife Jimena are buried. I had no idea that he was buried there so it was an great surpise. You see, El Cid is one of the most heroic figures in both Spanish history and literature. The photo on the right is of one of the most famous chapels, a very impressive work. Those were proper craft mans and not what I am!

The visit to cathedral ends with the two cloisters, one on top of each other, both beautiful both with interesting sculptures.

Burgos is not just the cathedral. It has gorgeous buildings and other interesting churches that make it a good touristic place. And as usual in Spain, highly underrated which means that not that many international tourists are there so prices are low.

I had never been to La Rioja before. Of course, everyone knows the name La Rioja because of the wine but I didn't realised that it is so beautiful! I am always amazed how every area in Spain is so beautiful and so different from the next.

After La Rioja, I drove a bit through Navarra, another Comunidad Autonoma

And just after I crossed into Aragon I saw a sign post that I couldnt ignore. Mallen. That is the small village that my father was born in. My grandparents were there not for long and did not have any family there, so there was never any reason to go there. And that is the church where my father was baptised, but I didn't know at the time. 

Next stop Zaragoza, the city where I was born!

Zaragoza

Visiting Zaragoza is always emotional for me. It is the city where I was born but I didn't grew up in. My parents moved to Mallorca when I was two years old, so i grew there in a pretty idyllic set up. But my heart has always loved Zaragoza and I treasured every yearly visit to the city to see my uncle, aunt, grandma and cousins. 

Nowadays I try as much as possible to at least go once a year, but last year I couldn't due to work commitments. 

So this trip was long time coming, and even more emotional as one member of my family is ill, but also my cousin Aitor and his wife Susana have got a new addition to the family, a beautiful little girl. There is another new addition to my Zaragoza family and is the reason of this big smile bellow on my cousin, young love!

I am incredibly close to my beautiful inside and out cousin Angela (above). She is a doctor, a pediatrician actually, quite handy for her new niece! Angela is eight years younger than me though we always have been very close and I count her among my closest friends. 

We went out only one night, but it was great. we had some of the best tapas around, which the old part of town is well re-known for. It was cold, very cold, but even the cold, wind and rain cant stop Zaragoza people to go out and have fun.

On the Saturday we went to Creativa Zaragoza. Creativa is the company that is organising craft retail shows all around Spain. I was working at the Madrid one back in October. This edition in Zaragoza was smaller but equally busy.

As soon as we got to show I spotted my Sizzix Everyday dies for sale. Seeing craft products that i designed in my hometown? Crazy!
This probably will be one of the highlights of my professional paper craft life.

Also, at the Pepa Paper, Elena was there teaching a workshop all day long. She is such a lovely girl and very talented too. Definitely check out her blog.

Also at the show were Innspiro, the Spanish distributors of Sizzix products among many others. they are a lovely bunch of people.

And Quim Diaz was there teaching a great project using the Big Shot and Basic Grey papers. Another lovely and talented crafter. Its seems that there is no lack of them in Spain, something that makes me extremely happy and proud!

Sunday was a busy fun day. We had paella cooked by my uncle which was delicious. In the late afternoon we went to El Pilar, which is a cathedral that houses the pillar where the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint James the Apostle in the 1st century AD. You can still kiss the Pillar and I always try to make a visit when I am in Zaragoza. It is a very special place.

The square is massive. So massive that it has not only one but two cathedrals (the second one being the tower on the left photo). After the visit, we went wondering off. But it was Sunday and it was cold, so what do you do?

We went to have some chocolate con churros! Amazing. After which we went to see Silver Linnings Playbook, which we enjoyed though I cant stand anymore dubbed movies, so that was challenging.

And finally we watched the Oscars Red Carpet. Neither of us was incredibly impress by the stars gowns with one or two exceptions.

The next day I was flying to Mallorca to see my parents, my sister, her husband and yet another new addition to the family.