Sangria is my Elixir of Life
Why I'm Obsessing Over Christopher Columbus
Holy wow, it’s 2024 and almost the end of January to boot. I hope everyone had an okay holiday season. You can define your okay from you survived to it was the best holiday of your most recent memory.
I was fortunate to spend the new year in Seville, Spain. I had a mini existential panic about taking a vacation with so much war in the world. However, I am thankful for my freedom to travel along with the safety I felt everywhere I went. Leaving the United States always reminds me there is a larger world outside my door. It’s like hitting reboot. I refilled my creative well.
More on Spain to follow.
A Book Baby Is Coming June 11!
2024 also means my book The Pelican Tide will be arriving in 6 months. I’m excited to share my beautiful cover and to let you know the book is available for pre-order on Amazon. I can’t wait for you to meet the Babineaux family and Gumbo the brown pelican as you experience the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and a hot sauce competition.
Ways you can support me or any author
Select want to read on Goodreads
Ask your local library to order a copy
Tell your friends!
Consider making The Pelican Tide your summer book club pick and I’ll come to the discussion via Zoom
Post an honest review if you do read the book
Sunny Spain and My Favorite Drink
If you follow me on Instagram @sjwishnow you may have seen a photo or two or three that looks something like this - me at my favorite restaurant in New York City, Despana with a glass of sangria. The restaurant is also a mini grocer that sells fresh Spanish cheeses and meats, olive oils, and beautiful Spanish foods. And…the best freaking Sangria in the city. We’ve been eating here for years and sending people - seriously go on your next trip to the city, order some tapas and Victoria’s Secret Sangria. Though I can tell you Victoria shared her secret and we bought the ingredients next door at their wine shop. I have the recipe if you want.
The point of this not so great photo is to tell you why Spain. It was this sangria and the food. We were always at this tiny place and as often happens, we would strike up conversations with other foodies who would talk about Spain. So we went. That was years ago, and we’ve been three times since.
Don’t Eat the Oranges no Matter How Luscious They Look
This trip we headed south to Seville (Sevilla) and we weren’t disappointed. The first thing to hit me was the city was bursting with beautiful orange trees.
I went searching for information about this prolific citrus, and depending on who you believe, there are 14,000 trees, 25,000 trees, or 40,000 trees. Regardless of the tree numbers, they are everywhere. And no one eats them, because they are bitter. So what do they do with all the bitter fruit?
A good portion of the crop is sold to the UK where they make orange marmalade, it’s a big breakfast food. Orange blossoms are used to make perfume and other aroma therapy products. The skins and leaves are used for medicinal treatments and soap. They are also used to make popular liqueurs such as Cointreau and Curacao.
Game of Thrones, Columbus, and a Catchy Spanish Language Song
One of the more popular tourist attractions in Seville is The Alcazar Real - the Royal Palace. Dating back to the Moorish occupation of the city, this compound is a palace within a palace as it has evolved over the centuries. The Spanish royal family still stays here from time to time but we were told they prefer the city’s 5-star hotel.
In recent years, the palace was used as a set for Game of Thrones. But, let’s travel back in time to 1491. Our tour guide - more on him in a bit - took us to the Salon de Solio - the throne room. It was here where Christopher Columbus knelt before Queen Isabella and asked for the funds and ships to find a shortcut to India, thus launching the famous elementary school memory aid, In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
The room is now empty but if you look up, you’ll see a magnificent gold and dark mahogany ceiling. The wood was harvested from Cuba after Columbus got lost and ahem “discovered” the new world. I felt a spectral chill imagining that scene. I think there is a story with Columbus in my future. I don’t know what it would be but something ignited my story pilot light. If you too are curious here’s a reading list.
I’m guessing most readers are not jumping on my reading list, but you will if I ever write that book. Don’t count me out! Those story pilot light feelings are real.
One of the more interesting parts of the tour was our friends with us from the Netherlands who had limited knowledge of Columbus and couldn’t follow the story and shrugged.
But, but… Columbus, he’s canon in U.S. history, the heart and soul of the elementary school curriculum. There are 50 places named after him and according to this source, 23 of the US states have a Columbus. My friends didn’t care. And part of that was because the English language tour guide spoke a manic, rambling, slightly misogynistic English that we couldn’t follow other than some joke about wives in a haram the equivalent of credit cards today.
I don’t speak a lot of Spanish so I don’t fault him. But we shelled out 50 euros per person for that tour. All was not lost because he was wearing a colorful striped scarf, which thanks to my two daughter I learned is called la bufanda.
My adult children proceeded to sing this song through most of the tour.
Watch this video and you’ll thank me later. Sorry not sorry for the ear worm.
I’ll be returning to my regular posting schedule. Next issue what happened when the police called me last week. Also, Dating Silky Maxwell and my friend and author Tiffany Butler who talks about her time as a nude model and a magician’s assistant. I’ve got the best friends.
My husband and I went to Spain decades ago - an AMAZING place - but didn't make it to Seville. You just bumped it up on my list. And please share the Sangria recipe!