Good Vacation

My Trip

Brief Highlights:
-"Homage to Catalonia" proved a good reading companion, even if I was in the wrong part of the peninsula...
-Jabugo, the home of the best jamon iberico. I swear, the Andalucians treat jamon like a spice.
-The Alhambra. Thank you Washington Irving for helping to promote awareness and allow us this grand legacy.
-Ronda and the birth of bull fighting
-Gibraltar and Mumtazz takeout
-Cadiz's winding, narrow streets, Casa Caracol, and the camera obscura
-Jerez, Tio Pepe, and some very nice manzanilla
-Wandering the lands of Tartessos, an Iberian Atlantis and lost, metal-rich culture
-Fresh grilled piles of fish in Faro
-Sintra's palace, twin of Neuschwanstein in terms of crazed royal romantic beauty
-Lisbon's Erasmus corner.

ROUTE: Google Maps

More Cuisine: This battered isle

Perhaps I'm stretching it a bit by labeling a link to a fish & chips article as "cuisine," but some chippers have totally transformed themselves and are unrecognizable next to their more stereotypical brethren. Check it out:

This battered isle | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

Pesce

On the subject of fish, some resources to practice sustainable and healthy eating:

Monterey Bay Aquarium--Regional and national guides to seafood.

Environmental Defense--Takes more of a health approach

Marine Stewardship Council--Provides guidelines for buying from responsible fisheries

Audubon Society--Wallet guides for ordering seafood while dining out


Safe, sustainable fish are generally limited at present to the following:
-Wild Alaska Salmon
-Canned pink/sockeye salmon
-Anchovies & Sardines
-Black cod (Alaskan Sablefish)
-Atlantic herring and mackerel
-Farmed oysters


All as per NGM, April 2007.

The Crisis in Our Oceans

I just received my April issue of National Geographic this weekend, and the magazine has returned to high quality pieces after a stint last year of near-tabloid rubbish that pushed me to let my subscription temporarily lapse. April's issue deals with another green issue dear to my heart--the state of the world's ocean ecosystems. I'm not exactly a marine biologist, so I'm dependent on reports like NG's to really keep my finger on the pulse of the world's oceans--but we're clearly in trouble. Modern fishing fleets are equipped with high tech nets and other systems that leave little but slaughter and death in their wake. Too many fisherman fish in an imprecise fashion that suffocates less prized fish species in the open air only to discard their carcasses back into the ocean--not even considering selling these other fish in local markets where any protein is often welcome. After all, the fisherman were only after the catch's shrimp stocks, or cod, tuna, marlin, swordfish... This is, of course, only the most mild of sins when examining the whole picture. More horrific stories abound about shark fisherman or, sadly, Mediterranean tuna fisherman eager to satisfy the Japanese, American, and European demand for rich, fatty bluefin tuna, which will, all too soon, be driven close to extinction if we do not practice more rigorous controls.

You can find out more by grabbing a magazine or visiting the report's page here. I'm glad that, as much as I love seafood and sushi, my diet has shifted over the last year to place a much higher emphasis on vegetables and more sustainable poultry.