Feast at Joaquin and Nines' House

On a Saturday afternoon in January, our friends Nines and Joaquin invited us to their home for a real, Spanish feast.

Photo: Around the dinner table. From left: Joaquin, Nines, Jay (fellow American who's lived in Zaragoza for over a decade), Eric (Jay's son), Parker and Celia




So much food...Beef roast, bread, fish, shrimp, salad, roasted red peppers (pimientos)...all washed down with plenty of wine!

Photo: Also, at the table with Gemma in the right hand corner and Colin and Kelsey







Photo: Nines and Joaquin


We met Nines and Joaquin through our friend, Gemma; Joaquin is the owner of Monumental, a local cafe/bar just down the street from our apartment, and it's the meeting place for a regular Wednesday night get together for a group of English speakers (mostly Irish and British folks).






Photos: Nines and Kelsey dancing



In general, we have found that Spaniards are reserved in reaching out to new people. However, if you make an effort and reach out to the them first, well...watch out! The welcoming and generosity is usually enormous. Nines and Joaquin have consistently been warm and open with us, and the kids as well as extremely patient while we bumble through our attempts at speaking Spanish.