A Little Spanish Flair…

Ahhhh… Spain.

Oi!

Let me jump to the year... 2091.

Wait.

I mean 2019. I’m no Time Traveler… duh.                                                                        Or am I?

I went to Spain for another 3 week trip… you seeing a trend? And I had the most wonderful time… of course. Visited Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and Barcelona. All outstanding. I only wish that Sevilla wasn’t over 110 degrees there when I went… and I also wish I hadn’t nearly gotten Heat Stroke in the middle of a Sherry Tasting… but that's neither here nor there.

Traveling Spain… by Train!

I have a really fun and great friend in Valencia and so I really wanted to visit her. Her name is Ana and she is an amazing artist and someone who takes Art to the next level in fun and interesting ways. She does live Performance Art as part of a troupe and also has her art in galleries and public installations. And she has a clothing line! Needless to say… she rocks it. 

OBLIGATORY ANYWHOOO:

Valencia is an amazing city and was kinda recently put on the World Stage by a big show, Westworld. There were many outdoor scenes that were shot on location there for the last season. Fun fact: Season 3 premiered on the exact date that the Lockdown occurred… March 15th. The day after my birthday. Looky there. So it was really fun seeing where I had been on TV especially at a time like that. Valencia kicks some major ass. I was very fortunate that Ana gave me a complete tour of the city when I visited. It's absolutely beautiful there.

La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias

Let me get to the Craft Beer part of this blog… since a good part of you are really fans of that content and I aim to please. I was able to really explore the main part of Valencia and experience their Craft Beer bars and Breweries. Like most Craft Breweries… some were situated on the outskirts of town in industrial districts... so sadly I wasn’t able to hit ALL of the breweries but I was able to hit a couple. The Craft Beer bars were the ones that I really wanted to check out because those are the frontlines for a city… especially for tourists like me.

I happened upon a great one, Olhöps, where I really felt welcome. It might’ve been the fact that it was in the middle of the week and also that everywhere else was a tad bit too busy for my liking. IN ANY CASE… Olhöps treated me like a saint. One who drank copious amounts of the local beer. Which I did. And the bartender… man I really wish I could remember his name. But he was extremely welcoming and made sure I had a great time there. I do have a video of him taking a pour of a Farmhouse Saison from a Pórron. Which is a kind of decanter for beer and is something that everyone should try to do… at least once. For the inexperienced… it might get a little messy… just a heads up.

Its just fun.

And this is really what it comes down to when we are talking about Craft Beer. It's fun! And when you get to travel somewhere new… you are going to taste something that you’ve never tasted before. Smaller batches means fewer people get to try a batch... which makes people feel like they have some agency in that beer and its existence. Which is fun, right? And that fosters community… which fosters friendships, love and fun. And what more can you ask for?

I will leave you with that… because it's just a great ending.

Chao.