Category: Spain

Postcard from Zaragoza, Spain: Renaissance landmark rescued from Paris

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Above: Contemporary painting depicting Patio de la Infante (by Jacqueline Treloar?)

“Courtyard of the Princess,” F.J. Parceriso, lithograph, circa 1850

On the edge of the former Jewish Quarter in Zaragoza, Micer Gabriel Zaporta (abt 1500-1580) built an 18,000-square-foot house in 1549 in honor of his second wife. Zaporta himself was born into a Jewish family whose members converted to Catholicism in compliance with the Edicts of 1492 and enforced by the Inquisition. The elegant house built around a central courtyard with elaborate Italianate ornamentation reflected Zaporta’s success as a merchant and a banker who served as treasurer to King Charles I of Spain (1500-1558).

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Postcard from Zaragoza, Spain: Sampling menus from regional vegetables to Neapolitan-style pizza

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Above: Casa Lac roasted pimientos del cristal with hake

We’ll start this post exploring a few restaurants in Zaragoza with a leisurely meal at what some claim is the oldest in Spain – Casa Lac – dating from 1825 but with a decor updated sometime during the 19th-century. While Casa Lac features tapas downstairs, upstairs offers old-school, formal, multi-course service – perfect for whiling away time on a cool, rainy afternoon.

The six-course meal suited our mood, but what really drew us was Casa Lac’s reputation for putting fresh vegetables, instead of meat, in the primary spotlight. Ricardo Gil’s restaurant group grows and harvests seasonal regional vegetables, such as borage and thistle, on its own farm on the banks of the Ebro River. Gil says: “Our dishes are full of tradition, but with lively flashes of innovation. This is how we understand our cuisine; this is how we keep it alive.”

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Postcard from Zaragoza, Spain: Cheerful toasts echo around plazas

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Above: Well-muddled mojitos at Gran Cafe Estrella de Cuba

Gathering for lively conversation over cocktails seems important in Zaragoza, and not just for young late-night partiers spilling out of tapas bars crowding the narrow streets of the city’s famed El Tubo district. People like us, canosos (gray-haired), jockey for hard-to-score tables on neighborhood plazas with college students and families with baby carriages to enjoy beer, wine and gin and tonics at all times of day – our kind of place.

We were there in the late spring, and, with COVID restrictions just loosening up, the few tourists around barely had a chance of winning the competition for outdoor spots. Maybe we were witnessing the first exuberant gatherings locals were having with friends and family they had missed seeing, their first opportunities to finally escape their apartments after the long lockdown, their first reunification with vices given up for Lent. Perhaps this is simply the year-round pursuit of happiness in Zaragoza – a good way to live.

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