Spanish Food, Sangria, and my Newscaster Crush

Well, I am sure I am not the only one mourning the end of the World Cup.... now what excuse can I use to avoid work, eat, drink and play with friends?

I celebrated the last game in style though, joining friends Sunday afternoon at Casa Juancho again for wine & sangria, Spanish tapas and revelry.  (I think the owner of the restaurant purchased TVs at the request of his customers when Spain made the semi-finals, so now he is the proud owner of some 8-10 flat screens!)  The restaurant was booked solid, but luckily we had a great table... and with a prix fixe menu that was loaded with options..... pulpo, cod-stuffed roasted red peppers, grilled shrimp - Oh My!

 

And all the paella we could eat - so aromatic with rich saffron, lemon, and red peppers and utterly loaded with scallops, mussels, shrimp and lobster.  Perfect with sangria!

And I can't leave out the television coverage with my new favorite sportscaster (and latest crush)

Ferrrrrrrrnando Fiore with Univision. 

Did you know that while he is originally from Argentina, he lives in Miami?

What luck!  I might actually see that mustache in person! 

As we all know by now, "Pulpo Paul" was right once again and Spain did indeed win.  In double overtime!  I didn't even know about Paul until our boiled octopus dish was served and out of superstition only half the table ate it.  According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Octopus), Pulpo Paul" is not only an octopus, but he is deemed a prophet, an oracle, a Nostradamus with 8 legs, if you will.  I don't know how I didn't get the memo, because I would have followed Paul's predictions more carefully!  Does he do lotto numbers?

In all truth, I haven't followed soccer much.  I don't know what "off sides" means and when there aren't a lot of goals made, it can be rather boring to watch.  I do enjoy the theatrics when someone is "injured" and love the idea that each country brings its own special style of faking serious injury to try to get a penalty called.  According to Ron Christopher Jones, professional actor and teacher, "Soccer inspires more bad acting than any other sport" and it "would never work in the NFL."  But he also goes on to say he doesn't think Soccer is really a sport.  I do disagree there.  Those guys are in phenomenal shape!   (read more here: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/acting-lessons-should-be-goal-of-world-cup-players/19530649)       

But this year it was fun.... maybe because Spanish-speaking countries did well and Miami is so rooted in Spanish culture?  Maybe because this is a town loaded with sports fans?  Or partiers?  Spanish speaking nations make good wine?  Not sure, but I was glad Spain won, and I can't even tell you why.  And true to my new "World Cup Tradition" I hugged the rooster and thanked him for the good times.