It was an unexpected trip for me where I combined learning and exploring the best places to visit in Spain. It took place within the Erasmus+ Climate Action Now! Save the Future – an international youth exchange. I was the leader of the Bulgarian team of 7 youngsters. The best souvenirs we exchanged were original recipes from the home countries of the teams – Spain, Italy, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. Find them at the bottom of the article!
Go green with peer learning
Moclín is a small mountainous village with 4000 inhabitants not far from Granada, one of the best places to visit in Spain for those who prefer driving less to walking more.
For one week, 30 international participants did a lot of hiking and brainstorming during peer learning.
For most of us, it was the first trip abroad since the pandemic, and everyone was curious about life in other countries.
With their workshops, the Spaniards shed more light on the topic of microplastic in food in the best places to visit in Spain; the Italians prepared a lecture about marine pollution, while the Lithuanians talked about the role of dumps in water pollution.
My presentation about Bulgarian eco-initiatives
With the Bulgarian team, we introduced Bulgarian ecological initiatives focused on the conservation of rare species and their habitats – the Volunteer Bird Vacation on Pomorie Lake and the Dancing Bears Park in Belitsa.
Additionally, we engaged everyone in the debates about the recent bear attack in Belitsa. Dividing the participants into three groups (locals, government, and ecologists), we sought the answer to the question: ‘What to do with the bear?’.
Hike and pick up litter while sightseeing
For one week, our learning spot was our residence – the mountainous Spanish village Moclín, in the province of Granada. Situated at 1045 m above sea level, the location is the perfect place for mountainous trekking and long walks. The hamlet is just a one-hour drive from Granada and a 2.5-hour drive from Malaga, one of the best places to visit in Spain.
At first glimpse, it comes across as an unspoiled area – a great variety of breathtaking landscapes and rare encounters with people.
However, we collected four large bags of rubbish during our 8-kilometre-long trekking. The most frequent findings were masks, soft drink cans, and plastic bottles.
Locals said that weekend tourists exploring the best places to visit in Spain were the main polluters.
‘It’s great that they gathered together ecological professionals and people of other professions, – says an Italian student in computer science and IT Fabio Chiarini. – And I really enjoyed our trip to Granada, one of the best cities to visit in Spain. It was interesting to compare different locations in the same region, they all are among the best places to visit in Spain ‘.
Recipes
The cultural evenings of national cuisines definitely became the highest level of engagement at the project. For this section, I’ve selected several of the most loved dishes tried while exploring the best places to visit in Spain: Moclin, Granada, and Malaga.
Spanish cuisine: Spanish Potato Tortilla (Potato Omelet)
Ingredients
1 large onion
4 potatoes
6 eggs
5 tablespoons olive oil, salt
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a pan and put finely sliced potatoes and onion in a pan. Cook for 25 min.
Step 2
Cool the cooked onions and potatoes. Add beaten and mixed eggs to the vegetables
Step 3
Return the mixture to the heated pan. Cook for 5 minutes. Flip the tortilla and cook another 5 min the other side.
Bulgarian cuisine: Cheese Pie Banitsa
Ingredients
1 pack of filo dough
250 g Bulgarian cheese
4 eggs
1 cup of Bulgarian yoghurt
60 g tablespoons butter
Preparation
Step 1
The filling: in a bowl mix eggs, cheese, yoghurt, and butter.
Step 2
In a baking pan, put some butter. Layer the pastry sheets adding the filling. Roll each sheet and arrange the rolls in the pan in the form of a spiral.
Step 3
Bake in an oven at 200-250° C for 30 min.
Italian cuisine: Pasta al forno
Ingredients
For the meat ragù
500 g minced meat
500 ml tomato pulp
100 g peas
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 onion
150 g white wine
1-2 garlic cloves
olive oil
basil leaves, salt, pepper
For the pasta
400 g pasta tubes
300 g mozzarella
50 g parmesan
Preparation
Step 1
Chop the carrot, onion, garlic, and celery. Fry them in olive oil.
Add the minced meat and cook for about 30 min.
Step 2
Add the wine and stir again. When the wine evaporates, put the tomato pulp, basil, salt and pepper.
Cook the sauce covered on low heat for about 1 hour. 15 min before it is ready add the peas.
Step 3
Cook the pasta in salted water mix it with the meat mix and let it cool.
Step 4
Put a layer of pasta and meat on the oven dish. Layer it with the cheese. Add another layer of pasta. Cover it with the second cheese layer. Finish with a layer of pasta.
Step 5
Sprinkle with parmesan and bake in a preheated oven at 200° C for about 35 min.
Lithuanian cuisine: Dessert A lazy person
Ingredients
200 g biscuit cookies
30 g butter
75 g dark chocolate
3 tbsp cocoa powder
200 ml condensed milk
Preparation
Step 1
Break cookies into small pieces in the bowl.
Step 2
Melt butter and chocolate, and add the condensed milk and cocoa.
Step 3
Mix the sweet sauce with the cookies and leave to cool.
Step 4
In a plastic wrap, form a roll of the mixture and put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
Enjoy your meal!
Photos and videos: Fortunato Greco, Tatyana Garkavaya and Eglė Valčiukaitė
Find other best places to visit in Spain in the section Places of this blog.
