Sarah la Viajera
Sarah la Viajera

First NFL Game!

October 31, 2012SarahAdd comment
Written by Sarah
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This post is exactly a month late which I didn’t plan for it to be, ha. October has been a busy month!

On Sunday, September 30th, my friend Amanda and I went to a Jacksonville Jaguars’ game for free! It was the first NFL game we’d both ever been to! How did we manage to score these free tickets, you ask? Well, let me explain.

In the middle of February, I moved out of my first off-campus apartment and into a room in a 20 something couple’s house in San Marco, one of the most vibrant and beautiful places in Jacksonville. Anne happens to work for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Phil is a physical therapist at St. Katherine’s in Riverside. From the first email to meeting them in person, I had a good feeling about these two. After careful consideration, weighing the pros and cons and talking to my family back in Ohio, I made the decision to move in – and I haven’t looked back! If you know me, I am very much a cat person. I guess after living in this house, I have slowly decided that dogs aren’t that bad. Fred and Nolan, their puppies, have gradually pried open my heart and crawled inside. 🙂 Never thought I’d ever say that. I still love only you, Tiggeroo! 🙂

Back to the Jaguars: Anne had mentioned awhile ago that she gets free tickets to all the Jags games so if I was ever interested in going, I was more than welcome to use the tickets and go to a couple games. I decided on September 30th’s match-up not really realizing who the Jaguars would be playing – the Cincinnati Bengals! haha I more or less chose that game because it didn’t start until later in the day. And to be honest, I’m not huge fan of either team but I wore teal and goal to support the city I am currently calling home. I won’t cheer for any Ohio team (college of professional) except maybe the Cleveland Indians since their logo is cool.

We had a great time enjoying the sport live and catching up a bit. Though we didn’t shell out money for the stadium food, we had nice seats, a jaguar paw fan to catch a breeze (it was SO muggy in the stadium!) and a downpour to cool us off the rest of the way!

In the end the Jags lost (which was to be expected) and the last couple minutes of the game got rained out.  Amanda and I had a great experience, though, and that’s all that matters! 🙂

One piece of advice: never bring an umbrella with you to an NFL game. Even if you try to carefully hide it behind a dumpster near the entrance, chances are it will get stolen anyway! Blasted Florida downpours. 😉

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When I read my very first blog post about the infamous pintxo de champiñón (champi for short) and gamba, I just knew that one day I had to try it. Fast forward 11 years and I did! And now I’m posting about it 2 months later, oops. 😅 Visiting Logroño, located just underneath País Vasco, back in March was a very pleasant surprise. The walkability, large concentration of bars in the city center and the fact that eating was the main focus of our weekend were wonderful. When I was dreaming about trying these absolutely delicious #pintxos all those years ago, I never imagined I would go to Logroño with the person I absolutely love trying new dishes and cuisines with. I never knew how fun going away to such a gastronomic gem of a region like La Rioja 🍷 would be and how eating my way around the town (plus, a little bit of culture and football ⚽️ for him) would be such an adventure. We didn’t make it everywhere we wanted to go so we’ve got yet another list of pintxos to try the next time we visit. 👫💕 Pintxos featured: 1️⃣ Champiñón 🍄 a la plancha con gamba 🍤 - Bar Soriano 2️⃣ Unas patatas bravas increíbles! 🤩 - Bar Jubera 3️⃣ El cojonudo (huevo de cordoniz con chorizo sobre pan) - Bar El Muro Restaurante 4️⃣ Un excelente pintxo de tortilla 🍳🥔“melosa” -La Concordia (Tortillera) 5️⃣ Croquetas de puerro y gamba (yo) y de cachopo (A) -Divina Croqueta 6️⃣ Otro pintxo de gamba y champi - Bar Ángel (mi favorito 😍) 7️⃣ Bocatita de jamón con queso de tetilla 🧀 (a nod to our beloved Galicia) 🤤 - Pata Negra 8️⃣ Tío Agus (un mini bocadillo de carne de cedro adobado con salsa secreta) - Tío Agus Bar Lorenzo 9️⃣ Tarta de queso vasca 😋 - Café Calenda (Calle Portales) 🔟 Brocheta de langostinos a la plancha con aceite de oliva y pimentón de la Vera - La Casita Mesón Bar Side note: it’s really hard to film one handed and try to eat at the same time (see slide #4). Have you been to Logroño before? What were some of your favorite foods/pintxos? 😋🥘🐷🥖⬇️ #callaurel #callelaurellogroño #logroño #pinchos #tapeando #lariojapetece #foodies #larioja
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