Just Playing Around

I don't have anything special to write about today, so, I'm just going to play around in this post.  Here's a really cool toy we discovered in a park in the Turia, right here in Valencia.

And here it is in action.

Short of an actual backhoe to play around with, this is the best!

Rick and Made and Ezra are all back home now, and the sandbox backhoe is just a fun memory.  Last night we took my sister, Rudy, to the train station to begin her long journey back to Florida.  From the station we were in the neighborhood of a craft beer place called Olhöps.  You really have to look for places to get good beer in Spain, so, we took advantage of the opportunity.

They had no actual American beers, but did have a really good American style IPA made in the UK.  It was truly yummy, with delicious hops and citrus flavors.  It was like the best part of the USA available on tap in Valencia.  But, there was a surprise in store.  There was a freezer behind the bar full of gelato made from various beers!  Now I'm pretty skeptical of such things, but on the recommendation of the bartender, we tried a bowl of Amor Amargo gelato which is made with an IPA.  Here's their announcement of the concoction on Facebook.

Amazingly, this stuff is really delicious!  Only slightly sweet, while retaining the tangy hop flavor of the IPA it's made from.  I would never have believed it if I hadn't tasted it myself.  I bet they were just playing around before they realized making beer gelato could really work.

So, here's to just playing around.  Sometimes it's just the thing to do...