Spring Break withdrawals and side of Ceviche Cravings
As an almost 28 year old, I never thought that I would get a chance to spring break the college way. I actually remember being in undergrad and missing out on the big trips to Cancun and Panama City Beach because I was stuck going to Geology field trips- an unfortunate requirement of my degree plan.
Yet here I type, a survivor of Spring Break 2018- as a grown adult. My Boothie husband and I - and 348 of our closest friends took flight to see all that Colombia had to offer.
Ya'll. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
Our itinerary reminded me of Britney Spears' first Greatest Hits album. We touched on all the highlights and ended before we went a little crazy and shaved our heads. Although, it was touch and go there for a moment during the Party Island night in Cartagena....
I thought that this trip would be tame considering we aren't spring chickens anymore- I was so naive back then. I was proven wrong night after night by the people around me. They got cultured at the walking/bus tours during the day and then raged like there was no tomorrow at the night festivities.
I couldn't hang. I feel like spring breaking is too far outside my realm of getting wine drunk in sweatpants at my apartment . Nonetheless, I tried as hard as I could to keep up!
We started our first couple of days in Bogota where I was absolutely blown away. The city is very trendy and clean. I kept seeing building that had the same in-style interior design concepts that we have here in the states.
Black finish light fixtures, hexagon tiles and the most gorgeous large doors you've ever seen. Paired with the charming outdoor market, I was hooked. Check out this market stand that recreates doors across Colombia- I had to make a purchase but I wish I would have bought a couple more.
Our next stop was Medellin. It started off fairly rocky as our bus driver got lost searching for our hotel and drove us by a couple prostitutes. No. Big. Deal. Luckily things turned around the next day as we explored the square which has several great restaurants and checked out all the Fernando Botero available at the museum. We took a day trip into the colorful town of Guatape and climbed the Rock of Guatapé . After our epic (and embarrassingly exhausting) 750 stair climb we celebrated up top with Mango Micheladas followed by a Party Barge on the water where we literally rocked the boat. Several buckets of mojitos were drank.
Fun Fact about the Rock of Guatape: There was disagreement between the towns of Guatape and El Penol on who had ownership of the rock. The people of Guatape decided to claim the rock by painting the town's name on the northern face of the stone in huge white lettering. They successfully completed the letter "G" and the first stroke of the letter "U" Obviously, once El Penol noticed, they put an end to it. The white lettering is still there!
Finally we ended our trip in Cartagena! This city is gorgeous! Old town has that relaxed vibe where it closes its streets to cars around 5pm daily so that you can walk at leisure. Not having to look left and right before crossing the streets- VACATION GOALS. There are several popular open air markets in this city such as Las Bovedas and Portal de Los Dulces.They aren't the best quality but nice to just walk through as you explore Old Town.
To top it all off- we ate some killer Ceviche that I wanted to recreate in Chicago.
Below is my 1st attempt and it turned out quite well but not as good as what we ate at La Cevicheria-- to be fair, I think they served theirs with crack because I ate my body weight in it...
Fish and Shrimp Ceviche
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb raw white fish
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined.
1 cup lime juice (aprox 7)
1/2 cup lemon juice (aprox 3)
1/2 cup orange juice (aprox 2, small)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 habanero pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional: 1 tomato, seeded and diced
Optional: 2 avocado, diced
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enjoy!
Thanks for reading The Life of a Booth Partner!
Yet here I type, a survivor of Spring Break 2018- as a grown adult. My Boothie husband and I - and 348 of our closest friends took flight to see all that Colombia had to offer.
Ya'll. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
Our itinerary reminded me of Britney Spears' first Greatest Hits album. We touched on all the highlights and ended before we went a little crazy and shaved our heads. Although, it was touch and go there for a moment during the Party Island night in Cartagena....
I thought that this trip would be tame considering we aren't spring chickens anymore- I was so naive back then. I was proven wrong night after night by the people around me. They got cultured at the walking/bus tours during the day and then raged like there was no tomorrow at the night festivities.
I couldn't hang. I feel like spring breaking is too far outside my realm of getting wine drunk in sweatpants at my apartment . Nonetheless, I tried as hard as I could to keep up!
We started our first couple of days in Bogota where I was absolutely blown away. The city is very trendy and clean. I kept seeing building that had the same in-style interior design concepts that we have here in the states.
Black finish light fixtures, hexagon tiles and the most gorgeous large doors you've ever seen. Paired with the charming outdoor market, I was hooked. Check out this market stand that recreates doors across Colombia- I had to make a purchase but I wish I would have bought a couple more.
Our next stop was Medellin. It started off fairly rocky as our bus driver got lost searching for our hotel and drove us by a couple prostitutes. No. Big. Deal. Luckily things turned around the next day as we explored the square which has several great restaurants and checked out all the Fernando Botero available at the museum. We took a day trip into the colorful town of Guatape and climbed the Rock of Guatapé . After our epic (and embarrassingly exhausting) 750 stair climb we celebrated up top with Mango Micheladas followed by a Party Barge on the water where we literally rocked the boat. Several buckets of mojitos were drank.
Fun Fact about the Rock of Guatape: There was disagreement between the towns of Guatape and El Penol on who had ownership of the rock. The people of Guatape decided to claim the rock by painting the town's name on the northern face of the stone in huge white lettering. They successfully completed the letter "G" and the first stroke of the letter "U" Obviously, once El Penol noticed, they put an end to it. The white lettering is still there!
Finally we ended our trip in Cartagena! This city is gorgeous! Old town has that relaxed vibe where it closes its streets to cars around 5pm daily so that you can walk at leisure. Not having to look left and right before crossing the streets- VACATION GOALS. There are several popular open air markets in this city such as Las Bovedas and Portal de Los Dulces.They aren't the best quality but nice to just walk through as you explore Old Town.
To top it all off- we ate some killer Ceviche that I wanted to recreate in Chicago.
Below is my 1st attempt and it turned out quite well but not as good as what we ate at La Cevicheria-- to be fair, I think they served theirs with crack because I ate my body weight in it...
Fish and Shrimp Ceviche
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb raw white fish1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined.
1 cup lime juice (aprox 7)
1/2 cup lemon juice (aprox 3)
1/2 cup orange juice (aprox 2, small)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 habanero pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional: 1 tomato, seeded and diced
Optional: 2 avocado, diced
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Slice the raw fish and shrimp into 1/2inch cubes. Place in a dish and set aside.
- Thinly slice red onion using a handheld mandolin slicer (or cut by hand). Soak in cold, salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse well.
- Juice the lemon, lime and oranges into another bowl.
- Add the onions and habanero. Salt and pepper to your liking. Pour over the fish and shrimp dish.
- Firmly cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. (This is the "cooking" process)
- In a separate bowl, combine the mango, cucumber and fresh cilantro.
- 15-20 minutes prior to serving the ceviche, add the mango mixture to the fish and stir.
Helpful pointers:
- Don't use frozen shrimp unless you give AMPLE time for it to thaw the proper way.
- I thinly sliced the onions in my dish, but I think dicing might make it look better and have a more even flavor blend. My slices were too long.
- Make sure everything you're using is COLD.
Thanks for reading The Life of a Booth Partner!
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