I have been following the FIFA World Cup 2026. As many of you know, France is playing Spain tomorrow in the semi-finals.
I have recently posted about my experiences of eating certain foods in France when I was in my early 20’s. I also traveled to Spain with a student group when I was 16, and still in high school. My most vivid memory of that trip involved a dining experience. I had an alcoholic beverage for the first time in my life there. I drank sangria with dinner at a restaurant in Madrid. I liked the taste of it, but it made me feel unwell. (So much for my first experience with alcohol.) I should mention that it was legal in Spain for me to drink sangria with dinner.
Today, I decided to look up where sangria originated. My browser’s AI stated that it originated in Spain, and particularly in the Andalusia region which is mainly where the student group and I traveled on our trip. We landed in Malaga, then traveled to Granada, and then Seville, and ended up in Madrid. I have no pictures from this trip. I bought postcards. It was 1975 and cell phones did not exist.
Another interesting thing I learned today is that America was introduced to sangria at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Sangria was served at the popular Spanish Pavilion.
I was there at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Sadly, I have no memories of the Spanish Pavilion or of sangria. I was 5 years old!
In any case, I wish both France and Spain good luck with the semi-final game!
Side note–To prove that I was there with my family at the 1964 New York World’s Fair I will post a few pictures and hopefully I can link a past post about it.
https://movingforwardslowly.com/2023/12/10/worlds-fair-1964-65/
This picture you see is from this fair. It was in a post about the Chrysler Pentastar logo you see in this picture. The words I posted have disappeared. Only the picture remains.
movingforwardslowly 