Hola! We arrived in Barcelona around 9:30pm Wednesday night. There was a taxi waiting for us at the airport and Danny, our driver, took us to our hotel. It was dark and hard to see the surrounding area, but I could make out palm trees and see the beautiful spanish style architecture of the buildings. . .much like the french, but with a little more style and color!!!
After settling our belongings, we decided to go out in search of dinner. La Rambla, a famous street in Barcelona, was just outside the door of the hotel! Because of the late hour, the street was kind of quiet and the little shops and such were closed for the evening. Mark and I walked until we found an interesting looking restaurant and went inside. Not knowing what to order we took advice from our waiter. . .traditional spanish style tapas! Oh great, I was thinking, but it only costs 16 euros so if we don't like it no great loss. I was mistaken. . .more on that later. We started with a seafood salad, complete with mussels, shrimp, octopus and something I couldn't identify...to me it was the best of all plates that night!!! Next came, little minnow like fish served whole that had been battered and fried. I could see the eyeball and tail and couldn't bring myself to try it~Mark said it tasted like fish sticks! We got fried potatoes with some sort of mayo like sauce, chirizo sausage, spanish ham and some other kind of meat(not my favorite), more mussels cooked in a tomato sauce, clams, octopus on sliced potatoes, a traditional potato omelet, etc. Mark enjoyed the meal, just wished he had someone who could appreciate it more than I, but I tried everything except for the minnow fish...It was very disappointing as our first meal in Barcelona, but it only cost 16 euros, right? Wrong. . .our bill came to 123.00 euros and that included two large Sangrias we didn't finish or enjoy!!! You have to remember, we are in Spain. . .I only know the spanish I learned on Sesame Street when the kids were little and I can't read any of it! The menu was in spanish with french translation~did not help me much!! Mark and I, disappointed from the meal, went back to the hotel. I went straight to sleep and Mark followed shortly after. A few hours later I awoke with a terrible stomach ache and rid myself of 61.50 euros of traditional spanish tapas!!! What a night...feeling much better, I rested easily until morning. . .
Thursday brought many new and wonderful surprises! We went to breakfast together before Mark went to work. I had a big plate of fresh fruit and a bowl of all-bran cereal~my stomach enjoyed this normal american food and I was good to go. . .Mark went off to work and called a short time later. Carlos, Mark's Human Resource Director of Barcelona, wanted to take us out to lunch for some GOOD spanish food and to show us around the city. Carlos loved the city of Barcelona. . .he knew so much of it's history and shared so much of his knowledge, we had a wonderful afternoon. . .And his promise to share with us GOOD spanish food came to be with little fanfare but much style!!!
Carlos took us to a large indoor market with an attached restaurant. The market provided all the fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood and pasta for the restaurant and the food was spectacular(I kept thinking of Rachel Ray-YUMMO!).The flavors and textures were amazing. Carlos started by asking us what we like and enjoy eating, from there he ordered several plates of food for us to share. We started the meal with an aperatif-a local beer! From there he ordered a Rioja, red wine that we had to let breath for twenty minutes or so. . . Our meal started with what Carlos called a funny but very delicious fish called navajas a la plancha or razor-shell. It was grilled and it was VERY good!! Razor-shells are captured in the sand. . .you know when the tide goes out, you see bubbles in the sand-these are razor shell!!! You sprinkle a little salt on the bubbles and the fish pop out!!! Just one of the little stories. . .anyway, from there we had grilled calamari with asparagus(calamares a la plancha), complete with a drizzle of black ink. . .again YUMMO! Arroz montanes or mountain rice(true paella) was next on the menu. It was served with chicken, sausage and mushroom~my mouth is still watering:) We tried escalivada with goat cheese; some sort of mediterranean vegetable that was delicious and I even liked the mild flavored catalan goat cheese. Moussaka was next~a greek dish made with eggplant, meat and cheese. . .heaven! Grilled crayfish was our last plate before dessert and champagne! Carlos taught Mark and I how to eat them with a special spork. Moving on, we shared two desserts. Milhojas de frutos rojos which translates to red berry lasagna and catalan cream which is like the french creme brulee. We ended the perfect meal with a cava or catalan "champagne!" Oh, what a dining experience...
Just a little fun fact~tapas was traditionally a small bit of food served on top(tapas) of a glass of wine to attract the flies and keep them out of the wine! Who knew. . .Carlos!
Mark and I ended the day by walking to the port for my first viewing of the Mediterranean Sea!!! It was beautiful and breathtaking! My day and a half in Spain was amazing. . .hope to be able to visit again. The spanish people were so nice and friendly and their language is very easy on the ears~romantic, they say!!!
Southern France was also a great experience and the mountains were beautiful. We really enjoyed our bed and breakfast and the small village life-style we know and love. . .
Gotta go prepare for Italy! Chow bella...
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