European Adventure Day Twelve - Barcelona

Well, the majority of the day today was a wash, unfortunately. Breakfast was great though! I went to this cool place near my AirBnB called Milk. As is usually the case, I ordered one thing and got another (due to my incorrect translation of the menu). I ordered the yogurt with pistachios and maple syrup, fruit compote and cinnamon, with a side of bacon, thinking this would not be too heavy to start my day. I got that, all on top of french toast! How I missed that I do not know.

Ready for my (unfortunately) last full-day in Spain

From there I walked to the metro where I made an ass out of myself by getting stumped over how to properly get a metro card to read in the turn-style. When I arrived at my stop, I navigated my way to Park Guell. The walk was a solid 25 minutes and it was all uphill. The weather was beautiful and I was feeling comfy and light in a maxi skirt and tank top, but it was still a trek, especially considering I'm at the end of a trip with a ton of walking involved.

Morning light in the neighborhood

Metro mates

Clearly I never checked the website which I linked to in the previous paragraph, because I arrived to find out that tickets were required, and there was assigned entry times with those tickets, and he next entry wasn't until 16:30 (4:30PM). I had arrived at the park around noon, and had plans in the evening.

I tried hard not to cry with disappointment when I approached the window. I came too far to not come to see this park. It was one of two places I NEEDED to see. I got a ticket for early the next morning. I would rise with the sun, come back (via taxi, thank you very much) and get a visit in before hauling back and getting myself to the airport. I was NOT leaving this country without seeing Park Guell.

I wondered how I could salvage my morning as I wandered down the hill to La Gracia, a nearby neighborhood which was supposedly a nice place to explore. Last night I did some research and found a nice affordable tapas place for lunch. After all the walking, I felt I could stand to eat again, but when I got there, it was closed. Or course it was.

I was underwhelmed by La Gracia and wondered if I was wandering the wrong streets. I still don't know if that was the case or not. Most of the shops were closed, as were the restaurants. A lot of places open at ten, so why they were still closed at 12:30/1 I have no idea.

She gave me a big smile when I asked if I could take her picture (and then I told her she could just ignore me)

On my map I found the main plaza of the neighborhood and thought I could at least get a bite to eat outside and do some people watching. When I arrived have had a choice of four mediocre tourist-driven places. I chose poorly. The lunch menu, as is often the case, was thee courses with a few options to choose from "Menu del dia". It was in Spanish so I asked for a translation. He obliged kindly and I ordered the pasta dish for the first course and the steak for the second course.

The first course arrived immediately and was tiny, thin, short greasy noodles with...pork belly I think?  I took a bite..fish. OK, I'm having fish. Very fishy fish. I ate enough so that I could get away with "I just don't want to eat too much with the second course coming" if the server questioned me. Which he did, "You don't like?"

It's horrible, "No it's fine! I just don't want to eat too much."

My crappy crappy lunch

In the plaza were two brothers around eight years old kicking a soccer ball around with Messi jerseys on. They were extremely adept and by the end of my meal, three other boys around the same age from different countries had joined them. They scrambled around each other and people passing through the plaza over the next half hour or more.

Did I mention the flies everywhere around my meal? Ew.

My second course arrived. Beef in some sort of gravy with fries. The meat was not very good quality, so basically I was counting on my evening to salvage my day, and considering how yesterday went, I had a feeling that would be the case for sure. The evenings just seem to be better here somehow.

I did know that taking pictures would help me feel better. A crappy experience can be salvaged for me with a few good photographs, if I could find them.

Back in El Gothic I also knew that gelato would also help my disappointment. So I wandered and did some shopping, and got myself an After Eight mint gelato. Things were looking up.

See? Improvement!

In the early evening, I joined Angels at The Foodie Experience Barcelona for a tour of the local market and a cooking lesson. Also there were Dan and Alexandria, who were visiting from NYC. I was nervous that this class wouldn't take place. I kept getting emails from the organizers with scheduling issues. Luckily, Alexandria and Dan found the class and signed up, so there was no need to cancel me on account of not enough participants.

Angels took us from her space near Las Ramblas to the food market. I hadn't been there yet and didn't even realize it existed. It was amazing! Huge and very old with butcheries, fish stands, fruits, and more, she gave us a tour and we talked about various foods and the history of the place (it claims to be the oldest market in Spain). Last night I ate Iberian ham and tonight I learned that it cured for years before it's served. Amazing.

Angels gives us an overview of the market

"Shrimps for eat NOW!"

Don't look too close my vegetarian friends. 

Alexandria, in her early 30s, was a great conversationalist and I really enjoyed talking to both of them through the evening. Angels brought us back to the Foodie location, a beautiful large space with a modern kitchen in an old building, where she taught us how to make proper sangria, Spanish tortillas (a simple but delicious egg, potato and onion omelette-type dish), tomato bread (so good and easy!), Crema Catalana (like creme brulee but lighter and with a nice touch of lemon and cinnamon), and paella.

Flipping the Spanish Tortillas

I've never really liked paella, but was curious to see how it's made and to find out if I'd simply never had a authentic version of it. I wondered if I would have a different result after watching all the ingredients, including rosemary and saffron, go into it.

Nope, it turns out I just don't like paella. however, the rest of the food was wonderful, and the conversation and experience itself was great.

We sat down and ate together and shared wine and left happy, full, and tipsy.