Hola Barlecona. May 30. 2013 Our 12'th Day

Our trip is soon coming to an end with only a couple of days left.

We have seen most of what we intended on seeing.

We thought we might have done more beach visits or go to the near by town of Sitges, but it has been on the cold side most days.

We opted to head and explore a neighborhood that we would never have considered if it was not for the suggestion of Hindy whom we had recently met. This is the neighborhood where she lives and she suggested the street carre Blai.

We took the metro to the area, and walked the residential streets until we came across Carre Blai.

 It is a delightful pedestrain street line with several restaurants. Away from the tourist crowd, the prices here are much better. While many places had tapas for 3-4 Euros, similar ones here were seen at 1 Euro apiece.

PS: Today Hera used only her cell phone to do the photography.

 

 

We settled upon La Fibula, a Morrocan restaurant.

I ordered very delicious soup dizzled with olive oil followed by an equally good chicken tagine.

Hera had a Fatouch salad followed by a Kefta dish.

For desert I had orange slices with cinnamon and organge blossom petals while a Mohalebia which is a vanilla pudding with pistachios and nuts. So good and so flavorful.

One surprise I have of Barcelona cuisine is there very little use of spices. The food is great, as it is made from good quality fresh ingredients. But here at La Fibula, we once again tasted the layers of flovours that spices can add.

To top it off, we ordered a mint tea. Served in lovely decorated metal pots and small glasses, it was the perfect finish to a wonderful meal.

We wandered and explored more of the neighborhood before we made our way back home.

After taking our own little sort of siesta at our apartment, we headed back onto the streets. We stopped at a small tapas place called Bar del Pla .

It was half full when we entered, but soon they were truning people away. We ordered some wine and tapas.

We tried their Potata Braves, very good but a bit milder than most, as well as their Squid in Ink balls and their Octopus Bombas (octopus croquets).

This was the second time I have had "ink sauce" and both times it was wonderfully delicious.

Do not let the black colour turn you off from giving it a try. To top it off, we ordered some crispy beef on fois gras.

While it was getting late, the streets were still filled with pedestrians. Bars and restaurants were brimming with customers. A gelato to end the night, and we strolled and made our way back home.

Hola Barcelona. May 29 2013 Our 11th Day

Today was going to be partly a social day.

A friend of Hera's has a niece in Barcelona, and we met up with her for a lovely brunch nearby. We chatted, and she suggested a restaurant for us near La Rmablas as well as a street in her neighborhood that was lined with other restaurants for us to discover.

In the afternoon, we head out to see Gaudi's Casa Batllo  . The admission price may seem steep, but it is well worth the visit.

Gaudi's genius is best appreciated inside his works.

The winding staircase with intricately carved wood that is basically molded for a perfect fit to your hand.

 Likewise the various knobs and handles.

His work is as much tactile as it is visual, so go ahead and feel his genious as you careful touch items.

Within the various rooms, no wall or cieling is flat, but all have gentle curves that give it a sense of motion.

Again, all the intricate woodwork for the doors and windows are specifically made to fit. Even the furniture he designed is made specifically for each room.

Some pieces are so contempory, that you would think it was an ultra modern item of today, and not something 1 century old.

A case in point it a sleek slab of marble as a washroom sink. Large enough that the shallow hollow is sufficient to stop the water from running off the edges.

Gaudi's designs encompass every aspect. While beautiful, it also serves specific purposes. Suggest as his care in natural lighting. Controlling the lighting so that just the right amount of light enters each apartment. The central light well is lined with blue marble tiles. Light entering the top is naturally stronger and more intense than light at the bottom of the light well, so he used darked blue tiles at the top, with smaller windows on the upper floors, and the tiles lighten in color and the windows get larger as one descends to let more light in.

We left Casa Batllo, and walked down the street, past the various fashion stores. We casually strolled the now familiar streets, across the square of the Cathedral where the Sardana dance is performed each week, in front of our neighboorhood Santa Caterina market, through several little narrow streets until we reached a pleasant square we had stopped once before. We sat at El Atril at 23 carre Cardera.

Hera ordered a wine, while I had a beer. We tried their Potata Brava which was excellent.

Each place has its own Brava sauce. This one starts off mild, but the heat slowly builds but never too intense. We also ordered some Cheriso that was equally delicious. A wonderful way to spend the late afternoon.

As we walked home, we bought two different Baclava at a pastry shop. We have good Baclava back home, but the shops here do make excellent Baclava as well. Never too sweet, just right. We relaxed at home for a bit, as we were going to meet a friend from home.

She and her husband had spent the last 2 weeks on a cruise that starts and ends in Barcelona. So we got together and had a pleasant evening at a restaurant. We had to remind them that dinner in Barcelona tends to start after 8 pm, with many locals eating only after 10.

After a late dinner, they headed back off to their hotel near the airport, while Hera and I strolled La Ramblas. Even late at night, people are out and about on the streets. The city is a vibrant street friendly place.

Hola Barcelon May 28 2013 Our 10th Day

After having breakfast today, we headed out to see the Cataluna National Art Museum which holds a thousand years of Catalonian art.


As we headed up the promenade, the Magic Fountains were up and running. No show per se, with no lights nor music, but impressive on its own.

We were quite fortunate, as once we past them, the water was turned off as is usual during the day.

The first wing hold Romaneque art, and it is one of the largest collections of work dating from this period, dating from the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.

 Much of it was wall art that adorned churches. The impetus was to save this work, as art collectors were in the process of stripping away the works and selling them off. Not only are the works lovely, but to recreate the sense of how these works were originally shown, the curators of the museum recreated the church arches and walls to give a sense of being in the church itself. Hera agreed with me, that the most impressive collection is this Romanesque art.

The subsequent wings, Gothic with art from the 13-15th centuries, Renaissance 15-17th centuries, Modern 18-19 centuries, and then Contempory were all good and worth seeing. But since it focussed mainly on Catalonian artists, and we are familiar with similar works from other more well known Masters, it was not as impressive as the Romanesque collection.

We spent the better part of the day at the museum, and decided to try a near by chinese buffet that we had seen days earlier.

 What had attracted us was the grill and fresh seafood. Dim Sum Wok, on the opposite side of the Arena shopping mall is not only inexpensive, but if you like fresh grilled sea food, it is a real treat. We loaded our plate with razor clams, various other clams, squid and octupus, then hand it over to the chef who grills it for you.

My second plate included more vegetables to be grilled, but I added a few more razor clams as well. They also had sushi and more traditional chinese buffet foods to choose from. We ate well, but way too much.

Both Hera and I were so sleepy after such a heavy meal all we wanted to do was to get back home and relax.

Hola Barcelona May 27 2013 Our 9th day Evening at Paco Meralgo

Tonight we were going to have supper at Paco Meralgo  (171 Muntaner).

It is open from 13:00 hours to 16:00, and from 20:00 to 00:30 hours. It was highly recommended to me, and it did not disappoint.

While reservations are recommended, we took our chances on a Monday night and arrived shortly after 8pm.

We found a place at the bar, but moments later, there was a line waiting at the door. A tapas place is a no non-sense, fast paced hustle and bustle kind of place. But this place had an elegant charm.

 A waiter quickly asked if we wanted Spanish or English menues, we opted for English and started to look over the wine list and the various tapas.

Not being in a rush, we decided we would order a bottle of wine. Wine in Spain is an excellent deal, and while back home it usually pays to buy a bottle, the per glass price is about the same.

We ordered a bottle of Salceda Reserva, a Rioja, for 25.50. It had a lovely nose, and the flavours did not disappoint.

Ordering the tapas was another matter. They all looked so good. The advantage of sitting at the bar is that one can see what others are eating, as well as look at the various items set out.


We gave an order for a few items to start, and the waiter suggested the usual bread with tomatoes which was the best we have had. For 3.70 we got four pieces of warm bread, with rich flavourful tomatoes rubbed on it along with olive oil.

 

We shared a glass of Gaspatcho that was very rich and so so delicious.

I do not think I have had a Gaspatcho as good as this one.


We each had a Bomba (2.40 each) that is a bit hard to describe. It is sort of large spicy meat ball. A dish that most everyone seemed to have ordered.

Another tapas that I ordered, was the breaded anchovies (5.50). While good, this is perhaps the only dish that I did not flip over.

It was very good, but it was something I was familiar with, and similar to what Hera had made last week. With this first set of tapas we also ordered the Potata Braves (3.90).

Potata Braves is made throughout Spain, but thus far I was not overly impressed. However, their Potata Braves were excellent. He did warn us that they were spicey hot, and we nodded that we knew. They were quite spicey, but not too spicey. It reconfirmed that Potata Braves can be well made.

We took a little break and enjoyed our wine as we perused the menu. We knew that we could not order too much more, and it all looked so good.

We decided to order three more. We had chosen the Tuna carpaccio, but our waiter suggested that he prefered theTuna steak (11.30).

While more expensive, it was well worth the cost. It was a delicious fair size piece of tuna, with olive oil and some soya sauce. It was served with toasted bread, but I agreed with Hera, that the tuna was better savoured on its own.


We also orders steak tartar (3.55 each) that was excellent. Not relevé as we are used to back home, but simple and exquisite.

Lastly we ordered a plate of grilled razor clams (9.70). I never had razor clams before, and they were so good.

A couple had just sat next to Hera, and we noticed them eyeing some of our dishes. So we had commented and suggested some, most of which they ordered.

We too did the same. A English gentleman who lived here, was taking a client out. They ordered dessert, and we asked our waited what it was.

Our waiter had said the Torradeta de Santo (1.70) with Gelato (1.63) was one of his favorites, so we order one to share. It is sort of a french toast, not too sweet, topped with an ice cream which I think was vanilla, but much richer in flavour than I am used to. It was just perfect.

Until today, while I have enjoyed most of the restaurants and tapas I have had, I could not say that I was swept away with any of them.

But tonight, at Paco Meralgo, I was. At a total price of 79.73, that included a full bottle of wine, the experience of the myriad of flavours was well worth it. Without hesitation, if in Barcelona, you must go and have a meal at Paco Meralgo.

The mini video above was taped with a Samsung Galaxy SII cell phone. It is the tiny kitchen seen from our bar seat. The entire photography was done with Samsung Galaxy SII cell phone.