France is not Spain, and Catalonia is somewhere in between

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Strolling down the beach in Valencia, we were starving and looking for an authentic paella experience. The restaurants lining the Sea did not fit in with our budget, peering through the window lined patios exposed tanned old men with slicked back hair wearing leather loafers without socks. The menu promised local specialties for 20 euro per person! We walked on.
A block away from the beach were what our guidebook promised were "more reasonable prices". Most places were closed, except one scary looking Spanish salloon. Hunger being the great motivator that it is, we bravely walked into a crowded bar area where locals (who wore socks) and construction workers were having the afternoon cigarettes, drinks, and lunch. The waitress looked worried and said we would have to wait, i said we didn't mind. 20 minutes later we were waved to sit in the back dining area, still filled with cigarette smoke and locals and more construction workers finishing their wine in porromes.
I didn't even get to ask if they had paella; we could choose beef, chicken, pork, or fish. No other explanation was given. It was one of the best meals we've had in Spain.
We left, stuffed, three courses later, and half drunk from the Tinto Verano (wine with lemon soda, it tastes like punch and came with our meal) and still savoring the Torts we had for dessert. It was 8 euro each.
We passed out on the beach and didn't come to until Barcelona.
The Romans said that life was like riding backwards in a boat down a river, always seeing the past but never knowing what to expect ahead. The same feeling crept over me riding backwards in the high speed train along the Mediteranean coast between Valencia and Barcelona.
Barcelona is in Catalunya, and don't you forget it. The language is different, the writing is different, the people are independant (i thought that was the Basque!). We had a great time. The architucture is like nothing we'd ever seen, the Modernistas built a style of art Deco that was whimsical Rennaissance meets manmade nature. We don't know quite how to describe it. We ate some great Catalan tapas: pigs ears with paprika, bread slathered in tomato (a staple), codfish ceviche, foie gras, Galician Clams (that popped seawater in your mouth like a hot oyster), and great wine. It was a great end to spain. Afterthought=the picasso museum sucked.
Now we are in Bordeaux, it's lovely outside and we need to explore!

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Photos

Porrom
Jessie showing a room full of locals that this turisto knows how its done. With a porrom fill with wine, tip your head back and enjoy!

Sagrada Familia
The trippiest Catholic Church ever built is in Barcelona. Gaudi, the architect, was a visionary.

Crucifix
The rear of the church was done in the 80s

Lunch
We splurged on a tapas tasting. Here is blood sausage with tomatoes and broiled calamari.

La Playa
On the beach in Barcelona.

Comments

[Gary]

Everything look so good!!!!!
Hey!!!! Take more pictures of foods in France. They look so yummy! Spain looks awesome. Keep putting up more blogs.

[Gary]

Here is some french that you need to know!
Do you speak english? = Parlez-vous anglais? Where is (location)? = Ou est (location)? i.e. Where is the bathroom? = Ou est le toliet? How much is it? = Come bien fait? My name is _____ = Je m'appelle _____ A ticket to (location) = Un billet pour ______, s'il vous plait Nice to meet you = Enchante Please speak slowly = Parlez lentement, s'il vous plait if you need more, just text me and i'll post them up. =^-^= Remember, i want my bday gift from france. S'amusez-vous!!!(Amuse yourself, have fun)