Part 1 - Barcelona (cont)

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June 17

Our first actual day in Barcelona started with a Cooking class! It was a class of the local cantalonian/spanish cousine consisting of 9 other people And a wonderful spanish chef. It started by taking us to la boqueria market where our instructor lead us around explaining different food items and teaching us what to look for in good products. We gathered all the ingredients and started cooking. Together we made traditional Spanish gazpacho, Spanish potato and onion omelette, Paella de marisco (seafood paella), Pa amb tomaquet (tomato bread), crema Catalana, and drank lots of wine. It was a great class and very beneficial. (Thanks Ali for the fabulous recommendation!)

After, we explored La Rambla and some other stores/markets and street art. Due to our previous day traveling, we needed an afternoon siesta. After our nap we headed to the Picasso museum.From our cooking class, it was recommended that we have dinner at an old little Tapas and Cava bar, El Xampanet which happened to be located in the same area as the museum. We were told that if we did not get there right when they opened at 7pm then we would not have much luck scoring a table. We got there just a few minutes before hand and joined a handful of people outside to wait for them to open. The place is so small that there was only one or two tables left in the far back once they let all 10 of us in from the street. We instantly made friends with the the table next to us. The server provided us with a wide variety of tapas to explore (after explaining we had no idea what to order) and then the cava (Spanish champagne) started flowing. Let's just say not only was the food delicious but the services was great and the atmosphere was one of a kind. Would highly recommend this place to anyone and everyone in this part of the city.

June 18

We woke the following morning with a curious combination of jet lag and a vague memory of our walk home. Our AirBnB host had recommended a restaurant near the flat (Blau) so we went there for a late breakfast/early lunch. We wondered the streets and found ourselves at the Arch de triumph. We continued through the park and spotted the Barceloba Zoo and decided to stop in. As we were leaving the zoo a storm had quickly moved in. There was thunder, lightning, and some of the biggest rain drops that we had seen. We found shelter in a near by Tapas bar. After a small bit we looked up near by sites and found the muse de xocolate. Yes, the chocolate museum and it was right around the corner. We ran through the rain and enjoyed learning some chocolate history and then sipped on some of hot chocolate. Literally, melted creamy liquid chocolate. It was unreal.By then the rain and stopped the sun and come out again, like it had been all morning, and we walked back to the flat. We freshened up and were deciding on dinner plans when Sven's friend, Aidan, had called to say he was in Barcelona and wanted to meet up for dinner and drinks. It was awesome to finally meet Aidan, and he heavily encouraged us to actually use Spanish not just with ordering food but just chatting with him and his friend over dinner. It was challenging at times but it was fun and good for us. We had dinner at a Gastropub and then went to this funky little bar for a beer after.

June 19

Remember I mentioned we rented a car? Well, we had decided to store it a parking garage due to lack of parking and the joy of Barcelona driving but it was time to pull it out because we had plans to head north to Tossa de mar. A small beach town on the Costa brava shore, near GiRona about 100km south of France. But first we wanted to visit Gaudi's Parc Guell. Its a park designed by Gaudi (architect) originally created to be a property development for a unique community but had failed and had become Gaudi's personal park of which he let his creativity spill from his home, to the park, and to the city of Barcelona. He has multiple sites he contributed to such as casa batllo, casa mila, and sagrada familia which we check out later on. After the park, we venture north to the beach!



More pictures to follow. Having trouble uploading with poor internet connections.

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Photos

Crema cantalana
Similar to creme brûlée