Spain

The final days in Spain- another food extravaganza!

 

Our last 2 nights in Barcelona and the trip is nearing its end...

Friday we went to a very trendy restaurant called Tickets. Its owned by brothers who had a famous Michelin-starred restaurant and decided to close it in order to bring great food to the masses. The place is obviously lots of fun. 

 

 

Molecular gastronomy...you never quite know what you're getting.

We had lots of laughs as Dave related enjoying the perks of his 5 star hotel. There were treats on his pillow of course; he recognized the word mint and enthusiastically downed the packet. Unfortunately instead of being chocolate mint, it was mint foot cream.....

Josie's mango ice...complete with lime shavings

We ended the night doing the rumba in the square...biggest celebration of the year this weekend!

Started Saturday with some culture at the famous Gaudi church, the Sagrada Familia, where there was a decent audio guide but not a human tour guide to be found.



Spanish poutine? Skinny fries tossed in egg and garlic.



This is a great place with wonderful food....I highly recommend it if you are ever in Barcelona.

Diet tomorrow!!!!! The end of a fun adventure for us...our friends are off to a conference and biking.

Until next time.......

 

Days 5 and 6- Girona and Golf...and food, always more food 

Wednesday we went to Girona and visited the old Jewish quarter. Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of four rivers and has an official population of 96,722 as of January 2011.

 



Walked the town then spotted a restaurant where we had what turned out to be our best meal in Spain....You are faced with a counter of very fresh seafood... 

 

My friend Josie and I chose our starters by pointing at things that looked interesting. The chefs then measured a portion and cooked it in the manner it is supposed to be cooked.

Razor clams

 

We chose some crazy things that we hadn't seen before.For example, 

Percebes (goose barnacles) are weird and wonderful. In Portugal and Spain, they are a widely consumed and an expensive delicacy.

Smelt



Calamari

Then, the best paella.

The golfers got up when the moon was still high in the sky.

 

Thursday they did 36 holes, (crazy if you ask me). The 1st round was terrible, but the 2nd round was amazing.

 

We then went to a Michelin starred restaurant for a tasting menu...It was very elegant although the owner wore jeans.

 

 

Day 4- Travelling along the coast

 

This morning my husband and friends headed out to golf. They all ‘broke 100’, if you know what that means. I, on the other hand, headed out for a Spanish adventure. First stop Pals, a medieval town in Catalonia, northern Spain a few kilometres from the sea in the heart of the Bay of Emporda on the Costa Brava. It has lots of quaint winding streets but luckily, no tourists at this time of year.  

 

 

 

Next stopped at Sa Tuna...a tiny cove where I saw friends from Toronto who are biking here in Spain!! Small world!

Lunch..in a fantastic restaurant I could see from the road (it was in a tiny cove). A bit of a challenge to find since there were lots of dead end streets.

 

 

 

Day 3- It's all about the food 

 

We met our travelling companions this morning and travelled to our new hotel, La Gavina.  http://www.lhw.com/hotel/Hostal-de-la-Gavina-Costa-Brava-Spain

 

It's lovely ....on the seaside. We spent the afternoon by the pool and had a seafood dinner. Everyone is off to golf tomorrow.

Our favourite hot peppers



 

Barcelona-Day 2

 

On our first day in the city, we tried to stayed away by taking a Segway tour, a great way to see the city. This morning we visited the famous Park Güell,  which is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in Barcelona. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It  is 0.1718 km², which makes it one of the largest architectural works in south Europe.

 

 

We then walked down one of the main streets...lots of shoes....about 5 Zara stores...and another 3 H&M stores in about 5 blocks...Zara has a home department here - it  should come to Canada and give home sense a run for the money!

A beautiful Gaudi-designed home

Great food.

Use of tomatoes rather than butter.

Knock-off vendors with a fast get-away strategy.

Ribbons with big city names.

Ah...a G&T.

Lots of interesting shopping.

Celluloid shades for wine glasses!



Gorgeous food.

Barcelona-Day1

We arrived safely in Barcelona at 7:30 a.m. local time and reached our hotel quickly. Luckily our room was ready.  The hotel is lovely…modern and chic like a W hotel. We took a 3 hour Segway tour to scope out the ‘lay of the land and drove 18 km. all in all.

 

Though steeped in history Barcelona only became a tourist destination 21 years ago at which time they hosted the Olympics. It was then that the shipping port was removed and replaced by glamorous yachts. Additionally, the 7- lane highway that separated the city from the coast was moved underground, old factories were destroyed or converted into trendy shops or eateries. Essentially, the place was completely transformed. It’s great!