fun things we ate in barcelona

we were very fortunate to take a trip to barcelona, avignon (provence/south of france), and paris a couple of weeks ago. (thank you chase ink points!)

we were in barcelona for five days and basically spent the whole time eating, with some gaudi on the side. the food was really tasty and unique; lots of ham, seafood, tapas, good times. here are some pics!

juices at la boqueria - a large public market. we tried a coconut-mango drink and a banana orange at another stand for 1 euro and they were both tasty. btw, the usd is strong right now (1 euro = 1.22 usd).

mixed seafood plate at la boqueria. it's basically a bar with a grill in the middle and they have lots of different types of fresh seafood. really good: razor clams, prawns, squid, clams, mussels, cockles, and probably some other things i can't name. they load everything up on the grill and when it's done they top it with a green sauce. i'm sad to say that i couldn't push through and finish everything. j is allergic to the entire crustacean phylum so he could only cluck sympathetically as he picked through his fish.

the famous ham there is iberian ham. iberian pigs are fed on a diet of acorns so their meat tastes different than the proscuitto/serrano ham we usually eat here in the states. those with a discerning palate will be able to detect the meat's delicate acorn flavor. this picture is from a wal-mart like store with a surprisingly large section of their store devoted to these tasty ham legs. we're currently trying to figure out how to get our own leg of ham to the u.s. without smuggling it in a wide calf boot or something. let me know if you know!

calcots, a type of green onions at the supermarket

mushrooms at the supermarket

 i reached a point where i couldn't eat anymore ham so we ate ramen. 

waiting to eat the "best sandwich in the world" at cafe viena, as determined by mark bittman of the new york times. turns out it's actually a chain eatery, but it was really quaint and pretty inside, with intense classical music playing overhead. here's a close-up of the sandwich: bread, ham, and a diced tomato spread they put in all their sandwiches in barcelona. it's a good sandwich.

el bulli's ferran adria has a younger brother adrian who has started several restaurants in barcelona. i missed the window to book at the more well-known "tickets" restaurant, but we walked into another of his restaurants, bodega 1900, that specializes in tapas and it was all really great. our waiter was very kind and it was probably the best meal we had on our trip! it's a little cheesy ("the entertainer") but here's a promotional video for the restaurant: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_hnCW0SsLI

spherical olives

tomato salad - it looks very standard but the tomatoes were incredibly sweet. 

 we sat along the bar to the kitchen, which opens into the restaurant

 vermouth

 sardines - barcelona (and i believe spain generally) is really into their canned seafood. they actually often prefer it to fresh seafood because when it's canned the fats and oils come out and make the sea meat more tasty. if you go to the supermarket whole aisles are dedicated to canned seafood.

 ham terrine 

 i can't remember exactly - i want to say it was a pulled pork empanada?

tuna belly with a fish sauce 

this is the point in the meal where we turned down dessert. we told the waiter negative on the dessert and he tipped his head to the side and looked sad for us. we were walking out and saw the giant pineapples sliced lengthwise, soaked in syrup and looking very yummy and understood his projected sadness. we were halfway down the block wondering if it was weird to turn back and get the dessert, but we erred on yes weird. looking back on it, we should have just went back!

here are some sightseeing pics as it seems wrong to just show pics of food.

parc guell

 placa del rei - this is the site of where christopher columbus reported back to the king and queen of spain upon return from the americas

 las ramblas 

 la sagrada familia "holy family" - it's supposed to be completed in 2026?

we watched a flamenco performance at a tiny theatre in this plaza. supposedly watching flamenco in barcelona is like watching country music being performed in boston, but we had fun and it was cheap!

street art