Barcelona: High Hopes and A Weak Stomach

My Least Favorite City in Spain

Oh Barcelona, I so wanted to love you, to be enthralled by your Catalonian culture.  The stakes were high, its true, especially after how much I enjoyed Madrid and Granada.  I was wholly unprepared for the huge disappointment you would be.  Between food poisoning and tradition severely water downed by too much tourism, you stand as my least favorite city in Spain.  

Gathering my strength, I pose for at least one photo in front of the Grada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished cathedral in Barcelona.

Making Patatas Bravas

Recipes From Spain

As it turns out Spaniards eat may just about as much mayo as Americans.  I had a Spanish roommate in graduate school (Hi Ana) who would make mayo-inclusive dishes that both mildly disgusted me (Russian Salad) and have me begging for more (her fried potatoes with Aioli).  However, it was on a trip to Spain with Ana that I found my all time favorite saucy Spanish dish Patatas Bravas (roughly translated to potatoes with bravado) or roasted potatoes with a creamy spicy sauce.  I decided to make some at home recently on one of my stateside stints.  It took a lot of online research and a few attempts to get the sauce to taste what I remembered in Spain, spicy, savory, and creamy.  Here's what I wound up with:

The final product of my Patatas Bravas cooking experiment.  Yum!

The Food Galley. . . I Mean Gallery

Food-Related Photos From Around the World

I am not person who takes pictures of her food.  I see photos all the time on Facebook of what someone had for lunch or dinner.  I just do not see the appeal in posting photos of a chicken breast with mashed potatoes on social media.  Almost as protest, I try to abstain from taking such photos as often as I can.  Sometimes when traveling though I see something I simply cannot not photograph.  All of those random food and restaurant photos (which I refuse to put in a regular post) have now been deposited here for your enjoyment.  And now the awesome, the disgusting, and the truly random food gallery.

Iguana stew with black beans and rice from Roatan, Honduras.  

Why Not Travel To. . . Spain?

Why Not Travel To. . . Spain?

For US citizens right now is a great opportunity to explore Spain.  The euro is near par with the dollar, something that hasn't happened since the euro was brought into existence 12 years ago.  To top that the Spanish economy right now is less than healthy, causing low hotel, food, and travel costs though out Spain.  In February I went on a 9 day trip to Madrid and Granada.  On my first day in Spain I took 300 euros out of the ATM which I intended to use for travel within Spain (on the ALSA bus system) and all food, drinks, and bar tabs.  The day before I left I walked into a swanky wine shop dead set on spending the 100 remaining euros on souvenirs in the form of wine bottles.  If you ever plan on visiting Spain, you might consider going sooner rather than later.

Madrid

I was fortunate enough to have a friend from Madrid to show me around while there.  That being said, I learned enough vital information to pass on to those who might not be so lucky.  Our first stop was a New Europe tour.  This tour company you may never have heard of offers free walking tours in cities in Europe, the US, and the middle east.  The gist is that at the end of the tour, you pay what you feel the tour was worth.  Our tour of Madrid latest about 3 hours and covered most of the historic district.  My friend who grew up in Madrid said she learned a lot on the tour.  So thinking the tour comprehensive and entertaining, I tipped the guide well.  Another activity we did in Madrid was go out to a club.  If you go out to a club in Madrid, you might forget you are in a foreign country for a little bit, because all of the songs are in english.  You will remember when the club closes down. . . at 6 AM and you walk outside to see the sun.  Getting around Madrid is relatively easy due to the subway system, even at odd hours like 6 AM on a Sunday.  The price to use the subway is the same no matter what your destination is.  If you will be using the subway a lot.  Buy a pass that is good for at least 10 rides, so you don't have the fiddle with the pay machine every time you want to catch a train.

Plaza Mayor, the meeting point of the New Europe Walking Tour.