Barcelona: where the weird and the beautiful are one and the same

Of course I have one more travel tale to share, but I was so distraught about leaving this one that I left my camera behind. Whoops. At least I left it with someone who can return it. In a month. So this will be very text heavy (except for the pictures I found of food online). And a good exercise for the imagination. So sorry and you’re welcome.

            Once upon a time I made a great decision to start dating a wonderful boy with an unimaginably kind family. Being the splendiferous people they are, they let me join (crash) their family vacay to Barcelona. Besides being incredibly generous and fun, they also like food and wine and massages more than I do. Basically, they’re my ideal travel buddies, besides my own family of course.

            So, the day after the shortest day of the year (I almost threw myself a party to celebrate December 21^st as the slow progression out of darkness), and 6 months after leaving him, I finally met my boyfriend, Harrison, in a beautiful city where it is still light out after 5 PM and you can stand comfortably outside in just a sweatshirt! Crazy! And to make matters even more amazing and worth celebrating Harrison finally graduated college! He deserves a big woohoo for that one.

            We started the trip with a great meal where I also remet quinoa for the first time in months. I don’t remember much else because there was quinoa. The next day, we started bright and early, before Catalonians had even entered their REM cycle, at about 9 AM. We began with a tour of Barcelona’s must see spot: La Sagrada Familia. After nearly 200 years of active construction the church is not yet finished and definitely will not be before the projected end date of 2045, but the Barcelonians are still trekking and it is still magnificent. Honestly, the idea of adding more is mind-blowing considering it’s impossible to take in everything that is already there, but they want to see Gaudi’s vision through to the end and dagnabit they will. For those of you who don’t know, Gaudi is the most famous architect in Barcelona and kind of a genius. He designed La Sagrada Familia, amongst other things, and was hit by a car part way through the construction of the church and not identified as the famed architect until a week after his death because he looked like a homeless man. Anyhoo, the amount of detail and architectural ingenuity required for this landmark cannot and should not be rushed so the excessively long timeline makes sense once you’re standing next to the building. I don’t know what was more incredible, the ornate outside, the way the stained glass and mosaics interacted to create natural lighting, the height of the ceiling, the progression and use of shapes, or all the other things you can read about in guide books. My words can’t capture this building and neither would pictures. Just go and see it. I’ll meet you there in 2045, or whenever they actually finish.

            We also saw some of Gaudi’s other buildings and architectural visions over the day and trip, including his park, a private house that was just recently opened to the public (imagine lettings strangers wander into your house. I guess when you need money, you need money), and 2 famed apartment buildings. Gaudi perfectly blended nature and architecture, relying heavily on natural light and pulling and reflecting nature in his use of shapes, space, and color. He also designed every detail of his buildings, including the beautifully functional door knobs and chairs that were molded to fit the natural curves of hands and tushies. The craziest thing was that there was so much detail and ornament and yet every building and structure looked different. I think that man had the creativity of about an entire nation rolled into one. At least the creativity lives on. Maybe that’s why they’re taking so long to build La Sagrada Familia…

            We also made it to the Picasso museum for more art and culture. I must say, I’ve seen a lot of Picasso in class and in real life and kind of expected the same old shtick, but, once again, Barcelona knows how to display it’s art. The exhibit featured more of his realism than his cubism or blue periods, and, it turns out, those are my new favorite Picassos. There were also wonderful photographs of Picasso dancing with his female special friend, and boy that man had turn-out! Not to mention, he was the endearingly plump and gray joyful old man I love, quickly joining the ranks of old man crushes (which mostly consists of David Ben Gurion.) (I think sometimes I forget this is a blog and not a diary. So enjoy getting to know way too many embarrassing things about me. And I hope you use the information wisely).

            Other sights included the Black Madonna, which was smaller than expected and hard to see over Christmas Mass but led to a fun excursion to another town and a nice view of the mountains. We also obviously saw a show in the Opera to satisfy Granny’s wish list (pictures still to come! I promise!) and we hit up the touristy food market, which was conveniently located near our hotel and right off La Rambla. The market was nice and shiny but no Copenhagen. And La Rambla and the surrounding area was way too much for me. I got so swallowed by the crowds and hustling shop owners that I temporarily forgot how pretty the city really was. Luckily, I found a Starbucks and all was well (it’s been 6 months, let me have this one).

            Harrison and I walked, jog, and bike rode around to see more of the town, leading us through various cute neighborhoods and to a GORGEOUS park that was so pretty I insisted on running back there a few days later and ended up running there by accident on a few separate occasions. I love a city that leads you back to pretty things no matter where you try to go.

            Okay, so now that I described the touristy things that you can read about in books, it’s time to get to the important things and one of my favorite parts of travelling with the Rea’s (besides their company): food and wine. They not only share my love of great eats, but they also eat all the meat dishes I wonder about while introducing me to the best wines. It’s the dream. We had some good meals and some… interesting ones, and I found out that even Michelin Star Restaurants have their slip ups. For example, Amy kindly called ABAC, one of the Michelin Star Restaurants, to request vegetarian food in case there was a fixed menu. I had heard Barcelona isn’t overly accommodating to vegetarians but had been just fine until the waiter showed up and one of the first things out of his mouth was, “So I hear one of you can’t eat anything? No meat? No shellfish? Can you eat fish?” When I glanced down at the menu I discovered that not only was there only one dish (which is totally acceptable) but it had one of two nuts I’m allergic too… So then I had to ask for it without nuts to which the waiter replied, “you’re allergic to nuts too?!” Luckily he was more accommodating than I expected, given our previous interactions, and I tasted the liquid gnocchi with mushrooms and truffles, which was more strange than good. It popped in your mouth to reveal a liquid that was reminiscent of liquid cheese. It was okay but a few pops was enough. 

 I also had two of the absolute worst desserts that have ever graced my tastebuds. One was cotton candy with yogurt, crunchy biscuit, flower nectar, and violet ice cream and the other was yuzu sorbet with basil and citrus.

Imagine the sweetest thing you’ve ever eaten dosed in sugar. And then you’ll almost be able to imagine how sweet these desserts were. Luckily you never base a restaurant review on the vegetarian because the meat eaters had one of the best egg dishes ever and there were other key highlights that I can’t adequately describe because I didn’t taste them. There was a fun thing where they poured liquid nitrogen on a cart to make sorbet. I don’t remember how good the sorbet was but at least it was pretty. And I also had the best bottle of white wine I’ve ever encountered. Of course, it was Italian, produced by Gaja. It was so good I actually got scared I would never be able to consume another kind of wine again. Luckily, that fear didn’t last long but all other wine tasted like tar for the rest of the night.

            The best meal by far came from Commerc 24, which we happened on thanks to Fodor’s Top Picks. In case you were wondering, Fodor’s Top Picks are always right. We showed up at the restaurant at 12 and they told us they were not open until 1:30, but we all had a feeling it was worth waiting for (by the way, Barcelonians eat absurdly late. Restaurants are still empty at 8:30 at night and I’m pretty sure we beat every early bird special by about 2 hours). We came back to find a chic little colorful gem where you tell them what you want, how many people want to eat it, and then they figure out portion size from there. So you get to share but don’t ever have to fight over food and aren’t too likely to over order. The gaudi’s of food. They created the most unique, wonderful combinations with fish that I never would have thought of and now can’t imagine living without. They surprised us with itty bitty pizzas that had anchovies, arugula, and strawberries. The raw tuna was delectable. 

And there was one dish where they came out and said, sorry but we’re running low on black truffles and we apologize but have to use white truffles. Rough times, I know. But the winner were the sardines with wasabi and oranges. 

And the kinder eggs, which were whipped eggs served under whipped egg whites with truffle, all served in a perfect egg shell. 

And the cheese cart. Oh the cheese cart. The kind of thing my sisters have dreamed about in a way that made me consider grabbing hold of the handles and running straight out the door with it. If it fit in my luggage I probably would have. So sorry sisters, but I ate it all in your honor.

            And on a final note, I recently decided it is time to try a few forms of meat that I have never tasted but think everyone should experience, and I began the adventure with kosher schnitzel in Barcelona. Honestly, it was just breaded and fried meat that tasted reminiscent of a veggie chickie nugget, but I tried it! Steak and lamb, here we come!

            So basically, thank you Rea’s for being wonderful.