I arrived to Barcelona Sants terminal very early in the morning. No businesses were open for the day yet. I decided to slowly make my way in the direction of my AirBNB, hoping to find a few stores on my To-Do list as I walked. It was drizzly and then raining after I wandered through a closed market. I watched vendors setting out their wares for the day, mostly food stalls cleaning and setting up. I also found a bathroom, always a relief when traveling. When I had decided it was time to move on, I found the rain had increased...so I pulled my poncho out of my suitcase and also stepped inside of a plastic bag, covering my foot on which I was wearing a walking boot. I hoped that it might keep it from getting wet...how would I dry it? I hoped for the best. I trudged on and felt cold, wet, and generally somewhat miserable and then I did spot one of the places that I hoped to shop. The shop boasted specialty foods and was quite small and very organized and clean, intended for an upscale clientele, of which I was acutely aware as I opened the door in my bedraggled appearance AND pulling a rolling suitcase along beside me. I hoped that I looked more like a hopeless tourist than a vagrant. I was asked to leave my belongings at the door, but otherwise the employees did not disturb me, although I did feel eyes on me and imagined their relief when I left and they undoubtedly mopped the floor behind me.
Above I have pictured Percebes (barnacles) a seasonal crustacean considered a delicacy. I had tried to find it on restaurant menus, as it was in season during my visit, but without luck. Then, while wandering through a market, I spotted them for sale. I was so determined to try them, that I was undeterred by the thought that I would need to learn how to cook them. I took them home and boiled them briefly (60 seconds) in a pot of salted water, careful to no overcook them. They turned out beautifully and I was rewarded with delicate flesh that tasted of the sea, somehow a mix of lobster and clam. I had read that they are the most expensive seafood in the world, due to the demanding and risky task of harvesting them from boulders in the ocean while being slapped with large waves. I won't be retrieving my own, but I would definitely eat them again if given the opportunity!
Wandering through Barcelona is like being in an architectural museum. I viewed the impressive building by Gaudy and was surprised how impressive the Sagrada Familia is in person.
The Sagrada Familia takes up an entire city block and is surrounded by tourists and vendors selling tchotchkes, but the size of the building is so impressive and so detailed that I didn't find myself distracted by the commotion of the people on the streets.
As massive and impressive as the architecture was, I also was on my unrelenting mission to continue to gather cheese that would be difficult to purchase outside of the country. I already had a nice stash from Portugal, but wanted to experience the famous cheeses from Spain as well. I found a tiny cheese store and peppered the staff with my questions, pacing back and forth for an embarrassingly long time before deciding. The challenge of gather food while traveling is being able to carry it, so I make my purchases very deliberately. This shop boasted several cheeses with the demarkation of "world cheese award", so I felt confident that they would not disappoint.
Another day, I was wandering through another market filled with stalls of genre specific food and found some other cheese gems. So much of the fun of searching out my cheese is interacting with the cheese mongers. They are passionate and willing to share their knowledge, with the exception of some of the very tourist heavy markets in which they look unimpressed by the English speaking customers. It goes a long way to at least attempt to speak in the local language. I was told several times that I have very good Spanish and that is simply not true, but demonstrates my belief that the effort to try to communicate does not go unappreciated.
In a large city such as this, it can be difficult to select only a few places to dine when only staying for brief period. I selected Petit Comite. It is fine dining and I stopped for lunch. I selected the gorgeous plate pictured below. The black rice provided a beautiful style of plating for the seafood. I was assured by the waitress that it was a typical type of food for the region. Although it was tasty, I did not find it as exciting as I had hoped. The rice had a crunchy texture, but the flavors were quite mild when I had anticipated stronger seafood or herbal flavors from the dish. The service was impeccable, albeit distant and did not afford the intimate and excited conversations about food that I so enjoy.
Many of the streets o the city were packed with people as I traipsed around, especially because there was a festival the weekend that I visited, but I also found little quiet corridors that were so serene that I wanted them to be set in my memory, so I snapped pictures of a few, such as the one below.
The city was beautiful to see, but somehow did not charm me, as it does so many.
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