Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Barcelona - Food

We ate every well while in Barcelona in October.

Since we had a kitchen we made breakfast for ourselves: toast or cereal, coffee or tea, sometimes fresh squeezed orange juice and pastry for a local shop.

Lunches often later than noon time were often the big meals and then dinner if we didn't go back out were simple: cheese, ham, crackers, bread, olives, and fruit.

I didn't capture all the meals on camera but here are some highlights.  I'll do my best to describe them.


This was a tapas selection.  You can see the avocado, sesame seeds, drizzle of dark honey, thin tortillas or crepe and I think cheese also inside.


Also tapas: simply grilled asparagus with a Romesco dipping sauce.


Our first introduction to tapas: anchovies, calamari, potatoes, and eggplant.  Below roasted peppers.




This was a fish dish.  Below was a whole fish that three of us shared.


Server prepares to divide the fish.




Chicken dish with langoustine on top.


Cherry soup - a dessert.  Below tapas dessert: ice cream sandwich.



Locally grown tomatoes with olive oil as an appetizer.


Most restaurants brought olives to the table.




Potatoes.



Creme brûlée.


Above this first course was roasted vegetables with Romesco sauce.


Croissant and hot chocolate the consistency of pudding.

 

Best cheesecake in Madrid.


Our favorite bakery above and below one we stopped at another time.


Finally there are the market stalls.


Eggs of all sorts.


Cheese




Fruits and vegetables



Fish



And prepared foods.


A food lover's paradise!

Friday, November 1, 2019

Barcelona - 5

Sorry to be so slow posting this photos.  Granddaughter #3 is visiting and we are doing day care while daughter commutes to DC to her office.  She has been telecommuting since they moved to Buffalo.  A family wedding Saturday in VA gave her a reason to come early to get into the office.  Her commute from here in Columbia can take up to 2 hours. I used to do it but then it took an hour.  Traffic is horrendous in Washington metro area.

But back to Barcelona. Our first Sunday we visited an open air book market early in the morning.  I was looking for a children's book in Spanish but everything was in Catalan.  Then later in the morning we went to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.  This is a former hospital that closed in 2009.  A new hospital built next door.  The original hospital is a modernist treasure and UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This Sunday a visit was free!

[Granddaughter just woke up so will post the photos for viewing.]

It was a grey day.



























Yes that is a lime tree.








The lawn was striped with pavers.


Never seen a pomegranate tree/bush.






















There were many people here but compared to Sagrada Familia the next day it was light attendance.

It was hard to believe this was a hospital.