We had Plans A-D for dinner. We set out around 9 pm, a respectable time for dinner. Plan A was Casa Calvet, which is in a building designed by Gaudi. Since we had no reservations, they weren't able to accommodate us. So we pressed on to Plan B: Tapas 24. There was a line out the door. We struck out towards Plans C And D (Noti and Restaurant Embat, but keeping our eyes open for other places on the Passeig de Gracia (well lit and teeming with people). It turned out that destinations C and D were going to take us down streets. So we doubled back to a place we'd passed on Pg. de Gràcia: Vinoteca Torres. It had outside seating, and the menu looked reasonably interesting and not priced in a completely insane manner.
We took a seat, and after a bit of a delay, ordered two glasses of white wine (one was called Viña Sol; the other was ???--I've got the receipt and it should tell us). We ordered 2 tapas to share: razor clams and roast vegatables and sardine on flatbread.They also brought us bread (made with coconut and olives) and olive oil, plus olives. The interesting thing about all of it is that at first it tasted blank and underseasoned. But then we realized that everything was actually subtly seasoned, rather than overly spicy or overly salty, and we really started to enjoy it. Some of the olives were really sweet, the razor clams tasted fresh and clammy, you could really taste the sardines.
Then we had cuttlefish with black rice (that last was really a half portion of the special of the day). Linda especially liked this one; the cuttlefish was sliced thin, almost like noodles. It was topped with an herb that looked like miniature cilatro, but tasted like a cross between fennel and Thai basil. We asked the waiter, who said it was albahaca. We Googled it -- it said it was a name applied to various types of basil, but these sure didn't look like basil leaves.
Our last dish was oxtail braised in sangre de toro wine. Very rich! We got two glasses of red wine to go with it and the dessert: one tempranillo/cab blend called Corona ??? and the other was a tempranillo called Terrasol. We were careful to order all Catalan wines.
For dessert, we ordered bread, olive oil, and chocolate: three thinly sliced, toasted breads, drizzled with olive oil and topped with football-shaped chocolate bombs which were chilled and whose texture was somewhere between a mousse and a truffle. It was topped with large salt crystals. A fine ending to a nice dinner!
We made it back to the hotel at 1 am or so. Linda called Peter via Skype (the connection kept getting dropped but they finally made it). It was 2 am (again!?) before we got to sleep.
8 am comes mighty early, but we dragged ourselves out of bed, packed, went downstairs for breakfast (much the same as yesterday), and then finished packing so we could check out and store our luggage.
We walked up to Sagrada Familia which was jammed with people -- Linda said she'd read that it was the second most popular tourist destination in all of Spain. The tine to get in was longish, but it moved quickly, probably due to the fact that they only took cash (no credit cards). Linda remembered having seen Sagrada Familia during her first visit to Barcelona many years ago (1963), and the building can changed quite a bit since then. Rainbow-colored stained glass, tilted chandelier over the altar, more supports inspired by nature...very impressive. Lots of Catholic symbolish to read and interpret.
We then took a cab to Parc Güell and strolled the grounds like you're supposed to, looking at the mosaic benches, the lizards, the columns holding up the plaza... We even walked up to the three crosses (along with a bunch of Catalan schoolkids about V's age). There was some interesting music being played: a guy with a type of steel drum (apparently called a "hang" and a guy with two digereedoos and some percussion -- sounded almost like electronica.
We walked through the gift shop just to see the interior of the building (again, lots of classic Gaudi: ribs in the ceiling, ergonomic door handles, lots of wood, spiral staircases, windows in interesting shapes.
Then we took a cab back to the hotel, got our luggage, and took another cab to Estació Sants, wher, after a little bit of confusion about how and where to buy tickets, we bought two tickets on the 2:16 pm train (R11) to Figerees. We bought some yummy ham sandwiches which we ate while we waited, and I wrote most of this blog entry. We also bought a Fanta Limón -- I think I now know why my buddy at work is so enamored of that drink!
The train trip was uneventful -- pleasant views out the windows, and a nice man across from us studying the score of the Brandenberg concerti.
Steve of Catalan Adventures collected us at the station as planned, and drove us about 20 minutes to L'Escala, a pretty little seaside town. Steve gave us our orientation, including detailed route maps (including turn by turn instructions and photographs of landmarks), amusing stories about some of the innskeepers we'll be encountering and suggestions. He's a Scotsman who originally taught skydiving in the area while he was trying to get his business going.
After Steve left, we went into town to try and figure out where we might be able to buy lunch for our walk tomorrow. We found a grocery store (it opens at 8:30), a bakery, and a place to buy anchovies and olives. We also bought some fruit. We'll buy our lunch stuff and water tomorrow on our way out of town.
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