Churros and Chocolate

Today started out with something I really wanted to try after seeing it on a couple foodie videos: churros con chocolate. We ordered some at La Pallaresa Xocolateria Xurreria–a short walk from our apartment.  The chocolate is exactly what it looks like: hot chocolate with extra chocolate with a whole lot of extra melted chocolate added for good measure. You dip the churros in the chocolate for a mouthful of goodness. This wasn’t exactly the breakfast of champions, but it’s worth trying.

A Day of Shopping

After breakfast, we headed across town to another flea market. On the way, we passed by Mercat La Boqueria–a famous market right off Las Ramblas. We didn’t stop there this trip but will come back next time we’re in the area. It’s supposed to have a really good cafe inside; we may come back for breakfast.

After a short subway ride, we arrived at the flea market–Mercat Dels Encants; it is under a rather unique gold mirrored roof.

This is also probably the best view of all of the merchants’ wares.

We rooted through many tables and piles of junk but never found any treasures. We did come away with a few finds, but the prices were higher than we’re used to back home. No matter what you pick up, the first price is always “ten Euros.” Of course you can negotiate down from there, but that’s a high starting price for much of this stuff. I spent a good 15 minutes sifting through this pile and ended up putting both tools I found back when he wouldn’t budge on the price.

Menú del Día

We walked a couple blocks up the road from the market to have lunch at Mabel The Granga. We had their menú del día, which is a fixed-price lunch that includes a first and second course (each chosen from a short list), bread, wine, and a dessert.

For the main course, I had meatballs with quinoa and couscous; Tracey had the chicken curry. It was a pretty good meal for 11,50€.

Here’s the menu to get an idea of the choices. Most of the restaurants offer a weekday menu for lunch, but you have to ask for it. If you don’t ask, they will hand you their normal menu which will cost more. As an interesting aside, if you ask for the “menu” they often assume you are talking about the menú del día; what we think of as the menu is the “carta.”

One other serious tip for dining in Barcelona and perhaps the rest of Spain. When you’re ready for the check, you have to catch your server’s attention and ask; something like “the bill, por favor” works. Otherwise, they really don’t care how long you sit at the table; they won’t keep coming by to ask if you need anything else. In fact, if you do need something else, you’ll also have to flag them down (“por favor”).

After lunch, we went back to the room for a bit of a nap. While Tracey was dozing, I sneaked out to go back to a store I saw on a previous evening. On the way, I walked past the Cathedral of Barcelona and stopped for a quick photo. One of its tours takes you up on the rook where you get a great view of the city. It’s on our list of things to do during the trip.

The shop I couldn’t wait to visit was Ganiveteria Roca. It has a huge assortment of knives, cookware, and my favorite, shaving equipment. I bought some aftershaves, razor blades and soap that aren’t available back home.

We ended up heading out for dinner pretty late and went on quite a trek to find someplace that was open and looked interesting. We eventually found this tapas bar–La Ribera–that seemed to fit the bill.

We ordered several different tapas: some mixed cheeses, fried artichokes, calamari, iberico ham (!) and some tomato coca bread (not in the picture). We have been trying the coca bread almost everywhere; it’s toasted bread rubbed with roasted garlic, the juice of a tomato, and some olive oil (and it’s yummy). The food was great, the portions were generous, and the prices were right. La Ribera is a great place to try several different dishes at once. Also, their wine by the bottle was priced essentially the same as you’d find in the local markets. We’ll certainly be back.

I saw this wine dispenser next to the front door. It looks like you slide your credit card, hold up your glass and get a refill.

Tomorrow we will take a break and maybe go to the beach.  More to come.