The rain the day before had a been a bummer but it made for a ridiculously clear sunny day. After a good breakfast we headed out to one of the cornerstones of our trip. La Sagrada Familia. Now, I like a church as much as the next guy but this has to be my favorite one or two of all time. It's just stunning and everything I wanted it to be.
I loved the doors on the entrance side. The look very delicate but every leaf is solid and heavy.
Interesting to see that the band who showed up for the birth included a bassoon player.
We didn't think we would ever leave. Light seems to come from everywhere and I don't suppose you could ever notice all of the details. Happily there was the occasional organ music being played.
There was no holy clam juice.
This is a must for someone who is prone to vertigo!
The one part we grappled with was this over the altar.
And Bill Murray as Joseph!
The carvings on the other side of the church are quite different.
Devastating
Afterwards we had lunch at a typical wine shop. Two cavas.
Olives stuffed with a pimento and anchovies and roast potatoes with cream and a slightly piquant sauce
Toasted bread smeared with tomato and grilled pickled artichokes.
Everything kept cool in a smeg refrigerator!
On our way back for a siesta Rebecca found her happy place!
Here is a video of the Placa Reial. There are a lot of plazas in this part of Barcelona.
I got a bit gargoyle obsessed but will include just this one.
This is a typical street in this part of town.
I was so engrossed in the tour I didn't take a lot of pictures. We had to rush when it was over to make our reservation at Bodega 1900. If you don't know about the Adria brothers, Ferran had the best restaurant in the world for a bunch of years. His brother Albert has opened several which are still going. Bodega 1900 is a vermouth bar. I was skeptical of just drinking straight vermouth but I'm here to tell you - it works. I like this picture of Rebecca but trust me, she's more excited about this vermouth than I captured.
See?
First, two perfect oysters. And I mean - perfect!
One of the first dishes that put the Adrias on the map. They look like olives on a spoon. They are totally man made however. There is some sort of wizardry which is holding an intense olive juice inside. You put it in your mouth and crush it with your tongue to the roof of your mouth and WHAM! Essence of olive. Fantastic.
Sardines in oil. Crazy mild and delicious.
Razor clams in a sauce of oil, saffron and carrot. Unbelievable. We asked the waiter to make a menu for us instead of us choosing. When I asked for the razor clams who took a step back and said, "who is picking this menu - you or me?" We knew we had found a friend!
After the vermouth we had two glasses of local white wine. I didn't get a picture.
Raw cod on tomato puree, olives and more olive oil than you would allow yourself to eat. Hard to describe just how good it was. A wonderful spanish red. Maybe grenache? It was hard to understnd what the grape varietals were.
White asparagus steamed and then on the plancha.
Red shrimp
Tiny fried calamari sandwiches!
Strawberries soaked in heaven juice on granita made of the same heaven juice.
Somewhere between a cheesecake and a custard. The perfect dessert. We might have had one more glass of vermouth!
This was our waiter. He was great.
On our way home we saw this very life like fountain. Oh wait...
We sat and watched night time fall as we looked at Casa Batllo (the bottom picture) come to lit up life. The building below is next door and has the yellow ribbon of Catalan independence. They are omnipresent around town.
Fried pickled artichokes? I’ve died and gone to heaven! Of course I felt the same way about every dish you had. What a fabulous gastronomic day. (The architecture weren’t too awful neither.). Thanks, Rick.
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