Barcelona (ESP): Cool city; always fun.

 
We got to Barcelona’s airport fairly late (for us) at lunch time and I recalled a rather nice restaurant on the second floor of the old terminal that I’d eaten at at least twice in thedistant past; with a little luck and much misdirection, we found its new incarnation – the Porta Gaig.

I hadn't recalled being served amuse-bouches in Spain before but they were becoming standard here this year.

 

 
 

Our charges each had a salad with goat cheese in phyllo-type-envelopes followed by mac and cheese; Colette had three large raviolis stuffed with veggies and shrimp and I had the crunchy-skinned suckling pig.

 
With wine and water, two coffees and a crème catalan for the table, our bill was 130 E and yes, I would go back.

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At the Taller de Tapas that night we shared:

 

 

 

 

Potatoes with aioli and paprika sauces, sautéed wild seasonal mushrooms, hot and (not) spicy peppers, sautéed spinach and chickpeas, mountain lamb, a croquette and cream catalan.

With wine, water, cokes our bill was 73.15 E.

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Lunch was the second type resto I tell people never to do; hop off a CityTourBus and find a nice place: well we did; the Santiaguino, all black tie and friendly couple-owners, fish, table-clothes, etc.

 

 

Colette had a watery fish soup (not nearly enuf dead creatures’ bodies), I had very pricy (but I knew it from the getgo) baby octopus in olive oil and garlic (passable); one of the kids had croquettes and the other fried peppers.

 

 

 

Desserts saved the day: flan with whipped cream, pineapple with (ah you guessed it – whipped cream), crème Catalan and choco truffles with (what else?).

Our bill with wine, water, 2 coffees and bread they loved = 109.13 E.

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After a crushing day on and off the bus, we returned to Taller de Tapas (our favorite place, Estrella, on the Placa del Palau having gone dead and been replaced with a pizza shop);

 

 

 

 

 
 

Having
-more fried potatoes
-wild mushrooms
And for a first time:
-cured ham
-daurade
-mussels
-a Catalan flat-bread with Anis del Mono
-choc “mousse” and
-strawberries.

Our bill with 1.5 wine, 2 cokes, waters and no coffee was 88.35 E. We left happy.

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It should be noted that we all loved the Miro Museum, Park Guell and the bus tour; desite the fact that the enormous lines at the Sagrada Familia detered us from exploring that again.