While renting a room in an AirBNB in Barcelona, my hosts taught me how to make tortilla de patatas (or, tortilla española, or Spanish Tortilla). Here is how we made them and a story of how the recipe came together for us...
I fell in love with the whimsical architecture of Antoni Gaudí while spending a month living in Barcelona, Spain. I visited Casa Mila (La Pedrera) and Casa Batllo. I took a Guadi walking tour. I visited his unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. And I spend a morning wandering around Park Güell. Park Güell (also known as Parc Güell or Parque Güell) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on Carmel Hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Commissioned by Eusebi Güell, famed modernist Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí designed and created the park between 1900 to 1914. The sprawling Gaudi-designed park, which officially opened to...
So, you know how I said I was sick some weeks back? Well, even after going to the hospital in Madrid, even after taking two different cough medicines, even after weeks of suffering, I was still not feeling better and my cough just wasn't going away. My cough seemed to be getting better. And then it got worse. And then I got a sore throat. And a high fever. And chills. And seriously didn't know what to do. Luckily the woman I'm staying with in Barcelona called a private doctor for me. So I went the other day and he spoke decent English....
Over last weekend my hosts went out of town. Now, let me tell you, it's been a long time since I've had a place, or a weekend entirely to myself… So I had a thrilling weekend of doing nothing. I did such exciting things as watching TV (including many episodes of the Simpsons, even the ones that for some reason wouldn't translate back into English) and doing my laundry and cooking bacon and eggs and mashed potatoes (things I very much miss). And I stayed up late doing nothing because some local concerts were blasting 80s cover bands until 3 in the morning. And I...
One great thing about staying in Barcelona for a month is that my time here happens to coincide with a lot of other people's trips here. Another good thing about staying a month in Barcelona is that I get to see a lot of Gaudi. A whole lot of Gaudi. ...
My first three days in Barcelona involved getting situated in my new place: both apartment-wise and city-wise. On the night I "moved in" I had a wonderful dinner with my roommates/hosts, who own the apartment and are renting out their spare room to me, of whatever was left over in their refrigerator. Which seems so much more perfect than what I consider the American way of throwing in a frozen pizza....
In the months before I left on this 'round the world journey, when I was questioning what it was that I really wanted, when I was having doubts and second thoughts, I recited this little mantra I'd made up for myself:...
OK…so we did nothing in Valencia. Nothing. You can't even count La Tomatina, because that was in Bunol. And our eating was anything but authentic. But sometimes a break from everything is just needed. So why ruin the streak on the last night? Outside of Oktoberfest we sat around watching episodes of Modern Family all day. Can you believe that I'd never seen an episode at all before this trip? I should have listened to people. It's an awesome show. And then we went to get fast food burgers for dinner. And we may have felt starving so ordered way too...
On Saturday, after watching too many episodes of Modern Family, after eating what may have been the best pizza ever, after we waited for the rain to clear, we headed to Oktoberfest. In Valencia. With 80s music....