Day 2 in Barcelona began with more food. Our first stop of the day was to La Boqueria, an actual market for the people of Barcelona, but a bit turned on its side over the last few years with the influx of photograph focused tourists. This was the meeting point for our cooking class and it was here where Elizabeth was more excited than she had been for anything thus far on the trip.
The cooking class covered traditional Spanish/Catalan dishes. These dishes included tomato bread, gazpacho, paella, a Spanish version of creme brulee, and what turned out to be the best thing made, a Spanish tortilla.
Our group had a couple from Texas and very tired family of five from Boston. There was also a couple from Canada wearing Canadian tuxedos. Elizabeth threw them under the bus at one point during the class when they cut her vegetables incorrectly.
The chef/teacher of the class took us around the market to show us how we should buy our produce and fish, ensuring it is as fresh as possible. He also led us in the kitchen to make sure nothing burned or was ruined by an overeager student.
All the food was excellent, but our favorite was the humble Spanish omelette, or tortilla espanola. A little salt, fried potatoes, lightly caramelized onions, and scrambled eggs mixed together and cooked to remain a little runny in the middle. It was shockingly outstanding.
From here, sufficiently stuffed and struggling to do anything other than nap, we moseyed over to the Cathedral of Barcelona. One of many churches on the list of churches to visit, it was a fine representation of a Gothic church. not particularly original, but it did have one element different from all the other we had visited thus far.
The stairs to the crypt were at the front of the altar. In our experience, the crypt is notmally accessed via other means than the front of the church. While we didn’t stay long, it was neat to see.
We couldn’t stay long at the Cathedral because we had to head to Park Guell. Another work of Gaudi, the park provides nice views of the city and a quiet respite from the noise of downtown. A couple of the building’s rooftops are famous for being in every picture you will most likely see in Barcelona. We took those pictures too.
To close out the night, we decided to give Spain another shot with crowded, confusing meals. We headed to El Xampanyet. One of the most famous and popular places to go in Barcelona for tapas, we expected it would be challenging. It was. Within seconds of arriving, I (Clay) was ready to leave. It was packed to the gills and people were falling out the door. Getting close enough to order was difficult enough for people that spoke Spanish.
Turns out we are still incredibly timid souls. We discussed leaving, trying to order, or what we should do. I think we covered all the stages of grief standing in the restaurant in only a few minutes. After ordering a couple of cavas, we had outlasted several other folks and were able to lean an elbow on the bar countertop.
From our safe perch, we managed to point to enough items to get fed. Of course half of what we ordered only came to fruition after eyeing what the folks next to us ordered and letting the barkeep know we needed an order to ourselves.
Unoriginal to be sure, but tasty.
We lived to try another tapas place.
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