We had a full slate on this day and began early with the first stop at the Picasso Museum. It does not house his well known works, but does contain a vast selection that cover his artistic life through his various periods. It is interesting to see the artistic progression of an individual, especially one who went to such extremes as Picasso.
The museum does contain a large collection of one grouping of his paintings, Las Meninas. The original Las Meninas is one of the most famous Spanish paintings of all time. Picasso reinterpreted the painting with his own 58 versions. You can find every one of them here. Or at least I think here. We did not count.
After viewing Picasso, we walked around Barcelona a bit and found the Arc de Triomf. It was a nice stroll down the promenade.
We then met our group for the Cava and wine tour. The Cava growing region is close to Barcelona so taking a day trip to various vineyards is easy to do. We prefer Cava to Champagne based on our pocketbook so we were excited to visit.
While the downside to visiting vineyards this time of year is the lack of grapes present on the vines, it also cuts down on the crowds. We also selected a smaller tour which visited smaller producers so we hoped to get a better tour experience.
We were not disappointed. Our first stop was the Cava tasting and it was excellent. We tried three Cava’s each paired with a plethora of tapas. The first Cava was easily the best wine we tried all day. We did not buy a bottle, but we should have. It was an extremely expensive bottle of wine for Cava and the shipping costs were steep as well.
Instead, we chose a less expensive bottle and will get to enjoy at the end of our Camino, where it awaits in our luggage.
It was a great experience to visit this Cava winery and enjoy something locally that we enjoy overseas.
As we headed to our second tasting, we enjoyed views of Montserrat and got to know our group. Four of them were from Arkansas. We did not get them to give us a Woo Pig Sooie cheer, but we tried. Perhaps they needed more liquid courage.
Our second stop on the tour was at a castle dated around the 13th century (they always seem to know how old these things are). It had been in the same family the entire time. The vineyard was only a side business for them and they only started to sell it in Spain recently.
Our guide had remained interactive with us the entire trip and this finally led to his undoing at the castle. He led us down to the lower level/cellar in the castle into three separate circular rooms each about 12 feet tall and ten feet around with cast iron grated door leading to each. He had told us what these rooms were used for earlier in the day and decided to quiz us.
As follows:
Guide: Does anyone know what these were used for?
Everyone but Clay: A room to store the wine. (except it was all garbled and the guide couldn’t understand what anyone said but Clay who said…)
Clay: The castle prison.
Guide: (hangs his head in shame and laughs) No.
Everyone got a nice laugh out of this.
After getting out of the wine prison, we had a couple of reds and a white. They were good wines.
The guide again began giving us a lesson on wine, color, and several other items about fine wine. He was teaching us that the longer a red wine ages the less color the wine will have, but it will have more flavor.
Guide: So it you paint a house purple, like a grape, in ten to fifteen years, what will you have?
Clay: A raisin
Guide: (hangs his head in shame and laughs) No.
We finished the wine and cheese and headed back to Barcelona with rosy cheeks and full bellies.
And then it began to rain. A lot. And traffic got much worse. And we stopped moving.
We sat in traffic for a while. So long that we had to drop off an Arkansas pair in downtown Barcelona so they could make it to the soccer match in town. We ended up making it back to our place in time to get sorted and head out to our fancy dinner with strangers.
We found Eat With some time ago and have been excited to try it out in an International locale. Unfortunately, no one else was as excited, as we were the only people with reservations for the night. Perhaps Wednesday nights are not popular for eating out in Barcelona.
As we traipsed across a sodden Barcelona, we arrived at the warehouse where the host lives. Imagine an abandoned, disintegrating building where hobos and heroin addicts hang out under stairwells to die and you have the right image.
We tentatively knocked on the door, hoping we have the right door and building. We are welcomed in to a huge apartment. The living, dining, and kitchen area are combined and run probably 60-80 feet long and 20 feet wide. It was a massive place replete with antiques, general junk, and marble counter tops.
Two other guests showed up to eat with us. We think they were friends or acquaintances of the hosts. They spoke no English. To offset the issue, both of our hosts translated. One was a native Catalan who knew at least Spanish, Catalan and English. The other was Swiss and seemed to know as many languages as I have fingers.
He was our main translator and conversationalist as he would talk to both couples and update each with what the other was discussing. They were all very worried about America and Donald Trump. Do no visit Europe during an election year, especially when the US has lost it’s mind.
The food was fun, exciting, and different. The first course, specifically the octopus, was the highlight of the meal. The dessert pastry was also an excellent finish to the meal. Each course was paired with it’s own drink. The hosts did a great job of providing us a warm and inviting place filled with interesting discussion and equally interesting food.
We left for home completely satisfied. Half from the food and half from not being murder in a stairwell.
cornetravel 
Looks like a fancy meal! (and yes most of us are worried about Trump hahaha)
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You two are so brave. I would never have the nerve to go to a stranger’s house and eat especially not in another country!!! Keep writing. I can’t wait to get home each day and read about your adventure.
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