It's back to the ship later today and I'm already feeling the pressure. My stomach is in knots, I'm breaking out in a cold sweat and my heart feels like it's going to pound right through my chest.
No, this isn't some cruise phobia (obviously) and I haven't contracted some strange disease. It's simply the anxiety produced by knowing I have to pack in a few hours and wondering if all my clothes are going to make it in the backpack and on the ship.
If you don't know what I'm talking about read "Muey Stupido" from January 8.
We hadn't been awake for more than five minutes this morning before Beth asked me in a soft and kind voice "so how many times are you going to check the room today"? I think she knows you can't fix stupid but you can help guide them along and I'm sure she will.
During our five night stay here at the Negresco Princess Hotel we've covered a lot of territory. We've also covered a lot of restaurants. If you know me even a little bit you know that high tone, fru fru places just aren't my style and thankfully their not Beth's style either.
We both prefer the "hole in the wall" local places and street food cuisine. From an eating cheap and eating good standpoint Barcelona would have to rate as one of the best cities in the galaxy. A walk down any street will take you past numerous small cafes with killer menus of various tapas, seafood, panini's, as well as food from around the world such as Asian, Greek and Italian. Also the local markets have colorful displays of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats (many of which still have their heads on) and more varieties of seafood than you could ever imagine. Another beautiful thing is about every block will have a fresh pastry and bread shop. Mornings here have consisted of coffee and hot tea for starters and the a quick trip down the elevator out the hotel and three or four doors down to elFornet for a couple of breakfast sandwiches on fresh bread as good as real Cuban bread and a sweet roll that would make Joe Jennings from the Mulberry Bakery proud. It was raining last night so we didn't want to go far and so here we were in Barcelona and we walked about 200 yards and ended up in an Irish pub eating surprisingly good nachos while watching coverage of the inauguration on television. A little schizo I know but it is what it is and is just an example.
Some of our favorites have been churros and
hot chocolate, and numerous traditional sandwiches with fresh meats and cheeses. They're so proud of their meats that right on one of the busiest streets (La Ramblas) there is a museum dedicated exclusively to ham called the Jamon Experience". They take their meats and cheeses seriously!There have been olives, olives and more olives from the tapas menus and great Asian yesterday from the local market at a place called "Wok to Walk".
One of the most memorable meals was dinner the other night at Casa Alfonso. This place was just a few doors down from the hotel and had been around since the early thirties.
I would use words like iconic, colorful, and traditional to describe it. We enjoyed tapas of olives, fried croquettes with meat and vegetables and a mini beef casserole which was mini but had some incredibly tender beef cooked in garlic and peppercorns.
We understand that the restaurant has been used for numerous tv shows and movies. There were pictures of "celebrities" on the wall eating there. I didn't look too closely but I did see Rod Stewart and most impressive was a picture of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. They didn't take a picture of us, oh well their loss!
Our favorite meal was lunch the other day at a small, very non-touristy place called Cal Borter. We had been tipped off to this place by Beth's sister Cindy who saw it featured on one of my favorite food shows, Diners, Drive-Inn's and Dives.
Tucked down a narrow alleyway it certainly wasn't a drive in. I guess you would call it a "dive" which in my classification of restaurants is about as good as you can get.
Excellent three course lunch. I went with black beans and rice paella, beef steak and mixed fruit. Beth went with soup, chicken and cake. We did plenty of swapping of food so we pretty much had equal amounts of everything. Of course there was also bread and wine, all for just a little over $20.
In addition to the great food we had a server who was very helpful in guiding us through the menu which was only in Spanish. When asked about the tv show she admitted she didn't know much about that "Guy fellow" or the show but that he had interviewed her at the table right next to where we were sitting. I assured her it was a big show in the US and she was now a celebrity. I think she bought it, especially when I asked if she'd have her picture taken with me.
