A Wonderful Lunch And An Afternoon In Barcelona

I love Barcelona it is a charming coastal city with history and ruins back to the Romans. It's not hard to imagine some of the mid evil walls and buildings looked very much the same when Christopher Columbus walked these same streets.

I have a new favorite travel app. Trip Advisor City Guides. In the process of checking it out I found a little cafe which looked interesting. I had filtered the thousands of restaurants down to the cheap ones. I may indeed be one of my favorite dates but it doesn't mean I'm going to break the bank on myself either.

My destination was El Casal and without the aid of Trip Advisor City Guides and the map function I would have been very hard pressed to locate this little gem. In making a comment on apps I will point out a weakness of the app. It's map representation  lacks a directional arrow. City Maps to go is another great app and it has the arrow but lacks the depth of ratings and recommendations which City Guides has. Use them both! They are both free.

They have a standard pre fix 10€ lunch. Which gives some limited choices but great pricing. I had a bowl of soup, a beef stew on noodles, a beer, and coffee or desert.  I chose espresso.

The soup was a chorizo lintels and cabbage creation which was excellent. The stew was really more like roast beef and carrots. Really hardy food. The espresso was a fine ending on a great lunch.

My afternoon continued with my next quest. To find the old mid evil synagogue. This was truly an adventure in GPS maps. I knew I had to be right on top of it but couldn't see it and then I saw it.

I was looking for a more impressive entrance for sure. Of course the streets are now 6 or 7 feet higher up. So a little humbled  stoop door to now the entrance to a basement which was once the main Synagogue.  A tour guide gave me and a couple of American college girls a nice presentation. The Christians blamed the Jews for the Black Plague. It seemed the hygienic rituals of washing kept the Jewish community safe from the Plague but not the Christians who were persecuting them. Many were killed during the period. Then along came a more tolerant King and ended the blood shed.

My day continued by winding my way through the tiny streets.

I found this shot interesting showing three distinct periods in the arched windows.

Made my way to the basilica where I prayed for my readers around the world. My day was winding down so I headed to the more tourist laden Las Rambalas for people watching while waiting on my crew for dinner.

The Bull

You may enjoy the bull fight, or for most people, not. I was in Madrid a while back and we decided to go watch one just to experience what it was all about. Interesting to say the least, gruesome to say the worst.
It's not like a man and a bull enter the arena to fight to the death. Not like that at all. First Mr bull gets beat up,  Mafiosi style. After hazers wear him out horse backed riders gouge him with jousting sticks. Now if this isn't enough the picadors come out and stick 2 foot long spears in his back.

OK so I'm not sharing this trying to make you anti -bull fight just telling you about my experience. It was to say interesting....

It's not like they choose a big riding bull. Just a little fighting bull. Still bull I will add.

So on another Madrid layover. We met for dinner to go to the oldest restaurant in Europe. Sure to be good. Well it has been here a while.

We took the bus to Plaza Del Sol and then walked to Plaza Mayor.

We saw sponge Bob and a dozen Mickey Mice along the way and then entered the Plaza Mayor.  I suppose when your unemployment rate is about half for young people you get a few Mickey Mouse activities.

Once the kings of Spain watched parades, executions, and the bull fight here. Ole

Now it is a memory of those grande events and today boasts restaurants, bars, and shops with street performers highlighting the day. One such bar which lines the courte is the Bull Bar. It reminds us of days past. Now the young cabeleros fight soccer balls.

This place sympathizes with the bull. Boasting pictures of Jimmy Carter, Bob and Teddy Kennedy, amidst post heroes slain by the bulls.

These young bulls hitting the mark before being slain without thoughts.

Eat drink but be ware. The bull is out there...

Today it is bueno comedo, bueno vino e mucho fun. Come and enjoy.

The Bull!!!!!

Valencia Spain on A Summer Day

 It is mid December and it is perfect shorts and t-shirt weather for me here in Texas, but I know for many of you it is winter and cold.  I hadn't posted anything for a while so I found this draft that I never got around to posting.  Hope you enjoy the beach and the thought of summer days...


Located on the Costa De Sol, or coast of the sun it is a favorite beach town for Europeans.

We met in the afternoon on the beach to enjoy the sand and surf. A nice beach chair under an umbrella was perfect to soak it all in. It is all such a relaxing laid back atmosphere. Yes it is warm but with the breeze blowing in off the Med. Sea it isn't so bad.

Beach side sangria and tapas. Yummy and fun!

Good to the end. PS. That was broiled calamari squid. Yea looks a little odd but was so good!!!! It kind of looks like a rubber band and if overcooked it will have the texture of one, but when cooked correctly it is so succulent floating in garlic butter.  The Spaniards do a good job with their sea food. Audios

A Spanish Picture Of A Truth

I know you're probably going to laugh at my stupidity, ignorance, or more accurately my naivety. Once again enjoying an evening of tapas in Madrid we stopped into a trendy outdoor place with misters cooling the hot dry air. The menu was colorful with many bright photos of food. I enjoy the picture menus in foreign countries because often you have no idea what an item is, and a picture can speak a thousand words or even more when your language skills are lacking.

OK, so we see some fresh guacamole and chips, everyone around us are speaking Spanish (in Texas 80% or more Spanish speakers are of Mexican descent) so it is only natural to not question the picture or the product.

But...but...almost butt...

You've got to be kidding!!!

Really??? The picture???? Where was that??? Kind of like when people look at my 16 year old picture of when I was hired at Delta that appears on  my ID. Then they start giggling before erupting in belly laughs. OK so some things have changed in 16 years. Back then I had a state of the art pager. A mobile phone was nearly the size of a shoe box. Computers, well computers were as big and slow as dinosaurs. Big slow ones...

Back to the guacamole...so the thought of that icky stuff which comes in cans and jars not resembling anything on the label comes to mind....the chips were good.

Yes, I should have known better being a seasoned road foodie, but it wasn't just me we were all fooled by the allure of the pretty little picture! It just wasn't right.

So next up was an order of the grilled veggies. Cute little shish-kabobs all lined up on a plate.....again this looked great in it's picture.  Well the picture was made somewhere in fantasy land. (kind of like a model or movie star, more paint than perfection. Hello Hollywood!!!

(Read in a sultry Catherine Hepborn voice please...) "Hummm, lovely. I'll take a dozen darling...Thank you..."

But the picture again was a bit deceptive....

OK, I'll give them the point that there was a semblance of a row. Not quite as neat but kind of lined up. Not marine precision. More like kindergarten water fountain lines, fluid in motion trying not to get out of synch but not really knowing how to synch.

Bottom line they tasted great! Marinated in some sort of teriyaki kind of Asian fusion Spanish Mexican.... No, they were yummy.

The final tasting was a shrimp dish. It was a little fishy but my cat Lizzy would have loved them. I ate them with mucho gusto. Meow!!!!

One more picture to add to this saga...this one was taken in a grocery store in Stkholm.

If you ask the store clerk where to find The liquid green slimy stuff resembling guacamole, and the yellow chemicals bearing the name of Cheese stuff he'll probably send you to the "Taco" isle.....Now I'm sure I would know better than to buy "taco" food in Sweden. Duh, the vikings got around but never to Texas,....I dont think. (reference the rune stones in Oklahoma) Stick to prickled/semi-rotten fish!!! They know how to do that!!!!

Bottom line a picture can often lie!!! Be smart!!!