Day 14: Te Amo , Barcelona!

Why, oh why, didn't I learn Spanish in high school? I don't feel like I can adequately express how much I love Barcelona in English. Luckily, I was a big fan of the song "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna when I was a kid, and learned early on that "Te Amo" means "I love you!"

Another sunny (but supposed to be rainy) day in Barcelona, and this morning, we caught a regional train out to Cavas Freixenet, a winery located about 45 minutes outside of the city where they make cava. We didn't realize until our tour that 80% of the cava exported from Spain is under the Freixenet label. In the United States, they have a subsidiary in Napa called Gloria Ferrer, a beautiful little vineyard that makes some delicious sparkling wines.

Waiting for our tour of the facility to begin... love the brick barelled ceiling!

Cava and Champagne are essentially the same thing, except because the grapes do not grow in the Champagne region, you can't call it champagne. Instead, in Spain, cava is the bubbly of choice for celebrations. The method for producing the cava is essentially the same as champagne, and it was interesting to see how similar the caves were to the Moet Chandon champagne house I visited in Champagne last year.

Of course, all good tours end with a tasting of the product... these bubbles seriously went straight to my head.

Back in town and needing some food to edge off my buzz, we walked down the Ramblas towards La Boqueria, Barcelona's market of all markets. The Ramblas was absolutely electric on this Saturday afternoon and filled with people...

Sections of the market have traditionally sold pets..

...while other sections are reserved for street performers...

....while other sections burst forth with the colors and fragrances of flower stands.

La Boqueria stands right off the Ramblas, and you can smell the delicious food before you even see the entryway.

Right as we entered, we were greeted by the sight of a stand selling all sorts of fresh squeezed juices. My mouth began to water, as I realized that I haven't eaten a piece of fruit in a long time!

Fishmonger stands brimmed over with fresh seafood, featuring underwater critters specific to the Mediterranean Sea.

Aha... finally. Just what we were looking for. The market has little bars, grills, and cafes scattered throughout, but we found one right in the center that seemed to be bustling. We saw a couple that seemed to finishing up their lunch, and stood behind them at the counter to snag their seats when they stood up.

We ordered up a plate of fideua, which is a typical Catalan dish, similar to paella, but made with short, thin noodles instead of rice.

We also ordered the plato combinado of seafood, and were thrilled to receive clams, mussels, fried sardines, crispy octopus, calamari and cubes of fresh cod, all cooked to order by one tiny lady. Simple, pure and totally delicious.

I remember being in awe of the fruit stands when I visited La Boqueria 7 years ago, and I was glad to see that those golden images didn't exist only in my memory...

Check out the color on these figs!!

Full and happy, we both bought a cup of fresh-squeezed juice for 1 euro to sip as we walked (mine was mango-pineapple), and we veered off of the Ramblas and wandered into the Gothic Quarter. I love this old town. It seems that at every turn, around every corner, it's possible to stumble upon yet another gorgeous plaza.

I saw a man preparing to scrape off some of this colorful tagging, so I snapped a quick photo before he got started.

We wandered languidly through the streets, looking for a particular churro y chocolate place that Jack had read about. We found it at 3:55pm, and were sad to see the blinds drawn... but the note on the door said that they would reopen at 4, and they did!

We split a plate of the churros y chocolate... I mean, seriously, what's not to like and why are there no desserts like this in the U.S.?

A bit more shopping on our way back to our hotel helped us to beat out a storm which seemed to be blowing in. For dinner, we had 11 pm reservations at a restaurant called Espai Sucre in the Ribera neighborhood.

We'd read about this restaurant in, of all places, the Delta Airlines flight magazine on our initial flight to Spain. At first glance, you might think... oh, just another glitzy, modern restaurant serving avant-garde food... but then you look closely, and realize, this is a DESSERT RESTAURANT. As in, there's a 5 course tasting menu, where each course is a dessert! There were some meats and proteins on other tasting menus so you could have a full meal here, but I figured, if I could have a meal that was completely dessert, and multiple courses at that, wouldn't I? Why yes, I think I would. And I did.

I loved it! I mean, how can you resist such unique flavor combinations as bread pudding, bacon ice cream and miniature cubes of pineapple gelee? Or my fourth course, the olive oil cake with white peach ice cream, green olive foam and San Simon cheese? And then there was the Idiazable cake with foams, ice creams, gelees and powders consisting of the flavors of cherry, red beet, black beer and cacao nib...

I admit, this meal was not for everyone, and even as I write it down, I realize how weird it sounds. But it made so much sense in my mouth! I was concerned at first about eating an entire meal consisting of desserts, but actually, I did not find myself being over-sweetened or palate fatigued at all because there were so many interesting combinations balancing the tastes of sweet, bitter, salty and sour, as well as texture differences between crunchy, chewy, foamy, creamy and jelly. Every bite was like a spoonful of new ideas.

And so ended our last night in Barcelona. We took the metro back to our hotel and soaked in our last moments of Big Trip 2009. It was hard to believe that we would be leaving the next day, but we were so grateful for the time and the freedom spent together, exploring Spain and Portugal. We had incredible food, beautiful scenery, good friends, and really, the country exceeded even my highest expectations.

But of course, what makes every trip worth traveling for me these days is the time I get to spend with Jack. I love being at his side as we discover new sights, experience new cultures, taste new foods, and meet new people. We've always traveled well together, and as the years have gone on, I think that I've also come to realize that traveling has been an important part of our marriage. We've planned a big trip every year for the past five years now, and it has become a part of our annual rhythm. Traveling has brought us closer in so many ways and we've learned so many things about how the other person thinks, how the person will react to a certain situation, and how to work together to make the most out of a certain experience. All of this leads to a richness in our relationship and an alignment of mind in how we view and approach our world.

And so, we head back to real life in Seattle together. Usually I get the end-of-vacation blues, but this time, I'm more than content with sweet memories, because really, real life is pretty awesome with my husband at my side. Very sweet, indeed.