We were happy to freshen up at the hotel and relax on our terrace with a couple San Miguel; only 3.60 e for an entire six pack. According to Jared it is the Bush of Barcelona, but he likes it anyway. One can is 5.4% alcohol and Tina is “feeling it” after three quarters of one.
Tina was ready to regain control (even though she was “feeling it”) and we headed out with our map and knowledge of the location of street signs. We successfully rode the subway which included us having to get off and transfer to another line and make sure we were going in the right direction on that line. Tina was truly in control when we got off the subway and were headed in the right direction of the Gothic Quarter. This was also when another couple stopped us and asked us for help with directions. Thankfully we were able to help them, not because we knew where they needed to go but because we had a map. They didn’t speak a lick of English.
We headed to the Gothic Quarter, which is a “beautifully preserved neighborhood of gothic buildings, medieval squares, and atmospheric allies, exist today as a splendid reminder of Barcelona’s medieval hay day” according to Tina’s guide book. The pictures can only truly describe this place and it’s intricate alleys and walkways. Thankfully we arrived at dusk so we were not scared away by the small alleys and side streets.
Within the Gothic Quarter there are many wine bars and tapas restaurants. We looked at the menu of several with the intention of going back to the one that looked the best, but quickly realized that due to the numerous alleys there was no chance of us finding our way back.
We settled at the Celler de Tapas. After ordering water Tina wanted to leave because she found a page in her guidebook with the “Top 10 Tapas in Barcelona” four of which were in the Gothic Quarter, but Jared wouldn’t allow it. This is something Tina tends to make a habit of when we are on vacation. Thankfully the guidebook also had the “Top 10 Tapas Dishes” so we used that to guide our selection.
We continued with a couple more beers and enjoyed Patates Braves (fried potatoes with a spice sauce), Ham Croquets (Fried morsels of béchamel and ham), Musclos o Escopinyes (Muscles), Pa amb Tomaquet (bread topped with tomato and olive oil), and a burger fras grois (thinly sliced potato deep fried, topped with a burger which is topped with fras grois).
We’ll start with the good news. . .Jared loved the potatoes but Tina found them anything but spicy. Tina loved the hamburger, but Jared thought the fras grois was just fat and didn’t enjoy it. We both loved the bread!
The bad news. . .the muscles were not so hot, we each had about 2 and passed on the rest. Much to our surprise our waitress said nothing about the untouched muscles. Luckily we were both satisfied.
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