Spain: Day 6

Our luck with the weather finally ran out.  We woke up to a grey sky and chilly weather, but it was perfect for our plans, so we hit the streets.  We first walked to Sagrada Familia and walked around the block to take in the entire structure, which is enormous.  The photos don't nearly do it justice.

The building has been under construction for 200 years and isn't expected to be done until 2030.  As you can see, there were cranes everywhere and it was being worked on as we walked around.  It's an entire square block of gothic architecture with a bit of playfulness.  It's difficult to see, but there are small touches of whimsy all over the place.  I'm so glad we got to see it.

From there, we walked a few blocks to Bardeni, a small restaurant Andrew was super excited to try.   On the walk over, we happened upon a legit ham shop.  They had all their credentials hanging on the wall alongside their ham!

We considered doing a tasting, but we didn't want to ruin our appetite for Bardeni, so we got a small package to go and off we went!  

At Bardeni we enjoyed a mozzarella and tomato salad, artichokes with foie gras, sardines with sour peppers, some lovely cured beef and onglet (a small cut of steak).  Oh boy was it good.

Decor in the restaurant

Sardines

Artichokes and foie

Cured beef

Onglet

After lunch we strolled to the Gothic Quarter and hit the Picasso Museum.  No photos were allowed, so I can only tell you that it was very interesting.  It turns out Picasso spent quite a bit of time in Barcelona and many of the works in the museum were done of places in and around Barcelona.

Madeline started to get a bit cranky near the end, so we booked it back to the hotel for a bottle and some play time before she went down for a nap.  Dinner tonight is at Bodega 1900.  Should be great.  We'll check back in afterwards to let you know how it went.



Oh mah gawd.  Dinner tonight at Bodega 1900 was unbelievable!!!  Every single thing we had was better than the last.  And what we started with was fantastico!!!!

Mad before we left

Inside the restaurant

We sat in front of the kitchen where they constructed the cold dishes

razor clams

regular clams

fresh oysters with foie gras

baby squid

tomato salad with...

tomato consume (with a tea bag of mint, tarragon and juniper)

calamari hot dog!

vanilla cream on crunchy pastry with strawberries

This was only part of the menu.  Literally every single thing we had was amazing.  The best meal we have had here by far.  We're starting to see why this city is considered such a culinary destination.  

When we returned, Madeline had some dinner and we watched a bit of "football" and then packed.  We're off to San Sebastian tomorrow!  Can't believe it's almost half way over already.  We will try to check in tomorrow, but if not, the next day for sure.  Xoxo!!