Friday, April 25, 2014

An Excerpt from Guest Blogger, Izik

 A Glimpse of Barcelona by Guest Blogger, Izik!       April 25, 2014

Our days in Barcelona included a variety of activities, planned by all four of us:  Bruce, Linda, Matt, and Izik.

Matt was eager to visit the aquarium, so we headed there on our first full day in Barcelona.

After completing an educational viewing of “Fish of the Mediterranean” at the Aquarium Barcelona, Linda, Matt and I emerged from the aquarium to realize we had lost Bruce along the way. We searched the waterfront a bit and concluded that he must
have made his way back to the apartment. 

Late afternoon was approaching, and in true Spanish style, it was time to seek lunch before our siesta. We thought this would be a good opportunity to seek out a place recommended by my friend,
Michael Fields. The restaurant is called Quimet, Quimet.  Michael describes it as “probably the most well regarded tapas restaurant on the planet. Be prepared to share your space with a lot of neighbors. It’s tiny, and most people stand/mingle throughout. Quimet, Quimet will be packed and customer service is not what they are known for, but worth the effort.”

We enjoyed a long walk across Barcelona (Linda and I describe the walk as “enjoyed” while Matt might have just stayed with “long”) and finally made it to Quimet, Quimet at 4:07 pm, only to realize that they close for siesta at 4.  We could hear movement inside, but they were clearly closed for an afternoon break.

Determined to find lunch, we took off toward the hotel and examined a few menus at the local tapas restaurants along the way. As we made our way through a Pakistani neighborhood, we stumbled across an interesting looking little spot called Caleuche. We were somewhat late for lunch, even by Spanish standards, but the gentleman running the restaurant was very accommodating and eager to help us through our broken Spanish (somewhat through a show-and-tell display of the
menu). Through a bit of inquiry, we realized we were about to enjoy some amazing-tasting food in a multi-cultural experience. The three Americans in Spain were eating Argentinian food, served by a man from Bangladesh, in a Chilean restaurant, in a Pakistani neighborhood. We enjoyed delicious empanadas and a round of
cervesas (beer).

Lunch at Calueche was amazing, and we vowed to attempt a return to Quimet, Quimet in the coming days.

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