Day 6: More Barcelona

Sorry I haven’t been updating my blog.  We got a new computer and the whole process of transferring all our files really zapped the blogging energy from me.

Barcelona Cathedral. This is the area where we almost got pick pocketed by gypsies.

Palau de la Musica Catalana

Palau de la Musica Catalana

Photography is not allowed inside the Palau de la Musica Catalana.  It’s too bad because it’s beautiful inside as well.

bikes that you can rent out

Instead of taking a tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalana, we decide to head over to the Piscasso Museum.

outside Piscasso Museum

enjoying the warm sun as we end our tour of Picasso's work

snack time!

nothing like an ice cold Estrella beer

delicious Iberian ham

everything tastes better w/ pa amb tomàquet (tomato bread)

chorizo

After our snack we decide to wander the alleyways and as we walk we start to hear music.  Then we see these giant puppet like things (I know great description right?) and Matt and I take off to try to capture them on camera.  Yes we left a pregnant woman behind but she was in good hands.

Perhaps some sort of celebration, festival?  We’re not really sure but all of these giants looked like royalty.

I believe this is near Port Vell

$10 for a meal!

dessert at Granja La Pallaresa

Our first experience with this famous chocolate drink called Suis.  Can you say thick?  This is a chocoholic’s dream.  While I was trying to finish my cup that I was sharing (which I barely drank and mostly used for dunking), I looked around to see how all the other customers were doing with their cups and most of them were finishing theirs!

suis - xocolates topped with large caps of freshly whipped cream

xurros which we used to dunk into the suis... yes there are lots of x's

forgot the name of this pastry, but they ran out of the cream filled one =(

After some shopping and a lot of walking, guess what we do again? EAT!!  We go on vacations so we can eat and try new foods!  At this point we haven’t eaten a lot of tapas but by the end of our trip I don’t think I even wanted to hear the word tapas.  That’s funny b/c not too long after our trip we had a tapas dinner with some friends.

taller de tapas (comtal location which we thought was way better than that one on Carrer de l'Argenteria, different menus too)

russian salad - we thought it would be a salad with lettuce. oops

shrimp with garlic

croquette with bacalao

ham croquette

crema catalana (like creme brulee) - theirs was not good

Zuni Cafe

Tonight we finally visited Zuni Cafe for the famous roasted chicken with bread salad!  For the longest time we’ve been wanting to come here.

We started with two appetizers and an order of shoestring potatoes.

piccolo fritto: okra, peppers, onions... the peppers taste just like the ones we had in Spain

mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes, lettuce and toast

shoestring potatoes

Chicken for two roasted in the brick oven; warm bread salad with red mustard greens, currants, and pine nuts

The menu says it takes 1 hour for the roasted chicken and it literally took that long.  It was worth the wait!  I don’t know what I liked more… the chicken or the bread salad!  Both were so delicious and two of my favorite ingredients were included, currants and pine nuts.

We ordered two of the chicken because we had 5 people total and brought home two boxes of leftovers.  If we didn’t have any appetizers we might have been able to finish it… might.

Looking forward to coming back soon!  Make reservations in advance unless you like to eat really early or really late.

Granola

I love granola especially the homemade kind because I get to put whatever I want and it’s my special mix.  I have been using one recipe from Barefoot Contessa and have adjusted it to our household preferences.  I found a new recipe from Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches and wanted to give it a try.  It’s pretty much the same except for a new ingredients like the apple sauce, spices and add ons.  Matt couldn’t find any wheat germ at TJ’s so we left that out and it was fine… yes I send him to the supermarket and he’s awesome about getting all the items right!  What a wonderful fiance.  I decided to add dried cranberries and apricots… these I just added at the end of cooking time so that it wouldn’t burn.  It turned out delicious!!  I usually don’t like coconut flakes but it bakes into the whole thing and you don’t get a strong coconut flavor.  It adds a hint of nutty aroma and flavor to the granola.  Non-fat plain yogurt and granola equals awesome breakfast for the whole week!  Must remember to drinks lots of water also as this has tons of fiber. =D

I apologize for the horrible picture taken from my iphone, but I’m feeling lazy and didn’t want to take out the camera.

Changes I made:

• addition of dried cranberries and apricots
• didn’t have any wheat germ so I left that out
• didn’t have any whole flax seeds so I just added a bit more ground flax seed
• addition of maple syrup (we like it a bit more sweet)
• didn’t have cardamom, nutmeg or ginger but did have pumpkin pie seasoning that worked out great
• baked it longer than the recipe indicated.  after 30 mins continued baking in 10 min increments until golden and toasty.

Everyday Granola
3 1/2 c organic large-flake rolled oats
1/2 c wheat germ
1/4 c flax seed
3 T ground flax seed
1 1/2 c dried shredded coconut
1 c walnuts, roughly chopped
1 c almonds, roughly chopped
1/4 c sunflower seeds
2 T cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
large pinch each of cardamom and nutmeg
1/2 t of kosher salt
1/4 c canola oil
1/4 c apple sauce
1/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c honey
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300ºF. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. In another bowl, stir the oil, applesauce, brown sugar, honey and vanilla together until it emulsifies somewhat. Pour the wet over the dry ingredients and stir well so that everything gets evenly coated.

Spread mixture on a baking sheet or large glass baking pan and toast in a 325 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, checking on it and stirring it occasionally until mixture is dry. When cool, store in a tightly lidded container.

Day 6: La Boqueria

Today is our first full day in Barcelona and we decide to start our day with a visit to La Boqueria which is a famous market off La Rambla.  What an awesome place!! Sensory overload!  So much great produce, fish, meat and spots to eat.  I wish we had something like this in the bay area… yes we have the ferry building but it’s just not the same.  Usually all I can afford is one piece of fruit b/c it’s so darn expensive… although I will pay for great cheese at Cowgirl Creamery.  Cheese… my one weakness.  One thing I noticed about Europe that is different from the US is the way they display their produce.  Talk about gorgeous!  They are serious about presentation and every piece of fruit looks so perfect.

this is the first thing we see when we enter. pure puree fruit and delicious!

these fruit drinks are the best!

gorgeous fruit

gorgeous presentation

candy store

fresh fish

meats

variety of produce

chili peppers

poor lil piggy

aromatic coffee

While in La Boqueria I really wanted to eat at Pinotxo Bar because I read a lot of great things about this place and it definitely did not disappoint.  One of the best tapas we had in Barcelona.  We were able to snag a seat right outside the bar and our server was super nice and provided us with great recommendations as no menu was provided… all in his head.

my first glass of cava (their version of sparkling wine)

fresh and simple mussels

ham croquettes

the greatest peppers! surprisingly not spicy

who knew chickpeas could be so delicious

some sort of stew... didn't understand what the meat was

our awesome server

Day 5: Hola Barcelona!

We’re in Barcelona and boy is it hot!! humid hot I might add… even in the early evening.  We take a taxi to our apartment in L’Eixample.  My first time riding in a Prius… 4 of us, driver and our luggage all fit into that surprisingly roomy car.  This apartment we’re staying at I found on VRBO.com.  We’re blocks away from Sagrada Familia and the Monumental metro station.  It’s a quiet neighborhood and seemed pretty safe.  Now thinking back on it I should have gone with the original apartment in El Borne… it’s a much livelier area and all the great food spots are down there.  We ended up going there to eat most of the trip.  Oh wells… it’s always what if with me.

View from our apartment back windows.  We forgot to take pics of the inside but I included the ones from the website and they look pretty much the same… but just imagine it being furnished by IKEA.

entryway

living room

kitchen which we barely used. has a washer which we did make use of.

bedroom 1

bedroom 2

bathroom 1

bathroom 2

We settle into our apartment and realize that their “AC” is one unit in the living room… so as you can imagine the two bedrooms are pretty warm.  Our property manager Jorge tells us to not leave the AC on all day b/c it will start to make loud sounds… blah blah blah… we left it on all the time!!  You know what?  No loud noises.  Shame on you for tricking us and trying to save a few bucks while we roast in this apartment.

Tonight we decide to go out and have our first taste of tapas!  We head to the El Borne area and arrive at tapa place #1… not #1 as the best #1 b/c I think this was probably one of the lowest rated of all the places we went to.  Hey it was late, we didn’t know where we were going and we were hungry.

calamari

Pa amb tomàquet

patatas bravas

tortilla (spanish omelet)

frois gras

this can of coke looks much shorter than US version

worst paella EVER! rice was so dry and salty and the seafood was also horribly overcooked. they should be ashamed...

Someone knew I was coming and decided to personalize a bike just for me.  awww… how sweet!

A Day With the Sisters

images from my contax… I do love film. =D  I know I’ve been lagging on the Europe updates, but I’ll get those images out soon!

Day 5: Leaving Paris

We’re leaving Paris today!  We have a late afternoon flight to Barcelona, so we have some time to squeeze in one more shopping trip that both Jo and I have been waiting for.

Lunch at Le Bouquet before heading to the airport.  located just down the street from our hotel. Prob the best lunch we’ve had while in Paris.

salad

salad w/ chicken

steak

Day 4: Paris

This is our last full day in Paris.  We have a few more sites to squeeze in and have dinner with Jo’s uncle before we leave.

We decide to start our day a bit later, but because I have such a horrible sense of direction it turns out to be later start than anticipated.  Matt and I decided to wake up early and check out the Montparnasse Cemetery.  From our hotel we have a view of this cemetary and Matt wanted to visit as this is the burial site of many of France’s intellectuals and artistic elite.  I was hesitant to go because usually I’m freaked out by cemeteries, but it was actually interesting to see the variety of tombstones.  One our way back to the hotel to meet up with Jo and Jimmy, we make a wrong turn due to my excellent navigation skills and end up walking miles… but we do finally make it back.  Thank goodness!

On our way to Montparnasse Cemetery we run into Obama

Montparnasse Cemetery

the friendly guard eagerly gave us a map

indicates who, where and what their profession was

taking the metro to our next destination

the street leading up to Sacred Heart

carousel at the bottom of the steps

Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart)

They have a funiculaire that takes you to the top or there are stairs as well.  On our way up the stairs we were stopped by men who wanted us to put our fingers is this string.  We later found out that they would tie this to your hand to make a bracelet and basically make you pay about $10 for this piece of crap.  Both Matt and I said no, but I guess a simple no wouldn’t stop them because one guy grabbed my arm and another grabbed Matt’s wrist.  I was seriously about to scream, but we both wiggled out of their grip.  Who does that?  Never touch or grab us!  Coming back down you’re not safe either.  I don’t know why there aren’t any police around to stop these people.  They seriously target children and the elderly because I’m sure they are easy targets.  One elderly woman was targeted and his son quickly responded and said “Let go of my mother!”

view from the top

performers near the steps

thinking we could avoid the scammers from the side steps... wrong!

We decide to stop at Moulin Rouge since it’s close by.  Totally not what I had imagined, but it most likely looks nicer at night with the lights on.

moulin rouge

Our next stop is lunch.  We’re in St Germain and the streets are lined with expensive cafes.  We were looking for one cafe that supposedly has great croque monsieurs but we’re not able to find it, so instead our hungry stomachs tell us to go to Les Deux Magots.  The entire time we’ve been in Paris so far we’ve had great servers until now.  When you think of the snobbiest stereotypical French waiters, you think of our waiter.  We seriously should have just walked out but I dunno why we didn’t.  If you want to pay big bucks for below average food come here.  If you want to be waited by snobs, come here too!

tomato salad - seriously? I expected more for what they were charging.

croque monsieur - not impressive at all. better at the cafe near our hotel

staying positive

Onto something happier… macarons!

First stop is Pierre Herme

the cassis is to die for!!

our first macarons from Paris!

Next macaron stop… Laduree!

Laduree

the bar in Laduree

Laduree macarons

My favorite flavor is cassis and I’d have to say that I really love the cassis at Pierre Herme.  I wish Paris was the last leg of our Europe trip so that I could bring a gigantic box of it home with me.

After some shopping we head to the Opera house to meet up with Jo’s uncle for dinner.

taking a much needed rest

view from Opera steps

leaving Opera

Day 3: Eiffel Tower

After we finished our crepes we make our way to the Eiffel Tower.  We came earlier in the week but only  hung around at the bottom of the tower… never making it up to the top.  Though it was raining we still decided to pay the fee to take the elevator up.  Probably not the best idea to climb up wet stairs.  We arrived before the sun started to come down but by the time we came back down we were able to catch one of the night light shows as we were riding down the elevator and caught a glimpse of the lights as we were walking away.  The sun sets super late in Paris.  While we were there in July it would set around 9:30-10pm.

After the Eiffel tower we head back to our hotel, but on the way we stop off at Cafe du Rendez-vous for a midnight snack.

croque monieur

chocolate cake and fromage blanc

Mama’s

Mama’s
1701 Stockton St
(at Filbert St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 362-6421
www.mamas-sf.com

We came here on a Friday morning thinking the wait wouldn’t be as bad as on the weekend.  We still waited 50 mins, but it went by pretty fast.  I’m sure the weekend is a much longer wait.

Here’s how they do it… you wait in line outside then they slowly let people in when there is room (kinda like going clubbing… except they don’t make you wait outside longer so it looks more popular… haha) Once you get in you wait in another line to order.  As you wait, you can watch the cooks make the food.  Once you order you grab an open table then they bring the food out to you.  In addition to our breakfast we both ordered a smoothie.  Very delicious but a meal in itself… I was full until dinner time.

The soon to be mama at Mama’s!

The french toast isn’t made with challah, brioche or even white.  The banana nut flavor was made with actual banana nut bread!  Same with all the other flavors.  I can’t remember all the flavors but one had cranberry and orange… I think.  In total they gave three kinds.

french toast sampler

eggs florentine (spinach and mushrooms)