Day 4: Surf, Turf and Home cookin´

EYES

Champagnaría:

If it´s not your favorite place in the world, you are either clinically insane or Mormon. This place, snuggling up right behind the Barceloneta, a quick jaunt from the beach, is something like a Hollywood premier taking place in the Willits Noyo. That is to say, La Champangaría is something of a marvel of its location in the North of Spain. HPD might describe it as ´a very Spanish bar,´ and what he means by that is that is very much something out of Andalucía.

Tapas are said to have originated in Andalucía, the southern part of Spain, where one can but a small beer for one euro and get a tapa, something like getting peanuts or popcorn at a U.S. bar, but the tapa is a huge bocadillo (a hamburger-like Spanish sandwich sometimes shaped like a burger), larger than a Whopper, with your drink, no charge. They´ve somehow perfected the idea of food amb[Catalán for with] drink in this country to a science.

The spot you see in this photo is constantly packed with people. It is pretty much the best place for anyone who is hungry or thirsty in BCN to go. Keep in mind, while it has a wonderful selection of intriguingly prepared cheeses, it is anything but vegan. It may perhaps be forbidden to say the word vegan inside, I´m not sure. It may just be illegal throughout the country. Anyhow, you show up [before 5:00 pm now which is a new policy] and order two tapas and with them get a bottle of cava, all for under 5€. And it´s not just any cava. It´s house cava, it´s the best cava, it´s amazing and definitely worth the mustard stains that will surely stain the back of your shirt since the bar is always shoulder to shoulder. It´s stand up only, only to add to the fun :)

Yeah, you should go.

Now I gots to get out and snap some more photos. In luck, the weened has arrived and I should be traveling to some cozier natural beaches.

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BRAIN

So the beaches of BCN are something of a phenomenon. While I am sure there are others in the world, the type of beaches they have in this particular city are very unique.

They havn´t always been the picturesque (maybe) bodies of sand they are now. There has been the surf´n´turf for sure, the sea always having butted up against the harbor, but not until 1992 were there beaches in the sense that umbrellas, babes and beach towels are concerned.

That is because the Olympics of 1992 created quite a stir in the city and the entire waterfront went under huge renovations. The beaches in particular were given a face lift and tons of sand were brought in to spiff up a part of the city that was considered to be a little bit dingy.

Anyhow, now, at least, they are nice enough to jog on which I try to do every, if not every other, day.

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EARS

Flashback: Summer ´09.

The Family - Mi Propia

Mi Propia by TheFamily