Sunday (8/30) was a day of rest; didn’t venture out at all. Just lived quietly.
The washer/dryer isn’t what it is cracked up to be. I did two loads today and it takes seven hours. Keep in mind it is the same machine for both functions. I have got the laundry down to a wash setting that takes one hour instead of 3 hrs/55 min. The dryer I can’t get any less than 2 hr/30 min. Even at that, a large towel still comes out slightly damp. Underwear is dry.
The other area that I feel is a deficiency is the limitations of the hot water heater. I am not sure 70° is hot enough to really clean dishes.
Monday (8/31) I went out to breakfast. This is the Mediterranean breakfast: salad, cheese, ham, egg omelet (pie shaped) and two slices of toast that had a tomato sauce on them. No, it isn’t Denny’s, but it was very good. For those of you who are still wondering: 13,60 breakfast, 2,52 espresso and 2,36 for water = 13,48€, or about $15.23 USD.
Shirley asked, “You talked about food prices - why not get tapas?”
I have done tapas from one end of Spain to another and they are just not my thing. Does the ensaladilla rusa (potato salad with tuna) look like it’s been unrefrigerated for ten hours? Do the cod fritters look overly greasy? I have seen the moldy brine that the anchovies are swimming in.
Americans are so use to super-sizing that they lose the intent of tapas – they are a “snack” you have with a mid-afternoon drink. You don’t fill your plate like you were in Luby’s Cafeteria eating dinner. Even if you have them as intended – tapas are NOT cheap. This sign has been hanging for a couple of years; your seafood tapas are definitely the most expensive.
Barcelona has the most bars/cafes per capita than any other city in the world – probably 60% of them are tapas bars – on Las Ramblas they are every 50’. I might also mention one thing about restaurants. Inside or outside, once you sit at a table and order, you own the table. I swear you can sit there for four hours and it won’t be questioned.
In order to give you an idea of what it is all about, I went to a couple of very good and upscale tapas bar and took some pictures.
There were no prices displayed and there was nothing in any of these display bowls that I would be interested in ordering/eating. Before I leave, I may wander down here some afternoon -- try out the chickpeas:
Bar Pinotxo is arguably Barcelona's best tapas bar. It sits among the half-dozen or so informal eateries within the La Boqueria's market, and the popular owner, Juanito, might serve up chickpeas with a sweet sauce of pine nuts and raisins, a fantastically soft mix of potato and spinach sprinkled with coarse salt, baby soft baby squid with cannellini beans, or a quivering cube of caramel-sweet pork belly.