Barcelona at Night

Most of my excursions through Barcelona have been during the day.  Finally, I dared take out my camera while walking through the Barri Gothic last night - the last night of the festival of La Merce.

A random plaza circled by tapas bars & restaurants - and random street musicians

Lit-up balconies at the Hotel Banys

Near the Cathedral of the city - lit up

Another lit-up tower - near one of the stages set up for the festival of La Merce

Strings of lights in El Born

9pm and 24 degrees (75 F)... perfect night. 

Next time, I won't be toting a bottle of wine in my hand... so I'll probably take more pictures.  Until then, this is a glimpse of the city I traced my way through last night.

On a side note, for a country that's suffering from a "crisis" - they sure throw a lot of festivals and put on impressive fireworks displays.  party on?

What's better than 2-buck Chuck?

94 cent wine!

What is two buck chuck, aka dollar ninety nine wine, aka Charles Shaw?  It's one of the house wines from one of my favorite grocery store chains in the States (mostly found in So California), Trader Joe's.  A few years ago they launched a pretty decent wine for $1.99 by Charles Shaw.  It must be some nom-de-plume for some overstock batches from some vineyard that doesn't want to go on record with their name on the bottle.  Anywhoo - it's ok for a wine cooler, or maybe cooking, or maybe drinking while cooking... or non-serious drinking... it's ok - but you wouldn't take it as a hostess gift at a dinner party.

In years past, Barcelona neighborhoods had little shops that used to sell barrel-wine "a granel".  It was the cheap abundant wine of the season... and you could bring your own bottle, and (re)fill it up.

Times have changed.  You no longer find these dark little wine shops, as they have mostly been replaced by fancier places.  But down in the neighborhood of El Born, there's this little grocery store called "De Tot al Born", and they still sell bulk wine.

these barrels are above the refrigerator case of fresh veggies

 They have a few varieties - and you can choose "tinto o blanco", red or white.  I didn't know they had moscatel - i love me some sweet wine... maybe next time.

sorry for the blurry picture - i'm trying to take a picture with my iphone whilst balancing my just-filled bottle of white (in the foreground).

As you can see there's a nice menu... and after i finish this wine, I'll bring the emptied (and cleaned bottle) back down to try another variety.  This little grocery store also sells good bottle wine - down in the cellar.  But why pay 6 to 10 euros for wine that's ok - when you can have 94 cent wine that's ok?  Especially when you're on a budget. 

Theoretically, it was a great buy... however I don't live too close to El Born.  I still had a 20 minute walk back to Plaza Catalunya to get to my train.  Did I get strange looks as I wound my way down the streets carrying a bottle out in the open, as I didn't have a bag?  Yep.  And I answered them with a sheepish grin.

Cheers!

"... that way they can cop a feel, unobstructed"

My dear mother just can't seem to "get" the fact that I've lived in a big city all my life.  She was there in LA with me until she came to Barcelona 10 years ago. 

Mom:  "So be sure to keep your keys, and your ID and your money in your pockets.  Don't keep anything of value in your purse..."


My eyes are rolling, and I've completely tuned her out - I've heard this before.  Besides, I've navigated New York City at 3am.  Hell, I've taken the bus in LA at 2am (which is much sketchier than NYC - by far). 

Mom: "did you hear what I just said?"

Me: "yeah - so I should keep everything in my purse, that way my jeans will be completely streamlined with no bulges indicating which pockets have things in them... that way, if any perve or pickpocket comes up to me, they can cop a feel, unobstructed!"

I think she got the point. 

Then I was off to visit my friend Mick down in El Born.  I had a map - but tried not to use it.  We got a bottle of cheap 0,94 euro wine (take that, 2 buck chuck!)  We played ping pong in Ciutadela park.  We got the janky chewed-up table no one else wanted to play on.  It just made the game more fun.   That park is awesome.  I wish I lived closer to it. 

Barcelona can be way fun.  Today was a great day.  forgot my phone at Mick's - so no pictures... sigh.  next time

Retired

  I've put the Barcelona back in SharonVioletaBarcelona.

I like collecting stamps.  I even ask US immigration to stamp me back in to the States.  Silly, I know.

And after 3 and a half months of bouncing around from place to place in Los Angeles - living out of my suitcases - They are finally retired (until any road trip/day trip/ski trip?)

Huge thanks to my cousins, my friends, and my employer for letting me housesit, couch surf, guest room crash, and the like.  It's strange not having an address anymore.  I used to be so stable in my living situation. All this is so unsettling.  Let's see what becomes of this trip.  I'm navigating through life without a map.

About Big Lew...

 Someone I only met once has recently died.

I read the headline "Once promising basketball star Lewis Brown dies homeless in Hollywood" on my Facebook news feed - posted and reposted by some people I know. 

And then I realized who he was.  It was on that night, at LudoBites where I left in tears... no, not the night I had a fever... the other night I left in tears (the onion incident) - August 31st.  I was Hollywood-bound that night because it was a Wednesday - and my friends were working at the Burgundy Room.  I needed some hugs. And a drink.  But on my way there, I saw I was almost out of gas. 

I pulled into the Chevron station at the corner of Santa Monica and Vine - just to get a gallon or 2 of gas (that's an expensive station!).  This big friendly giant of a man walks up, and offers to wash my windows.  He said "I'm not mean, I just look mean", as he noticed how I was a little nervous. 

I mentioned how I was having a bad day, and we chatted a bit.  I told him how the French Chef was being all mean and how I didn't know if I could go back the next day.  He said if I ever needed any help, just look for Big Lew. 

He also told me not to give up. 

He was a nice guy.  I didn't know anything about him - but now I'll never forget that night.  Nice guy.  Sad story.  In the big scheme of things, having a rough night in a kitchen at a restaurant just doesn't matter.  perspective.

and the packing has begun...

well... it never really stopped.

Since I moved out of my last apartment back in March, I've been living out of 2 suitcases (and whatever I could fit in my car).  I took 2 suitcases with me to Barcelona - but never quite got settled there (*cough* uh, mom - care to make some space for me this time?)

I returned with 2 (lighter) suitcases, and re-filled them with clothes I'd left at my dad's.  Now I'm trying to re-pack those 2 suitcases for the return...  and decide what I'm gonna ship, and how I'm gonna ship what's left.  Funny how it's gotten easier to let go of stuff. 

I think I can fit everything I want on a pallet.  Though there is a box of clothes that I'd want sooner rather than the 6-10 weeks via air-sea packing. All this stuff that's for shipping is at my dad's.  I was there for a good 7 hours today.  He hardly said more than 5 sentences to me all day.  Didn't even ask me about my whole LudoBites adventure. 

Last week: 

Me:  Hey dad, I got a reservation at LudoBites on the closing night - for 4.  Mike & Veronica (my cousins) wanted to go - so I got a table for family! 
Dad: Oh, Saturday?  I had plans.  I just changed my trip to San Diego from yesterday to Saturday.  It's a good thing I changed it from yesterday because of that power outage.
Me: uh - you can't change it again?  This is the last chance.
Dad: ummm, no - it's ok.

Wow.  This thing that I was really proud of, and excited to be a part of just wasn't interesting enough for him.  San Diego isn't going anywhere... And he's known that I'm leaving on the 20th... does he ever call me?  It's ok, I can write about it - he won't read any of this.  He likes to say he cares about me, but in reality - his actions speak louder than words... oh wait - he doesn't even talk to me.  We're not fighting or anything - he's in his self-absorbed little world, and I'm just not a part of it. 

Poor Lisa, my whole inventory of stuff has exploded all over her living room floor.  Three days.  I feel like listening to some Jane's Addiction now.

A Day of Denial

I'm in a strange sort of limbo here. 

A job that occupied a large portion of my life for the past 6 weeks has ended... And I am one week away from my return to Spain. 

I've been hitting some hurdles...

How did I start off the day?  I re-visited "Doughville"

A single batch of the recipe is very easy to handle. 

I then caramelized some onions (following the instructions that Joon had shown me way back long ago during week 4 of LudoBites), made the mixture of creme fraiche and greek yogurt, and proceeded to make a tart for Lisa at lunchtime. 

Then off to my erranding.  The Spanish Consulate relaxed their rules about getting fingerprints cleared with the FBI since it takes 8-10 weeks... Now I just need to get proof with the State of California Department of Justice that I have an absence of a police record... which takes about 3 days... but just about every place I go - there are issues, and they can't do the LiveScan (come back with the proper form, the person isn't there, the computer crashed, the appointment window is closed, etc.) I had an easier time getting the FBI clearance back in February!  Too bad those are expired now. 

So what did I do when I returned to Lisa's?  Re-visited "Tartlandia"...

But I got a little creative.  Or rather, I wanted to combine a Smitten Kitchen recipe that I love with Ludo's recipe, which I know inside-out.

Yellow & Green Zucchini, with lemon, thyme and the creme melange

perfect crisp golden thin cracker-like crust... not dough-y like pizza.

But I didn't stop there... I then wanted to combine the 2 tarts I made during LudoBites - based on what I had. 

Caramelized onions, thinly sliced fingerling potato coins sauteed in clarified butter & pepperoni slices (we had no bacon)

Great color, perfect crust... but i preferred the zucchini one.

 I'll look for new topping combinations - and if anyone has any suggestions, please pass them on!  Lisa said put an egg on it - to make a breakfast pizza...

hmmmm - the last time I opened my mouth about making eggs - specifically an omelet, French Chef traumatized me (story for another day).

So I'm in denial that Ludobites is over, and I'm being denied on my attempts to get a temporary residency visa for Spain... I hate being in limbo.  and less than a week left.  gahhhh!