What Barcelona got right

There are lots of things that Barcelona does right as a city...

Great public transportation
Awesome Christmas lights
Preserving their great architectural landmarks
Cheap and good Spanish wine
Not making a big deal about Valentine's day. 

Thank goodness for that last one!  talk about an over-hyped manufactured "holiday" that drives me nuts!

But some of the window displays were pretty.

on Carrer de Carme in El Raval

Somewhere in Barri Gothic

Another cute shop in Barri Gothic

My friends & I were trying to find this great little wine bar we'd gone to on Friday night... and ended up walking some chocolate-lover's paradise of a shopping route.  I mean, we couldn't have found all these great chocolate shops if we'd been looking for them... but just because we weren't intending on finding cupcakes, cookies, pastries and chocolates - we couldn't turn a corner without finding another great shop.  Open on Sunday. 

What wasn't open on Sunday?
 That wine bar.

That first Rioja - Gavanza at EUR 3,50 - a winner!

This is the place.  They're smart to put a map on the back of the card... it's so hard to find places again.

Now that the cold spell is almost over...

Time to catch up on posting all the pix of the Christmas lights I saw around the city!

I had originally intended on visiting each neighborhood, taking a picture, printing out all the pictures, then creating some fabulous map-based artwork highlighting the different patterns all over town.  Sounds cool, right?  But when I returned to Barcelona from Cali, I had the worst cold ever and was bedridden and missed out on taking the rest of the pictures I'd intended on taking.

The Lights in the Barrio of Gracia

Gran de Gracia - looking down toward the sea

Gran de Gracia looking up toward the mountain

Traverserra de Gracia - western end

Traverserra de gracia - eastern end

some street parallel to Trav. de Gracia

Add caption

Traverserra de Gracia

Oh - why am I now uploading these pictures?  yeah - I've got another cold. and a fever.  This winter has been rough.  I miss that pleasant LA weather.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Across the Diagonal

The street lights have finally been lit! 

I've been eagerly awaiting the holiday lights since the city started draping the lights across the streets several weeks ago.  Each neighborhood has a different pattern... and I'm gonna photograph them all.  Well, maybe not all... but most... or as many as I can.

Looking down the Diagonal

Felices Fiestes!  The small El Corte Ingles at Villaroel & Diagonal

Looking up Calvet from Tranverserra de Gracia

Calvet @ Traverssera de Gracia

Maybe Shoegaze Originated Here?

 What is "Shoe Gaze", you might ask?  I'm not quite sure about its origin... 

From what I gather, it refers to a type of music genre in which its fans are just all mopey, and are staring down at the floor, wallowing in their own self-pity.  I could be wrong. But that's what I envision when I hear the term, accompanied by said-music.  But that's not the point of this post. 

I was at a party this past Saturday night - at a flat in a grand, old apartment building in a fabulous part of Barcelona (somewhere on Pau Claris near Gran Via)... my attention had been drawn down to the floor due to some nearby spillage of wine.

Hello!  Someone (me) had a major double take.  I mean, I've seen some great tiles in these residential buildings - but this one was impressive.  Not only did it have a beautiful pattern with 3 colors/tile... it had a border too! 

The other rooms had different tile patterns as well... but I was at a party - I couldn't just ask people to step out of the way so I could take pictures. of the floor. 

Besides, my short attention span had me quickly dropping my "shoegazing" ways as I moved on to some conversations en espanol, with a glass of vino tinto in hand.

The smaller the car, the bigger the coffin

Did I ever tell you how it took me about 10 years to finally transfer out of Santa Monica College? 

It's a 2 year community college. 

I was lost. Had no clue what to do with my life.  So I took lots of random classes.  Hoping I would find my calling along the way.  Some semesters were disastrous, and there were many withdrawls & incompletes as I realized I hated the class after it was too late to drop it without a mark on my progress report.

Just in the "A"s alone, I took Astronomy, Accounting, Anthropology, Art History (which eventually became my major), and Automotive.

Automotive?

Yes, Automotive.  I figured if I lived in Los Angeles, I needed a car.  So I might as well learn a little something about this piece of machinery that was such a big part of my everyday existence.  I was trying to be practical.  I was one of 2 girls in the class of 25... and I had to work much harder just so that I wouldn't get laughed out of class by the "boy's club". 

Our teacher was definitely into old fashioned big American cars.  And while he respected the quality & the get-in-and-go of the Japanese imports, he always cautioned us "the smaller the car, the bigger the coffin".  He considered small cars to be deathtraps. 

But I still adore the cuteness factor.  Give me a totally impractical but stylish little MG or Alfa Romeo spider - swoon!  Here's my newest discovery:

What did my little eye spy?

The Chatenet Speedino - from France

Made in France, and popular in Italy - convertible, and totally up my alley... the Chatenet Speedino...a total deathtrap... and not too big for a coffin either...

I see lots of small cars here in Barcelona... and remarkably enough, I haven't seen an accident... yet all cars seem to be scraped up and dented - just surface issues from rounding tight corners and the like. 

At the Mercat Galvany

I don't quite "get" the point of these "Mercats" around town.  They are not quite supermarkets - as they only sell food items - but they aren't like the "Farmer's Markets" that I am accustomed to in Los Angeles.  They are open daily until around 1pm, and have their fixed stalls with their dedicated vendors... but they aren't Farm-to-Market vendors... they are all middlemen, and buy their produce from other wholesalers.  But they do have interesting things that you don't normally find in Los Angeles. 

In honor of Sabel (a co-intern at Ludobites) who taught me how to clean squid... no, i didn't buy any

Not sure what these are - but they look interesting - and I don't see these in LA

Frying fish?  Sardines? 

I usually avoid the center of the market - that's where all the fish are.  They look so menacing and bizarre.

Some knife!  She was actually the friendliest of the fish mongers... all the fish sold at her stand were from Galicia (to the north) or locally in the Mediterranean.  She was filleting Sole from the Galicia area.

escargots!  fresh live snails!

How would I describe this market to my Angeleno friends?  It's kinda like the Farmer's Market at 3rd & Fairfax, yet not... 

And you think you're gonna get organic and local stuff here?  Newp.  Not quite.  I did opt for Fuji apples from France over the Pink Lady apples imported from Chile.  Think either are organically grown?  Newp. 

When I asked about organic or biologica fruits and veggies - they tell me that it all looks ugly.  There is no such thing as gorgeous organic produce in Barcelona.  I think they just want me to give up, and buy from them. 

Be still my beating heart!

Found:  my favorite autumn fruit!  Persimmons (happy dance).  From Valencia.  These small ones seem to be the Hachiya variety... I didn't get them - I got a single giant Hachiya which I will enjoy tomorrow morning for breakfast.  Though I'm thrilled that I found these.  As for the Fuyu variety?  Well, I haven't seen them yet.  I'm not sure which I prefer - I love them both.  But a season without Fuyu Persimmons will not be autumn to me.  In LA, the Fuyus were always ripe in Autumn with the Hachiyas ready closer to winter. 

But you know what they call these fruits?  Kaki.  Doesn't have the same ring as purrr-si-mon.

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!

Photographing LudoBites

While I didn't get to go around taking pictures, there were several professionals who were invited in to the kitchen to document the experience that was LudoBites 007. 

There will be a LudoBites book coming out sometime next year... perhaps I'll make an appearance?  who knows. 

One guy named Wesley came in for a couple of days, and shot hundreds of pictures.  It's funny looking at the whole photo stream - looking at the experience I lived through from another person's perspective.  I also get a glimpse of the magic that happened in other parts of the kitchen - things I never got to see.  

If you're interested, please take a look... some of the photos are simply gorgeous.  There's one in particular of Chef joking around with me just laughing.  This picture makes me happy.  

Chef was tough to work for ("I may be an asshole, but i'm not a monster"), but he joked around a lot.  It was fun.  It was intense at times.  And if things were going wrong, it got scary.  But in the end, he got the results he wanted: the diners were served some beautiful, inventive, and delicious meals...

I just love food.  I love being around people who appreciate good food.  Food should be enjoyable, and fun.  I consider myself lucky that I got to experience working at Ludobites.  And if I could do it again, I definitely would. 

Just Make Happen

LudoBites 007 has come to a close.

Some people didn't think I would last.

Sometimes I thought I wouldn't last.

I'm a stubborn girl.

I wouldn't give up.

Kinda like that marathon I completed back in 2004... I'd had food poisoning two nights prior... That was a miserable marathon... couldn't eat... could barely drink... took me 7h 14min to complete (some people can complete 2 marathons in that time)... but I didn't give up.   After all that training & raising money for AIDS Marathon, I wasn't going to return to LA with any excuses... I finished it...practically doubled-over in extreme discomfort... but I did it. 

What was I thinking as I crossed the finish line?  If I can do this, I can do anything I set my mind to. 

And I completed the 6-week run of LudoBites 007... It was an honor and a privilege to work under such an inspiring and accomplished chef, and with such a fabulous crew. 

There was blood.
There was sweat.
And yes, there were tears. 

As Chef likes to say - Never give up, and Just Make Happen. 

Just like on the day of the marathon, I wasn't having my best personal day (a fever?  why?  thankfully there's Advil)... but I didn't want to miss the final day of the run.  Which was tougher?  Ludo Bites, by far. 

... pictures and fun stories to follow. 

Day 3 in LA

wildflowers in bloom and a view of downtown from Griffith Park

It's silly, I know - I'm right near the beach now that I'm at my cousins' place...  but what do I do?  Go all the way inland to meet Omry for lunch at Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada, and then follow it with a hike up in Griffith Park.

It was a windy and perfect day in LA

 I should just pick up my Bianchi from my dad's and ride my bike along the beach before I leave for good... But then again, I don't really like the beach much. 

Another view of downtown - from higher up and farther away -with different wildflowers.

I do love Downtown, however... I should go there before I leave.  Maybe I'll sign up to give a couple of evening walking tours.  www.laconservancy.org <--- I support them - you should go on a tour... all are great... I give Art Deco.