Parc Ciutadella

On August 16, we paid a visit to Parc de la Ciutadella (city park), which sits next to the gothic quarter and also barceloneta (the beach district). At the north end of the park is Barcelona's own version of the Arc de Triomphe (spelled Triomfe in Catalan).

Within the park itself, there are a variety of hippies and families, as well as an impressive fountain. I like the spewing dragons.

On the way back through the gothic quarter, we took in some of the local artwork.

Tarragona

On July 21, Wife Vagabond and I took a trip to Tarragona to hang with my office mate and his wife. Our first stop was the beach, where we wisely combined the consumption of beer with swimming.

Afterwards, we walked around the city a bit, taking in the various Roman ruins. Then we sat down to a nice lunch of arroz tinto, which is rice with squid ink. It was fantastic.

Wine, third time's the charm?

After striking out on Vega Roja's joven and crianza vintages of wine, we decided to pony up a whole 5(!) Euros and try their reserva vintage. Reserva means the wine has been aged at least for at least 3 years with at least 1 year in oak.

This wine did not need any soda-based enhancements -- barely.  I think the lesson in this whole experiment is that Vega Roja is a shitty brand of wine.

Wine tasting, attempt #2

If you recall the post from June 23, we bought some 2-Euro chuck that turned out to have a flavor equal to its price. This time, we decided to take a step up in the world and try a 3-Euro bottle of the same brand of wine. The previous wine was "joven" (young), which means it hadn't undergone any aging before being bottled. Today's wine, however is "crianza", meaning it has been aged at least 2 years with at least 6 months in oak.

The verdict? This wine was slightly less terrible than the previous one, but still required mixing with various sodas. In better-tasting news, I turned some of my Spanish jamón into bacon. I would like to thank Sir Francis Bacon for his invention. So smart.

4th of July

On July 6, Señorita Vagabond and I decided to celebrate America's 237th birthday in true Spanish style --- two days late -- by eating a hot dog for lunch. Fortunately, in the Gracia district there is a store called The Dog is Hot.

Unfortunately, we showed up right at the beginning of their scheduled siesta hours.

Damn you, Spain, and your reasonable treatment of the labor force! Undaunted, we found another option, a store that was sure to be open a mere two days after the 4th of July. That store is called Taste of America, and it is glorious.

Inside, we found exactly what we were looking for: hot dogs in a jar and marshmallow fluff. Crisis averted.

Tinto de Verano vs. Calimocho: Spanish Smackdown 2013

As someone commented last week, 2-Euro chuck isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Fortunately, the Spaniards have a way of dealing with situations like this: just add soda! Two common options are tinto de verano, which is red wine mixed with Fanta Limón, and calimocho, which is red wine mixed with Coca Cola.

On the surface, neither of these options sounds very appealing to me, but I figure that the result can't be much worse than the wine by itself. So, let's give it a shot! Mixing equal parts wine and soda results in a nice maroon color in the case of tinto de verano, while the calimocho exhibits a deep shade of purple.

In the end, the results weren't too bad. Given the quality of the ingredients involved, I would say that this is one of those situations where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I definitely prefer a good wine over either of these, but I can see how they would be fairly refreshing during a hot summer day on the beach. The final verdict: 3/4 of a thumbs up for the tinto de verano, and 1/2 of a thumbs up for the calimocho.

 

Jamón + Vino de la semana

This week, I went with a variety of cured hams. First up is jamón de pato (duck):

I found this one to be way too greasy and fatty. Not so good. Next on the list is "llom de gall dindi curat", which Google Translate tells me is "loin cured turkey". Thanks for the help, Google Translate!

This one was much drier than the duck, but also not very good. The flavor just doesn't compare to the jamón ibérico. I feel like a snobbish Spaniard now. Next, I bought some chicken patties.

It's hard to read, but these chicken patties turned out to be 25% pork. I shouldn't be surprised. Finally, I decided to buy some red wine, from the Rioja region of Spain.

This bottle of wine only cost 2 Euros, and all I will say is: you get what you pay for.