In planning our adventures in Barcelona, I honestly didn’t know where to start – but I went with my usual philosophy when it comes to planning trips. Go crazy and get ALL the options. Then narrow it down from there. So we went and got all of the different activity options when we got there and took them with us on our first-day walkabout with the intent of sitting down at a nice restaurant and doing some planning. Naturally, when we saw the beautiful beaches and the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea, we got distracted.
The theater display there is a gigantic carved sandcastle that the Viennese theater group keeps up. They play operas there and attract quite a crowd. We sat and listened for a while, and then wandered on. Oh, by the way, that monolith in the background is the Wyndham Hotel. The thing is huge, but it serves as a great directional marker if you’re wandering around in the city – if you see the Wyndham, you know where the main harbor is.
So we wandered on, and found…sharks!
Yeah, you guessed it, we’re not actually in the shark tank, and we’re definitely not cage diving. I’m a big opponent of cage diving, to be honest. I dive with sharks. I want them to remain skittish of strange things in the water, not be attracted to them or associate them with chum in the water. Aaaaanyway…we visited the Barcelona Aquarium and had a great time looking at all the exotic species. It’s amazing how many species of fish transcend ocean borders, and just how many strange and different ones there are.
After that, we headed back to the harbor.
And discovered a lovely little place on the waterfront called La Gavina. Now, ever since my dad started making his paella recipe at home, I’ve loved it, so I knew that when I visited Spain, I had to try some and see just how authentic our home version was. Plus, we had a prime location for people watching!
And when the food arrived, my friends…it was glorious. I present to you the garlic shrimp appetizer, the {no shells} seafood paella, and the tiramisu cake.
Turns out, our family seafood paella is pretty authentic! I love Dad’s addition of the avocado slices and extra seasonings, but everything else tasted true to what I know. And it was delicious. I’m definitely glad we did a lot of walking, because I really don’t think I’d be fitting in my pants if we hadn’t after all this!
Hope you’re enjoying your virtual tour of Barcelona – stay tuned for more after tomorrow’s Recipe of the Week break!
KCS
If you want more posts on Barcelona:
Hola from Barcelona | The City Garden | The Waterfront | The Gothic Quarter (coming soon!) | Gaudi’s Architecture (coming soon!) | The Funicular Railway and Montjuic (coming soon!)
