The Roman Ruins of Tarragona

Back on the Iberian peninsula after a couple of nights on the beautiful island of Mallorca.  And back in our rental van ready for the next destination.  Barcelona to Valencia for a 350 km (217.5 miles) drive, but first a stop 100 km away in Tarragona.

Along the coastal drive, Tarragona holds one of the most significant Roman sites in the country.  The description in guidebooks say this it the stop to make to take in history.  The seaside facing amphitheatre is a bit underwhelming as it's located next to a primary school as though it's not a big deal.  But on a sunny say with blue skies, you can picture history with the Romans coming in by boat.  It is amazing to think about how this was built in the 1st and 2nd centuries, B.C.

Before getting back in the car for the last of the drive, about 2.5 hours to go, we took a break for merienda, or an afternoon snack.  We're in Spain, that means to have to have a mid-day break and eat.  We stopped at Spain's most known department store, El Corte Inglés.  Every El Corte throughout the country has a grocery in the basement and at least one restaurant on its top floors, which is perfect for a meal or snack.  The Tarragona El Corte restaurant served one of the best churros con chocolate of the trip - who would have thought it was going to be here in the department store of this town.

Roman ruins in Tarragona

Sugar rush of ensaimadas in Palma de Mallorca

2 days and 2 nights in Mallorca - that's just enough time to get a little sample of the island's specialties.  Mallorca is known for their almonds, oranges, and ensaimadas.

Ensaimadas were eventually brought to the Philippines (known as ensaymadas) by Mallorcan soldiers centuries ago longing for their region's specialty.  Mallorcan ensaimadas come in varying sizes and even topped or filled with sweets and savories.

During our two short days, we were able to squeeze in three of the more known ensaimadas stores.  Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo is a famous milk bar serving ice creams, horchatas, hot chocolates, and sweets varying from the varieties of ensaimadas to almond cakes.  Forn d'es Reco is a cute little bakery that we happen to stumble upon.  It's unassuming with plenty of sweets and savories made with love over the generations.  Their ensaimada has a unique taste of almonds in the fluffy bites.  Forn Fondo is one of the more known bake shops even promoted by Jose Andres.  I actually found this to be the least tasty compared to the other two.  There are a few more ensaimadas stores I'd love to try out, but we just couldn't handle that much sweetness in the short amount of time - a great excuse for another trip to the island.

To balance the sweetness, there are a number of restaurants and cafes scattered throughout the city, many of which are of varying European cuisines catering to the groups of tourists visiting the island.

In a tiny alley off of Central Palma, La Bodeguilla is a great stop for tapas and wine.  They serve dinner choices, but I would stick with the tapas in the wine bar area which has a fun atmosphere.  Plus, with tapas you don't get overly stuffed in one restaurant and that allows you to really get a taste of a number of places during the course of one meal.

A town like Palma is all about walking around the city, getting lost, and discovering gems like Forn d'es Reco and La Bodeguilla.

Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo

Mallorca's milk bar, dating back to 1700

Sampling the specialties: Almond milk, hot chocolate, and ensaimadas

A vacation away from the vacation in Palma de Mallorca

Time for a vacation away from the vacation.  In Spain, there's no better place for this than in the Balearic Islands.  Less than an hour away from Barcelona by plane, Palma de Mallorca has it all - beaches, mountains, shopping, culture, history, and amazing food and wine.  It's literally a breathe of fresh air coming from the hoards of tourists in Barcelona.

Mallorca is especially exciting for our family of food lovers because of the island's creation of ensaimada.  But more on Mallorcan food and our eats in my next post...

For now, a little glimpse into our 3 days and 2 nights on the island.  From walking around, and especially in driving around, you can immediately tell this is Europe's playground - just take a look at Puerto Portals, Mallorca's port with hundreds and hundreds of yachts of huge proportions.

Flying into Palma de Mallorca

Panorama of the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma

Showtime at Albert Adrià's Tickets

Ferran Adrià is the world's most celebrated chef today thanks to his legacy at El Bulli and his contributions to the modern age of gastronomy.  Just one year after Ferran began his career at El Bulli at the age of 22, his younger brother joined the staff at the age of 15.

"Without Albert, El Bulli as we know it now would never have existed," claimed Ferran.  Albert Adrià eventually became the restaurant's creative director.  Any mention of Albert always brings his brother's name into the conversation.  Albert is beyond worthy of his own name.  Jose Andres worked with both brothers in El Bulli said, "Ferran may be an incredible chef, but there is no better cook in the world than Albert."

Albert Adrià is genius in his own right.  He currently has 4 restaurants in Barcelona, with 2 more opening next year.  As soon as we planned our dates, I jumped online to book a table at Tickets.  You have to reserve 60 days in advanced online.  And the availability goes out as fast as a Jay-Z/Justin Timberlake concert (or The Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney if you want to be technical about fast selling tickets).  After 3 attempts on 3 different nights (and having to wake up in the middle of the night as soon as the next day's schedule gets online), I finally scored a lunch reservation for 4!  It felt like winning the lottery.  Now I just had to wait 60 days..

The wait is so worth it.  When you enter Tickets, you know you're going to have fun, like you just got a ticket to the coolest food carnival.

I originally reserved for 4, but our party increased to 6.. well, 6 1/2 including my nephew.  Without hesitation, but with pure friendliness the hostess immediately accommodated our increase of seats.  Eating in many high end restaurants in the U.S. and Europe, I have grown weary of arrogance among the wait-staff.  There was absolutely none of that in Spain's best restaurants.  They all welcome you like you're great friends - Tickets is no exception, in fact it's incredibly kid friendly.

The menu is an extensive list of tapas.  I'm here for one meal, so it was hard to narrow down what to order.  Our waiter offered to provide us a taste of the best - either according to our budget or until our stomachs could take no more.  No pretension nor snobbery if we had a particular budget.

We chose the stomach option, and I think I could have gone for days.  Hands down, the best celebrity chef experience.  The best food experience in the world.  And the bill came out to be waay cheaper than any other tasting menu I've encountered.

I've seen all that I want to in Barcelona (the first time was all about sightseeing, and this time was all about the food).  I'm partial to Madrid and San Sebastian where there's more of an old world culture while retaining a cleanliness.  But, my love for food will most definitely bring me back to Barcelona to experience more of Albert Adrià.  Plus, he's an incredibly sweet guy who happily obliged a photo with my family.  Stand up guy, amazing cook - there's no better combination.

Albert Adrià talking to his team

Fan girl photo with Albert Adrià!

The Setting
With these tweezers as your utensils.  Kinda works like chopsticks. 

La Boqueria in Barcelona

Back in Barcelona.  Last time, we were classic tourists walking through all of Gaudi's masterpieces throughout the city.  The city was quieter just ten years ago.  Now the city is crammed with tourists from all over the world.

For any food lover, La Boqueria is a standard.  It's one of the world's most known food markets and is definitely impressive.  It overflows with fresh produce, meats, fishes, and foods to eat on the spot.  All the products are high quality and worthy of this world class market.

Go early, you'll walk among locals and those in the food industry.  Go later in the morning and early afternoon, you'll walk among hoards of tourists.  My advice is to go early and plan on eating your way around the market as you feast your eyes on all the goods.

Bombarded with fresh produce, local goods, and colors