I flew from Florence to Barcelona this afternoon to spend time catching up with friends. I prefer train to planes generally, but as France is still on strike (longest strike ever!) and all trains from Italy go via France (and a 14 hour bus or 22 hour ferry didn’t appeal); flying it was! I really like Barcelona and spent time here in 2016 during a month -long wander through Spain. Once I was checked into my apartment I headed out for a walk, and into the El Born area where I had stayed last time. Turns out my memory for food places is as good as my recall of jewelry store locations 🙂 and I soon hunted out a favourite restaurant and ordered the meal I have recreated so many times at home in NZ since I was here last; beetroot carpaccio with raspberries, pistachios and goats cheese. The Spanish version also has king prawns with a green sauce which is YUM but I leave that out when I make it at home. So easy to make, just wrap a beetroot in tinfoil with some olive oil salt and pepper inside the parcel, and bake in the oven, cool, slice, and arrange on a plate with the other ingredients. The other dish is pan con tomate (day old bread rubbed with garlic and raw tomato so the juice soaks in and becomes a tasty wonderful thing plus a drizzle of olive oil); also so easy to make. You just need to be sure the bread is not too fresh and your tomatoes are extra fleshy rather than juicy and rub them in hard until only the skin is left in your hand. A Roma tomato would be perfect. Tomorrow my friend Claire from the UK arrives for the weekend and I’m so looking forward to seeing her. We have planned some small adventures, but otherwise will mooch around the city and have fun catching up. And she will hopefully take a few of my winter clothes back with her to add to the pile of things I have left in her house 🙂 and the clothes I have already posted to her 🙂 🙂 Then on Sunday I will go to stay a few days with friends Helen and Rob who have moved from NZ to Sitges, just south of Barcelona. I’m really looking forward to spending time with these awesome people, and will plan my next destination as I go. I have Portugal in my sights as I have not been there before and Jen sent me a voucher for my birthday to enjoy a food experience there 🙂
Not hard to find my fave restaurant 
fave dishes 
or my fav courtyard bar 🙂