Live by the Sun - Love by the Moon: DAY 190 - WHAT? 8 Days in Barcelona!

Sept 25 - What are Tapas?

Every major city in the world now has Spanish tapas, but none compare to those found in Barcelona.
More on that later.

It's only about 3 hours from Carcassonne, France to Barcelona, Spain by train. We were on the road again, but thankfully - not so long of a trip as some of our other rides.

A look at a cool, old church along the RR tracks.

We took some French cheese to eat with our bread. Very tasty!

Our hosts were Ivan and Patricia. We originally were going to stay with them for four days, then go to southern Spain. Because of the expense of traveling and because we were unable to get tickets in Granada to Alhambra Palace, we opted to stay in Barcelona. It was our longest stay that we couch surfed for the seven months. We ended up staying here 8 days. It was great! R & R...great conversations, amazing hosts, and we absolutely loved Barcelona (except for the grey water smell EVERYWHERE!)

Our own comfy bedroom to ourselves!

Our own bathroom to ourselves with a jacuzzi!

A washing machine AND a dryer - up until now, very few hosts had clothes dryers.

A beautiful kitchen which we were able to use and cooked many meals.

A lovely living area with nice TV, sound system, and comfy chairs.

A balcony which was so beautifully decorated with plants.

Ivan and Patricia were super hosts! We had so many great conversations together. Patricia was from Uruguay, originally, but married a Swedish Pop star and lived in Sweden for 20 years. She now lives with Ivan and has been in Barcelona for only 6 years, but knows absolutely everything about the area and Spain. So intelligent! Her English was impeccable! She had amazing insight to all the different cultures and a very interesting way of expressing herself.

We had a few meals at this table with our hosts - they were GREAT!

Ivan was learning English and actually was doing quite well. We understood him and we all communicated very nicely.

Our view off their balcony. Many a crying baby and screaming moms did we hear.

As we traveled around Europe, we carried our backpacks, and most of the time, we had a food sack. We carried snacks, fruit, bread, cheese, and often times produce to share with our next host. We had used the same bag since Germany. (over 5 months). It was very sturdy, but it finally bit the dust.

Rich is so sad to give up his Lidl bag from Germany! HA!

Ivan and Patricia didn't have any pets like most of our hosts did. But they did have Pepe!

She was part of their family and had a mind of her own. oops...her/him?? Well, I think it's a "she". Anyway, every morning at 10 a.m. she would wake up and do her thing. She was always very hungry, so one morning she went to her favorite place. Unfortunately I don't have a photo, but she went to our host's bedroom where there was a beautiful plant.

Pepe knocked down the plant and began eating the dirt and leaves, making quite a huge mess. It reminded me of the time when my son, at 9 months, would crawl around and grab at the leaves of my plants and tear them off, then eat the dirt.

When she tired of that, Pepe turned for another room and she left a trail behind her of dirt and chewed up leaves. Patricia really scolded her and put her back in her container, turning her off for a day. Pepe hopefully learned her lesson.

It was fun watching her scurry from room to room, doing her thing, but I noticed she often times would skip the kitchen. I think she was really pretty lazy since that is the messiest room in the house. Maybe she's just smart!

Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers or snacks originating in Spain. They may be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such aschopitos, which are battered, fried, baby squids). In select bars in Spain, tapas have evolved into an entire, and sometimes sophisticated, cuisine. They are the full meal deal!

Tapas go back a long way in Spanish history. The word "tapa" translates as "cover".

One common explanation is that an item, be it bread or a flat card, etc., would often be placed on top of a drink to protect it from fruit flies; at some point it became a habit to top this "cover" with a snack.
It is also commonly said that since one would be standing while eating a tapa in traditional Spanish bars, they would need to place their plates on top of their drinks to eat, making it a top.
Some believe the name originated sometime around the 16th century when tavern owners from Castile-La Mancha found out that the strong taste and smell of mature cheese could help disguise that of bad wine, thus "covering" it, and started offering free cheese when serving cheap wine.
Others believe the tapas tradition began when King Alfonso X of Castile recovered from an illness by drinking wine with small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered that taverns would not be allowed to serve wine to customers unless it was accompanied by a small snack or "tapa".
Another popular explanation says that King Alfonos XIII stopped by a famous tavern inCadiz (Andalusian city) where he ordered a cup of wine. The waiter covered the glass with a slice of cured ham before offering it to the king, to protect the wine from the beach sand, as Cádiz is a windy place. The king, after drinking the wine and eating the tapa, ordered another wine "with the cover".

Ivan and Patricia took us to a typical Catalanian Tapas restaurant close to where they lived. They said it was one of the best in the city and the tourists don't know about it.

Potatoes that were fried with basil, avocado, garlic and salt - these were delicious!

Lettuce with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese

The serving of tapas is designed to encourage conversation because people are not so focused upon eating an entire meal that is set before them. Also, in some countries it is customary for diners to stand and move about while eating tapas.