It's 12:40AM and I've had less than 2 hrs sleep but just had to get up write more about our dinner last night. Admittedly it wasn't just that I awoke with the flavors of the Spanish Mediterranean floating through my head. It may also have had something to do with the fact that we are staying in a European hotel, one of the few in fact that claimed to have air conditioning. I find it ironic that the name of the hotel is AC. It is like every other hotel or apartment that I have visited in Europe- what they call air conditioning is actually a very warm out flow of ~78 degrees F. Making slumber almost impossible.
Gary was so cute- he took great pains to find this hotel for us. After all, most of the SF crowd will arrive tomorrow morning and after their 23 hours plane rides and lay-overs they will have to sit aboard an awaiting bus to be given a 5 hour tour of Barcelona before finally arriving at the port where they will stand in-wait, half asleep to board the ship. Gary and Bert thought that if we could arrive a few hours earlier our eyes wouldn't have the quite so deep or dark circles under our eyes so as to scare the other passengers; our hair might be more quaffed and we would generally look and feel more perky. It was a great plan but even with the window open now with the sea breeze flowing in its still very warm in here so my hair may not be as quaffed as it ought tomorrow and i always have the dark circles, just saying.
Also I really needed to credit our stellar dining experience last night to our waiters. You see Karen and Bert handed the reins to Gary and I for ordering almost as soon as we were seated and our new best friend, Raul (our waiter) took the reins from us...which typically doesn't happen! I had actually read about Raul in one of the reviews of this restaurant. Seems another American had written into TripAdvisor or Frommer's giving Raul all the credit for a spectacular evening in Barcelona well! Diego, another waiter was helping but Raul speaks perfect English. Gary and I didn't get past the first round of tapas without Raul's help. We wanted to try a few typical tapas dishes (the tortilla, roasted asparagus with chopped Oyster mushrooms, seared pork belly with skewered shrimp, and squash blossoms with ricotta and honey) but the second round was ~half-surprise and by the 3rd round we just let him bring what looked good from the kitchen!! It was awesome! Like the "feed me" menu at Tony Angelo's in New Orleans. Raul made it a night to remember! Sparkling white sangria, egg plant with red peppers and goat cheese, Foie gras with sautéed apples in a caramel sauce- a dish I never anticipated Gary tasting much less proclaiming it to be one of the best he's ever put in his mouth! (Joe as my witness- i never expected that!) Raul is a must at Catalana's for mi amigos from the U.S. He just recently returned to work from a scooter accident which left him with a broken leg and a lot of pain. You know the man hurts waiting tables but what a great personality and giving spirit. Thanks Raul for orchestrating such a beautiful evening!
Incredible first dinner.....I just hope the rest of my research comes to fruition!!
Now back to making the dark circles disappear!! My hair is skewed to one side of my head anyway from going to sleep on it while it was still wet. It was a great plan guys!! In theory at least!!
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