Barcelona, Spain: Day 13

Well, the vacation that I've been looking forward to for the better half of the year is now coming to an end.  Two weeks certainly goes by quickly.  We boarded a flight from Malaga to Barcelona for one last night in Spain.  Tomorrow we head out bright and early back to San Francisco.  Although our flight from Malaga to Barcelona was only an hour and a half, it pretty much wiped out a whole day.  The only thing we did after checking into our hotel was go to collect our Starbucks mugs and then rest before dinner.  All great things must come to an end.  I'm ready to see Emmy and my belly is in need of a long rest. 

We had a lot of time in the Malaga airport so we watched the US Open and had lunch at an airport sports bar.  Nick got a club sandwich. 

Buffalo chicken wings.

I got a quesadilla that was both burnt and soggy at the same time.  Not good eats. 

Because our lunch was poor, Nick and I got an afternoon snack of Pringles and corn nuts at the hotel. 

Our room is really modern compared to all of the places that we have been staying. 

 

They have cool golf ball shaped soaps, but no soap dishes.  We were propping the soap on the box but after a while the box collapsed from the excess water and the soap went rolling across our room. 

In the evening we walked half a mile for our last dinner in Spain. Dennis and his family will be staying an extra day to embark on a Mediterranean cruise.  Oh, what it must be like to have a lot of accrued vacation time and to be retired.  One day I'll see said retirement.  Sister found a place through Trip Advisor called Restaurant Koxkera.  Our hotel is in a rather residential area, so there weren't a lot of tourists at this restaurant and the wait staff didn't speak that much English.  We were able to get by okay.  We haven't really had a problem this whole trip with language.  Most of the people in Barcelona and Marbella speak English fluently, and if not, they speak enough to understand us with our broken Mexican Spanish.

Tomato bread with oiled anchovies.  These were really good and I'm going to have to try to make these at home.  I know that there is a nice olive oil place in Walnut Creek, so I will probably head over there to see what they have.

Plain tomato bread

Octopus over potatoes.  The octopus was so tender that you barely needed to chew. 

So many different pieces of silverware to eat seafood that we felt like we were in Princess Diaries getting an etiquette lesson.

Seafood appetizer of mussels, razor clams, and cockles with padron peppers.

Fried cuttlefish. 

Dad and Jerng Jerng both got the grilled mixed seafood plate. Their shrimps were huge!

Nick got a mixed seafood rice. 

Mom and Ye Ma shared a squid ink lobster fideua. 

Den and Sister shared a creamy lobster rice that was actually a soup.  

I got a mixed seafood fideua. 

Dad liked the way that they prepared their razor clams so much that we asked for a whole order after we were done with our entrees. 

Lemon sorbet.  The last time I was in Spain the lemon sorbet is something that really stuck out in my memory.  When we had gotten it in Sevilla it came out in a lemon peel.  Kitchy, but I really liked it.  This sorbet tasted just as good, but it's cuter in a lemon peel. 

Chocolate mousse cake. 

Catalan Cream. We got this during our first week in Barcelona, but I think this was better.  It was less sweet and seemed to be a little more custardy. 

Another one down for the books.  I wouldn't say that I'm a world traveler, but I've travelled abroad enough to still say that Spain is my favorite country to visit.  (I've been saying that since 2006 and now Nick understands why.)  I'm am so thankful to my inlaws for letting us tag along on their vacation.  It's definitely a trip to remember, and if we don't, well, we can look back on all the food pictures.  Food is love.  Until then: Eat well, travel often.