“I will never move above Diagonal,” I solidly declared back in January. “That’s where old people and families live.” Maybe. But, as it turns out, El Barri Gòtic is for the most naive of tourists, Erasmus students and the shrewd, local pickpockets who rob them with ease. It’s the Disney World of Barcelona; far from the typical Catalan neighborhood for which…
It was our last day in Sevilla. Our trip had, unfortunately, come to an end. We only had one Andalucían meal left to enjoy, so we chose to have it at a restaurant recommended by my boyfriend´s old Erasmus buddy and local Sevillan. He had assured us that the price to quality ratio and authenticity of…
A few weeks ago my father came to Barcelona to attend a neuroscience symposium and to visit me in my newest city of residence. I met him in the hotel lobby at midday and he brought me down a colorful array of conference canapés wrapped in cocktail napkins. (Not the first time he’s done that. It’s become a bit…
Another great tapa especially popular in Andalucía are berenjenas fritas or fried eggplants. The dish has Arabic origins and is famously prepared in the province of Malaga, where it is served with miel de caña (sugar cane honey). The eggplant is soaked in water, then dried, coated in a batter made of garbanzo bean flour, egg whites and beer and then…
In Córdoba, Spain there´s a thing called the flamenquín that is pretty much impossible to miss. You will catch a glimpse of these long, deep-fried rods of meat dangling awkwardly off plates in every direction you look, whether you´re walking through the touristy alleyways of the Old City, the Jewish quarter or some airy plaza where locals also gather. They´re…
Yeah, the line is long. It starts forming a little before 8:00 p.m. and the place doesn´t open until 8:30. If you get there at 8:05, it´s already so long that when the place does open you will not be among the first 50 or so who are allowed in. And that´s because of the friends…
The picturesque and very quaint Catalan town of Girona is a great place to spend an afternoon but not too much more than that. There’s a series of graceful footbridges crossing over a mostly dried out riverbed and a row of colorful riverfront houses on either side of those bridges. There’s a plaza, some charismatic narrow side…
El Cau is the local watering hole in the Priotari town of Poboleda, packed for lunchtime every day of the week. Part of their success has to do with location – it’s the first restaurant you pass on the drive into town from the direction of Cornudella. Parked in front are cars, vans and tractors; parked inside are hungry vineyard…
Empanadas will always hold a special place in my heart. Back in the summer of 2011, a few months after my college graduation, I headed out into the world alone for the first time. A fresh faced 22-year-old seeking a change, I found a place I loved and built a life there, in Buenos Aires. I…
There’s a restaurant near my place that has very good octopus. They have other stuff too since technically they’re a tapas bar. So they have little sausages, papas bravas, grilled padrón peppers, all that good stuff. They have other seafood too: razor clams, mussels, cockles from the tin. And they have cheap beer, sangria and clarita…
That Best Bite 