My wife and I took a trip to Europe for our 10th anniversary. This is, by far, our favorite vacation to date. We spent time in Barcelona, Cannes/Niece, and Positano and had great food everywhere we went.
Our first stop was Barcelona. Our plane landed a little past 11:00pm and we were starving. By 1:00am we had checked in to our hotel and found our way to the first of many tapas bars we would visit. At 1:00am the bar area was packed with people drinking the local wine and eating the wonderful tapas dishes that were displayed beautifully behind the counter. We had heard about the dining culture in Spain for quite a while, but to see it first hand was quite exciting. Since the bar was crowded we took a seat at a table in the back where we ordered small fried fishes and other tapas plates. Since we were not very familiar with Spanish wines we just asked the waiter to bring us something that would go well with the dishes we ordered. We could not have been more pleased with the food and the wine we had. When our bellies were full we walked back to the hotel and had a very good nights sleep.
The next day we were walking around seeing some sights and discovered a Charcuterie on Avinguda Diagonal. The place was quite unique to me. It was part deli, part coffee shop, and part tapas bar. The deli part had at least 20 different forms of pig you could by in bulk along with an impressive selection of cheeses and some prepared dishes. In the back there was a coffee bar with an elaborate gold espresso maker as the centerpiece. The front of the store had several glass cases filled with small finger sandwiches and other tapas items you could eat in the store. We browsed through hundreds of choices and each picked 4 or 5 that looked tasty to us, then took them back to the coffee bar, ordered some espresso and ate our snacks. That charcuterie became our breakfast spot for the next 3 days and is the inspiration for the specialty food store I hope to open some day.
The third day in Barcelona we visited the famed La Boqueria market. I never knew true joy until this moment. I could barley contain myself and wanted to buy everything I saw. The fresh out of the sea fish, crabs, and clams, miles and miles of cheese and meat counters, the freshest vegetables I've ever seen. OK, I could have lived without seeing the fresh skinned sheep's heads with their eyes looking at me helplessly and their teeth gleaming so white against the reddish flesh surrounding it's face. But even that was awesome it's disgusting-ness.
The food in Positano, Italy and the island of Capri was just as fantastic. We stayed at the Hotel Poseidon ( http://www.hotelposeidonpositano.it/flash.htm ) which is a great little hotel up the hill from the main part of town with gorgeous views of the sea and the town. Our patio was directly over the outdoor dining patio and the wood burning grill they use to cook the meats and other stuff. Every night at 5pm they would light the grill and the sweet smell of the burning hard wood would drift into our room and make us hungry for dinner. We ate dinner at the hotels restaurant our first night and ordered the multi course dinner, which included two cheese courses. A combination of hard and soft cheeses to start with, then pasta, then grilled meat and a vegetable, then a combination of cheeses they had grilled over the hard wood. Oh, my gosh it was fantastic.
The next day we took a day trip to Capri. After shopping and hiking up to Villa Jovis we sat down in an outdoor cafe to have a glass of wine and a light lunch. While we waited for our food the waiter brought us a dish snacks to munch on. The dish was in the form of an octopus and when he placed it on our table he tapped it's head and said "Don't eat him, he's ceramic"
All in all, it was a fantastic trip and it really gave me an appreciation for the food (and wine) of the Mediterranean region. As this blog grows I will continue trying new foods and products and will report my findings.
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