Second, the Food

I love the new tastes and variety that I find that on the road. I ate as a vegetarian for many years but I think that to really enjoy the world you must partake of the cuisine of the world. Plus, a hungry man will eat what he can get if he is wise. And so I offer up a few pictures to show you just some of the food that went down my pie hole in the last two weeks. I don't regret a single calorie.

Cafe and milk is what the Spaniards and Portugese know the tourists prefer. The milk is as hot as the coffee which imparts a gentle caramel softness to the flavor. Of course the espresso makes your hair stand on end. Gives you the jolt you need to take in all the novelty that awaits you.

Spain and Portugal share a long sea coast and so their diet includes a lot of delicacies from the sea. They serve the fish whole as a general rule.

And pasta. I had it more than once as I love this dish served very spicy with lots of olives and artichokes and anchovies. Oh yes, I love anchovies.

Wonderful light salads everywhere we visited. Hothouse tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes should.

A little (!) regional wine to soften the edges of the evening. You can save a lot of dinero by purchasing the wine at the grocery store (around $1 U S per bottle). Much more expensive in the restaurants but it usually is included in the fixed price lunches.

Spinach salad with beef medallions.

I'm going to do an entry just on gelato but this one will give you a preview. I ate it daily and one day I ate it 3 times. I don't know if it is the coldness, the beauty of it or just the feel and taste of it on my tongue but it is a passion of mine.

Beautiful spices and healing tinctures from all over the globe. Some things I recognized but most I did not.

A little cheesecake to go with all the gelato. We ate lots and lots of fruit here as they grow everything in the warm sunny climate. Even apples and peaches in the higher elevations. Of course what they grow the most of is olives and grapes. *sigh*

Another tasty salad. For all my love of sweets I am very fond of the green stuff too.

My beloved daughter Shellie came along with us on this trip. Here she is enjoying the bounty too. She is a delightful traveling companion and this is the 3rd trip John and I have taken with her. She is a nurse and knew just what to do when John got the erps in Madrid. We won't go there though.

Just a few little breakfast pastries to go with the eggs, ham, juice, yoghurt and so on. An army travels on its stomach, doesn't it?

More seafood at the open air market in Barcelona. We had to wait for a place at the bar and then the chef cooked our order right in front of us. Fresh and tasty with a cold beer.

I hadn't seen this fruit before. It is called Pita Haya. I should have googled it for you and given more information but dang, I'm sure spending a lot of time on the computer for someone who has a jillion things I should be doing. I didn't taste it but isn't it curious.

Another gelato shot. Maybe I should do a book of pictures of gelato. It reminds me of the beautiful colors I love to paint with. And it looks a lot like acrylic reverse painted on glass. Maybe that's the connection.

The Barcelona market again. It is large and wonderful with every kind of food and eye candy you can dream of.

John loves the hams so I took this picture for him. He lived in Germany for a couple of years and developed a taste for the regional sausages and hams of Europe. They are very rich, air cured and not cooked and contain no nitrates or preservatives. They are very clean and safe to eat.

The airlines in the U S have all but stopped serving food in the cattle car but this is the wonderous meal that we received on British Airways along with all the wine we could drink, eyeshades, socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste and comfortable seats. A very pleasant experience.

Whew!! That's it for today.