Crítica/Review: Wine

2008 Rioja from Bodegas Antaño

Smell
Jackie: I smell cherries.
Josh: Sure.

Taste
Josh: A little spice at the front of my tongue.

Texture
Jackie: Silky, with a little bite, crisp when you inhale after a sip

Verdict
Josh: 3.5/5 copas It was pretty solid.
Jackie: 3.0/5 copas. This is something I could easily drink every day.

Primer plato/First dish

Dinner = wine and tapas. We ordered the only bottle of red wine on the menu. Josh looked at the bottle that said RIOJA in large letters (and in small ones three other places on the bottle) and asked me where it came from. “I’m so tired I thought Rioja meant red.” He’s still excited for the wine, even if he doesn’t know much about it.

Pan con tomate

Being in Barcelona, we wanted to  order specialties from the Catalán region of Spain. We ended up with one: pan con tomate.
Pan con tomate — olive oil and fresh tomato spread on toasted thick bread
Boquerones — uncured white anchovies in olive oil, vinegar and garlic with olives
Piminetos del padrón — small green peppers (like jalapeños)  roasted with a little garlic

Boquerones

Josh’s favorite were the boquerones. “All people should eat this way.” It wasn’t bad — about $25 for everything, which included an entire bottle of decent wine (see next post).

I also loved the baccalao, but that’s because I love salt and it doesn’t get any better than small salted fish floating in garlicy oil.

Foto del día: May 19

Barcelona, near La Rambla, a long street of shops, street performers and bars.

Llegada/Arrival

Our bags were the first off the plane and we took the bus to Placa Cataluyna at the northern end of La Rambla, a wide pedestrian mall dividing two of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. We’re staying at a hostel/hotel in the El Raval neighborhood. It’s cheap, but it followed our three criteria: 1) close to the center, 2) free Internet access and 3) free parking (for later in the trip.)

It isn’t much — two twin beds, shared bathroom — but it’s well kept.

We exchanged some U.S. dollars to pay for the hotel. What a let down. The dollar is weak and the exchange bureau took a nice cut. We cut our losses and bought a chocolate meringue from a pastry shop and wandered the Barri Gótic, taking in the gothic architecture.

Breaking now before dinner, which is eaten very late in Spain (often around 9 or 10 p.m.)