Thing I learned on my recent trip to Barcelona to visit Mike: there are not enough hours in the day to eat as frequently as the Barcelonese and to also earn a viable living.
From what I could tell, the workday in the Catalonian capital starts at around 8:00 a.m. but anyone who has spent long enough in its cafés knows that the city pauses for a mid-morning “snack” at 10:00/10:30 at which point its entire workforce swells into its countless establishments for a bocadillo – a Spanish baguette typically engorged with Iberian cured ham or semi-soft goat cheese.
This recess that breaks up the interminable hours between the conventional meals last a full hour and resembled more a Sunday brunch from whence I hail.
By 11:00/11:30 the fuelling is over and the Barcelonese head back to work until 1:00 (1300) when lunchtime steadfastly begins. This, of course, is not a sit-at-your-desk-and-eat-a-sandwich-while-checking-Facebook kind of lunch. Overall, observing the way in which the economy of Spain accommodated the Barcelonese meal schedule ushered me into a deeper understanding of the country's current fiscal troubles.
As for our own travellers' woes, to this day I do not know whether it was the “when in Rome” mentality or just a heavy dose of enabling but our Barcelona gang ate excessively.
While the tale of the bocadillo and the lesson I learned therefrom seemed amusing, the tapa that I predictably wanted to eat every time we sat down was the plate of pimientos de padron or padron peppers.
Padron peppers are quintessential to any Barcelona tapas menu. They are small green peppers, fried and doused with flakes of sea salt. There is not much more to say.
I loved them. And thanks to my equally enthusiastic friends, I never had to take a lunch break, coffee break, water break, beer break, wine break or even rest my legs without them.
Shout out to Aivi, Katie, Jay, Mike, Milvi, Pete and Shayna.
and the photos aren't mine.
