Caramba

Ay caramba!

My little hop across the street was quite fun. Caramba (tapas fusion and cockteleria) was still quite empty when I got there at 9:30pm. Which turned out to be a great thing because I got to have great conversations with the bartender and waiter.

I ordered a glass of vino tinto and two croquettes - one with mushroom and something and another of blue cheese. After I ordered the waiter came back a few minutes later apologizing that they were out of both those croquettes - and those were the only two croquettes that they were out of. And the only vegetarian ones. So the waiter recommended the next best two veg tapas - a zucchini carpaccio and the patatas bravas. I told him that I'd have the zucchini but that I've already have plenty of angry potatoes. He replied that these are the best in Barcelona, possibly Spain. I took him up on that challenge and ordered those as well. Turns out they were indeed much better than any of the other ones I've had.

I read my Toni Morrison book and chilled out, talking to both the waiter and bartender off and on for a few hours. The bartender is from Portugal so we spoke in Portuguese and he shared that he thinks it is much easier for a Portuguese to understand a Brasilian, and that many Brasilian tourists can't understand him. I could but he explained the only reason I could was because he was speaking super slowly.

The waiter was my favorite. Originally from outside Madrid he's lived in Barcelona for 10 years. While he prefers the city of Barcelona, he said that it is harder to make friends here - that people are more standoff-ish.

I finished my book (Song of Solomon) and gave it to Ruben (the waiter). He made me write an inscription inside and then he gave me his business card with his email address. So nice. He's a lifeguard, part-time waiter, but his start-up is a social network style travel agency. Anyways, the book giving will make more sense after my Saturday blog post. Stay tuned.

And by the way, it was a bit hard to get into but I did really like the book. Take that Irish.

I'm in my pjs typing as my three female roommates are dolling themselves up for a night on the town. They are leaving the hostel at 1am to head to the club. Making me feel very old. It's a mixed dorm but luckily it's all females. Lucky in the sense that I can change in my room, always nice. Mixed dorms are generally cheaper hence that choice all of the time.

Anyways, they just finished up a semester abroad in London and are travelling a bit together before they all head home. One is from Los Angeles, one from Minnesota (close to where we lived in the 90s) and the other from San Francisco! She lives a mere 3 blocks from me. Crazy.

Great day. Great night. Time for bed.