Celeste Summer

#Idiotsabroad strike again and this time we're out trying to eat edible food and stumbling across amazing churches.

With only a month in a city that is filled with so much I've felt like I haven't stopped going. This city truly does not sleep and I love it. The days are so long - sun coming up at 7 and not going down until 10. It's been a packed filled last couple days so instead of throwing it all on here at once, some food and a pretty place will start off the adventures of what we've been up to. 

Finding good food has been a struggle to say the least. I've realized in order to get that meal you really are searching for, it's going to be a little bit more pricy. Although, in the end so worth it. We stumbled across an amazing spot called Divinus. Excellent spot for a pitcher of Sangria, Tapas and Pasta. 

The restaurant culture here was a 180 from the states, seeing that they are the exact opposite when it comes to service. Our expectations of a server is for them to constantly check on you at the table, bring you the check immediately and constantly keep an eye out. Here it's said to actually be rude to do any of those things and in the end you must ask for your check. The people feel as though they're being rushed through their dinner (so true) and the servers respect that space. Weird concept for us Americans - so be sure to ask for your check (la cuenta) otherwise you're going to be sitting there for what could be hours.

I say order a bunch of the tapas and all dig in. My favorite appetizers that I see everywhere is the simple slice of a bread topped with some of the most random finds. Here I tried a poached egg over cappacio and one of the tapas picture above (asparagus, tomato and cheese).  And if you're in it for the pizza, that was to die for too. Ordering pizza here has become a challenge (which I guess it should be since it's not america), but it's funny to see their interpretation of pizza to serve = a pre-made frozen pie from the store. Blah.

Many afternoons it seems our wandering the streets puts us in unimaginable places and we find ourself standing in front of buildings full of history.

Here we adventured into the the Gothic Quarter (Placa Nova to be exact) which I had done the night previously after a couple drinks at Ovella Negra. Rome at night because compared to the place in the daylight, it's a whole new world. It's an old mix with new and although you can find a building of the past, there are also some built in the 90's standing right next to it.

The atmosphere was so lively and filling the placa was the Mercat Gótic de Antiguitat this market is held every thursday during the summer and has some of the most rarest finds that I basically want to fill my entire house with. 

I first thought this courtyard was all of the Gothic Quarter, but there are many of these throughout. It's definitely hard to get acquainted with the bearings right away though because everything looks so similar. You would think the streets run parallel to each other like most cities, but you find yourself walking in circles at times so finding out where exactly it is you are when you're there and whats close by helps a lot.

We quickly walked through this part of the quarter, but I've heard taking the lift inside to the top is amazing. Unreal view of Tibidabo and the ocean so heading back soon is on our agenda for sure.