Barcelona eats: desayuno y almuerzo

Desayuno (Breakfast). In Barcelona, breakfast is not a meal on which much focus is placed. Common eats include croissants (plain and dipped in chocolate), other breakfast pastries, and bocadillos (sandwiches with ham and cheese on a crispy baguette). Cafe con leche (strong coffee with milk) or espresso seemed to be the most popular drinks.

Breakfast: Street Cafe. On the first morning we stopped at a street cafe for a traditional breakfast.

 Figure 1. Traditional Barcelona breakfast. An espresso and buttery croissant drizzled in honey.

Breakfast: Hotel Buffet. I'm afraid that for me, the traditional breakfast of refined white grains covered in sugar is delicious, but unsatisfying. I crave whole grain cereal, nuts, and fruit. After much searching, I found a 'dietetics' table at the hotel breakfast buffet, where I spent the rest of my mornings.

Figure 2A. Strong black coffee and a bowl of mixed cereal (raw oats, organic puffs, and fiber twigs), nuts (walnuts and pistachios), and dried fruit (raisins and figs).

Figure 2B. I loved this cereal so much it deserves a close up.

Figure 2C. Fresh fruit (pineapple, kiwi, melon, and prunes) and an organic sesame granola bar stashed away for an afternoon snack.

Almuerzo (Lunch). In Barcelona, a typical lunch is (another) ham sandwich (bocadillo de jamon). A girl cannot survive on ham alone. I ate most lunches at work and they went un-photographed, but we tracked down a tapas cafe for one non-work lunch for a little taste of this and a little taste of that.

Tapas lunch at Tapas Tapas Cafe.

Figure 3A. Lettue and goat cheese salad with vinagarette dressing.

 Figure 3B. Grilled vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, asparagus, tomato, onion, and mushroom) with aromoatic oil.

 Figure 3C. Grilled tuna and diced tomato and avocado brochette.

I saved most of my calories for late-night Barcelona dinners, which are eaten slowly and in many, many courses. Keep reading for the second 'Barcelona eats' post including the best part of my eating experience while traveling: dinner, drinks, and dessert. (To be posted later this week).