Poem to Antoni Gaudí

During my visit to Barcelona, I visited four of the great works of the architectural genius, Antoni Gaudí. The first was the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia (the Basilica of the Holy Family), an immense work which has been under construction since 1882. Two of the four were residences - Casa Battló/La Pedrera and Casa Milà. The fourth was Parc Güell, a beautiful park high above the city.

Basilica de la Sagrada Familia

Casa Battló/La Pedrera

In Parc Güell

Looking from Parc Güell over Barcelona to the Mediterranean

Frater Vester Qui Erat in Barcelona[i]

To Antoni Gaudi

October 1, 2019, Barcelona

I. Qui cherche, Trouve[ii]

Gaudi. not gawdy,

Was colorfully plaudible[iii] -

Bounded by nature,

But unbounded within,

His complexity was simple,

His simplicity complex.

He was myopically farsighted

But saw better than all.

His Barcelona creations

Are Gaudacious[iv] innovations

That generate sensations

Of astounding incarnations

Beyond adulation.

Basilica and park

Batlló and Milà -

A wholly-made family[v]

Of complimentary creatures

Featured a new DNA

That none could foresee.

I saw nothing he missed,

But missed much that he saw.

II. Heaven Scent[vi]

Perhaps he'd confess

That his constructs for life

 Built a path to his end:

A. His daily devotion

Led him faster to God.

B. He wouldn't take transport,

But transport took him.

C. His shabbiness without,

Despite elegance within,

Left him sadly bereft

Of emergency care.

[i] The title is a take-off on the name of the prayer - Pater Noster - the Our Father. The title translates to: "Your Brother Who Was in Barcelona." Appropriately, the “cel” in "Barcelona" is the Catalan word for “heaven.”

[ii] The title of this section, "Qui Cherche, Trouve," is my French motto. It means,  "He who searches, finds." Its substantive meaning is that the person who searches for solutions finds them. That was Gaudi.

[iii] "Plaudible" is a word I made up from plaudit.

[iv] "Gaudacious" is a word I made up.

[v] “Wholly made family" is a take-off on "Sagrada Familia" - Holy Family.

[vi] This section is about factors relating to his death.

Barcelona - A Great Place to Visit

Everyone I’ve met who’s been to Barcelona has told me how much they’ve enjoyed it. Now that I’ve had the chance to visit the city, I understand why. The city is interesting, lively, clean, safe, and walk-able. There is a great variety of delicious restaurants and cafes – both indoor and outdoor. There is a lot to see and do. The people are hospitable and English is widely spoken. On one level, it is a bi-cultural city mixing Catalan and Spanish people and their distinct languages. Among the Catalan people there is strong sentiment for independence from Spain. Barcelona is also a multicultural city, with large communities from of many different ethnicities. It has a superb transportation system of interconnected subways, buses, and trains. The weather when I was there in late September was perfect – with highs in the high 70s.

The only downside that I could see was that it was swarming with tourists – like me. Since it is such a terrific destination, it is visited by over 18 million tourists per year. It is the beginning or end point for many Mediterranean cruises. From Montjuic Castle overlooking the city, I could see six huge cruise ships in the port.

I loved the cuisine in Barcelona. There is a great variety of mouth-watering appetizers – Spanish tapas, montaditos (small open-faced, single slice items like crostini, or small baguette sandwiches), and Basque pintxos (also like crostini or canapes, but with a toothpick holding the topping to the bread). In addition to the small dishes, I tried a number of Spanish, Catalan, and Galician dishes. I took a tapas and pintxos walking tour, and a paella cooking class.

Prior to my trip, I did a lot of research on the cuisine and restaurants, and received great advice from friends. So I had a number of specific dishes and restaurants to try. I had reservations at a number of the restaurants.

The Spanish wines were also very enjoyable and reasonably priced. I took a winery tour to the Penedès region about an hour west of Barcelona, and another to the mountaintop Montserrat Benedictine Monsastery and the Ollmer del Mas winery, about an hour northwest of the city.

In the city, I visited four of the architectural wonders of the creative genius Antoni Gaudí – the Sagrada Familia basilica, Park Güell, Casa Milà/La Pedrera, and Casa Battló. I was so impressed, I wrote a poem to him, which I plan to post.

I also visited the incredible La Boqueria food market, the Cathedral of Barcelona, Montjuic Castle, the Gothic Quarter, and the Arc de Triomf.

I was lucky to be there during the annual La Mercè Festival in honor of the patron saint of Barcelona. I saw a fantastic parade, and great outdoor dance performances.

I walked for miles in the city, and never felt uncomfortable.

There were lots of wooden benches where one could sit and relax, or people watch.

Pickpockets are reportedly a problem, so I was very careful to protect my valuables.

As gifts for family and friends, I bought delicious Torrons, traditional Spanish nougats. I purchased them at Vicens Torrons, which has been making them for 300 years.

I also succeeded in my hunt for men’s tie clips to add to my collection. I found them at two places. The best was Militaria Barcelona, a great military antiques store. The other was a booth at the Mercat dels Encants flea market, the largest in Barcelona.

Tapas Paradise in St. Pete

Yesterday, I had a terrific tapas and Basque wine experience at Ceviche restaurant (http://ceviche.com/) in St. Petersburg, FL. Even though the temperature was in the low 90°s, I felt perfectly comfortable sitting outside on their covered porch (about one block from Tampa Bay).

Despite its name, the restaurant has four ceviche dishes on its menu compared to forty-three tapas dishes. It also has three kinds of paellas, cheese and charcuterie plates, and salads.

I had two seafood tapas and a Basque wine at the restaurant and took another two meat tapas home for dinner. They were all mouth watering.

The first seafood tapa I had was Mejillones a la Catalana (Catalann-style Mussels) - Sautéed mussels, sherry cream sauce, serrano ham, shallots, and garlic, with crispy baguette slices and lemon to squeeze. ($11)

I thought the first dish was great. Then I tried the Cangrejo Fundido (Crab Melt) - jumbo lump blue crab, manchego cheese, sherry cream, with small slices of perfect pita onto which I scooped the crab mix. That dish was out of this world. ($13)

The wine I had was a delicious white wine from Spanish Basque country - a 2017 Txakolina wine made with Hondarrabi Zuri grapes. The wine was a bit on the sweet side, and a perfect accompaniment for the two tapas. The winery that produces it is Rekalde, which is owned by the Hirutza family. The 9-oz glass was $13.

The two tapas I took home for dinner were also delicious. (They were on the edge of my modest spiciness tolerance).

The first was Albondigas - chorizo, pork, and veal meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce. ($9)

The second was Piquillos Rellenos - Roasted red peppers stuffed with veal, pork, and chorizo, in sherry cream. ($10)

The restaurant has flamenco performances three nights per week - Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

My server, Brittany, was terrific - customer-focused with a warm and ebullient personality.

I can't wait to go back.

Power AirFryer XL - Incredible Fries & Delicious Salmon Cooked Simultaneously

On a whim, I recently bought a Power Air Fryer XL. A customer in BJs noticed me looking at it, and she commented on what great fries and breaded cod it made. I had to give it a try. I'm really glad I did. It was extremely easy to use and produced great results;

The first time I used it, I tried breaded chicken. It turned out tasty, but not incredible. However, yesterday evening, I decided to try cooking salmon and french fries at the same time. The salmon was delicious and the fries were among the best I have ever had. They were perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

I used unthawed Alexia frozen fries, which I lightly coated with EVOO. I prepared the 7-oz. skinned, fresh, wild Keta salmon filet by basting both sides with EVOO and lemon juice, and sprinkling it with sea salt and pepper.

Then I set the temperature at 400° and the timer at 18 minutes. I put the fries in first. When the timer reached 11 minutes remaining, I opened the basket and inserted the salmon. At the same time, I turned over the fries. When the time reached 5 minutes, I turned the salmon over and shook the fries.

It doesn't get any easier than that. One great benefit of using a hot air fryer, is that it significantly reduces the calorie count of dishes.

The fryer inner and outer baskets are non-stick and are dishwasher safe.

The cost of my 5.3 quart air fryer at BJs was $79.99.

Beirut Bakery - Incredible Arabic Food in Redford, MI

For me, the gold standard for Levantine (Lebanese, Palestinian, & Syrian) Arabic food is the incredible, mouth-watering food my mother made.  A place that comes very close to that gold standard is Beirut Bakery (https://www.beirutbakery.net/) in Redford, Michigan.

As anyone who’s been to Beirut Bakery knows, it's far more than a bakery. If offers an extensive assortment of main dishes, side dishes, and baked goods, primarily for takeout. It also has a couple of tables where one can eat at their venue.

For a number of years, my brother has brought gifts of Beirut Bakery foods when he has visited us in Florida. So I have long wanted to visit Beirut Bakery and try more of the dishes they prepare. During a recent trip to Michigan, a special friend and I joined my brother and his son to have lunch there. It was the most delicious Arabic meal I have enjoyed in many, many years. It included stuffed cabbage rolls (Malfouf), stuffed squash (Khousa), stuffed grape leaves (Warak Arish), baked stuffed Kibbeh, meat pie, Labne yogurt spread (similar to Tzatziki), Hummus, Pita bread (Khoubiz), and Baklava. Everything was superb. I could easily have eaten there every day for two weeks.

Part of My Lunch

I have had Baklava many times over the course of seven decades. Theirs is among the very best.

Catherine & Baklava

One interesting item they carry is a delicious Lebanese olive oil.

They ship many of their foods; and some are carried in Whole Foods stores in their area.

Beirut Bakery was created four decades ago by Milad and Leila Hallis. It is now a family team operation, with daughter Catherine and son Mark working with their parents.

Budapest Wine Tour - Etyek

Etyek is a small, wine-producing area just outside of Budapest, on the Buda side of the Danube. A tour of Etyek wineries, recommended by my hotel, turned out to be a very pleasant experience. The tour stopped at three wineries, and we had dinner at the third winery. The cost of the tour was 24,000 Hungarian forints ($86).

The Etyek area only produces enough wine to sell to visitors and local restaurants. The wine grapes grown there include three Hungarian types - Kiralyeanka, Irsai Oliver, and Zenit, plus Blaufränkisch, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah.

Peter, our tour guide, picked me up at my hotel at 3:10 - 10 minutes late. Transportation for the two or was a minibus which held 15 people. There were thirteen people on our bus.  We spent the next 25 minutes driving to several different hotels, looking for two additional people who were supposed to be on the tour. It turned out they had the wrong time. So they were invited to come on another tour of the next day. We finally left for Etyek at 3:35.

Our tour group was a delightful mix of people it included two ladies from Scotland, an American couple teaching at an international school in Jakarta, Indonesia, a South African woman, and several other Americans, including a woman who was born in an area of Michigan where I had lived for a few years. 

Along the way, Peter talked about national and local history, architecture, and Etyek wine making. The minibus ride was not particularly comfortable.

Once we reached Anonym, the first winery, the rest of the experience became very pleasant. Our guide originally worked there full time, but at the time of the tour, he was dividing his time between working at the winery and conducting wine tours.

We tasted four wines at Anonym. Réka, the young woman who presented the wines, was knowledgeable and very nice. I enjoy the first two wines, but not the next two. The wines were:
1. 2018 Egyböl kettö - 60% Zenit grapes, and 40% Pinot Gris. (Zenit is a Hungarian white grape.)
2. 2018 Frazir Sauvignon Blanc
3. 2017 Szinkopa Chardonnay. (I am not fond of oaky Chardonnays.)
4. 2016 Életjel Pinot Noir

The next winery - Nádas Szilárd (the owner - winemaker) - was a delightful surprise. I liked/loved five of the six wives we tasted, even a Chardonnay.

Szilárd has a great, engaging personality. He clearly loves wine making, and seems to be an out-of-the-box thinker. He and his wife, who is his partner, each have two Masters degrees related to wine making. He has worked at wineries in Bordeaux, Australia, and Canada.

We were only supposed to taste three wines here, but we ended up tasting eight. The wines we tasted were:
1. 2018 Kiralyeanyka. This was the first year he had made this wine – excellent.
2. 2017 Sauvignon Blanc – superb.
3. 2017 Zöld Grüner Veltliner - great!!!
4. 2016 Pinot Gris. It was orange in colour, and my least favorite.
5. 2017 Cimbi Pinot Gris - very nice.
6. 2017 Chardonnay - superb.  It was interesting that the grapes for this particular Chardonnay came from the same vineyard and the same harvest as the grapes used in the Chardonnay I had had at the previous winery, and had not cared for. There was a dramatic difference between the two Chardonnays.
7. 2015 Öston (Instinct) Pinot Noir - very nice
8. 2015 Mühely titok (Secret of the Winery) - 50% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Pinot Noir - very nice.

The third winery we went to was Buzál-Mórocza. It was both a winery and a restaurant. We had a delicious chicken dinner at a long outdoor wooden table. They served the following nice wines with dinner:
1. 2016 Grüner Veltliner
2.2016 Szurkebarat Pinot Gris

3. 2017 Blaufränkisch rosé

Hotel Residence Agnes, Prague - A New Favorite

Of the four very nice hotels where I stayed during my recent trip to Central Europe, my favorite was the Hotel Residence Agnes (https://residenceagnes.com/en/) in Prague. I chose all four on the basis of their great reviews. All were nicely situated, and had nice rooms and professional staff. What made the Hotel Residence Agnes special was its incredible staff. They were not only very professional, but they were friendly and helpful in a sincere, down-to-earth way. They welcomed guests with beer, wine, soft drinks and snacks. Guests were welcome to free drinks at any time.

The hotel also had a driver who would, at no charge, take guests to the train station, restaurants, etc. I If a guest makes a reservation directly with the hotel, rather than through an intermediary company, the hotel's driver will pick the guest up at the airport. (I wish I had known that.)

I first stayed at the hotel for five nights when I arrived in Prague at the start of my trip. At the end of the trip, I returned to Prague from Budapest for one evening before catching my flight home. The hotel driver met me at the train station. I was worried about getting to a jewelry store before it closed so I could buy a gift before returning home. The jewelry store was set to close in a few minutes. I phoned the hotel front desk and asked that they contact the store and request that it stay open. The front desk staffer went one step further and instructed the driver to take me directly to the jewelry store. She also phoned the jewelry store to tell them I would be arriving shortly.

The front desk also recommended two terrific restaurants - U Modré Kachničky (The Blue Duckling), which has incredible duck, and Hergetova Cihelna, which is situated on the river on the castle side of the city, and has not only delicious food, but great views.

The breakfasts were very nice, and the woman in charge of the breakfast was extremely helpful.

The owner, Frank, was very, very pleasant and laid back. When he asked me where I was from, I answered that I was from a place in Florida that he probably didn't know. When I mentioned it was Sarasota, he said that he had owned a house there - in Palmer Ranch. (He hadn't told me he was the hotel's owner. I guessed, and he confirmed it.)

The hotel is nicely situated in a quiet area that's only a short walk from the Old Town Square and the Jewish Quarter. There is also a large shopping center, the Palladium, nearby.

The nightly cost for my room, during the height of the tourist season, averaged $266, including breakfast. The room was comfortable, spacious, and clean. If I ever have the pleasure of returning to Prague, it is the only place I would consider staying.

The hotel is located at Haštalska 19.