I bet you think I just ate my way thru Barcelona and didn’t see anything but restaurants and the Boqueria Market. WRONG. I actually did go sightseeing!!

I accomplished this by using Barcelona Bus Turistic Bus which allows visitors to see many of the attractions in Barcelona. There’s a blue line, a red line and a green line. It’s tremendous value and well worth the money. If anyone is visiting Barcelona and has limited amount time – this is the way to see Barcelona!!

I spent a full day on the blue line and a good chunk of the time on the red line too.

The Blue Line allowed me to see the following attractions: (please note, there are 14 stops)

The famous football stadium (um, can  you say MASSIVE?)

A Chocolate Museum ( I’m a food blogger so of course this was of interest to me)

The Red line allowed me to check out: (please note, there are 23 stops but I just didn’t have time to see everything)

The Barcelona Beach

The Aquarium

Of course, after a long day of touring I was thirsty and needed a drink. So I spent Saturday Night sipping some amazing cocktails courtesy of the W Hotel Barcelona. The Eclipse bar is located on the 26th Floor and was a spectacular location to watch the sunset and re-hydrate!

The friendly bartenders were also skilled and knowledgeable about mixing the perfect cocktails. See this? 4 bottles – 2 hands.

I enjoyed the following drinks (all of them..hee hee). To be honest – there were 2 more drinks!

Barcelona is truly a spectacular city with lots to offer. I didn’t stop moving for the entire 4 days that I was there.

For more information please visit Barcelona Tourism.

I think I found out about Aborigens by googling these three key words “food tour Barcelona” and then of course I connected with them via twitter and email. I’ve now completed several food tours (two in New York), one in Israel and one in Barcelona. Each one offered me a unique experience.

Aborigens is run by three partners and one of those partners was the tour for the evening. We met at 545 pm and I swear the tour ended at 11: 45 pm even though it was suppose to be a FOUR hour tour. Our group was so dynamic and friendly that we kept shmoozing and eating and shmoozing and drinking. The fact that Alex didn’t mind, said volumes about their service.

Here’s a photo of our lovely group: there was a mother/son visiting from NY, a couple from South Africa, a mother/daughter from outside Philadelphia, a young women from Australia and moi.

Our evening included SIX restaurants and at each restaurant we ate and DRANK. There was no shortage of food or booze. I can assure you that NO one left hungry. In fact I didn’t eat anything the next day till 330 pm.  (not even a coffee).

I took lots of photos and arranged them into a few collages to make it easier to show you exactly how much we ate and drank!! This is just a SAMPLE of what we ate. There was more but as always …I don’t want to bore you.

 And then we visited another restaurant and ate some more…..

 Plus we walked to another restaurant (that we would have never discovered on our own)

We are now getting full. ..but we manage!

What made this food tour so memorable?

-the group itself was super fun.

-our tour guide Alex was accommodating, friendly and knowledgeable. He let the group have fun and we did!!

-the restaurants that were selected were NOT touristy at ALL. Very local. Very Authentic.

-I could have never done this by myself. Its a great way to try a lot of restaurants in a short period of time.

For more information:

Aborigens Food Tours  – please check out their website for further information about their tours and other services they offer to chefs or visiting food industry professionals.

Twitter: @aborigensBCN

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aborigensBCN

The list of restaurants we visited included: Moritz, Koska Taverna, Els Sortidors Del Parlament, Gran Bodega Elkano, Amigo Cascaries, Rosal 34. However please note that the restaurant and what was served might change from tour to tour.

 

About 6 years ago, my parents went to Barcelona. When they got home my mom showed me pictures of the Boqueria Market (or Mercat de la Boqueria) and I knew that I had to go there one day. Finally I made it happen! On my  back from Israel to Toronto, I made sure to book a few days in Barcelona.

Clearly visiting the Boqueria Market was high on my list of “things I wanted to do”. I hope the Picasso Museum forgives me!. I wandered up and down the aisles of this spectacular market – snapping photos with my iPhone 5. I also ate. (what else is new?)

I had several friends tell me that I must( must) go to El Quim  and I was thrilled that was I able to find it amongst the hustle and bustle!! My neighbor at the bar was an American who now lives in Barcelona and visits El Quim every Saturday morning with his kids. He’s a “regular” and was all to happy to introduce me to the Chef.

I ordered squid with eggs thanks to a few email exchanges with @DeliciousDishTO who told me it was the best …and she was RIGHT!!

As you can see, I just couldn’t stop taking photos. Aren’t these gorgeous bundles of Bouquet Garni?
These zucchini blossoms are pretty gorgeous too.

The Boqueria market is so spectacular that I’m going to return on my last day for one more visit to make sure that I saw EVERYTHING. I’m sure I will be taking more photos and enjoying some more food as well.

ps the coffee is from La Virreina and I’m definitely going back there for another cappuccino!!

For more information about Barcelona please visit their website.

I’ve done food tours in New York with Urban Oyster and knew that I would love to go on a food tour in Israel. Thanks to Twitter and @funjoel – my cousin and I had the opportunity to have a food tour thru Mahane Yehuda with Joel.

Please meet Joel!!

Joel is originally from the New Jersey and is now a licensed guide in Israel. He’s also a foodie and knew exactly where to take us in Mahane Yehuda, which is a popular food market in Jerusalem.

Here are the highlights.

Jachnun Bar: (30 Ha Egoz) This is a Yemenite restaurant that recently opened in the market.  I ordered a Fatut salad and would order this again in a heart beat. I loved the texture and the originality of this dish. What is Fatut? small pieces of malawach fried with egg, cheeses and toppings. Joel brilliantly described it as “kind of like matza brei”.

Halva King: (10 and 72 Ets Hayim St) These guys sell a gazillion types of halva (pure halva – not sugary, processed halva) AS WELL as a gazillion flavours of tehina. I was so impressed with how they make the tehina (see the photo) – that I purchased a container of tehnina to take home!! This is indeed AUTHENTIC tehina.

Manou Bashouk. At this restaurant we enjoyed a sliver of some meat pie. I say a “sliver” cause we were so full from lunch!!

Oozi Eli: At this store, we were introduced to some interesting combination of natural juices. i.e Gat juice, Almonds and Dates, Lemon Mint and Etrog, Passion Fruit and Goats Milk and more. We even shmeered some lotion on our necks in the hopes that we stay young and youthful forever!!

We even visited a family member of the Dr. Laffa owners. What a small world!

My cousin has lived here for 4 years and said (early on in the tour) “I would have never found these places”. Clearly Joel was instrumental to our  tour thru Mahane Yehuda. It would not have been the same visit without him.

I am also eager to connect Joel with many of my foodie friends and other friends who visit Jerusalem on a regular basis. Fun tour guides are hard to find and Joel was definitely fun and knowledgeable. Once again, I’m thankful to twitter!!

Our night ended at a restaurant that was suggested to me by three separate Toronto foodies (@rosieschwartz, @abeworno and @foodie411). Once again, my twitter friends guided me to the most amazing restaurant in Jerusalem called MachaneYuda (10 Beit Ya’akov St) The menu changes daily so I’m not going to list exactly what I ate as there is a good chance that it wont be on the menu the next time!!  What I can tell you is that the flavours, execution, presentation, service and atmosphere will be flawless!!

There is a reason why this is one of the top restaurants in the country!

Sadly my trip to Israel has ended.  I’m really really sad about leaving but know that I will be saving my loonies for another trip soon!   However my  vacation continues and the next blog post will be about my food adventures in Barcelona! Stay tuned.

For more information:

Joel can be found on twitter (@funjoel) or on facebook and has a great website too.

 

 

 

Four years ago, I visited Israel for 16 days and really toured the country. I visited the Dead Sea, Sefat, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and more.  The trip included visiting many great museums, hiking, walking thru underground tunnels,  and I even participated in an archeological dig. Honestly, I didn’t stop moving.

This trip is very different. I’ve been  visiting friends, hanging out with cousins and bumping into old friends. It’s been a totally different type of vacation.

Even thought I didn’t visit any museums on this trip, I did manage to “play tourist’!!  First on my list was to visit Jerusalem and visit the Western Wall.

Did you know that many people who visit the Western Wall insert little prayers into the Wall?

I also spent some time visiting Herzeliya Beach and Tel Aviv Beach.

While in Tel Aviv, I went to an arts and crafts fair that takes place every Tuesday and Friday called Nahalat Binyamin and purchased a gift for my kitchen!! Don’t you think this is the best gift for a food blogger?

Here’s a pretty decent view of Tel Aviv as seen from the 18th floor of the Tel Aviv Sheraton.

I’ve also enjoyed the beautiful weather. In Israel, you are always guaranteed to see the sun everyday for the entire summer. Sweet.

Can’t complain about picturesque days like this either.

 Sadly my trip has almost come to an end but I know that I will come back to visit in the near future.

For more information about Israel please visit www.GoIsrael.com