through aragon

for the first day of the year we were on the road, stopping in a town of few houses to eat our packed lunch in an empty park. everything was quiet and overcast. barcelona had been nothing but warm, no more than a couple of hours inland my bones felt raw.

when we did arrive in zaragoza (much later in the day). we hid in a tapas bar while we waited for our airbnb host. there are people who own eateries because they love it, and then there are people who download recipes from the internet and hang up an open sign because they need money. this place was the latter and it made me feel terrible, but for love or survival, gotta respect their hustle.

we saw the old town later at night. wow, i guess it's hard to explain, and i may have been under the influence of freezing temperatures, but things looked big and small at the same time, as though someone brought a toy town to life size.

there were several establishments with the name goya.

him: goya was born in a village close by

me: goya is a brand of canned foods in america

him: francisco goya

me: black beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans

him: he's a painter

me: adzuki beans, lentils

him: arrête

we ate baked potatos with olives and called it an evening.

when you stop yourself from doing something you will think about it until it happens: and i woke up wanting churros. however! the churrerria i had seen last night on the way home was very closed at 8 am, but after a bit more wandering, we found a low key gem with people spilling out called 'la fama'. tip: order through the hole-in-the-wall outside. the dipping chocolate is questionable goop but no words are worthy to describe these churros, you know when food just moves you in a very emotional way?

*flicks tear from corner of eye*

barcelona

we stayed on the edge of town, where wild boars would wander onto the footpaths, and everyone in the neighbourhood owned at least one hunting dog. sometimes i wonder if i have ever been to a city more vibrant than barcelona (no). with the exception of driving (cars literally hit both vehicles in front and behind them to park), this place has everything a traveller could want (sorry for overcrowding your resources though barcelona). my two highlights of many (and apologies they are food related):

bar celoneta sangria bar: they serve alcohol free sangrias (thumbs up), but the food drew us back twice, including for a 9 course meal on new year's eve. the neighbourhood (la barceloneta) is crowded with holiday makers possibly all from marseille but give or take a few.

les escales: small cafe in the suburbs where i ate the best bread of my life. they served life changing hummus too. that being said i hadn't ate any fresh hummus for years, and the life change hasn't been big. change yes. big change no.

catalan country

santa pau

knobloch sounds like you're being blessed by an angel, but nobody was home when we knocked on their door. which made sense, nobody answered their phone either when we called hours earlier from barcelona. i felt like an investor who defied common sense to strike a deal, lose, but soon realise the real deal was something else all along. look at the village! we ran up the castle stairs, rolled down the damp hills, and jumped across the moat only getting our knees dirty. i felt nothing but joy and it was beautiful.