While the Taft-Morales family toured old Barcelona, Maurice and I went on a food tour also recommended by Lucy and Dan.

Our tour was led by Victoria, a transplant from Sweden who prefers the warmer weather and more relaxed culture of southern Europe.

We learned that Barcelona residents eat about 5 meals/day (good idea) and sleep about one hour less than most people (not-so-good idea). We followed the five meal precept, launching our culinary Gracia neighborhood adventure at La Nena, where we drank thick hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. Heaven.

On to one of Spain’s most well-known products, ham. We learned about five kinds of pigs raised for ham, from those kept in pens and fed industrial food to Iberico hogs ranging free on oak tree plantations to munch on acorns all day long. The last produce ham with a most complex and satisfying taste.

Other culinary treats included cava, Spain’s answer to champagne, and vermouth where each brand, whether an in-house creation or store-bought, has a distinctive herbal taste, always pleasant and ever changing. Ninety-five percent of cava is produced in Catalonia so it’s not only readily available but drunk with meals and in-between. Our glasses, for example, were poured at 11:30 am. We also visited a little neighborhood bar, where regular patrons gather daily to catch up on the neighborhood gossip.

Our last stop was dessert. Crème Catalan, basically a version of crème brulée, except that really, according to our guide, crème brulée is a version of crème Catalan, as the later proceeded the former by a couple hundred years.