Before we’re out of bed Judy announces that she’d love some
good old American coffee in a great big mug.
At home Judy likes to drink her coffee strong with just a little half
and half in it. Here in Spain she
started drinking one of the popular Spanish coffees ‘café con leche’ which is
about half espresso and half milk but lately has wanted to go back to less milk
and this has proven to be a bit problematic.
Just ordering Americano coffee isn’t usually too difficult but when she
asks for milk on the side the waiter is always confused and thinks she wants
café con leche. Sometimes this takes a
good amount of conversation before the waiter looking a bit baffled says okay
and leaves. At that point we’re never
really sure exactly what she’s going to get until the waiter returns. Judy always drinks whatever arrives. She’s
been traveling for a couple of weeks now and it’s catching up with her. I remember that yesterday we passed a
Starbucks and suggest it won’t be completely what she’s looking for but a good
second. She’s up and in the shower
before I can say another word.
We leisurely enjoy our ‘huge’ cups of coffee served in real
coffee cups. Judy reminds me of a guy as
she talks about the ‘little Spanish coffee cups that are so hard to pick up and
hold because they are so small.’ I laugh
with her not at her, after all I’m on month three and there are certainly some
things about home that I’m missing big time.
After we finish our coffee we return to the hotel to check
out, pick up our luggage and grab a taxi to the train station. It’s about 11am and we want to be on a 1:15pm
train back to Barcelona. We have dinner
reservations at Tickets, which is known as the best restaurant in Barcelona and
simply can’t miss it. We are finally
going to the real Ferran Adria’s restaurant!
This is the only one he’s opened since he closed El Bulli. It’s a 3 ½ hour train ride and our
reservations are at 7 pm, there won’t be a lot of extra time but we think we’ll
be fine.
That is until we get to the station. Immediately we are confronted with a line out
the door. Judy jumps into the line
before we even know what is going on to save us a space and I head off to
figure out if we are in the right place.
We’re in luck, there is a much shorter line and I’m assured it is the
right place to buy a ticket to Barcelona.
In no time at all I am talking to the Agent who advises me the next two
trains to Barcelona are sold out and the first train that he can get us on
leaves Valencia at 3pm and won’t arrive in Barcelona until 7:38pm. We have a problem but we buy the tickets
anyway because if we don’t we ‘re pretty sure the situation is just going to
get worse as now we have a long line waiting behind us.
We get settled on a bench with all our bags and start to
problem solve. It’s now almost noon and
what are our options. I try to get
internet access but there’s no Wi-Fi.
The bus station is across town so there’s no easy way to find out if
they have buses that would get us there in time and even more importantly if
they still have space on those buses.
Judy suggests renting a car but there aren’t any rental agencies that we
can see from the station. Somewhere
along the line Judy saw a sign pointing to a McDonald’s with free Wi-Fi. So leaving Judy with lunch I set off to see
if I can get access and check out rental cars.
Out the front of the train station I go, can’t see a
McDonald’s. Walk one way and then
another, it’s hot! Around the block I
go, still no McDonald’s. Judy had to
have seen the sign when we came in the taxi so I focus on that area and sure
enough about three more blocks away I find McDonald’s and about 200
backpackers. The Wi-Fi is free and after
the usual false starts with these things I do manage to get access.
Working mainly in Spanish I finally get to the European Car
Rentals and am advised to call the office because I am looking for a one way
rental and they don’t do that over the web.
I’m in a little trouble here because my phone only has about $5 worth of
credit left as I’ve been talking to Justin about preparing for Isaac but I make
the call. Of course I’m put on hold
several times and each time I hear the credit ticking away on my phone. Finally it’s all done, we can do it! But…….they won’t have a car available until
5pm. It had all been a waste of time!
My last shot and I don’t really think it has a hope since
this restaurant is completely booked for the summer, is to write an email to
Tickets and plead our case and ask for a later reservation. It has to be tonight or never as Judy goes
home tomorrow. I send the email and hope
we have a little good karma in the bank! When I walk back into the station Judy
is standing up and looking worried.
She’s been left wondering what was going on for a long time. While I’m breaking the bad news to her I
check out the schedule board. One of the
sold out trains is now at the track and almost ready to leave for Barcelona.
It’s our only shot……..’Judy, let’s get on this train’. Judy is the most law-abiding citizen I know,
she always plays by the rules and doesn’t have a cheating bone in her
body. As I’m gathering up our stuff she’s
looking very worried and says, ‘What can happen to us?’ Over my shoulder I yell
‘We can get kicked off the train. I’ve
never been kicked off a train’ she says.
I answer, ‘me either’. I keep
moving she has no choice and starts to follow but I can feel her hesitation.
Once she’s committed Judy’s
completely in the game. There is a hoard
of people running for this train so we pile on and grab the first seats we
see. The car is about half full when an
Agent who only speaks Spanish comes into the car emphatically trying to tell us
something. Finally we understand, only
the last three cars of the train are going to Barcelona and we must get off and
move back. Out we go with everyone else
on this ‘sold out train’. On the
platform an Agent is stopping people and checking their tickets. We wait until he puts his head down to check
a ticket and then just dash past him and onto the train. We sit down and I swear I can hear Judy’s
heart beating! Someone comes in and says
we’re in their seats, no problem we slip over to another vacant set. The train starts and begins to back out of
the station. We smile at each other,
high five and think to ourselves we must be Thelma and Louise or something!
The ride has only just begun!! We arrive and depart the first stop along the
way with no trouble it’s time for a beer.
Judy buys the beer and I break out the cards. With two open beers and cards all over the
place we arrive at the next station. Once
again we are asked to move, okay not a problem and again we find new
seats. At the next station a couple of
mothers get on with several children and we are in their seats. At first they tell us it is okay but when
they can’t locate nearby seats they ask us to move. Now the train is moving and we are bouncing
along trying to find seats with our luggage, beer and the cards. The train has filled up (it is sold out!) but
we find a solo seat and Judy takes it. I
leave her to scout the train and try and figure out what we’re dealing with.
The train is full except for a few single seats. I return to tell Judy we should separate keep
finding empty singles until they run out and then we’ll meet up and finish the
ride in the bar car. She agrees we have
a plan.
Enter the Conductor checking
tickets. Judy and I both made our way to
separate WCs and did what the kids have been doing for years. Hid there until the Conductor had finished
his rounds and left the train!
A couple more stops and we were
back in seats together and would stay there for the remainder of the trip. We weren’t sure how we felt. It looked like the worst was over but we were
still going to be late for Tickets. And there it was the text from Tickets
telling us they had given us a later reservation. We would arrive in Barcelona have time for a
shower and just make it to the restaurant!!!
We are exhausted but elated………………
Tickets was fun!! I’ve now had the opportunity to dine at
several of the finest restaurants in Barcelona.
Each and every one of them has been an amazing dining experience and the
food different but always dazzling and impressive. The thing that makes Tickets unique is it is
FUN!! Tickets has the atmosphere of a
carnival, lighthearted and bright, easy going elegance and deliciously playful
food. Obviously after the seriousness of
El Bulli Ferran Adria was ready to have a good time and designed a restaurant
that says good time in every way it can.
We started with Sangria infused
Watermelon (I will never think of watermelon the same again). I had read in a review that the greatest
thing on the menu was ‘liquid olives’. I
don’t know exactly what I expected but they were like nothing Judy or I have
ever had before. Adria is known as a ‘molecular
gastronomer’ and I think he was doing some of that here! We followed with a
delightful crab dish wrapped in the thinnest most beautiful avocado, soy and
ginger prawns, Manchego cheese puff and the Manchego wasn’t really liquid but
it wasn’t really solid either just very light.
Maybe the theme for this restaurant should have been a magic show
instead of a carnival!! We finished with
a dessert of cake with mango filling and beet ice cream. Yup, beet ice cream, now I’ve eaten everything! It was delicious!
Toward the end of dinner Judy told
me she didn’t want this to end, I thought she meant the dinner no she said this
vacation, it has been like nothing I’ve ever done before! I still think she’s going to be happy to get
home to a real cup of coffee!
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