- I'm gonna begin with that top cheek. (laughs) That just comes off the bone beautifully. There is a lot going on in that bite. (upbeat music) Good morning, everyone. It's Mark Wiens with
migrationology.com in Barcelona, Spain walking to the metro this morning on our way to have breakfast. (lively music) That was just a short metro ride. We arrived to San Antoni. (lively music) We just arrived to a
restaurant called Can Vilaro, and this is a neighborhood, very friendly, traditional Catalan
restaurant in Barcelona, and I just ordered a
couple of different dishes. The owners here are extremely friendly, and we'll see what I just ordered. I'm starting off with a bowl of gazpacho, and this is a cold soup, and I think there is a
blend of vegetables in here but also a tomato. Oh that's thick and looks
very hardy like a puree. Mmm. Oh that's awesome. It is cold, chilled. It's almost like a salsa
but it's not spicy. It has an onion and tomato flavor to it, and at the same time, it's sort of fluffy. This is common to eat in
the summertime when it's hot because this is a cold,
very refreshing soup. We add some of these little
crispy, crispy breads. Mmm. I really like it. It's not like, like really thick tomatoey. It's more like kind of watery tomatoey but that makes it more
refreshing and like, light. Look at that thickness of that. It's almost like a smoothie in texture. Mmm. A little bit sour, a little bit salty, and a little bit tart from all of those vegetables and tomatoes. (speaks in Spanish) The gazpacho was delicious, and the next dish has just arrived. This is one of the dishes
that I was really forward to eating when I came here. It's called cap i pota,
and it's a mixture of. There is a lot of tripe in here. There are pieces of meat. There are chickpeas, garbanzo beans. There is some kind of
white lumps of, is it pork, probably, I think pork, and this is just a mixture, and you can actually smell. You can definitely smell that tripe. Oh and I love tripe. Oh yeah. Oh that's so tender. I don't know if it's a little bit tomatoey or that's coming from these
chilies that are in here but that's awesome, and
what I like about the sauce is that a little bit of the garbanzo beans have sort of been pureed into the sauce so you get a little bit of
that garbanzo beans' starch. That is an amazing dish. Let me try this piece of meat. That meat is just pure and tender. Mmm, and this is a very hardy, like a very solid dish. This sauce is just made for bread. Look how it just sticks and
soaks up into that bread, and if I can get a chickpea, oh and a piece of tripe onto this. Oh with the bread, it
goes so well together. It's only like 9 a.m. but
people are feasting already, and drinking wine, and
enjoying, and socializing. Food is delicious, and it has an amazing
home-cooked flavor to it, and these are the cheeks,
and like the jawbones from, I'm not totally sure what
but I think it's either lamb. I think it's lamb. I think it smells like lamb, and then you can see a drizzle of garlic, and I think parsley on top, and this smells incredibly good. Just look at this jaw. It's just glistening. Oh how do I go about eating this? Oh I think that's the
eye socket right there, and then you can even
see all the bottom bits. (laughs) Oh the tongue is included too. Oh that is half a tongue right there too. I'm gonna begin with that top cheek. (laughs) That just comes
off the bone beautifully. Fatty, gelatinous. There are some chewy bits in there, and then it's coated in like
a garlicky parsley sauce. There is a lot going on in that bite. So many different textures,
and I think that is lamb. Oh I think this is more of a cheek here. Just look at that, a combination of the
fat, the skin, the meat. That piece just melts in your mouth. Okay, I'm moving over to the tongue. I think that's the tongue, right? Let's see here. Oh yeah. It's a little bit chewy. It sort of has the texture of gizzard. It's kind of leathery in texture. Oh. What I love about this is that there are so
many different textures. Some soft and melts in your mouth, others that are chewy
and kind of leathery. What could this be? Oh. Oh that looks like a little
gem of meat right there. Let's try that. That's a little melts in your mouth piece. (speaks in Spanish) Oh okay. (speaks in Spanish) (laughter) Okay. Not only is the whole restaurant friendly but everyone eating here is friendly, and they talked me into
having a glass of wine this morning for breakfast. He said you have to have the wine together with the lamb cheeks. Okay. That is really good. That's a white wine. It tastes quite light. Oh it's fantastic though. I've got one more lamb cheek to conquer, and Ying is not gonna help me on this so it's up to me. (laughs) Yeah, what I do love about it is that there are so
many textures going on. Look at that. Oh man. It's such a wonderful
thing, and for this bite, I'm gonna take that
cheek section, and then. Come on, come on. What a just, like, harmonious combination. Lamb cheeks, tripe, what
else could I need right now? Oh except to lean back. So many friendly people here too. Just take a look at this. Take a look at this place. It is packed, and it's
still early in the morning. That was so good that I
just want to sit here. This is the type you can just
sit for the rest of the day, and just enjoy, and just
keep ordering plate by plate, and maybe even spend the night here. We finally have left the restaurant. We were there for how long? - Two hours. (laughs) - Over two hours. I thought it was gonna be
just a quick breakfast stop but that I wouldn't trade
that experience for anything. That was an experience of why it is so awesome
to travel for food. (lively music) We just arrived to the Montjuic Fountain, and this is an iconic
fountain in Barcelona. Every Friday and Saturday but I'm not sure of exactly the days, and sometimes it's not on. There is a famous fountain show but unfortunately when
we are here right now, there is no fountain show, and so I don't think
we're gonna have a chance to see the fountain show but it's still an amazing fountain just to see in the daytime whenever even when there is not a show, and then the museum is further up here where we're gonna be next. (lively music) You have to climb up a
number of different terraces to get to the top of the museum but once you're up at that top, the city view of Barcelona is fantastic, and you can see the
mountains in the background. It's an amazing view. (lively music) We are now walking around the museum. Here is the map of the Museu
Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, and there are many different exhibitions around the entire complex including medieval
Romanesque art, Gothic art, Renaissance art, and so
we are gonna make our way from exhibition to exhibition. (relaxing music) There are really some amazing paintings within these exhibitions
especially if you enjoy art. (relaxing music) The entire medieval and Gothic exhibition is really impressive, and a lot of the art dates back to the 16th
century, and comes from artists especially within this Catalunya region but then if you come
upstairs to the top level, it's all modern and contemporary art. I'm in a section of the museum now that has a number of different doors, which are designed by Antoni Gaudi who is such an important
figure in Barcelona. I think probably my favorite
section was the Gothic art but I also really enjoyed browsing through the modernism section. (lively music) The next plan for the day is that we're gonna go back to the road. We're gonna try to take the
bus to the top of the hill to Castell de Montjuic for hopefully an even
better view of the city. This is a huge roundabout and square, and just trying to figure out
which corner to take the bus. I think it's this one over here, and we are gonna catch bus number 150. (lively music) We just got off the bus. That took about 10 minutes, and right behind me also alternative where you can take the Teleferico, which is a cable car, all
the way to the top here. (lively music) It's five euros per person for entrance. Montjuic Castle is a military fortress that dates back to 1640, and it is supposedly the place where you can get some of
the best panoramic views of Barcelona so I'm looking
forward to entering, and to enjoying the views. (lively music) We just got over the moat, and entering into the castle walls. I think we'll go right. From up here, you get a really
good sense of Barcelona. You can see the Mediterranean Sea. You can see the downtown area. You can see Sagrada Familia, which is one of the most
important and iconic basilicas, and one of the icons of Barcelona, and now we're gonna go
upstairs to the top section, or within the castle. (lively music) And there over on this side, you have some amazing views
of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the port and
the harbor of Barcelona. Just look how many thousands
of shipping containers are below there. I think visiting the
Montjuic Castle in Barcelona is an absolute must
when you visit Barcelona just to get this amazing view of the city, and it will give you an
incredible perspective of everything that you can do and see when you come to Barcelona. (lively music) To enjoy the views and to
get a little bit of exercise, Ying and I have decided
to walk down from castle. (lively music) That was a very nice walk. We are now back in Barcelona, and we're trying to make our
way to a famous tapas bar, and hopefully we're gonna get there before they close for lunch. (speaks in Spanish) We made it to this
little, small tapas bar, which is called Quimet y Quimet, and this is an amazing little place. It's like a wine and liquor cellar. They just have bottles
decorating this entire place, and this place is famous
for their little tapas. I'm glad I got here. Actually we got here just
before they're closing so I'm just gonna have
a few little treats. This one, I had to order. This is a little piece
of bread on the bottom, and then he put on some tomato. There is some tomato puree, I think, and then some mussels, and then
some caviar on top of this. I think this is a biter. With a fork, you would just make a mess but you do have to lift
the plate up to your mouth so you don't spill too much. I don't want any of that
caviar to go to waste. The bread on the bottom
is just completely crispy, and then the tomatoes
are a little bit sweet. Oh. (laughs) But the caviar is wonderful, and the mussels are, I believe they're
canned, preserved mussels so they're really, really soft, and yeah, delicious. Wow, that's a fantastic, little bite. Wow. I also got a plate of razor clams. These are huge. Look at them. I better lift the plate too so
I don't spill too much sauce. I think these are canned,
preserved as well. I think almost everything
they serve is from cans but they do it so well, and they preserve such
high quality ingredients. These razor clams are
wonderful, also very soft. So I got some stuffed olives. Whoa. Those are nice and sour. And then I decided to have
coffee this afternoon. I ordered a couple more. This one of codfish liver with tomato, and he added on a little
bit of caviar as well. Wow. That codfish liver is like creamy, and it kind of just dissolves, yeah, and then I really tasted
all of that caviar as well. Caviar is wonderful though. It's like it's not too salty. They are like little jellies, almost. Wow. That codfish liver is so creamy. The codfish liver almost has
the texture of like, cheese. And this one is a beauty also. This one is the smoked
sardines with red pepper, and then yeah, I'm not sure
what that is on the top, and then a green pepper on the top. This one is a little bit hard to navigate. Mmm. Mmm. I love sardines. Yeah, that chili that I ate
is really, really sour as well like a pickled chili. That was amazing. That was another wonderful
tapas experience in Barcelona, and we got there literally
just before they closed. As I was taking my last bite of tapa, it closed the doors, and
closed for the afternoon so I'm glad we made it. That literally gives a new meaning, or breathe this new
life into canned foods. All of those little
toppings are from cans, and they were so good, such high quality, and also the way he made them, just the different combinations, simple but delicious, and he
just seasoned them perfectly. I like how nothing was too salty but just had a fantastic seasoning. (light music) We just got off the metro
at Diagonal station, and we are walking over to Casa Mila, which is also known as La Pedrera. (light music) Last night, I already bought two tickets to two famous houses by Antoni Gaudi, and so the first we're
gonna visit is La Pedrera, which is also known as Casa Mila, and then after that,
we'll go to the next one. (light music) They also gave us the audio guide, and this is a building
designed by Antoni Gaudi. It was built between 1906 and 1912. I just got my audio tour, and I think I'm gonna need
to put my bag in the locker, and then we are gonna
explore this building. (light music) We are in the elevator
going to the top first. (light music) The first thing you do is
you get in the elevator, and take it all the way to the rooftop. (light music) This rooftop is extremely
interesting and very peculiar, and on the audio guide,
they were mentioning that it feels like a
completely different world when you are up here, kind of like a fairy tale land up here. Gaudi did not create
anything just for looks despite his appeal of things
that looked beautiful. He also had a purpose for everything, and so all of these spires,
they are all different chimneys. (light music) We're now walking down to the next level. Here's something that's really interesting that I just learned. Gaudi for his designs, he
would hang chains and strings, and hang them down, and then
there is a mirror below here. You can see that when it's reflected, it looks like the building,
and you can see the arches, and how they work, and how
they are geometrically correct so hanging models that Gaudi used are called stereofunicular models, and he was not only an architect but he was a genius at geometry. We just came down a flight of stairs, and now entering into The Apartment. Again, just like Sagrada Familia, I love how Antoni Gaudi
used natural light. There is light coming in through windows, and little pockets of light shining throughout this entire apartment, and also the way he just had
this incredible sense of space, and also waves. This house is very wavy. There are lots of curves but it all really somehow
just fits together. Oh here is the kitchen. Very spacious. Something else about Casa Mila is that it is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, and it's just an iconic building but only a little portion
of it is open as a museum, and there are other apartments within it that are still used, and that
people still live in today so it's not only a museum
but it's a living museum, and it's a natural residence. What I liked about this is
that it provided a glimpse about how Gaudi was thinking, and his kind of imagination
or thought process into his designs, at least
just a little, tiny glimpse. We are now walking down the street on our way to the next Antoni Gaudi house. (light music) Just entered into Casa
Batllo, and this is a house, a previous house that was
remodeled by Antoni Gaudi in 1904. What's really cool about
this audio guide this time is that you have this. It looks like a smartphone but 360 video, and so you can turn it around the room. Oh I'm upside down right now but you can turn it around the room, and you can see the
different design elements within the room, within
the cellphone window, or within the screen. One of the things in this room is that there is a ventilation system, and they think that possibly
he got the inspiration from fish gills. And this window opens
and closes like this. Yeah, kind of like fish gills. (light music) I have never seen a fireplace like that. (light music) I have climbed up. I am approaching the top of Casa Batllo, and it's still amazing to me how Antoni Gaudi used natural light even in buildings that seemed
like they should be enclosed, he found a way to incorporate
light into his designs. I just made it up onto the roof. (light music) If there weren't signs to
direct you where to go, you could definitely get lost. It's like a maze within
this whole complex, and on the roof, and in the attic area. I am heading down now. What struck me about that is just his acute
attention to fine details, and how he thought through
every single thing, as well as the natural light,
the space, the windows. After going to Casa Batllo, we ended up just coming back to the hotel. Ying wasn't feeling so good, and we've been having really,
really long days everyday so we're both really tired so we're just gonna call it a day here, and just have some small
snacks for dinner tonight in the hotel but before I end the vlog, I did want to address one thing, and that is whether it's worth it. Which one to choose between Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, La Pedrera? And they're two similar
buildings by Antoni Gaudi, and they're both famous attractions. They both have some similarities. If I were to choose just one, I would probably go with Casa Mila mainly because I really enjoyed seeing the apartment furnished, and also I thought the roof was the best but in reality, they are
both different enough that they are worth it to visit both, however the entrance
prices are pretty steep, pretty expensive so if I
were to just choose one, I would go with Casa Mila. So that being said, I'm gonna
end the vlog for today now. Thank you all very much for watching. Please remember to give
this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it, and also
make sure you subscribe if you're not already, and I
will see you on the next video. Thank you for watching. That. Oh there's like a moth that
just landed on my nose. What happened? Did I get caviar on my nose? (Ying laughs) The hanging models that Gaudi used are called steri, stereofunicular.
