Happy Birthday Madeline! It was Hubs’ mum’s birthday today and our last day in Barcelona.  It was also Hubs’ last day with her mum – they won’t see each other until our adventure is over in December.  Unless of course Madeline follows through on her threat that she is going to come to Buenos Aires to stay with us for a month because she will have free accommodation (with us)!!  Cheeky!!

I was very boring on our last day – I spent the day doing things necessary – like going to the post office, shopping, washing, and writing this blog!  Hubs and Madeline caught a cable car to a nice park, had a nice long siesta, and got their things together ready for departure tomorrow.

I was so looking forward to dinner!  For Madeline’s birthday, we decided we’d have dinner at Irati, the tapas bar and restaurant where we had delicious tapas a few nights ago.  I ate at the restaurant – albeit 10 years ago – and it was sensational.  Really, it was so fabulous that I remembered the name of the restaurant and had it engrained into my brain so I could return there some day. 

We were a little early for dinner and resisted the temptation to have tapas and went for a walk instead.  It started to drizzle, then rain, which was not part of the plan!  So we hopped from awning to portico to awning, as well as in and out of shops to stay dry. The restaurant opened at 8.30pm, so we booked a table for that time. 

By 8.30pm we were all famished and I for one was so looking forward to an unforgettable meal.  I ordered Madeline and I a bottle of house Cava, after all, it was her birthday and she enjoyed the bottle of bubbles we had at Picasso’s restaurant, Classic Gotic, the other night.

Some little hors d’ourves came out, three tiny chorizo sausages on a skewer, and they were very more-ish. Luckily there was only one each.  The bread was fresh and still warm from the oven and it was hard not to eat it all and fill up on bread.  I ordered Japanese style ravioli with a crab filling for starters and roast medallions of pork with rosemary ice-cream for mains – needless to say both were sensational.  Particularly the pork – teamed with rosemary ice-cream, it really was a dish to behold and one I’ll remember for a long time.

Hubs had clams cooked in a herb sauce to start, followed by sirloin steak with foir gras for mains.  She really enjoyed both her dishes and would not share any of her clams because she said that they were too good!  She did however let me dip my bread into the sauce they were cooked in so I could taste that!

Madeline had warmed marinated anchovies for starters and cod for mains – and she enjoyed both her dishes. Her anchovies were really beautiful.  Tasting them made me miss Zorba because he loves that kind of food. In fact, he would have loved eating in Irati – – well, all of Spain really.

For dessert we shared one serve of rice pudding. I wanted to compare how the Spanish made it compared to the best rice pudding in the world that we had home delivered in Alexandria (Egypt) that Hubs just loves.  I thought it was lovely and a good comparison – Hubs did not agree, which is precisely what I was expecting.  AS IF anything would be as good as what she gets in Alexandria!  I will say that it is hard to compare – sitting in a classy restaurant with the rice pudding served in posh crockery, as opposed to rice pudding being home delivered in Chinese takeaway style plastic tubs… Not quite the same experience. Taste wise though, they are both pretty good, probably with the Alexandria version taking the prize, by a nose.

All of us were very satisfied with our dining experience and it was a great way to celebrate Madeline’s birthday and our last night together in Barcelona.