Paella

We took advantage of our Parclick parking passes and went down to the beach.  Lolo found a place for lunch and I followe his lead and ordered a black paella, which I had never had before.  When it arrived, it looked intimidatingly … black.  It was, however delicious.  I was worried that it would not be, since it was in a touristy area, but it was fantastic, and the first time I have had a black paella.  Intrigued by the almost magical depth of flavor, I looked into what flavor the quid ink imparts, and discovered two interesting things:  First, that most people actually cook with the less bitter cuttlefish ink, and second, that squid ink is loaded with glutamate, possibly acting as natural Ajinomoto/MSG substitute.  Sadly, I did not take a picture.  Later on, chloe and I walked down la Rambla without kids and explored the Barri Gòtic, which was really cool.  La Rambla, however was utterly uninteresting and thronged with people.  By the end of the trip it became obvious that we really lucked out with the location of the rented apartment   Gracia seems like a culinary and shopping mecca of the city.  Next time I'd like to explore it and the Barri Gòtic further.