Food shopping near UAB (Barcelona) campus

While in Barcelona I am staying in the Vila 2 residence of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) campus. I have a very nice furnished room with a kitchen. 

I have found four good places to shop for food nearby. The two nearest are the Supermercat de la Vila (left below) in the main student residence area. This has most of what you need and has good hours. There is a laundromat in this area as well. The other direction, along the back road through the underpass under the train tracks in Bellaterra village is the Condis supermarket (right). This has a larger selection and good fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. 

If you reached Condis then you know where the Bellaterra train station is. The S2 train (and the S55 in rush hours) stop here. Both take you Placa Catalunya in the centre of tourist Barcelona (maybe it's considered the centre for locals as well, I don't know). If you go 3 stops towards Barcelona you get to Sant Cugat (this is a one zone trip from Bellaterra). There is a nice bar (Bar Catalunya) in the square right at the train station. From this square starts a pedestrian shopping area that is quite nice. In this area (you'll want to google a map to get specific directions) you'll find Mercadona (picture left below), a higher quality food place with some organic and specialty foods. When you take the train back to Bellaterra make sure to get on the S2 (Sabadell) or S55 (UAB) trains. The S1 and S5 also stop here but won't get you home. 

Starting at Bellaterra if you take the S2 train the other way (Sabadell train) two stops to Sant Quirze you'll find the big box store, Alcampo (shown right below). Note that the S55 won't take you far enough. From the Sant Quirze platform go up the ramp to the exit, turn right, cross the parking lot and go in under the "Flunch" sign. The Alcampo store is to your right inside. It's a cross between Walmart, Costco and Superstore. There are some good things here, prices are good, and you can find other things you might need (towels, cooking equipment, electronics, etc.). Coming back take the S2 (Placa Catalunya) on the other side two stops back to "home".

Brian's Culinary Finds in Spain

I have eaten well here, in restaurants and also my own cooking. I have made dinner for myself more often than I would have otherwise because the locals eat meals so late. The few times I have gone out to dinner in a group, it was 8:30 cocktails and 10:00 or so before we ate. That's late for me and it doesn't feel healthy, although I am sure I'd figure out how to make it work if I were here in the long term (the locals do and are a pretty slim and healthy bunch).

I am not going to talk about specific dishes here (like paella) but list the top 5 basic ingredients I "discovered" while here.

1. "Queso Tierno". Queso is Spanish for cheese and for a long time I thought Tierno was a kind of cheese but it is a more general descriptor that means "soft" or "tender". This is a kind of soft, unripe cheese that is really good.

2. Anchovies. Well, loads of people like anchovies but I never did before coming here. Mild anchovies served whole in appetizers, stronger ones minced in any kind of sauce or even an omelette. Beauty!

3. Gaspacho soup. I have had this before, but here you find loads of kinds in every supermarket sold in milk cartons. A great way to get vegetables into your system with no preparation work!

4. Persimmons. This has got to be one of the world's most perfect fruits. They grow them locally and you can get them ripe in the stores. It is like a cross between a mango and an apple. Talking with other people I hear they don't travel well, which is maybe why I never heard them described in glowing terms before. 

5. Red wine. Loads of it, very nice and not expensive. Look at that one below, from La Mancha with a windmill picture on it. I had to get that one, although it wasn't the best...

I also had some gin while I as here. Cheap spanish gin on the left below ($10 a litre and not bad at all) and some fancier gin from France. 

And a couple of things below that have nothing to do with Spain. I learned to make a French style omelette while I was here (I have a cast iron omelette pan at home that is more Italian style). Also, some of the best cidre I have ever had while visiting my friend in London last weekend. 

Trip to Bilbao

During this stay in Spain I was also able to visit Bilbao for a few days. Bilbao is a smaller city in the Basque country in the North on the Atlantic side. I visited the Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), a new research centre that seems to be very active - there were a lot of good students and PDFs there as well as some permanent staff. The current location was in an industrial park outside the city but I understand they are moving to a building in the city centre soon. They have opportunities for longer term visitors - that would be fun to do. I gave a couple of seminars there that seemed to go well (or they were just polite). In Bilbao there is a kind of snack food called "Pintxos", little cold appetizers of various kinds you can get in bars with a beer. Very fun! 

Below are some pictures of Plaza Moyua and some flowers (in November!)

One of the main attractions of the town is the Guggenheim Museum there by the river

In the museum were two things I thought were fantastic. A large piece by Richard Serra called "The Matter of Time" and a later painting by Pollock called "Ocean Greyness" that was a bit different from the paintings I know of his. The pictures below are taken from the internet - no photography was allowed in the museum

Sagrada Familia

This is a church in Barcelona designed by Gaudi, still under construction. We visited it a couple of years ago on our family trip here but since then it has progressed a lot. The interior is useable now and I was also able to go up the elevator to the spires for the view. It is an impressive place - somehow it has very different design but still retains the feel of ancient cathedrals. It is an artistic and engineering marvel.