Tapas and Not Quite Sangria

It's half past midnight and -- miracles of miracles -- I actually got onto a computer at the Kabul almost straightaway! The place is hopping as usual -- music pumping, people talking at the top of their lungs in Lord knows how many languages, beer flowing, cigarettes burning... I swear, this is not a hostel, it's a bar with beds. (And yeah, I can't think of Kabul quite the same way the next time I hear it said on the news.)

I want to get the iPod fully recharged for the journey tomorrow, so I gotta hang out for a while. I discovered yesterday that there are NO power points in any of the rooms. So I had to give the iPod to the reception guy to plug in beside his desk. But then I couldn't plug in my photo printer, because I only took ONE plug adapter -- argh! The other one is sitting at home, in the kitchen drawer. The iPod is only partially charged because I nearly passed out with fatigue on the steps by my room, where I was doing some forward planning with my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook. Too many late nights and early mornings finally catching up with me...

Jeez, I jumped on here to talk food, oy!

I stuffed myself with tapas and tried to order sangria de cava (Barcelona's fizzy version of the drink we all know and love), but there was this section below the sangria part that just said "cavas" and for some weird reason I thought it was the TYPE of cava that you mix with the sangria... OK, very very lame, but by the time the CHAMPAGNE arrived (OK, cava must mean fizz), the waiter had opened the little bottle. I didn't have the heart to make him take it back.

So, I drank champagne with my patatas bravas, bomba picante (spicy bomb?), and croquetas de jamon. I wasn't nearly as lame with the food, though, I knew what I was ordering, except I didn't know what the hell was in a "spicy bomb"... well, I'm in the north of Spain, so I knew it wasn't going to be THAT spicy.

Was a bit too pissed to try and order the sangria de cava after the champagne. So I decided to try the "chocolates con churros" (xocolatas con xurros in Catalan, I think), which I can tell you right now is excellent and only a cousin of the Mexican version. First of all, it isn't rolled in brown sugar or cinnamon or anything. It's about four smaller pieces that are not straight, but done in smaller ropes with their ends together. Plus, the chocolate part is a sauce that's in a cup on the side, and quality stuff -- more like milky hot chocolate in a smooth sauce (not from powder, from what I can tell), and only semi-sweet instead of sickly dessert sweet. YUM YUM! All that and the total bill came to a paltry 13.45 euros (there's no place on the slip for tipping, either!), which is not much over $20 Canadian. For a meal of tapas, dessert, and champagne, that is unreal...