Global Grub's Blog: Adventures in Cooking

With over 20 countries under my belt (half of which I credit to Semester at Sea; that's what really ignited my international interest), Europe had somehow escaped me and was calling my name. Plus I was in need of some inspiration for a new Global Grub kit... sounds like a good excuse to go, right? And with that, our mission was set: eat our way through Europe, with our 1-year-old in tow (that's a whole different story that you can read about here). With travel days factored in, we only had 8 days to complete our mission. 

First stop: Barcelona. I wish everyone adopted the idea of tapas, small plates so you can have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. One of our best meals of the trip was at Restaurant Rene, a little gem with nostalgic decor in the Eixample area. We ordered too many tapas to list, but here's what stood out the most: the melt-in-your-mouth trumpet mushroom croquette, Catalan cheese plate including the "best burrata I've ever had" and last but not least, seafood paella of course...

I was getting a serious travel itch when my mommy friend told me that some airlines provide bassinets for babies on international flights. Since the double-digit hour flight was my biggest fear of traveling with my 1-year old, the bassinet provided a glimmer of hope. Plus I thought, "now's the time to do it before he's completely mobile" and "let's take advantage of free airfare for under 2-year-olds"...