MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!! I can’t believe this is the fourth year I have done this post! I must really like making cookies! But really I love being the secret cookie elf during the month of December and I might love having a table full of cookies to snack on every once in awhile. 
This month has been tons of fun. With the trip to Spain, silly fun shopping weekend in Frederick with Bethany, an awesome weekend full of birthday celebrations for Jesica and Kelly, cookbook club at Julie’s house that was teeming with really good food and weeks full of baking and preparing my gifts, it is all culminating to an even more awesome weekend with mi familia!!! So please go for the jump to see the cookies and some decorations, but first hop over to this Youtube video that Bethany and I are completely obsessed with… I give you Miracle on 42nd street.
Happy Friday my friends!!! And Merry Christmas Eve Eve!! Ahh the holidays are right upon us and I cannot wait to have loads of fun this weekend. Tonight we start the feasting at the Baltimore Country Club… then tomorrow night Daddy, Laurita and I will be headed to Holy Frijoles for some fun Mexican food, presents and another trip to the Hampden lights!
On Christmas, abuelita will make her fantastic Christmas brunch and then later that night we get to eat Tostadas!!! I can’t wait to help cook allll day long. So here we are at my last post for Spain and I wanted to thank you readers for joining me on this blog adventure of “12 days of Spain!” Check back tomorrow for my Christmas Cookie review! And jump on down to see my last post…
The next morning, our last full day in Barcelona, we set off to wander and peruse the big amazing market, La Boqueria!!! I had anticipated this visit for many years – I had heard great things. And it did not disappoint.
It was huge and and busy and full of lots and lots of things to eat. We had fun perusing, then went shopping at El Corte Ingles for a bit and then came back to find random things to eat for lunch! Go for the jump to see lots of pretty foodstuffs.
Whaaa whaaa WHAAAAAA. Come on doesn’t that picture just scream a cool entrance theme? Yeah I know I’m right and I also know I’m crazy… crazy bout Barcelona!
We took a quick cab ride to the fountains at Montjuic Castle and had a grand ol time listening to the christmas music and seeing the beautiful water.
Love this shot of the four of us. Love that you can see the water droplets kinda fogging up the lens. Go check out some more fountain shots and our delicious dinner…
Happy Thirsty Thursday my friends! woooot, I wish I was having a drink right now, but instead I have eaten lots and lots of christmas cookies. Just wait for my Elizabeth’s Cookie Christmas 2011 on Saturday! So when I last left off, we had arrived in Barcelona and had an awesome authentic dinner. The next morning we had a nice breakfast in the hotel and then set off to look at all things Gaudi all around town! First stop was the Casa Mila…
Next stop was SAGRADA FAMILIA!!!! I know you guys have seen all of these cool pictures before, but I was just in such amazement I could not contain myself. I literally walked around this structure and kept saying “This is so awesome… This is so awesome…”
Just as Becca and I discussed tonight, it is so cool to be able to witness such a magnificent structure and be able to see it while it is still in construction. I can’t wait to go back in 30 some odd years to see it completed. Now go check out some more pictures from around town and a nice quick lunch we had in a random square!
And boom! We were in Barcelona. The flight was easy and the cab driver lady that took us to the hotel was kinda crazy but we arrived and our hotel was just as snazzy as the last. Thank you Uncle Kevin! From my researching I had found three options for dinner in Barcelona. This is the only one we actually went to! And I have now confirmed that we are good at spotting good restaurants just wandering around town – (here’s looking at you Marfi!)
So this place was the most authentic little Barcelona bistro that we went to… it was actually really fun. Go check it out below!
It is very fitting that I am posting this today, because today is Maggie’s last day in Alicante herself. As I write she is running up the mountain to the top of the castle for the last time. I am so happy Maggie got to take this voyage and I am so excited to see my cousin growing up and getting cultured. I am so proud of all of the Spanish she has learned and really hope someday she will be able to use that in her career. So here is my new profile picture. Sooooo beautiful.
Our last day we took it easy, slept late, ate a nice breakfast in the beautiful lobby and then did some quick shopping… but for our last meal we went back to La Taberna!! Go check it out below!
So later that day we went wandering around town and stumbled upon this gelato place. Well maybe we sought out this gelato place from walking by nights before?? Either way it looked cute and no european vacation of mine is complete unless I get to eat gelato!!!
Go see some more pics and the fun dinner and drinks we had later that night too!
Elizabeth Griffiths writes the blog, Strawberries in Paris. She grew up in Jarrettsville, MD and has recently relocated to Frederick, MD. She was raised on her grandmother's Mexican food and spent many summer nights cheering for the Baltimore Orioles. Her mother was in charge of the church strawberry festival every year for the first 10 years of her life and Elizabeth happily helped her cut up quarts upon quarts of them, which later turned into an shopping and eating obssession! Moreover, two visits to Paris in 2006 and 2007 solidified her love for French style, food and pastries. She went to college to become a perfume chemist, but switched it up and now uses her chemistry knowledge during the day to do environmental chemistry and at night to bake and make dinner with local and fresh ingredients. 