Benvingut Ted!

It wasn't until long after the roosters had risen that I woke up on Saturday morning; about 10:30 am I would say.  Timing was perfect, because Ted's flight was just arriving from Singapore.

We welcomed him home, and Olga made a Russian breakfast of blinchiki (crepes) with yogurt and caviar.  Accompanied by a cappuccino, definitely not a bad way to start the weekend in Barcelona.

But, no rest for the weary, it was right to work for Ted.  Leo had gotten a tick that was digging into his side.  Removal of the pest was a team effort, as Ted held the little fella still while Olga cauterized and removed.  All done with efficiency and no visible or audible pain from little Leo.

Exhausted from his long journey, Ted went down for a nap, but not before a quick dip in the jacuzzi with Nika.

Olga and I headed into Barcelona to do shopping for the evening's dinner, as  some of their friends were going to be coming over.  I have been to Barcelona a handful of times, and during each visit the Sagrada Familia was under construction.  This time was no exception.

We went to the famous Santa Caterina market to stock up on provisions, including cheese, chorizo and three different types of olives from this vendor.  We even got my favorite - aceitunas rellenas con anchoas (anchovy-stuffed).

Then it was serious business, as we made our way over to the butcher, Carniseria David, a mainstay in the market, so popular that they recently opened an overflow location a few stalls away.  We were helped by David himself, who trimmed the fat for us on six large steaks that would the main course at the dinner party that evening.  We also bought some burgers for another meal, which he ground and pattied for us right there.  A true professional, and the meat looked fantastic!

So great was our bounty, that even the little ones got some meat.  Olga can be seen back at home doling out some scraps to Leo and Ria, who polished them off with great alacrity.

Knowing that our dinner in several hours would be meat-heavy, and wine-heavy as well, as it turned out, we opted for green drinks for lunch - Swiss chard, green apple, ginger, lemon, cilantro and cucumber, was just what I needed!

Before we knew it, the day was nearly done.  Ted, up from his nap, stoked the fire and got the hickory logs ready for the big grill out that was only a short time away.