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BARCELONA! Tapas, tours & towers - flamenco, festas & food!

BARCELONA! Tapas, tours & towers - flamenco, festas & food!

Old Mar 7th, 2017, 08:06 AM
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BARCELONA! Tapas, tours & towers - flamenco, festas & food!

This was one trip I did not research much in advance so I really relied on the last-minute help I received here. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice. It was much appreciated! I apologize in advance for adding lots and lots of details!

So this was a week-long trip in February to Barcelona for DH and me. We had some vouchers from Delta for the privilege of giving up our seats on a previous flight so the entire flight cost us an unbelievable $28 total for both of us! We drove from Pennsylvania through New York City for lunch with my dad and continued on to JFK before rush hour. We've found a street with a few reliable longterm parking lots and these are now our go-to lots. We found an online coupon for a free day and when we returned a week later, our car had been pulled up to the office and was all warmed up. I'm not going to research parking lots anymore when we fly out of JFK. It will always be one of those lots from now on, especially since I almost parked in a much cheaper lot, but luckily read reviews before booking. That lot had terrible reviews from people who returned to parking tickets and a ticket for an expired registration sticker. Now, police don't go into private lots - the people running this lot were actually parking the cars on the nearby streets and not caring that the car owners were amassing tickets while they were away. The perfect 'you get what you pay for' scenario. Don't go for the cheapest lot near JFK!

Anyway, we used 'ParkPlus' this time and 'JFK Longterm Parking' (not the official airport long term lots) last time. Both were on S. Conduit Ave near JFK. No problem either time, and if it snows, they will clear off your car. We switched lots this time because of a better price. Another lot, the Parking Spot is a bit farther down and looks very cool with their little car elevators to provide double decker parking, but that one has been more expensive each time I've checked.

I bought some Delta lounge coupons on eBay (a bit nerve-wracking that they were coming from the Ukraine, but they worked) and we immediately saw the difference between this lounge and the United lounges. More spacious, more seating, better food. We were happy campers for the 4 hours that we were there. (Well, the open bar helped!)

The flight was even better. We each had our own row of 3 seats after I quickly moved to the empty row ahead of us once we were in the air (you snooze you lose!), and I was able to sleep stretched out about 4 1/2 hours on the way over (you snooze you win!) - much better than usual! The entertainment system was impressive. They gave out ice cream midway across the ocean. Although Delta only announces that you can have beer or wine for free, you can also request any hard liquor and that is free as well. (I had bought drink coupons as well, so will be drinking later this month going to Florida and next month going to Oregon!) We don't mind United, but we now love Delta!

We arrived early, caught a taxi right away and were at our hotel in record time. Our room wasn't ready, but they made up for that by offering us a glass of Cava (Spanish Prosecco I am told), and then another.

We stayed at the H10 Cubik Hotel at 69 via Laeitana and loved it. We stayed in a suite with a view of the Cathedral but it was the lobby I loved the most. Colorful, futuristic, jars of various gummy candies throughout, friendly helpful staff. My favorite artwork was an enormous colorful round spin-art piece with lighting behind it. I wanted it! The hotel was quirky and colorful, just like Barcelona, and was in the perfect location 10 minutes walk from the main square in the Gothic section, and about 10 minutes walk the other way to Gaudi's Casa Botllo and La Pedrana. It was basically across the street from the Palau de Musica music hall and less than a block to the metro and 2 major metro lines. Really perfect!

www.h10cubik.com
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Old Mar 7th, 2017, 08:10 AM
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Sounds like plenty of a trip! Looking for more.
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Old Mar 7th, 2017, 09:27 AM
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krwen - I remember the angst that you went through before you went so I'm very much looking forward to reading how you spent your much needed and much deserved holiday.

let the fun commence!
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Old Mar 7th, 2017, 11:15 AM
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Looking forward to more. Sounds like a great location.
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Old Mar 7th, 2017, 01:55 PM
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Me, too!
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Old Mar 8th, 2017, 02:58 AM
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Great start, and in Barcelona you were right in "Cava Country": https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/d...onia.html?_r=0
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Old Mar 8th, 2017, 05:30 AM
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annhig - thanks for thinking about me - things have stayed calm, knock on wood!

kimhe - we had our share of cava. A white cava sangria was very nice too!
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Old Mar 8th, 2017, 05:42 AM
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Wow, cava sangria was new to me, must try! https://www.bascofinefoods.com/spani...angria-recipe/
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Old Mar 8th, 2017, 06:52 AM
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Thanks for the link kimhe! I might just have to try it, and had no idea that it would have had all those ingredients!

The cava sangria we had looked just like the picture. It was served in a pitcher with a big wooden spoon (more than twice the height of the pitcher) sticking out.
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Old Mar 8th, 2017, 01:14 PM
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I'm on board!
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Old Mar 8th, 2017, 01:33 PM
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Also on board. Barcelona is a big favorite. Update me, please.
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Old Mar 9th, 2017, 12:09 PM
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PALAU DE MUSICA

After enjoying the lobby décor and cava, I recalled that the Palau de Musica was in our vicinity…and it was. Basically across the street! We found it easily and booked the next English tour. We wandered into the tiny gift shop and bought a few musical themed items for our musician son and wife, then had a snack in the little café in the vestibule while waiting.

What a beautiful building in the Catalan Art Nouveau style, and added bonus, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The concert hall was amazing. There is an enormous inverted dome skylight hanging down into the hall. It looks like the sun surrounded by the sky. Look more closely and the blue surround is a ring of pairs of identical women’s faces. (I was surprised that one set faced the opposite direction from all the others. Did they install that section backwards on purpose or was it an error?) The back of the stage featured muses sculpted from the waist up and mosaicked against the wall from the waist down. They face the performers, not the audience, to give them luck. Looking at the sculptures of the horses on the side of the stage, the columns soaring into treetops, the rosettes and musician names on the ceiling, the beautiful stained glass, we could see the influence of nature. We were taken out on to a balcony ringed with pillars, each with detailed mosaics of different flowers. Everything was just gorgeous and a great recommendation. The tour cost 18 Euros.

www.palaumusica.cat/en

There are concerts given frequently. I was hoping to see a flamenco show there, but there wasn’t one scheduled during that week. We did, however, go to a piano concert by Grigory Sokolov there later in the week. The acoustics were great and sitting in the midst of all this decor was exciting.

Back at the hotel, our room was ready. We took another glass of Cava to the room where we had a separate living room and a fabulous view of the cathedral from a glass corner. Amazingly, there were different fresh flowers by the bed, in front of the couch and in the bathroom and orchids in a large pot by the wall. Great way to start the vacation.

LA BOQUERIA AND GIANTS

DH needed to sleep so I went out to do a little window shopping, and take my first walk along the Rambla and through the Boqueria Market (which was under a roof so would be a great place to walk around if it would be raining). Lots of stalls with hams, seafood, chocolate, produce, eggs, meat, including an entire beef heart and beautiful soft piles of tripe (which only look beautiful in the case, not on my plate!), spices, everything. Back outside, I noticed an open door nearby with a line of about 18 giant (about 9 - 10 feet tall) colorfully dressed figures inside. The costumes seemed to be from different eras of Catalan and Spanish history. There were a few people milling around so I popped in too. Little did I know the excitement waiting for us with these massive people later in the week.

I headed back and took my traditional arrival nap (this time 2 hours instead of the usual 1 ½ hours), which always helps me make it through the first evening…which was important tonight since it ended up being one of our favorite evenings of the vacation!
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Old Mar 10th, 2017, 06:51 AM
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I'm enjoying your report. I had so much fun in Barcelona and I'm glad you did too.
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Old Mar 10th, 2017, 07:07 AM
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Thanks so much jerseysusan! It helps when I know people are reading along!
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Old Mar 10th, 2017, 10:48 AM
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3 weeks until Barcelona...following along!
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 03:05 AM
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Bookmarking...we leave in 2 weeks! Sounds like fun!!!
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 07:32 AM
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TABLAO de CORDOBES and FLAMENCO!

This wonderful venue was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel. Let me say before I get into my report that anyone going to Barcelona MUST see a flamenco show!!! I had watched a couple YouTube videos while trying to decide if this was something we would enjoy and honestly, they didn’t appeal to me much at all. Finally, I decided that I had always wanted to see a flamenco show and we should go anyway. OMG! How close we came to missing this. Don’t watch the videos! Just GO! Buy the dinner if you go to this venue, sit up front and you will be in for a treat.

OK, back to the report!

We were a bit early for our check-in time for the dinner so were asked to wait in the lobby in an old slightly sketchy hotel next door. It wasn’t the most auspicious start to the evening, but we were soon summoned next door and upstairs to a dining room with our private table. Things were looking up when the server brought us sangria with strawberry foam, asked if we wanted wine, beer or soda (all included), and pointed out the buffet. There were plenty of things to try of varying levels of taste and also a sullen man was carving thin slices of ham off the leg. Nope, couldn’t get a smile out of him. Overall, some of the food was so-so, but the chocolate fountain and Catalan crème brulee with biscotti dessert made up for much of that. It was definitely worth having the dinner since the people who bought dinner were given the best seats for the flamenco show. The people who bought drinks only, either with or without a tour, were ushered in a bit later (probably after sitting in that hotel until the appointed time if I were to guess) and put at the ends of the stage or the back of the room.

The vaulted performance room had a small stage in the center surrounded on 3 sides by about 4 rows of chairs with an occasional table here and there. I had peeked inside before the show and knew if we snoozed we 'losed'! As soon as I saw people leaving the dining room, I quickly jumped up and got on line and wouldn’t you know it! We ended up exactly in the middle of the first row with a table in between us. (Try for being # 6 and 7 in line to do this – we were just lucky!) Everyone received a glass of Cava (included) and we were ready for the show!

The show started with a couple of guitars, then expanded to 3 guitarists and 3 singers/clappers. There were 2 dancers, male El Farru and female Pastora Galvan. I take it they are very well known and they didn’t stop moving most of the show. Not only did I enjoy the various costumes, but the expressions on their faces were amazing. Flamenco expresses all sorts of emotions from love, to lust, to anger and we could see all that. In the beginning I could see possible hate but by the end I sort of thought they were ready to leave the stage and jump into bed! Such were the expressions and feelings elicited!

But Pastora’s final costume! Bright yellow form-fitting with bright blue flowers down the side and with an enormous train filled with rows and rows of ruffles, some large, some small, but all crammed together the length of the train which was flung around the stage for that entire part of the performance. It was like a living thing with its own mind – especially when it was flung onto my lap! Wow! I have never seen anything like this. And their feet – never stopping their stomping. They had to be exhausted by the end, but we were exhilarated! Again – GO see some flamenco!

For those of you going to Barcelona in the next few weeks, The Palau de Musica has flamenco performances from time to time which I have read that people enjoy. The Tablao de Carmen was also recommended but would have involved transportation instead of a quick walk for us. We loved where we went. I hear it is like a traditional gathering of families who get together to dance. I don't know if the others would feel as intimate, but I also don't know if these two performers always perform where we were. You probably can't go wrong in any of these 3 places.

We window shopped on the way back and were greated in our room by an ice bucket with a bottle of cava (!), a plate of fruit and chocolate under a glass cloche, and a note welcoming us to the hotel and wishing us a pleasant stay.

How could we have had a better first day in Barcelona. Not possible!
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 08:59 AM
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Thanks so much for this vivid and enthusiastic Tablao Cordobés report, very glad you enjoyed it!

And you're perfectly right, flamenco must be experienced live, hundred times more powerful than seeing it on video. But artist with the caliber of El Farru and Pastora Galván come through even on youtube.

Pastora Galván was voted best female flamenco dancer 2010 by Spanish critics, and she dances solo on the greatest stages all around Spain and in New York, London etc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2SBUcrJgeQ

And here is Farru together with the greatest flamenco guitarist ever, the legendary Paco de Lucía. Farru was Paco's choice as solo dancer for what was to become Paco de Lucía's last world tour in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrxGsksJusU

Both Farru and Pastor Galván dance every now and then in Tablao Cordobés in between touring. Changing artists every month or so, but all artists in both Tablao Cordobés and Tablao de Carmen are absolute top of the shelf. All artists performing in these two tablaos can fill theaters all around the country, and they often uses stages like these to try out new material.

And here's the trailer to a 2012 documentary about the flamenco culture in Barcelona. In fact many of the best on the current scene come from Barcelona and Catalunya. Karime Amaya in the video is grand-niese of the greatest ever, Carmen Amaya, and Karime often dances in Tablao Cordobés: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BibV3tYo0U
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 09:17 AM
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I will add that kimhe recommended both those places and if he recommends something, I will always listen!!!
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 04:54 PM
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Your flamenco experience sounded fabulous. I went to a few shows in Spain and loved them!
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