4 days in Barcelona in Feb
Mar 8th, 2009, 10:38 AM
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4 days in Barcelona in Feb
4 days in Barcelona - Trip report
First off, I apologize for my wordiness. I wrote this as I would want to read it if I was going for the first time. I'm a detail person so I probably included too much...
DAY 1 (Thu, Feb 19)
Arrived in Barcelona at 900, after a red eye flight from PHL routed though FRA (Frankfurt) on USAir. Mostly uneventful flight except we were shocked how little leg room there was for DH. We fly often and at 6'1" he's always a tight fit but this was ridiculous. His knees literally hit the seat in front of him so much he had to angle his legs as he sat! Also, In FRA we were bussed to the plane, where we then walked up the stairs to the plane (like we used to do for flights 20 years ago). This was new to us though in Europe.
In beautiful Barcelona weather (60F and sunny), we grabbed a cab at El Prat Airport using halting Spanish and a printout of the Eixample hotel address. It ended up being 25Euro. Coming into the city, we were initially struck by the architecture of all the buildings in the city. It seems like every single one has something special about it.
Our hotel, HOTEL MURMURI was located in Eixample, a block from Casa Mila at Rambla de Catalunya, 104. I thought we might have some trouble checking in since we were arriving early but the staff were wonderful and let us in our room immediately. Room 502 was on a corner and looked out to Rambla de Catalunya and a side street. This was the perfect location for us...somewhat quiet and away from the bustle but only 10 minutes away from the action. The hotel room was very contemporary with a 2 closets, a safe, and 2 full length mirrors (sometimes I wished there were none, esp after a long day of sightseeing!) ;P The bathroom had a shower and bath, plus a magnifier mirror. We loved the dimmable light switches. They had different default settings (which could be overridden if you chose), "Ambient", "Night" "TV" etc. With each setting the lights dimmed a bit more. Even the bathroom lights would adjust to the settings!
Usually when we arrive in a new place I'm a bundle of energy and can't stand to remain indoors. My DH tho usually never sleeps on the plane and he's exhausted, so he naps and I bound out of the hotel to explore for an hour or so. This time though I was just as tired (we had just thrown a party at our house for 120 ppl 2 days before) so we both crashed until 13:00.
When we awoke we headed to TALLER DE TAPAS for a meal. A friend had recommended the chain so although we had a recommendation we faced it with trepidation, it being a dreaded "chain". We went to the one on Ramblas de Catalunya. We were pleasantly surprised. There were only a few people in the place so we thought it might have been a bad choice but the waiters immediately made us feel welcome. They even suffered through my attempts at ordering in Spanish (their English was much better than my Spanish but I was determined). We ordered patatas bravas (thick cut french fries sauced with garlic mayo and paprika sauce), gambas y ajillo(shrimp and garlic in piping hot olive oil), brocheta de pollo marinado (marinated chicken kabob) and cordero del Pirineo al horno come romero y tomillo(roasted Pyrenees lamb with rosemary and thyme). The shrimp was perfect.: perfectly cooked, nice and briny. I loved them which was strange since I don't usually like shrimp. My DH thought they were too briny for his taste though. It's a different taste than the shrimp we get in Philly. Patatas bravas are ubiquitous we discovered and although these were good for day 1 we eventually found them to be not to our taste. Another thing that we learned to forego was the "Pa y Tomat" (fresh tomato smeared on day old bread). This is a Barcelonan favorite; every restaurant offers it to you. We tried it 3 places and finally decided that we just didn't care for it. For beverages, we had the house red ("beeno teen-to")and a beer. We finished off with "cafe con leche" which I could not get enough of; I'm not even a coffee drinker in the US!
We headed for Casa Mila after lunch. This was a last minute trip given to me by DH for my birthday and we had been so busy before we left the US that we had had no time to learn about the city prior to arrival. This made me extremely uncomfortable as I am usually "the planner". Basically all I knew was Spain was a Spanish speaking country and Barcelona had a favorite son called Antoni Gaudi (but we didn’t know much about him).
Casa Mila was only a few blocks away but the ticket line killed our thoughts of a visit on that day. We decided to then just walk down Passeig de Gracia and serendipitously we happened upon CASA BATTLO. If we had researched before hand we would have known about Gaudi's Casa Batllo but since we hadn't we were even more pleasantly surprised at this wonderful gem. We were so lucky to chance upon this place because it was our first taste of Gaudi and we left stunned and awed. He had an artist's eye and the exactness of an architect, a rare combination indeed. Our love affair had begun... Perhaps it was the hour (~16:00) but we just walked right into Casa Batllo and there were few tourists. We rented an audio tour which, in hindsight, was imperative since it highlighted many tiny details you would never have noticed otherwise. Going at this time was also great because of the light. The windows were filled with afternoon sunshine and the rooftop was brilliant with color. I highly recommend going around this time.
After another nap, we headed out to find dinner at 19:30. We stopped into LA FORMOIA. Here are my notes: La Farmoia - your basic tourist tapas place on Placa de Catalunya. Downstairs for tapas, upstairs for dinner. Our table was basically under the stairs
but cozy with a friendly German couple next to us. Nice service but food/wine was mediocre. Verified tomato bread can be left to the Barcelonans. Had manchego on tomato bread(yuck), ground hamburger/cheese on hardtack bread(quite good), lightly breaded shrimp in white cream sauce w 2 tablespoons worth of dry mixed greens (overcooked shrimp but good taste, breading nor sauce was too heavy, salad ok). After dinner, we were still exhausted so we retired by 24:00.
DAY 2 (Fri, Feb 20)
After so much sleep the day before you would think that we would feel well rested but we slept in until 08:30 which is really late for us. We decided that for the rest of the trip if we saw one thing a day, we would be happy.
At 09:00 we headed downhill to LAS RAMBLAS for a run. This is a gritty, pedestrian walkway lined with flower stalls, toy carts, pickpockets and street performers. Perhaps because we were in running clothes and looked like we had no money on us, we were completely ignored by the local "greasy-fingers". We turned around at the dragon, a building ornament left over from when the store housed a Chinese umbrella shop. Later in the day this was a good reference for us.
Breakfast was a chocolate croissant and a cafe con leche at a local coffee shop almost across the street from our hotel. We did our best with Spanish with some Catalan thrown in and service was ok if a bit terse. Maybe 10:00 was too early for them??
Actually what we found was that locals usually had a quick "cafe" from 7:30-8:30 and then a more substantial breakfast around 10:00, lunch(traditionally siesta) is at 14:00-17:00, and dinner begins at 21:00 and goes until 24:00.
The ticket office at Gaudi's CASA MILA opened at 9 and after the horror of the ticket line yesterday, we were chagrin to be arriving there at 10:30. But our concerns were unfounded; we waltzed right in. Again, we rented an audiotour to pickup on details. The atrium, attic, apartment and rooftop were open to the public. The rest of the rooms are still utilized as offices. The Casa Mila was designed for a turn of the century middle-class family and that knowledge helped us imagine what it must have been like to live during that time. Of all the rooms, the rooftop amazed us the most with it's incredibly wacky chimney vents. I think if this had been our first sightseeing stop we would have loved it but since we had already seen Casa Batllo, we were a bit under whelmed by this iconic museum.
For lunch we headed a few blocks to TAPAç, 24 (pronounced "tapas 24") on Passeig de Gracia and Carrer de Diputacio. This place is very highly recommended!! A tiny (seating for 20?) innovative tapas bar (literally there are barstools and bar-height tables) downstairs from the street. We almost walked right past it. We arrived at 13:30 but the place was still hoppin' with locals. The "jamon" in olive oil was so thinly sliced you could almost see through it but the taste popped. The waiters were patient and willing to help us. The other customers were very friendly too...they helped me decipher (and work on my pronunciation of) the menu. The house wine was really good. The small beer was tiny which was fine for us but be forewarned. Everything we had was out of this world, especially when you consider this was lunch however, the one MUST HAVE item on the menu is the Chocolate on olive oil with kosher salt. It sounds weird and even looked a bit odd but it was amazing. So simple yet a perfect finality to our meal of local ham, lamb kebobs, and a petite sandwich of shaved truffle and grilled manchego grilled cheese.
Afterwards, we walked down to the Placa de Catalunya and grabbed the Red "BUS TURISTIC" to get a feel for the town. There are 3 double decker "Bus Turistic" tourist bus lines, red, blue, and green, that are jump on-jump off. Choose your language of choice when paying for your ticket and they hand you headphones which can be plugged in at your seat (even if you are on the top open-air deck.) The red line travels by Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Parc Guell and the "newer" northern city of Barcelona. Some of the things the Blue line covers are Montjuic, the Aquarium, El Ravel, the Picasso Museum and the southern areas. The Green line begins running in April and goes by the olympic park but since this was February we didn't go on that. The Red and Blue lines from start to finish are roughly 2 hours long but since most people get on and off at different sites, it takes much longer. The bus stops are pretty easy to find. Just look for a colorful Eye. Here is their website: http://www.tmb.net/en_US/turistes/bu...usturistic.jsp. We did not buy our tickets in advance and had no issues getting a seat. We often chose to sit upstairs which did get cold, especially in the building shade and whipping wind in your face...a scarf is a must in February!
After the Red bus ride, which really gave us a feel for the northern city and ideas for future sightseeing, we asked our concierge to arrange a nice dinner reservation for us. There are a number of highly recommended places to dine: Alkimia, Moo, Comerc 24, Tragaluz that we didn't mind where we got in. COMERç 24 is the most highly acclaimed of these so we were surprised when we got a reservation there, even if it was at the bar. Comerç 24 is the luxury-end sister of TapaC 24, both being owned by chef Carles Abellan, a disciple of Ferran Adria (of 'El Bulli' fame).
We decided to walk to the restaurant, about a 20 min walk per maps.google which I had memorized. As we left the hotel, the concierge gave us different "more scenic" directions along Las Ramblas and through Barri Gotic. We should have known that a "scenic" walk would be longer but it didn't occur to us at the time. We should have also thought about how we were dressed while walking along Las Ramblas. As I said before, this is a busy, pick-pockety place. Once we got there, we knew we looked like prime targets dressed as we were and the long, dusky shadows between buildings also didn't help. We got into "NYC mode" and kept looking for the dragon because the side street to turn on was 1 past the dragon, at the corner of the KFC (ugh!) Although I never felt physical harm, I did feel harassed and a bit like a sitting duck. Fortunately, even in heels, I can walk fast so any pickpockets would have had to speed walk with us.
Besides trying to out-run any would be pickpockets we were now close to missing our reservation due to the "scenery". All in all, when we got there a few minutes late, we really were thankful for a glass of wine! And I am happy to say that the dinner wiped away all memory of the pre-dinner angst. We got the "Festival" prix fixe meal which was more than 7 tapas courses. WOW! wow! The food, the service, the wine was close to the best we've ever had. The dishes were so inventive and made the most of even simple foods (anchovies! cuttlefish!). The sommelier was wonderful and the staff, witty(even in English)! It was a 2.5 hour meal and we rolled out of there at almost midnight. Wanting to walk off some of the calories, we meandered back the way I had originally memorized, past the ARC DE TRIOMF, which was aflame with lights. It was all very romantic. Incidentally, our walk back took exactly 20 minutes.
DAY 3 (Sat, Feb 21)
After that wonderful dinner the evening before, we were still stuffed when we woke and we hurried to make a 8:45am meeting at the Tourist Office in Placa de Catalunya for a 2 hour guided walk through Barri Gotic, the old city. The Tourist Office is below ground and on the corner on the Placa across from El Corte Ingles, a huge department store akin to Nordstom's or Macy's. To find the guided tours, look for #14 desk which is tucked around the corner nearest the souvenir shop. The guide gives you a headset for the tour. There are tours other than the Barri Gotic, including culinary, modernism(Gaudi and others), and Picasso tours.
I'm conflicted about our tour. At the time, I felt we could have covered much more ground in 2 hours than we did however, in retrospect as I have recounted our stories since returning, I find that I often go back to things I learned on the tour. So I guess I would have to give it a 7.5 out of 10. Probably the best for me was just walking around the streets and feeling safe to do so. The streets are so closed-in in the old city, it's quite charming but also intimidating. We visited La Seu, a huge cathedral of which we visited only the cloister and it's atrium. We also viewed Roman columns tucked in a back alley of an apartment atrium that we would never have seen were it not for the guide. While we were out, we saw kids dressed in costumes and we learned that they were gearing up for a Carnival Parade later in the day. Even the adults got dressed up, just like in the US for Halloween.
On our way back, we stopped at QUQU for lunch. Pretty much a touristy place (we were handed English menus) the food was ok but since we had been going since morning without food, we flopped there just fine, even if we felt a bit like sell-outs.
Then we hopped on the BLUE "BUS TURISTIC" which covers the southern part of the city. At this point, I think we started to get sightseeing fatigue. In hind sight we probably should have forgone this and gone back to the hotel. But we didn't....we soldiered on enjoying the artistic radio tower and museums (Joan Miro, National) to exhausted to think about going inside any. Finally, we decided to stop at the Aquarium.
Getting sea air and staring at fish (instead of architecture) was rejuvenating and we decided to walk back to the city, rather than hop onto another Blue Bus. The walk back gave us a great view of Barcelonans enjoying their weekend: rollerblading, eating ice cream, sitting in cafes. We just soaked it all in and walked, then lo and behold, we were standing in front of the Picasso Museum in El Born. We hadn't really meant to visit the museum, because it had been such a long day but since we were there, we figured...what the heck? Though neither one of us really likes museums nor Picasso, this museum turned out to be really insightful. It covers his early works and displays his foundational pieces which really helped us understand his later work. NOTE: The museum doesn't have many of his later famous works so keep that in mind if you are a fan. In the end, we were glad we had forced ourselves to go.
When we finally got back to the hotel, we were beat. We could hear residents reveling from our window but all thoughts of going to las Ramblas to partake in the Carnival Parade were mere dreams. We were just too tired. I fact, we were still so full from all the meals we decided just forgo dinner too, so we, in rather boring fashion just went to sleep instead.
DAY 4 (Sun, Feb 22)
We awoke early and had a continental breakfast at the Hotel MurMuri cafe. There were no other Americans in the small cafe. We heard French, Spanish and Russian while there though. Then we were off for a mile walk to the SAGRADA FAMILIA church. It was a brilliantly sunny day and since it was 9am on Sunday, the streets were nearly deserted in the mainly residential area that we walked in. As we walked along Carrer de Provenca we passed by some great architecture and even a English bookstore on the corner of Roger de Lluria and Provenca.
When we arrived at Sagrada Familia at 9:30am there was already a line that wrapped around the side of the building but it went fast and we were in within 15 minutes. We got an audio guide which I highly recommend and then we wandered, dazed at what we saw. This place is so fantastic you could look at it for a week (We stayed for 3 hours!!) and still not see everything and everything you see has a meaning. Considering that the project is not complete, although it begin in the 1882 and only slated to be finished in 2020, it is already amazing to look at. Really words cannot convey how amazing this place is. Although Antoni Gaudi worked on it until his death, he knew it would not be completed in his lifetime so he left detailed drawings for future sculptors and workers. These are displayed in the basement which is worth a stop. The line to the upper levels was already an hour long by the time we finished gazing at the front (Passion Facade) so we decided to forego that part but there was still tons to see so we did not feel we missed out. Because the church is huge and there is scaffolding blocking views, I highly recommend buying a small details book from the shop. We aren't the type to buy from a site's shop (just one more thing to lug home and collect dust once there) but it's impossible to see everything from so far. The book I purchased was 10 euro and about the size of my hand yet it contained many of the details I could never have seen and explanations that the audio guide did not cover.
It was now "lunchtime" for us and off schedule for Barcelonan lunch so we thought it would be a good time to try CERVERCíA CATALANA on Carrer de Malloca, 236. We had seen it the night before and it was packed with locals...always a good sign. When we got there though, it was STILL packed!! We couldn't believe it but we figured a place this sought after must be good and probably worth a wait. In fact we waited about 20 minutes (the exact estimated time by the hostess). We could have sat the bar for pintxos but they didn't seems appetizing to us and so we were a bit nervous when we sat down. Again I spoke in Spanish and this time, I got a Catalan-only menu. This was difficult for me since I really know 'Castilian" Spanish...I clandestinely looked at what other patrons were eating for any clues in what to order. When nothing looked familiar, I just picked from the "daily specials" page. We ordered Patatas bravas (for something known, if not thrilling), Gambas de la plancha (shrimp something) and calcots. What were calcots?? I didn't know and the description the waiter gave us didn't help. I hoped I wasn't ordering tongue or something worse....The shrimp came first. In the US, we've sanitized our food to mostly not resemble the animal it once was before it was made into a meal so it was with surprise that I saw giant shrimp with heads and feelers brought to the table. They were stuffed with some sort of savory juice and grilled. I've already mentioned how I am not usually a shrimp eater but how much I liked these "Barcelonan" shrimp...this was no different. They were easy to peel and so savory, the sauce is still makes my mouth water today. After eating these, I thought, "Whew! At least all the messiness is over".
Boy was I wrong. The "calcots" turned out to be grilled whole green onions, apparently a delicacy served at only this time of year. They were the length of a ruler with paper-crisp skin and gooey insides. How do I EAT these things, was my first thought? Do I eat the outer skin? I tried to attack them with my fork but the insides kept slipping out, to the point that one almost slid off the table in my cutting fervor. I found slicing away the outermost layers of papery exterior really laborious as well. I was about to resign to not eating them when the patron sitting next to us caught my eye. He was with his wife and they were pantomiming how to eat the floppy things. You were supposed to grab the whole thing by one end and squeeze the gooeyness out with your teeth at the other end, leaving the paper skin shell. Brilliant!! This caused for lots of supportive laughter among the tables as I attempted this new found way of eating. You could tell they were tickled that I had tried a local delicacy the "correct" way.
After that adventure, we went looking for some shopping as Barcelona has some great stores (Zara, Mango). However, it being Sunday everything was closed so we settled for sitting on a park bench on the PLACA de CATALUNYA watching the pidgeons and kids, riff-raff and other citizens live their lives. This was great way to spend the last few daylight hours in a city we had grown to love.
For our final dinner we tried the hotel restaurant, BAR MARFIL. The food was pretty good, nothing spectacular. Service was very nice and tried really hard. The biggest issue we found (and I almost cringe to say this) but we were really bothered by the chain smoker 2 places next to us. The place was small enough that moving would not have made a difference. We have grown so accustomed to smoke free places and when we do encounter them, it's in bars or clubs, places you would expect. We suffered in silence because we had already ordered and didn't see any way to politely deal with the situation. In retrospect, I think we did the right thing due to the poor timing but if we hadn't ordered, we would have chanced looking like "bad Americans" and left to go to Tragaluz, around the corner. Of course, we could have run into there too but at least it was a bit bigger and we could have been moved. No matter, it was just another experience and we went to bed early since we had a 3:30am wakeup for a 6:30 flight home.
6:30 flight on Luftansa to Frankfurt, 4 hour layover with arrival to PHL at 4:30pm. Frankfurt has to be one the most user-unfriendly airports. As much as we don't mind walking and we have only carry-ons, we were amazed at how far we needed to go to get to our plane and how easy it would have been to have errantly gone through passport control, like one unhappy fellow did who missed his plane. With the 4 hour delay we had lots of time to witness the confusion the airport generated. I only wish I could be a flow analyst for the Airport, what a report I could provide. Anyway, our flight how was uneventful.
To conclude, I would say that Barcelona took our breath away. We can't wait to go back and will probably visit many of the same things again so we can see new details that we missed the first time. I would also highly recommend trying the great restaurants located there, many are not as expensive as those in the US (Philly) and the culinary level is quite high.
First off, I apologize for my wordiness. I wrote this as I would want to read it if I was going for the first time. I'm a detail person so I probably included too much...
DAY 1 (Thu, Feb 19)
Arrived in Barcelona at 900, after a red eye flight from PHL routed though FRA (Frankfurt) on USAir. Mostly uneventful flight except we were shocked how little leg room there was for DH. We fly often and at 6'1" he's always a tight fit but this was ridiculous. His knees literally hit the seat in front of him so much he had to angle his legs as he sat! Also, In FRA we were bussed to the plane, where we then walked up the stairs to the plane (like we used to do for flights 20 years ago). This was new to us though in Europe.
In beautiful Barcelona weather (60F and sunny), we grabbed a cab at El Prat Airport using halting Spanish and a printout of the Eixample hotel address. It ended up being 25Euro. Coming into the city, we were initially struck by the architecture of all the buildings in the city. It seems like every single one has something special about it.
Our hotel, HOTEL MURMURI was located in Eixample, a block from Casa Mila at Rambla de Catalunya, 104. I thought we might have some trouble checking in since we were arriving early but the staff were wonderful and let us in our room immediately. Room 502 was on a corner and looked out to Rambla de Catalunya and a side street. This was the perfect location for us...somewhat quiet and away from the bustle but only 10 minutes away from the action. The hotel room was very contemporary with a 2 closets, a safe, and 2 full length mirrors (sometimes I wished there were none, esp after a long day of sightseeing!) ;P The bathroom had a shower and bath, plus a magnifier mirror. We loved the dimmable light switches. They had different default settings (which could be overridden if you chose), "Ambient", "Night" "TV" etc. With each setting the lights dimmed a bit more. Even the bathroom lights would adjust to the settings!
Usually when we arrive in a new place I'm a bundle of energy and can't stand to remain indoors. My DH tho usually never sleeps on the plane and he's exhausted, so he naps and I bound out of the hotel to explore for an hour or so. This time though I was just as tired (we had just thrown a party at our house for 120 ppl 2 days before) so we both crashed until 13:00.
When we awoke we headed to TALLER DE TAPAS for a meal. A friend had recommended the chain so although we had a recommendation we faced it with trepidation, it being a dreaded "chain". We went to the one on Ramblas de Catalunya. We were pleasantly surprised. There were only a few people in the place so we thought it might have been a bad choice but the waiters immediately made us feel welcome. They even suffered through my attempts at ordering in Spanish (their English was much better than my Spanish but I was determined). We ordered patatas bravas (thick cut french fries sauced with garlic mayo and paprika sauce), gambas y ajillo(shrimp and garlic in piping hot olive oil), brocheta de pollo marinado (marinated chicken kabob) and cordero del Pirineo al horno come romero y tomillo(roasted Pyrenees lamb with rosemary and thyme). The shrimp was perfect.: perfectly cooked, nice and briny. I loved them which was strange since I don't usually like shrimp. My DH thought they were too briny for his taste though. It's a different taste than the shrimp we get in Philly. Patatas bravas are ubiquitous we discovered and although these were good for day 1 we eventually found them to be not to our taste. Another thing that we learned to forego was the "Pa y Tomat" (fresh tomato smeared on day old bread). This is a Barcelonan favorite; every restaurant offers it to you. We tried it 3 places and finally decided that we just didn't care for it. For beverages, we had the house red ("beeno teen-to")and a beer. We finished off with "cafe con leche" which I could not get enough of; I'm not even a coffee drinker in the US!
We headed for Casa Mila after lunch. This was a last minute trip given to me by DH for my birthday and we had been so busy before we left the US that we had had no time to learn about the city prior to arrival. This made me extremely uncomfortable as I am usually "the planner". Basically all I knew was Spain was a Spanish speaking country and Barcelona had a favorite son called Antoni Gaudi (but we didn’t know much about him).
Casa Mila was only a few blocks away but the ticket line killed our thoughts of a visit on that day. We decided to then just walk down Passeig de Gracia and serendipitously we happened upon CASA BATTLO. If we had researched before hand we would have known about Gaudi's Casa Batllo but since we hadn't we were even more pleasantly surprised at this wonderful gem. We were so lucky to chance upon this place because it was our first taste of Gaudi and we left stunned and awed. He had an artist's eye and the exactness of an architect, a rare combination indeed. Our love affair had begun... Perhaps it was the hour (~16:00) but we just walked right into Casa Batllo and there were few tourists. We rented an audio tour which, in hindsight, was imperative since it highlighted many tiny details you would never have noticed otherwise. Going at this time was also great because of the light. The windows were filled with afternoon sunshine and the rooftop was brilliant with color. I highly recommend going around this time.
After another nap, we headed out to find dinner at 19:30. We stopped into LA FORMOIA. Here are my notes: La Farmoia - your basic tourist tapas place on Placa de Catalunya. Downstairs for tapas, upstairs for dinner. Our table was basically under the stairs
but cozy with a friendly German couple next to us. Nice service but food/wine was mediocre. Verified tomato bread can be left to the Barcelonans. Had manchego on tomato bread(yuck), ground hamburger/cheese on hardtack bread(quite good), lightly breaded shrimp in white cream sauce w 2 tablespoons worth of dry mixed greens (overcooked shrimp but good taste, breading nor sauce was too heavy, salad ok). After dinner, we were still exhausted so we retired by 24:00.DAY 2 (Fri, Feb 20)
After so much sleep the day before you would think that we would feel well rested but we slept in until 08:30 which is really late for us. We decided that for the rest of the trip if we saw one thing a day, we would be happy.
At 09:00 we headed downhill to LAS RAMBLAS for a run. This is a gritty, pedestrian walkway lined with flower stalls, toy carts, pickpockets and street performers. Perhaps because we were in running clothes and looked like we had no money on us, we were completely ignored by the local "greasy-fingers". We turned around at the dragon, a building ornament left over from when the store housed a Chinese umbrella shop. Later in the day this was a good reference for us.
Breakfast was a chocolate croissant and a cafe con leche at a local coffee shop almost across the street from our hotel. We did our best with Spanish with some Catalan thrown in and service was ok if a bit terse. Maybe 10:00 was too early for them??
Actually what we found was that locals usually had a quick "cafe" from 7:30-8:30 and then a more substantial breakfast around 10:00, lunch(traditionally siesta) is at 14:00-17:00, and dinner begins at 21:00 and goes until 24:00.The ticket office at Gaudi's CASA MILA opened at 9 and after the horror of the ticket line yesterday, we were chagrin to be arriving there at 10:30. But our concerns were unfounded; we waltzed right in. Again, we rented an audiotour to pickup on details. The atrium, attic, apartment and rooftop were open to the public. The rest of the rooms are still utilized as offices. The Casa Mila was designed for a turn of the century middle-class family and that knowledge helped us imagine what it must have been like to live during that time. Of all the rooms, the rooftop amazed us the most with it's incredibly wacky chimney vents. I think if this had been our first sightseeing stop we would have loved it but since we had already seen Casa Batllo, we were a bit under whelmed by this iconic museum.
For lunch we headed a few blocks to TAPAç, 24 (pronounced "tapas 24") on Passeig de Gracia and Carrer de Diputacio. This place is very highly recommended!! A tiny (seating for 20?) innovative tapas bar (literally there are barstools and bar-height tables) downstairs from the street. We almost walked right past it. We arrived at 13:30 but the place was still hoppin' with locals. The "jamon" in olive oil was so thinly sliced you could almost see through it but the taste popped. The waiters were patient and willing to help us. The other customers were very friendly too...they helped me decipher (and work on my pronunciation of) the menu. The house wine was really good. The small beer was tiny which was fine for us but be forewarned. Everything we had was out of this world, especially when you consider this was lunch however, the one MUST HAVE item on the menu is the Chocolate on olive oil with kosher salt. It sounds weird and even looked a bit odd but it was amazing. So simple yet a perfect finality to our meal of local ham, lamb kebobs, and a petite sandwich of shaved truffle and grilled manchego grilled cheese.
Afterwards, we walked down to the Placa de Catalunya and grabbed the Red "BUS TURISTIC" to get a feel for the town. There are 3 double decker "Bus Turistic" tourist bus lines, red, blue, and green, that are jump on-jump off. Choose your language of choice when paying for your ticket and they hand you headphones which can be plugged in at your seat (even if you are on the top open-air deck.) The red line travels by Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Parc Guell and the "newer" northern city of Barcelona. Some of the things the Blue line covers are Montjuic, the Aquarium, El Ravel, the Picasso Museum and the southern areas. The Green line begins running in April and goes by the olympic park but since this was February we didn't go on that. The Red and Blue lines from start to finish are roughly 2 hours long but since most people get on and off at different sites, it takes much longer. The bus stops are pretty easy to find. Just look for a colorful Eye. Here is their website: http://www.tmb.net/en_US/turistes/bu...usturistic.jsp. We did not buy our tickets in advance and had no issues getting a seat. We often chose to sit upstairs which did get cold, especially in the building shade and whipping wind in your face...a scarf is a must in February!
After the Red bus ride, which really gave us a feel for the northern city and ideas for future sightseeing, we asked our concierge to arrange a nice dinner reservation for us. There are a number of highly recommended places to dine: Alkimia, Moo, Comerc 24, Tragaluz that we didn't mind where we got in. COMERç 24 is the most highly acclaimed of these so we were surprised when we got a reservation there, even if it was at the bar. Comerç 24 is the luxury-end sister of TapaC 24, both being owned by chef Carles Abellan, a disciple of Ferran Adria (of 'El Bulli' fame).
We decided to walk to the restaurant, about a 20 min walk per maps.google which I had memorized. As we left the hotel, the concierge gave us different "more scenic" directions along Las Ramblas and through Barri Gotic. We should have known that a "scenic" walk would be longer but it didn't occur to us at the time. We should have also thought about how we were dressed while walking along Las Ramblas. As I said before, this is a busy, pick-pockety place. Once we got there, we knew we looked like prime targets dressed as we were and the long, dusky shadows between buildings also didn't help. We got into "NYC mode" and kept looking for the dragon because the side street to turn on was 1 past the dragon, at the corner of the KFC (ugh!) Although I never felt physical harm, I did feel harassed and a bit like a sitting duck. Fortunately, even in heels, I can walk fast so any pickpockets would have had to speed walk with us.
Besides trying to out-run any would be pickpockets we were now close to missing our reservation due to the "scenery". All in all, when we got there a few minutes late, we really were thankful for a glass of wine! And I am happy to say that the dinner wiped away all memory of the pre-dinner angst. We got the "Festival" prix fixe meal which was more than 7 tapas courses. WOW! wow! The food, the service, the wine was close to the best we've ever had. The dishes were so inventive and made the most of even simple foods (anchovies! cuttlefish!). The sommelier was wonderful and the staff, witty(even in English)! It was a 2.5 hour meal and we rolled out of there at almost midnight. Wanting to walk off some of the calories, we meandered back the way I had originally memorized, past the ARC DE TRIOMF, which was aflame with lights. It was all very romantic. Incidentally, our walk back took exactly 20 minutes.
DAY 3 (Sat, Feb 21)
After that wonderful dinner the evening before, we were still stuffed when we woke and we hurried to make a 8:45am meeting at the Tourist Office in Placa de Catalunya for a 2 hour guided walk through Barri Gotic, the old city. The Tourist Office is below ground and on the corner on the Placa across from El Corte Ingles, a huge department store akin to Nordstom's or Macy's. To find the guided tours, look for #14 desk which is tucked around the corner nearest the souvenir shop. The guide gives you a headset for the tour. There are tours other than the Barri Gotic, including culinary, modernism(Gaudi and others), and Picasso tours.
I'm conflicted about our tour. At the time, I felt we could have covered much more ground in 2 hours than we did however, in retrospect as I have recounted our stories since returning, I find that I often go back to things I learned on the tour. So I guess I would have to give it a 7.5 out of 10. Probably the best for me was just walking around the streets and feeling safe to do so. The streets are so closed-in in the old city, it's quite charming but also intimidating. We visited La Seu, a huge cathedral of which we visited only the cloister and it's atrium. We also viewed Roman columns tucked in a back alley of an apartment atrium that we would never have seen were it not for the guide. While we were out, we saw kids dressed in costumes and we learned that they were gearing up for a Carnival Parade later in the day. Even the adults got dressed up, just like in the US for Halloween.
On our way back, we stopped at QUQU for lunch. Pretty much a touristy place (we were handed English menus) the food was ok but since we had been going since morning without food, we flopped there just fine, even if we felt a bit like sell-outs.
Then we hopped on the BLUE "BUS TURISTIC" which covers the southern part of the city. At this point, I think we started to get sightseeing fatigue. In hind sight we probably should have forgone this and gone back to the hotel. But we didn't....we soldiered on enjoying the artistic radio tower and museums (Joan Miro, National) to exhausted to think about going inside any. Finally, we decided to stop at the Aquarium.
Getting sea air and staring at fish (instead of architecture) was rejuvenating and we decided to walk back to the city, rather than hop onto another Blue Bus. The walk back gave us a great view of Barcelonans enjoying their weekend: rollerblading, eating ice cream, sitting in cafes. We just soaked it all in and walked, then lo and behold, we were standing in front of the Picasso Museum in El Born. We hadn't really meant to visit the museum, because it had been such a long day but since we were there, we figured...what the heck? Though neither one of us really likes museums nor Picasso, this museum turned out to be really insightful. It covers his early works and displays his foundational pieces which really helped us understand his later work. NOTE: The museum doesn't have many of his later famous works so keep that in mind if you are a fan. In the end, we were glad we had forced ourselves to go.
When we finally got back to the hotel, we were beat. We could hear residents reveling from our window but all thoughts of going to las Ramblas to partake in the Carnival Parade were mere dreams. We were just too tired. I fact, we were still so full from all the meals we decided just forgo dinner too, so we, in rather boring fashion just went to sleep instead.
DAY 4 (Sun, Feb 22)
We awoke early and had a continental breakfast at the Hotel MurMuri cafe. There were no other Americans in the small cafe. We heard French, Spanish and Russian while there though. Then we were off for a mile walk to the SAGRADA FAMILIA church. It was a brilliantly sunny day and since it was 9am on Sunday, the streets were nearly deserted in the mainly residential area that we walked in. As we walked along Carrer de Provenca we passed by some great architecture and even a English bookstore on the corner of Roger de Lluria and Provenca.
When we arrived at Sagrada Familia at 9:30am there was already a line that wrapped around the side of the building but it went fast and we were in within 15 minutes. We got an audio guide which I highly recommend and then we wandered, dazed at what we saw. This place is so fantastic you could look at it for a week (We stayed for 3 hours!!) and still not see everything and everything you see has a meaning. Considering that the project is not complete, although it begin in the 1882 and only slated to be finished in 2020, it is already amazing to look at. Really words cannot convey how amazing this place is. Although Antoni Gaudi worked on it until his death, he knew it would not be completed in his lifetime so he left detailed drawings for future sculptors and workers. These are displayed in the basement which is worth a stop. The line to the upper levels was already an hour long by the time we finished gazing at the front (Passion Facade) so we decided to forego that part but there was still tons to see so we did not feel we missed out. Because the church is huge and there is scaffolding blocking views, I highly recommend buying a small details book from the shop. We aren't the type to buy from a site's shop (just one more thing to lug home and collect dust once there) but it's impossible to see everything from so far. The book I purchased was 10 euro and about the size of my hand yet it contained many of the details I could never have seen and explanations that the audio guide did not cover.
It was now "lunchtime" for us and off schedule for Barcelonan lunch so we thought it would be a good time to try CERVERCíA CATALANA on Carrer de Malloca, 236. We had seen it the night before and it was packed with locals...always a good sign. When we got there though, it was STILL packed!! We couldn't believe it but we figured a place this sought after must be good and probably worth a wait. In fact we waited about 20 minutes (the exact estimated time by the hostess). We could have sat the bar for pintxos but they didn't seems appetizing to us and so we were a bit nervous when we sat down. Again I spoke in Spanish and this time, I got a Catalan-only menu. This was difficult for me since I really know 'Castilian" Spanish...I clandestinely looked at what other patrons were eating for any clues in what to order. When nothing looked familiar, I just picked from the "daily specials" page. We ordered Patatas bravas (for something known, if not thrilling), Gambas de la plancha (shrimp something) and calcots. What were calcots?? I didn't know and the description the waiter gave us didn't help. I hoped I wasn't ordering tongue or something worse....The shrimp came first. In the US, we've sanitized our food to mostly not resemble the animal it once was before it was made into a meal so it was with surprise that I saw giant shrimp with heads and feelers brought to the table. They were stuffed with some sort of savory juice and grilled. I've already mentioned how I am not usually a shrimp eater but how much I liked these "Barcelonan" shrimp...this was no different. They were easy to peel and so savory, the sauce is still makes my mouth water today. After eating these, I thought, "Whew! At least all the messiness is over".
Boy was I wrong. The "calcots" turned out to be grilled whole green onions, apparently a delicacy served at only this time of year. They were the length of a ruler with paper-crisp skin and gooey insides. How do I EAT these things, was my first thought? Do I eat the outer skin? I tried to attack them with my fork but the insides kept slipping out, to the point that one almost slid off the table in my cutting fervor. I found slicing away the outermost layers of papery exterior really laborious as well. I was about to resign to not eating them when the patron sitting next to us caught my eye. He was with his wife and they were pantomiming how to eat the floppy things. You were supposed to grab the whole thing by one end and squeeze the gooeyness out with your teeth at the other end, leaving the paper skin shell. Brilliant!! This caused for lots of supportive laughter among the tables as I attempted this new found way of eating. You could tell they were tickled that I had tried a local delicacy the "correct" way.
After that adventure, we went looking for some shopping as Barcelona has some great stores (Zara, Mango). However, it being Sunday everything was closed so we settled for sitting on a park bench on the PLACA de CATALUNYA watching the pidgeons and kids, riff-raff and other citizens live their lives. This was great way to spend the last few daylight hours in a city we had grown to love.
For our final dinner we tried the hotel restaurant, BAR MARFIL. The food was pretty good, nothing spectacular. Service was very nice and tried really hard. The biggest issue we found (and I almost cringe to say this) but we were really bothered by the chain smoker 2 places next to us. The place was small enough that moving would not have made a difference. We have grown so accustomed to smoke free places and when we do encounter them, it's in bars or clubs, places you would expect. We suffered in silence because we had already ordered and didn't see any way to politely deal with the situation. In retrospect, I think we did the right thing due to the poor timing but if we hadn't ordered, we would have chanced looking like "bad Americans" and left to go to Tragaluz, around the corner. Of course, we could have run into there too but at least it was a bit bigger and we could have been moved. No matter, it was just another experience and we went to bed early since we had a 3:30am wakeup for a 6:30 flight home.
6:30 flight on Luftansa to Frankfurt, 4 hour layover with arrival to PHL at 4:30pm. Frankfurt has to be one the most user-unfriendly airports. As much as we don't mind walking and we have only carry-ons, we were amazed at how far we needed to go to get to our plane and how easy it would have been to have errantly gone through passport control, like one unhappy fellow did who missed his plane. With the 4 hour delay we had lots of time to witness the confusion the airport generated. I only wish I could be a flow analyst for the Airport, what a report I could provide.
Anyway, our flight how was uneventful.To conclude, I would say that Barcelona took our breath away. We can't wait to go back and will probably visit many of the same things again so we can see new details that we missed the first time. I would also highly recommend trying the great restaurants located there, many are not as expensive as those in the US (Philly) and the culinary level is quite high.
Mar 8th, 2009, 10:55 AM
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I just today decided to visit Barcelona so imagine my delight when the first thing I spied here was your great report.
Question: My HS and college Spanish is soooo rusty and I know no Catalan. Will I be in trouble???
Question: My HS and college Spanish is soooo rusty and I know no Catalan. Will I be in trouble???
Mar 8th, 2009, 11:36 AM
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thanks for the nice report. i love Barcelona - going for 5 days next week.
sally, don't worry. Barcelona is a tourist city , menus are in 3 languages most places. Just review a few polite phrases and greetings.
Who speaks Catalan anyway?
sally, don't worry. Barcelona is a tourist city , menus are in 3 languages most places. Just review a few polite phrases and greetings.
Who speaks Catalan anyway?
Mar 8th, 2009, 01:43 PM
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here is a link ( mostly in Spanish but easy to follow)
http://www.barcelona-airport.com/eng/transport_eng.htm
http://www.barcelona-airport.com/eng/transport_eng.htm
Mar 8th, 2009, 04:25 PM
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sallyjane3 - I found the Spanish I learned in high school worked just fine. I originally was concerned with that because there is such a Catalan pride...but as danon says, menus are often in more than one language but if not, you can almost always find someone that can speak English. I just made an effort to speak what I could (which always seems to go along way).
We took a cab from the airport. If it had just been myself, I would have used the subway but since DH is such a wreck after a flight, I didn't want to add to his misery trying to navigate a foreign subway. We also grabbed a cab to the airport but that was b/c the subways weren't open at 3:30am.
We took a cab from the airport. If it had just been myself, I would have used the subway but since DH is such a wreck after a flight, I didn't want to add to his misery trying to navigate a foreign subway. We also grabbed a cab to the airport but that was b/c the subways weren't open at 3:30am.
Mar 8th, 2009, 04:34 PM
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I also should add that the cabs are very regulated so they are safe and no hassle (no negoiation prior to getting in or anything like that). A breeze...
I brushed up on my Spanish with "phrase of the day" internet websites and one of those tiny Berlitz phrasebooks.
I brushed up on my Spanish with "phrase of the day" internet websites and one of those tiny Berlitz phrasebooks.
Mar 8th, 2009, 07:03 PM
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Great report. I'll be following up on some of your restaurant suggestions for my trip in May! The shrimp sounds delicious!
Are all the restaurants smoking? That's a big issue for me. It can really ruin a meal.
Are all the restaurants smoking? That's a big issue for me. It can really ruin a meal.
Mar 8th, 2009, 07:06 PM
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Thank you so much for this detailed report! We're going for three days in June so I've been trying to read up. Your report explained several things I've just seen alluded to in other reports. Very helpful!
Mar 9th, 2009, 04:00 AM
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Nice report. You really hit some good tapas places. We enjoy Cervaseria Catalana and Tapac 24 as well. Tony Bourdain went to a calcot "day in the country" party on one of his shows where they piled heaps of the oniony things over a big fire, roasted them, then wrapped them in newspaper and put them in a styrofoam cooler to sweat and then stood around eating them. Looked wonderful.
Mar 9th, 2009, 11:41 AM
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nysmom - It was only in that one place that we had the issue with the smoker. Every other place we ate at, either it was not an issue(good ventilation) or no one smoked. We never noticed it until that one place.
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