Barcelona: Out and About (Part 2)

Rosemary from Aussie in France is currently enjoying her time in Barcelona. You can read more of her adventures at: aussieinfrance.com

Rather belatedly here are some of my favourite things from our visit to Barcelona in January.

Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria
Plaza de la Boqueria | Ramblas, 08001 Barcelona, Spain (El Raval)

Some of the best presented market produce I have seen anywhere. The stall-holders have cleverly identified the tourist market and you can buy cheese, hams etc in paper cones to be able to eat as you wander. The fruit stalls have fresh juices and fruit salads in takeaway containers. Personally I prefer to sit and watch the world go buy as I eat. A very busy market but it is definitely worth the visit. For where to eat: Barcelona : Tapas and Casual Dining

Guell Park

Carrer Olot, Barcelona, Spain

For much better photos I recommend Rosemary's post: First Impressions of Barcelona - Gaudi and Pintxos.  I am glad I finally got to visit the park although  I was slightly disappointed. I am still not quite sure why. Perhaps I was expecting something more elaborate.  After seeing the film 'L'auberge espagnole' I was determined to get there.

La Pedrera - Mila House (Casa Mila)
Carrer de Provenca 261 - 265 | L'Eixample, 08008 Barcelona, Spain (Eixample)
www.lapedrera.com/en

Visitors rave about the rooftop terrace and the house itself. Unfortunately the house was closed to visitors for the week we were there so se were only able to see the foyer area of the house and the exhibition area. The exhibition 'The other Pedreras. Architecture and design around the World in the early 20th century' exhibition is free and very interesting for those with even a passing interest in architecture. It looks at the works of Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, Charles R. Mackintosh, Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos and Frank Lloyd Wright. The exhibition finishes on 24 February 2013.

Casa Batllo

Passeig de Gracia, 43, 08007 Barcelona, Spain (Eixample)

www.casabatllo.es/en/

Not cheap to visit at 20€ - but worth every centime. The audioguide is included in the entry price. The explanations are fascinating as is the attention to details by this house designed by Gaudi. The solutions he found to problems of ventilation, lighting to lower levels etc were considered radical in their time.

Sagridia Familia

Placa Sagrada Familia, 08013 Barcelona, Spain (Eixample)

www.sagradafamilia.cat/

A visit to the interior is highly recommended for this partially completed church. Audioguides are available in a range of languages. I found that this greatly enhanced our self-guided visit to the church. We chose not to visit the towers as the queues were very long.

Eglesia de Santa Maria del Mar
Placa Santa Maria 1, La Ribera, Ciutat Vella | Placa Santa Maria, 08003 Barcelona, Spain (Sant Pere - Santa Caterina i la Ribera)

I found this church much more intimate than Gaudi's Sagrida Familia and equally fascinating with its 14th century architecture and interesting statues. At the altar the Catalan pride shone through with flowers arranged to represent the Catalan flag. The church in the gothic quarter is free to visit and definitely worth a detour.

San Sebastia

I ventured here to take the cable car to Montjuïc. I probably wouldn't have ventured here otherwise as I am not a huge beach fan. It was however a pleasant spot to wander showing a slightly different view of Barcelona.

Cable Car to Montjuïc

www.telefericodebarcelona.com/IndexIng.html

I was very eager to do this trip and to get an overall impression of Barcelona. The views were absolutely fantastic. They were however also extremely good views just by walking or taking the bus to Miramar on Montjuïc so I would recommend skipping the cable car part of the trip. I did not bother with the telerific to go to the top of Montjuïc as I felt that the view was already magnificent at Miramar. There is a small café where you can have a drink or snack and enjoy the view. The food didn't look fantastic, so I would just grab a coffee or cold drink.

La Rambla from the cable car

Barcelona: Out and About (Part 1)

Rosemary, of Aussie in France, is off to Barcelona this week and this has prompted me to reflect on our recent trip.

Interesting architecture everywhere

Getting There:

We booked only a few weeks prior to travelling and managed to get flights for about 49€ each way from Paris with EasyJet travelling with cabin baggage only. Twice I have flown EasyJet from Paris to Spain and each time in Paris they have been very strict about applying the one bag rule in the cabin. They forced people to put their handbags in their cabin bags when they boarded the plane (even though passengers then removed them). Spanish Easyjet staff did not apply this rule however. EasyJet now thankfully provides allocated seating. The only problem we had with the flights was our return flight. Due to snow in Paris our plane was late arriving in Barcelona for our return trip. When we finally landed at Charles de Gaulle airport the airbridge could not come close enough to the plane. It appeared that the Aéroport de Paris ground staff had swept up the snow into a pile where the wheels of the airbridge needed to go. We then had to wait for the snow plough to arrive to re-arrange it. The tarmac is marked with the areas that need to remain clear so I really don't understand why this happened.

Sculpture at Sant Sebastià 

With EasyJet, you land at Terminal 2 at Barcelona Airport. We travelled by Aerobús A2 to the centre of Barcelona. There is a stop at Pl. Espanya and then in the city centre at Pl. Catalunya which is essentially located at one end of Las Ramblas. Tickets can be bought from either the driver or staff at the bus stop. One way 5,75€ or return 9,95€ (with 9 day limit to use the return trip). With buses leaving every 10 minutes for each terminal we found this a clean, economical and efficient way to travel to our accommodation. 

Pl  Espanya and former bullring - now shopping centre with great free view from roof top cafés and bars

Accommodation:

We chose the Hotel Bagués which is located on La Rambla. The building is old on the outside but very much a modern, boutique hotel on the inside. The service is particularly impressive. I have never come across such pleasant, welcoming and knowledgable staff at any hotel. Every one of their recommendations for dinner and activities were spot on. The hotel has a bar on the roof with a lap pool and wonderful views of La Rambla and the Barcelona skyline. Staff kindly opened it up for us one evening so we could enjoy a drink there. They thought it was too cold for us but we still enjoyed it. There is a hotel in the restaurant but we chose to eat out including for breakfast. With the markets only a one minute walk there are so many options on top of all the other nearby locations. I can highly recommend this hotel for its wonderful staff, location and comfort. The welcome bottle of water and strawberries may only be a little thing, as is the turn down service in the evenings, but it does make you feel special.

Granja Viader - operating  for 125 years makes great place for a quiet breakfast or coffee

Getting Around:

After spending time in Paris I was most impressed by the cleanliness and moderness of the metro service. I often saw people cleaning the stations. The floor, seats, entrances were all very clean. There were escalators that worked! The ticketing machine was multilingual and very easy to use. I bought a T-10 pass (9,80€) for 10 trips in zone 1 which covers most of the sights in Barcelona. The pass can be used by multiple people travelling together. You just pass it back for others to swipe. The pass can be used on buses as well. While the hop-on, hop-off bus makes it easy for tourists who are perhaps a little unsure about navigating public transport, it does come at a significant cost (26€ for 1 day).

Random Observations:
The weather in mid-January was relatively mild with lots of sun. The maximum was 12-15°C. Young women wore shorts with boots and stockings. I must be getting old as I did not find this a very good look. Shorts with bare legs - sure. But boots and stockings - no.

The streets were nealy empty around midday but were full around 5.00pm. It was sales time in the shops but unlike Paris, the shops were not packed. No doubt a reflection of the financial difficulties being experienced in Spain. It was easy to look at things and get into a change room to try items on. Regretfully, service was pretty well non-existent in most shops although there were some exceptions.

Pl. Espagna from the shopping centre roof in former bull-fighting ring

When visiting tourist sites such as Parc Güell there were many hawkers. Unlike those in Paris, such as around the Louvre, they did not approach people to make purchases. I also noticed many amputees who were on the streets with signs requesting money. Again they did not ask for money. I was only approached once for money during the 4 day period. 

Beautiful façade

Online travel forums are full of questions about personal safety when visiting Barcelona. Our hotel provided an information leaflet about safe practices which really are those that you would expect wherever you are travelling as well as at home. At all times I felt safe with the standard precautions.

La Rambla

I saw this sign in a bank window. Even using Google translator for Catalan I am not much wiser. Are they offering a set of knives when opening a bank account? 

A set of knives with that account??

Have you visited Barcelona or other parts of Spain? What were your observations?

Aerobús

www.aerobusbcn.com/index.php

Hotel Bagués
La Rambla 105, 08002 Barcelona

www.derbyhotels.com/en/hotel-bagues/

Granja Viader 
Xucla, 4 - 6, 08001 Barcelona

www.granjaviader.cat

Transports Metropolitains de Barcelone
http://www.tmb.cat

Barcelona : Gastronomic Dining

I visited Spain for the first time in 2001 as part of a whirlwind tour around Europe. I couldn't understand people who raved about Spanish food. The food served to tourists on bus trips is generally lacking flavour and unexciting. All this changed last year when I stayed with Isa and Julio in Andalusia. What a revelation. 

In January this year, in addition to tapas, I was fortunate to dine in the Michelin starred Cinc Sentits restaurant in Barcelona. The restaurant showcases contemporary Catalan cuisine and is owned by brother and sister duo, Jordi and Amèlia Artal, the chef and maître d'. We contacted the restaurant via their website to book and promptly received a response. 

The restaurant in Eixample was accessible by foot from Las Ramblas where we were staying. We were warmly greeted by staff and shown to our table, one of only 10 in the restaurant. Plenty of space between the tables and dimmed lighting make it an intimate spot for dining with a loved one. The decor is minimalist without being cold. It provided an ideal contrast for showing off the elaborate presentation of the dishes. The staff were very pleasant, enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about the dishes and the wines. Always attentive, but never intrusive, there was a sense of theatre about the service. The philosophy of the restaurant is around sourcing fresh, high quality ingredients. Staff elaborated on how they not only choose wines but regularly review them.

For an apéritif we chose Gran Juvé y Camps Gran Reserva, a local sparkling white wine which we really enjoyed and reasonably priced at 8€ a glass. The restaurant does not serve à la carte. We had a choice of 2 tasting menus, the 8 course 'Sensacions' and the more rustic 6 course 'Essència'. We chose the Sensacions menu and the Spanish wines to match.

After the last of our savoury dishes, our waiter brought to our table what looked like a large mint on a small glass dish. Armed with an atomiser he meticulously described the various spices and flavours of the spray. He sprayed the mint-like object which swelled to the size of my thumb. No additional cutlery was provided, so we assumed we were to eat it with our fingers. I bit into it... my teeth came to a sudden halt in this solid, fibrous mass. The waiter did well not to laugh as he explained that in fact it was a towel to wipe our fingers. Up until then, I had done a reasonable job of impressing them with my sophistication. In five seconds this was all undone. The real girl from Wollongong (an industrial city in Australia) and the naive boy from Woodenbong (rural backwater in Australia) were instantly revealed.

Each dish was truly a feast for the five senses. The wines were perfectly matched, enhancing the dishes. It was one of the most memorable meals I have ever enjoyed. I would highly recommend Cinc Sentits to those who enjoy great food, wine and service and who like to indulge. It is a very special restaurant for a special occasion.

* No photos of the amuse-guele, tapas or cheese courses.

Gran Juvé y Camps Gran Reserva

Albacore salad - smoked apple sorbet, pickled onion, green beans and olive air

Caramelised foie gras 'Coca' - pastry crust, chive arrop and leeks

Razor clam - crisp green bean, mini potato, traditional pil pil sauce

John Dory - salsify, brussel sprouts, bone marrow, green olive, almond bread crumbs

Squab from Araiz - red wine poached pear, red fruits, croqueta

Not so delicious hand towel

Tangerine - passionfruit, fresh herbs

Banana - warm salted caramel, black beer, hazelnut

Tentacions - coconut marzipan; cannelé; chocolate and mint truffle; frozen peanut sandwich

Cinc Sentits

Aribau 58 E 08011 Barcelona

www.cincsentits.com

Barcelona : Tapas and Casual Dining

I have been expanding my horizons beyond France with a four day visit to Barcelona in Spain. After the grey skies and cold in northern France it was a relief to arrive to warm sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. I use 'warm' here as a relative term. It was a mild 16°C. Certainly nothing like the mid 40°C that family have been experiencing in Australia.

High on my priorities for Barcelona was eating tapas. Here are some of the tapas bars that I have tried.

Ciudad Condad

I found this standout tapas bar thanks to a recommendation from staff in our hotel. It is only a short walk from La Rambla. There is an area with table service but it is much more fun in the bar area. I ended up chatting away with people from Andalucia, Catalonia, and Italy. As it was crowded the strategy for obtaining a seat at the bar is just to hover around and catch the eye of the patient and helpful staff behind the bar who will help you secure a stool. 

The tapas are a little dearer than I tried elsewhere but the quality are also a step up. I found them to be good value for money. They do have standard offerings which are supplemented by the daily specials of approximately another 12 tapas. Some are pre-prepared, whilst others such as the seafood are cooked to order. The ingredients were very fresh and tasty. A menu in English is available on request but we found that pointing to what others were eating and those already prepared was actually better than trying to pick from the English version of the menu. The daily specials are not included in the translated menu. Without doubt some of the best tapas anywhere. I have never tasted olives so bursting with flavour and with such perfect texture. Neither too soft nor too hard. I finally tried the shellfish that I had seen in a tapas bar in Seville. It appears to be a very popular choice but I found it not really to my taste.

As the food, service and atmosphere was so good we went back a second time and were thrilled that our server remembered us. This bar is highly recommended. 

Fresh produce makes great tapas

A part of our tasty selection

Unknown shellfish 

Pinotxo  Bar

This institution in the Mercat (Market) de la Boqueria was recommended by a Spanish friend. Like Ciudad Condad it is well known, appearing in many travel guides hence there may be a bit of a wait for a stool. This is all part of the fun giving you a chance to observe the activities at the neighbouring market stores.  One of the staff managed 'crowd control' so that it was fair for everyone.  He was able to confidently translate into English the day's seasonal offerings from his list. 

I made the mistake of assuming that the dishes would be very small 'tapas-size' servings. The servings were generous and approaching main-course size. It become evident very quickly that I had over-ordered. I was so enthused by what they were offering I wanted to try lots of dishes. As with tapas, the dishes were brought out as they were prepared. We enjoyed the tastiest rabbit dish ever, variety of fried mushrooms, toast rubbed with garlic, tomato and olive oil, grilled lamb, chickpeas, chevre and the list goes on. The dishes were not the prettiest but they well and truly made up for it in terms of flavours.

More casual than Ciudad Condad, I would highly recommend it for brunch when you visit what I think is one of the best food markets anywhere.

Toast

Chevre

Mushrooms

  

Bar Lobo

Jamon on bread

This bar, only one street back from the hustle and bustle of La Ramblas, provides a haven with delicious food and a laid back atmosphere. It may have been the time that I was there, but it has a much quieter, slower pace than the exuberance and noise of Ciudad Condad. A great place in terms of food when you want to be able to sit back, relax, chat with friends etc

Quirky fun setting with lights made from books and huge old fashioned meat safes or cold storage set into the walls.

Spot the problem. Not an ideal location for those in a wheel chair.

Sagardi Euskal Taberna

I found this tavern in the El Born area by chance. This tavern has seated outdoor eating, standing in the bar area and a seated restaurant area.  The tapas (Basque style)  is available in the bar and outdoor eating area. It is more expensive when eating outdoors. Another menu is available for the restaurant. The tapas is self-serve which makes it much easier when you don't speak the language. All tapas was served either on bread, or in a roll or croissant. The roll I had was not as fresh as I had at other tapas bars. It was a pleasant meal sitting outside at night (under a heater) in January. I certainly was not cold. I probably would not rush back here for the food given the superior quality available at other locations. The atmosphere outdoors in the pedestrian only square however does make it worthy of another visit.

Olives, anchovies with green peppers; croissant with crab; anchovy and red cabbage 

Bar Cañete

This bar was one of three recommended by the concièrge at our hotel. Like Ciudad Condad and Bar Lobo we really enjoyed this bar. Don't be put off by the dingy sidestreet of Las Ramblas where it is located.  There is no menu in English but pointing at what others eat makes it easy to order. The standard of the food was again excellent as was the service. The bar is narrow and, noisy but provided us with the perfect vantage spot to observe the skills of the cooks in the kitchen. The kitchen is completemy open forming part of the bar area. Lightning fast and exceptionally well organised we watched as if in a trance. Cooking and serving staff seemed to dance around each other. It appeared that there may be more seating next door but it was undergoing renovations.  If you would like something more substantial, they do serve full size dishes and desserts. 

Observing the cooks was highly entertaining

Only one of the waiters appears to be allowed to slice the jamon

Group enjoying côte du boeuf

Ciudad Condad

Rambla de Catalunya, 18, 08007 Barcelona

Open every day 8.00am to 1.30am

Pinotxo Bar
La Rambla, 91, (Barcelona). Boqueria market, 66-67
Closed Sundays
www.pinotxobar.com/

Bar Lobo
Carrer Pintor Fortuny, 3, 08001 Barcelona
Open 9.00 to 12.00am (Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 2.30am)
www.grupotragaluz.com/restaurantes/bar-lobo/

Sagardi Euskal Taberna
Placeta de Montcada, 1-3, 08003 Barcelona
10.00am to 0.30am (Saturday and Sunday until 1.00am)
www.euskaletxeataberna.com/

Bar Cañete

Carrer Unio, 17, 08001 Barcelona

1.00pm - 1.00am Monday to Saturday

www.antiguobarorgia.com/