Nos encanta Barcelona
The first thing you might notice is that this section of our trip was not broken up by days. That is for two reasons: first, we were having a blast and didn’t take the time, and second, we were so tired from all the walking that we just kinda passed out when we were in the hotel room.
Cindy and I arrived in Barcelona on Thursday and were immediately pleased to find that Hotel Villa Emilia was a 4 star hotel that I had managed to nail at an amazing price. After our small hotel in Paris it was a huge relief. Also, the staff was very helpful, and as you will see in the pictures, the hotel had a very cool modern look.
Our first night I showed Cindy around an El Corte Inglés, and the hanging legs of jamón serrano. She told me that while it was definitely more shocking than US supermarkets, the Spanish didn’t have anything on the Chinese what with their hacking up livestock (the key being the live part) on the spot. I had to give her that one.
Later on we walked along the Rambla and found some great jackets for awesome prices at Zara. We then finished our evening with Tapas at 7Sins, which had a live burlesque show/poetry reading. After attending quite a few of my Mom’s poetry readings at Casa Romantica, I wasn’t too impressed by the poetry, but the band and atmosphere were good.
Our second day in Barcelona, we spent seeing the architecture of Gaudi. I took Cindy to Parc Güell, which required a long walk up a hill. I had conveniently forgotten that walk, or maybe we didn’t even do it, because last time I was in Barcelona I’m pretty sure we had a car. The view and park were well worth the climb, and we enjoyed it. Next, we headed to La Sagrada Familia. I noticed that in the 15 years since I had last seen it, they actually had completed a significant amount of the cathedral. They were also charging visitors a significant amount more than they used to, but supposedly these funds were going towards the construction of the cathedral, so I could justify that by feeling like my money was going towards making history. It looks even more impressive now than before, and they’re making progress on the tower of the Virgen. Supposedly they will finish enough of the cathedral to start mass services by 2010, though I wouldn’t place any bets on that date of completion.
After seeing Gaudi’s other works like Casa Batlló, we headed back to the hotel for a nap. In the evening, we decided to salsa dance Barcelona at La Antilla; it was a good club that got packed around midnight. We could only hold on for so long as we had walked so much all day and our feet were raw, but it was fun. After having gone to many salsa clubs in LA, I would give it a good on the fun meter; it’s not the best club I’ve been do but it was good.
Saturday, the third day, we headed to the Gothic district. We ate at this amazing restaurant called Montiel, which was highly recommended on tripadvisor. We had catalan toasted bread with tomato and garlic, a tasty tuna tomato salad, followed by tuna tartar garnished with caviar, a tender cochinillo which was the epitome of culinary art, and a French style flan and crema catalana to finish us off with desert. If you ever make it to Barcelona in your travels, we highly recommend Montiel.
The rest of the day we wandered around the Gothic district, in and out of tiny shops. Although we didn’t buy anything, it was fun to window shop and see the area. We also saw a small Dali exhibition, with some pieces we had never seen before. But the best part, was wandering the Gothic quarter itself. You just got yourself lost and wandered around twisting streets that had been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Now we’re at the train station off to Madrid to continue our adventures in Spain. More tomorrow.
Cindy and I arrived in Barcelona on Thursday and were immediately pleased to find that Hotel Villa Emilia was a 4 star hotel that I had managed to nail at an amazing price. After our small hotel in Paris it was a huge relief. Also, the staff was very helpful, and as you will see in the pictures, the hotel had a very cool modern look.
Our first night I showed Cindy around an El Corte Inglés, and the hanging legs of jamón serrano. She told me that while it was definitely more shocking than US supermarkets, the Spanish didn’t have anything on the Chinese what with their hacking up livestock (the key being the live part) on the spot. I had to give her that one.
Later on we walked along the Rambla and found some great jackets for awesome prices at Zara. We then finished our evening with Tapas at 7Sins, which had a live burlesque show/poetry reading. After attending quite a few of my Mom’s poetry readings at Casa Romantica, I wasn’t too impressed by the poetry, but the band and atmosphere were good.
Our second day in Barcelona, we spent seeing the architecture of Gaudi. I took Cindy to Parc Güell, which required a long walk up a hill. I had conveniently forgotten that walk, or maybe we didn’t even do it, because last time I was in Barcelona I’m pretty sure we had a car. The view and park were well worth the climb, and we enjoyed it. Next, we headed to La Sagrada Familia. I noticed that in the 15 years since I had last seen it, they actually had completed a significant amount of the cathedral. They were also charging visitors a significant amount more than they used to, but supposedly these funds were going towards the construction of the cathedral, so I could justify that by feeling like my money was going towards making history. It looks even more impressive now than before, and they’re making progress on the tower of the Virgen. Supposedly they will finish enough of the cathedral to start mass services by 2010, though I wouldn’t place any bets on that date of completion.
After seeing Gaudi’s other works like Casa Batlló, we headed back to the hotel for a nap. In the evening, we decided to salsa dance Barcelona at La Antilla; it was a good club that got packed around midnight. We could only hold on for so long as we had walked so much all day and our feet were raw, but it was fun. After having gone to many salsa clubs in LA, I would give it a good on the fun meter; it’s not the best club I’ve been do but it was good.
Saturday, the third day, we headed to the Gothic district. We ate at this amazing restaurant called Montiel, which was highly recommended on tripadvisor. We had catalan toasted bread with tomato and garlic, a tasty tuna tomato salad, followed by tuna tartar garnished with caviar, a tender cochinillo which was the epitome of culinary art, and a French style flan and crema catalana to finish us off with desert. If you ever make it to Barcelona in your travels, we highly recommend Montiel.
The rest of the day we wandered around the Gothic district, in and out of tiny shops. Although we didn’t buy anything, it was fun to window shop and see the area. We also saw a small Dali exhibition, with some pieces we had never seen before. But the best part, was wandering the Gothic quarter itself. You just got yourself lost and wandered around twisting streets that had been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Now we’re at the train station off to Madrid to continue our adventures in Spain. More tomorrow.
posted by Joe Pulido at
4:07 PM
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