Day 5 Barcelona Trip Review 2010

FINALLY! A completely sunny day in Barcelona from beginning to end!!

And I truly took advantage of it, deciding NOT to go to the Alimentaria Barcelona Food & Drink expo. It was evident immediately. The morning was almost warm as I'd finished my breakfast at Pension Bahia and decided to go to the Mercado de la Boqueria to take some photos and have a coffee at the Bar-Restaurante El Quim.

Upon arriving at the market I realized I'd left my camera in the room. Hmph. The day wasn't starting out well but I made the best of it and ordered a coffee at the popular aforementioned bar. Lots of locals eating there at 10am, some even drinking wine, and I sipped my hot coffee amid the market bustle and surrounding merchants ordering the same over my shoulders.

Since I didn't have my camera I wasn't going to waste my time so I went back to the pension and called ahead to the next pension, Pension Plaza de Goya, to see if my room was ready. It was so I checked out of the Pension Bahia and walked 20 minutes to the other pension, my last lodging establishment of this trip. Another 2 nights here. It was an easy walk, crossing La Rambla and walking to the end of the Carrer de Tallers through the El Raval neighborhood. I was hot and sweating a bit when I arrived but my room was ready and I was glad for that.After taking a few minutes to admire the plaza from my balcony, I stripped off my sweaty clothes, hoping they'd dry by the time I went out again for lunch. And they were.


Now it's about 1:15pm and I make my way back the way I came through El Raval, and went back to the Bar-Restaurant Elisabets - which is in all the guide books and even the maps. And since it's so well known there were several tourists having lunch but several locals as well. I took a seat towards the back with the full-bar view and decided to have their Menú del Día.There were 5 choices for the first course, 5 choices for the second course, 5 dessert choices, and it came with bread and beer, wine, or water. I ordered the Fideua for the first, the solomillo al roquefort for the second course, and, of course, the Crema Catalana for dessert. GOTTA order the Crema Catalana while I'm here in Barcelona whenever it's offered. Oh, and I also chose the half-bottle of house wine.

The total was 10.75 and it was all good. The fideua was much different from that you get in Madrid, which is a normally macaroni paella - instead of using rice. Here, it was simply fried noodles with a dollop of mayonnaise on top. Interesting. The tender solomillo steak pieces with roquefort sauce and sliced mushrooms was very good too. The house wine was decent and very drinkable. But the crema catalana was the best. I enjoyed my lunch while writing postcards to friends - a typical tourist activity over a meal - and chatting with the Catalonian waitress about how TYPICAL we tourists are after she gave me a smirk when seeing me take photos of my food.


Now it's about 2:30pm and I make my way to Plaza de Catalunya where I get the metro to the Sagrada Familia Temple. It was a perfect day for it. Not hot, not too windy, and not cold. It was my 3rd visit to Antonio Gaudi's temple but was more there just to take photos so I didn't rent the audio guide this time. The sky was perfectly clear and blue, making a striking solid-color backdrop for Gaudi's color schemes. I waited about 30 minutes to take the elevator to the top, took in the views from the different towers, squeezing by photo-taking, backpack-wearing tourists, and then walked down the super-duper spiral staircase to finish.


Now I'm done. Tired. My feet hurt. First I'd thought to go over to the Alimentaria expo late in the afternoon but thought better of it. Instead, I took the metro to the Gothic Quarter and started winding my way up and back, up and back, zig-zagging a path towards nowhere in particular - and getting there was half the fun. I stopped at two bars for a sit-down and a beer. One was modern and empty. The other was old, very old, and a bunch of elderly men were playing dominoes in the wooden booths. There was no one at the bar or eating in the back. It was a beautiful place, all wooden, and full of earth tones. This was my kind of place. And since I didn't fit in there, I got a number of stares, not only by the domino players but also by the bar tender which served me the beer. I thanked him, drank it, and left immediately. A 3-minute beer - a new BarcelonaMan record. What I really needed was a stool and there were none at the bar.

I turned a corner and BOOM, I was at the rear entrance to the Barcelona Cathedral where I entered into the beautiful gardens. Now it's about 6:30pm and the light is low, making interesting sunbeams across the plant-filled cloister. There were geese (or large white ducks) swimming in the pool, tropical fish swimming about, and birds singing above. As the sun fell, the soft lights came on and people began lighting votive candles, presumably for not only the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ, but also for the upcoming Holy Week. Soft, far-away chanting could be heard (but was probably coming from tiny speakers tucked away in the corners).

Next, I spent the next 30-40 minutes on the inside of the Barcelona Cathedral. I know I'd been here before but this time, for some reason, it was more special, I was in no hurry, and it was quiet, very few people were inside.

My time in the cathedral was really special. In fact, I was moved by the experience. I'm not a religious person but I found myself somewhat emotional by the art, the history & age, and the size of everything. And, now, just after dark sundown, the illuminated ceiling was something spectacular. Upon leaving I crossed the San Jaume square and sat on a bench for about 20 minutes to admire the structure. It was nice and I felt very peaceful.

It's getting late and I'm a little hungry so I decide to head back through El Raval to Pension Plaza de Goya and get a ham and cheese sandwich on the way - when I realized I have a 10:45pm Flamenco Show at the Palacio del Flamenco. Oh, goodness. I'm beat and would rather be in bed at 10:45 than sitting at a flamenco show until midnight - THEN walking back 8 blocks. Sure hope I can sleep late tomorrow morning.

The flamenco show at Palacio del Flamenco was very good and I enjoyed myself a lot. My V.I.P. seat was along the left side, maybe 3 tables from the deep, wide stage, so I had a wonderful view. The seating area is modern and elegant and most everyone seemingly had just finished their dinner when I arrived for the show. Palacio del Flamenco is located on Carrer Balmes, 139, very close to the DIAGONAL metro station in the upper Eixample.


The flamenco show began with three yellow-dressed ladies, all standing in preparation for the number, when the music started. They remained motionless for a good 60 seconds until they began. The music was perfect, so rich that I was certain it was a recording. But HOW could they possibly use recorded music for a flamenco show, I thought. They wouldn't. Then the curtain rose very slowly, proving to me and the full-house that there were real musicians playing live music. Wow, they were great and I was impressed. All the while I was wondering where I could buy their music.

The flamenco show itself lasted about one hour and fifteen minutes and never ceased to entertain. There were maybe a total of 7 different "sets", all without a break. The featured dancer, a woman dressed in all black, was REALLY something. She danced alone but used the entire stage. Truly impressive. A real professional, as was the entire guitar-playing, singing, and clapping group. I was in Flamenco Heaven!

I took note that the woman playing the violin in the group, I'm CERTAIN, was German-born Lisa Bause of the Barcelona-based, 4-woman flamenco folk band Las Migas, whom I saw in Madrid at one of last year's Suma Flamenca concerts. She's very talented.


The below, taken from the Palacio del Flamenco website:

A show of the purest flamenco

Currently Palacio del Flamenco is offering a show called “El Duende del Palacio” (The goblin of the palace) presented by a cast of 15 artists on stage. Flamenco singers, dancers, guitar players and other musicians are offering a powerful staging and musical event. A journey through different types of Flamenco provides the Flamenco lover with the opportunity to participate intensely in this art performance while the amateur audience will be able to enjoy a wonderful and unforgettable Flamenco night.

The show is made up of original choreography acts including soloist acts. The night begins with the unique and enthusiastic performance of our flamenco group. The guitar and the sound of the palms accompany the "taconeo" and the movement by the “bailaores” that introduce to us in this enthusiastic world.

In our show also, you will be able to see some classic Spanish dance acts with the intention to offer a glimpse of the wonderful ones and varied dances of flamenco

The music, created originally for this show, is interpreted live giving rise to a full picture of plastical beauty, light, and strength. The improvisation between the musicians and the bailaores, makes the show different day to day.

BarcelonaMan can easily recommend seeing a flamenco performance at the Palacio del Flamenco in in the upper Eixample district of Barcelona.




During my walk back, I was tempted to go out, "hit the clubs", and dance Sevillanas 'til dawn. Nahh.... I had another full day tomorrow so I headed back to the Pension Plaza de Goya to get some shut eye. Which is just what I did.

Day 2 Barcelona Trip Review 2010

What a busy day. I got up at 8:15am and went across the street from Hostal Martina for an early breakfast of pan tostado con aceite. Later, I realized it would've been customary to request tomato too, but next time. I'd slept little because I was up so late writing, editing, and making photos for last night's blog entry. And so here we go again tonight. I'm tired. Very tired. Had a long, busy day, much of it spent on my feet.

After breakfast I went directly to the Plaça de Catalunya where I went downstairs in the south eastern corner to the Barcelona Tourist Center. That's not only the main location for tourist information but also to arrange and meet for tours. This morning I was there to take the 10am "Gourmet Barcelona Walking Tour", detailing Barcelona's and Catalonia's most common foods and drinks.

I'd hustled to the information center at 9:45am as expected and then waited another 15 minutes for the tour to start, get instruction about how to turn on and use the individual audio devices. Cristina, our Catalan guide, gave our 2-hour tour in English, which is available only on Fridays and Saturdays at 10am.

Cristina gave me permission to take her photo and use it on the internet. She was a very good, pleasant tour guide and her English was certainly good enough for us to understand her through her microphone and broadcast to our group of 7 persons.


She took us directly down Las Ramblas and through El Raval neighborhood to enter the Mercat de la Boqueria from the "right side". She walked us through, pointed out the typical fruits as well as those which were imported, explained the different types of ham, told about the seasonal "pilgrimages" to collect mushrooms in the mountains, explained how much and how often Spaniards and Catalonians eat fish, and surprised us all with a container of fresh fruit upon leaving the Boqueria Market.

Next, we crossed over into the Gothic Quarter and walked up one street and down the other, stopping at a number of chocolate shops, shops for churros, shops for wines, and other shops for health foods. We ended the gastronomical tour in the other market, recently renovated, the Catalina Market where Cristina presented us all with ticket to have 2 pintxos and a drink at the cafe in the market for free. What a nice detail!

After the wonderful Barcelona food tour I returned to my hostal where I got my thing together to head off to Sitges for the afternoon. Upon arriving by metro to SANTS station, I then began the confusing process of finding out where in the heck the dark green line 2 was. Looking high and low I couldn't find it, just a monitor with confusing directions, so I asked at the information counter and the older woman told me, surprisingly in English, that it left from Via 7. The monitors do not show the line number or color, ONLY the end-stop, and from that you determine your line/via. Happily, walked down the escalator and my regional ceranias train was just arriving. I was nervous. Was THIS the correct train? I wouldn't know until the first stop, to compare to my cercanias regional train map. Sure enough, I was on the right train. Thank goodness.

The train ride, which cost a mere 3 Euros, lasted only 30 minutes maximum to Sitges, a town which has only one station and one cercanias stop. There, a couple of friends were waiting for me and they commenced to tour me around old downtown Sitges and take me from one pintxos bar after another as we talked about life and living in Spain. They're a mixed nationalit couple, one from Finland/England and the other from Spain and they have a small baby which is just adorable.

Sitges is nice. I like it a lot. It seems like a normal town at first glance but upon further inspection you realize it has a certain poshness about it too. They say Sitges is where all the rich and famous live, many business tycoons and Barcelona football players live in the Sitges hills, all with Mediterranean views. Nice. It was a cool, mostly cloudy day but at least it didn't rain more than a few sprinkles. Even with that, there was a very active volleyball tournament taking place across several courts on one of the Sitges Beaches.

We said our goodbyes back at the train station where I got the cercanias train back to Barcelona about 15 minutes after buying the 3 Euro ticket. The double-decker train was almost empty so I had my choice of seats and chose one on the top deck. Getting back to Sants Station, I had to change cercanias trains again for one going to the Plaza de Catalunya, something I didn't realize I could do on the trip out. That was also confusing, trying to figure out which train/via I needed to go from one line to another but I got it right on my first try.

Upon walking up the station steps to the Plaza de Catalunya I realized it was lightly raining, but not enough so that I'd need an umbrella. My walk back to the hostal was slow and my feet hurt, but not enough to keep me from stopping at a bar near my hostal for a couple beers and an order of patatas bravas - which are quite different from those served in Madrid. These are made with a spicy white sauce and is tasty.

I'd arrived at Hostal Martina by about 8pm and saw María, the owner, immediately. She then took me on the grand tour of the entire hostal. I'd seen many of the rooms a few years ago during my last stay but some changes had been made and she was keen to show me. This place is really nice. I'll tell you about it tomorrow night - if I have internet at Pension Bahia, my next lodging establishment. But for now, I'm just going to bed early. Breakfast is served here at the hostal at 9am and I have the "Gothic Barcelona Walking Tour" tomorrow morning at 10am so I'll have to eat fast. Goodnight!

Day 1 Barcelona Trip Review 2010

Today was holiday in Madrid so there was little traffic on the way to Atocha Train Station. I didn't sleep too well with the anxiety of the trip upon me and was looking forward to that first coffee with the served breakfast - and traveling at 300 kilometers per hour.

I'd arrived maybe 25 minutes early for my 8:30am departure on the super-fast AVE train and walked through security in maybe 10 seconds. 15 seconds later I was at my "via" and got in line with those going to Barcelona. 4 minutes later I was next to the train itself and had time to kill so I enjoyed my surroundings and marveled at the pointy nose (actually, it was the rear) of my train. My car was the last one, the "Club Class" car, car #1, la-dee-dah. hehehe...

The Club Class car is a 2 by 1 seating configuration and mine was at the window while my "neighbor" had the aisle. No problem. While I usually request and aisle seat it hardly mattered on this 2 hour and 52 minute trip to Barcelona. Besides, he got off at the only route stop in Zaragoza after just 1 hour and 20 minutes into the journey and so I had the two seats to my self after that.


The breakfast was served swiftly, maybe 20 minutes after leaving Madrid Atocha Train Station. We had a choice from the menu, either a bacon quiche with asparagus on the side or, what I chose, a whipped fried egg with a huge slice of bacon, tomato, croissant, bread roll, tiny bottle of olive oil, and coffee with the strawberry yogurt for dessert. Who has dessert with breakfast? It was all tasty, hot, and served on a large, cloth-covered plastic tray with real china plates, real metal silverware, and real ceramic coffee cups. Everything was "real". Oh, and they served us all juice upon boarding in real glasses, too.

With an hour and a half left in our trip I ventured ahead to mid-train to join a mob of other travelers getting their second coffee of the morning. I was surprised to see one young Spanish women drinking a beer - at 10 o'clock in the morning!? But wha-evuh'. Unfortunately, the windows in the bar-car were at the height of my mid-section so I could see absolutely nothing without bending down. A group of older, shorter Spanish ladies sipping coffee and talking loudly didn't seem to pay any attention to the wonderful views they had thanks to their stature.

We arrived on time, at 11:22am, in Barcelona Sants Station and we all got off immediately. The last time I went to Barcelona was also by train, but they didn't have the fast AVE train yet, not until 2008, and I remember a sense of confusion upon reaching Sants Station with the rest of the travelers. Where do I go?? Not this time. I went straight to the metro and made my way with confidence.

My first stop was to the Barcelona Tourism Office - and they really rolled out the red carpet for lil' ol' me, BarcelonaMan. I thought, "Man! Madrid's Tourism Office doesn't even know MadridMan exists and I live there!!" I'd been in constant correspondence with them for the previous 2 weeks so they were well prepared for my visit. They gave me not only a folder full of useful, detailed tourist literature but also a Barcelona Press Card, issued specifically to me with my name and the dates I'm in Barcelona. The Press Pass is good for entry into nearly every (or every) museum, Antonio Gaudi structure, tours and tour buses, trams, teléfericos, and cultural sites in Barcelona. The list of participating entities is long and distinguished, probably 60 of them. This card isn't for just anyone, mind you, only for media, journalists, and travel professionals such as yours truly. Next time I come to Barcelona, they told me, the Barcelona Press Card would be sent to my hotel.

Next, I checked into my Hostal Martina in the Eixample District at about 1:30pm and the owner was here to meet me. Nice woman. I'd stayed here before and she remembered me. After she showed me my incredible room (wow, wait 'til you see the photos), she invited me to the salon and we drank coffee and chatted for about an hour and a half about the tourism and hostel business and the affect on it from the worldwide economic crisis. As I said, she's a very nice woman and interesting too so the time passed very quickly.

Now it's 2:30pm so I thanked her for the coffee and conversation and excused myself to see Barcelona. For the most part, the morning had been sunny on the train as well as the early afternoon. But no sooner did I leave the hostel did it get cloudy and threaten rain.

My plan was to take advantage of the sunny-ish skies and see Barcelona from "above", from the Mount Tibidabo amusement park and church. There are some wonderful views from that vantage point, but it didn't look like the views would be good afterall as the clouds rolled in. It's just as well, too, because I took the L7 underground TRAIN (not the metro) from the Plaça de Catalunya, got off at the end of the line at Avinguda del Tibidabo, and crossed the street to the Tramvia Blau. I waited with 5 other tourists until one of them discovered that the tram doesn't run on weekdays, ONLY on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Turns out, that's true. And I suspected as much but thought since it was a holiday in Madrid today that it was the SAME holiday here in Barcelona. Nu-uh. Nope. Not here. The Tramvia Blau DOES normally run everyday but only from the spring through autumn - and we're about a week (??) away from officially entering spring. So... Maybe tomorrow/Saturday? Doubtful. Maybe Sunday? More possible. But it all depends on the weather. They say it'll rain all weekend. Wonderful.

So after all the newly-informed tourists left the Tramvia Blau stop, I crossed the street once again to "Hop On" the Barcelona Bus Turistic and "simply" use that as my transportation back to the Plaça de Catalunya. This was a mistake as I quickly found out. Not only was I sitting in the back-of-the-bus on the lower level, my seat was like two steps up from the surface and A) my head kept hitting the air conditioner unit with every road bump and B) I couldn't see out the window until I bent over to waist-height. (I know, this seems to be becoming a common theme) Not only that, but the bus was full-full-full and then there was traffic and it took nearly an hour to reach the Plaza de Catalunya. I'll take the bus again and sit on top IF the weather's good as I'm fighting a cold now and won't take any chances.

I get off the bus, now it's like 5pm and I STILL haven't eaten lunch and nearly starved. I text my buddy S.R. in Madrid, asking him where that bar in the Boqueria Market he raves about with their good food and drinks. He quickly replies and I make my way to the market for a wonderful meal, real local goods I'm imagining. If you haven't been there before, the Boqueria Market is beautiful - BUT BIG. ENORMOUS, in fact, and the stands/stalls are all very close together. I'm going 'round and 'round looking for this bar-restaurant, "Restaurante El Quim", it's called. I can't find it anywhere! Eventually I do come across a layout map of all the merchants and find the bar. GREAT! So I go to the area where it should be. Nothing. Can't find it. I ask a merchant, a real fish monger wench, (and I write that with all due respect to not only her gender but for the hard job that it is) and she kindly points me around the corner, still going around in circles with no luck, and finally I see the sign. Restaurante El Quim. IT'S CLOSED! ARGH!!!! I imagine they have "normal" restaurant hours and, well, logically, it would be closed at 5pm - now 5:30pm - but hoped since it was in the market which never closes, except at night, that they'd stay open too. Nope. My loss. Okay. Another day it will have to be. I did enjoy, however, watching the piles upon piles of shellfish at the seafood merchants. They had a coule of lobsters which were as big as my thighs!! (look closely in the photo below)


I walk upward through the El Raval neighborhood and find the famed "Elisabets" bar-restaurant. I'd eaten their menu del dia the last time I was in Barcelona and like it fine, Catalan food at very good prices. So I take a table in the middle of the restaurant, very casual setting and I'm tired and ready to eat. The waiter comes along and tells me they JUST closed the kitchen and only have cold foods. Huh! No thanks. He apologizes and I leave dejected and a stomach as empty as the Tramvia Blau on a Friday afternoon - before spring. Man! I just can't catch a break today!

Continuing up through El Raval, now at 5:50pm, I see a place I'd passed before but never stopped in the Bar Castells on Plaça Bonsucces, 1. THIS is my kind of place (for good or for bad). It's unassuming, basic, home made food at very reasonable prices. The place is mostly empty except for a group of 20-something Spanish women chatting away over their coffees and a (guessing) Norwegian family talking about Barcelona, and an English family calmly sipping wine. Otherwise, the dining room is about empty. The bar, on the other hand, is packed with people having coffee or merienda. THIS IS THE TIME, afterall, not for a big meal as I was about to order. And so I did...

My order, a cardiac attack waiting to happen, included three slices of lomo (pork steak), 2 long links of sausage, a fried egg, fried potatoes, and (thankfully!) three large slices of tomato. This large combination plate, when ordered, brought a surprised look from the face of my Spanish waiter (who in the world would order such a thing at THIS HOUR?!) and I expected similar looks from those around me upon the arrival of my plate. But, luckily, the Spanish women behind me didn't seem to notice and I tried to eat quickly, attempting to remove the majority portion so as not to bring disapproving stares from passersby. It was good, though, and only cost 6.40 Euros. Add a HUGE mug of beer and the total was 9.60 Euros. Leave a very Spanish tip of 40 Eurocents and that's a 10 Euro lunch, folks, and a good one at that; unassuming, tasty, good portions, in a comfortable setting. What more could you ask?

Now it's 6:45pm, getting dark, raining a little more seriously, so I decide to head back to Hostal Martina and get some work done, write this blog, make some phone calls, and relax a bit after a long, somewhat unsuccessful first day in Barcelona.

But on my walk back, I stop in to one of these self-serve candy stores where they have 1001 items you scoop yourself and take up to the cash register. I'm standing there in line, mindin' my own business, when a hoard ot 12-15 year olds rush into the shop, going straight to the back, then all rush back out the door 15 seconds later, some of them with pockets full of candies, you can hear the wrappers rustling around, big stupid grins on their faces. The last kid through opened the bin right in front of the register, grabbed a handful of stuff, and ran out as the clerk grabbed her camera and tried to take photos of them as they all ran away. This prompted another girl of the same age to come into the store, telling the clerk that it was illegal to take photos of minors and that, get this, one of the kids she was photographing was her cousin. And if she, the girl complaining, catches the clerk photographing minors again she'll smash her face in. Can you believe that? All these kids were well-groomed and dressed in school uniforms, all carrying book bags, middle-to-upper class kids, and having a ball stealing from the local Chinese-operated candy shop, giggling and having fun committing their crimes to the delight of their friends waiting on the sidewalk to make their collective get-away, a successful grab-and-dash, a story they'll enjoy telling to anyone who'll listen - except to their parents. That wouldn't be "cool".

So here I sit, reclined on my large bed in my large room at Hostal Martina, very comfortable in my pajamas, admiring the beautifully tiled floors and ornate ceiling, and my mansion sized bathroom in the architecturally modernisme Eixample (Dret) neighborhood, just above Barcelona's Old Quarter. It's probably the best area in which to stay in Barcelona as you're close to everything but with a much lower tourist-to-local ratio.

Tomorrow's another day, starting early with breakfast provided here at the hostal, then a Gourmet Barcelona Walking Tour, a Catalan cuisine sampling, taking place mostly in the Mercat de la Boqueria market. This tour was highly recommended by the woman at the Barcelona Tourist Office so I'm anxious to go. Immediately after the tour I'm off to Sitges, a Mediterranean coastal town about 35 minutes south by train. There, I'll have a tapas lunch with some old friends. Looking forward to that too! Hope we have good weather.