I used to dream of a job that allows me to travel with work. The reality is that, unless the business IS travelling, there usually isn’t much time, if any at all, to enjoy the destination. The best way to circumvent this is to add a few days before or after the reason for the trip. That’s exactly what I did after a recent work-related trip to Barcelona. I just added a few days after the conference I attended, and decided to follow suggestions from friends that either lived or used to live in Barcelona, or who had spent a lot of time there for various reasons. I wanted to enjoy Barcelona like a local.
Barcelona’s beaches
I headed to Barcelona early November, when winter was definitely on its way in London, with a suitcase full of autumn clothing. Little did I know that in Barcelona, autumn hadn’t quite arrived yet. I landed in the most abundant sunshine and knew instantly that I wouldn’t have any use for my woolly jumpers and winter coat. Instead, I headed up to the rooftop terrace of the H10 Marina hotel with short sleeves and my sunglasses on my nose, to enjoy the bright blue skies and views over the city and to the ocean next to the spotless hotel pool. The event was only due to begin the next day, so I had time for a brief stroll to the nearby Platja de la Nova Icària, one of the city beaches, with my friend and workmate Annie. The walk only takes ten minutes and right at the beach is a cute little beach bar called La Carmelita, which has some seriously great Mojitos on offer during their Happy Hour between 2:00 and 6:00 pm.
While the area around the hotel seems a bit bleak in general, the hotel and proximity to the beaches is a big plus. During the evenings, we usually ventured out of that area to enjoy some tapas in one of the many great restaurants all over Barcelona.
Eating tapas
Whilst I did try to squeeze in as many tapas restaurants as possible during my stay and they were all great, my favourite was Casa Lolea. The traditional tapas menu was complemented by some seriously amazing seafood dishes such as tuna tartar and sea bass ceviche. As an aperitif, we were served Casa Lolea’s own secret blend of Sangria. We went for the white variant, a refreshing and fruity wine cocktail. The colourful and white-dotted signature bottles of their Sangria can be purchased in the restaurant.
Next on my list would be La Bombeta. When I called for a reservation, I was told they don’t take reservations and asked what time we wanted to come. Whilst 8:00 pm is a relatively normal to late time for dinner in Germany in England, the lady on the phone said I wouldn’t have to worry about coming around that time. In Barcelona, very few people have dinner as early as this. In consequence, we only had to wait the length of half a beer at the bar before the waiter assigned us a table to enjoy our “bombas”, a larger type of croquet with potato and meat filling and a spicy aioli sauce. I also particularly enjoyed their “alcachofas a la plancha” (grilled artichokes) but overall, all food was delicious and not very pricey at all.
I experienced a slightly different take on Spanish food at Sagardi in the cute little lanes of Barcelona’s Gothic quarters, offering pinchos. A pincho or pintxo (in Basque) is a small snack just like tapas, the main difference being that pinchos are usually ‘spiked’ with a skewer or toothpick, often to a piece of bread. In this restaurant, a variety of pinchos are displayed on the bar, each cost the same. Guests can just serve themselves from the bar or take some of the hot pinchos that the waiters bring out. The restaurant calculates the bill based on the number of toothpicks left on the plate (why make it complicated when it can be made simple). After a week with lots of local red wine, I craved some salt so the sardines and boquerones were my favourites, but again, all pinchos I tasted were amazing (and I had A LOT).
Other nice food places that I have either been to or had recommendations for are:
- La Malandrina (low-key and cosy, apparently serving the best value steak meal in Barcelona according to Tripadvisor)
- Pepa Tomate in Gracia (modern tapas place with great food)
- Paco Meralgo (“classy” tapas place that gets packed)
- Sete Portas (Most high-end of the four, Paella is the speciality)
Dancing Salsa
I have tried to dance Salsa on several occasions, and every time I up ended saying that I’ll just give up on trying to learn it. As much as I’d like to, I just can’t seem to get my head around it. I’m finding this quite frustrating because I’d really like to be able to learn how to dance Salsa. So when we went out with my friend Stephanie, who lives in Barcelona and kindly let me crash at her beautiful apartment in laid-back and cosy Gràcia, and I was told we’re going to a Salsa bar, I thought maybe tonight I’ll finally get it.
We landed at Don Ramon, which looks like a “normal” bar from the outset, until you open a door covered with plants and thus merging neatly into the entire wall, which is also completely abundant with plants. This door leads to the “Salsa dungeon”. As soon as I set foot in the place, I was drawn in as nearly everyone in the small place was dancing their hearts out to Salsa and Reggaeton rhythms. Pretty soon, I had my gin and tonic thrown all over me when I stupidly attempted to combine dancing and drinking in the crowded bar. With that lesson learnt, I opted for less multi-tasking – and more dancing. Thankfully, Stephanie’s friends were very patient with my poor attempts and I had a lot of fun. I’m afraid I still haven’t discovered my talent for Salsa just yet but I’ll keep it up!
Sightseeing: Montjuïc and the works of Gaudí
On the first day off in Barcelona, I decided to just go for a wander from Gràcia into town and to pop by Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s still unfinished masterpiece. Construction of the beautiful Roman Catholic church started in 1882 under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. Gaudí took over as chief architect a year later, when de Villar resigned. He transformed the project with his architectural style and devoted the remainder of his life to the project. He now lies buried in the crypt. At the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, when he was run down by a streetcar, less than a quarter of the project was complete. It is anticipated that the building can be completed by 2026, exactly a hundred years after Gaudí’s death.
Upon discovering that tickets to go inside were sold out for days to come, I decided to follow Stephanie’s advice to visit Casa Batlló instead, a UNESCO World Heritage site and another one of Gaudí’s masterpieces. I’m really not a museum-type of person but I don’t see how anyone would not be fascinated by the works of Gaudí. The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), as it has a something primeval and skeletal about it.
I took the interactive audio tour guide and spent a good hour and half or more listening in awe to the background behind most of the surreal designs and crazy orientation to detail. There are few straight lines, and many of the house’s features resemble sea or mythical creatures as well as features and colours of the sea (blue tones, waves for example). It was the perfect way to spend a rainy day in Barcelona.
It might not be something that locals do very often, but Steph assured me that she still loves going up to Park Güell. It would have been a shame not to go anyway on the beautiful sunny November day that presented itself to us on my last full day in Barcelona. The park was built from 1900 to 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under “Works of Antoni Gaudí”. It’s a huge urban park with impressive buildings, spires and terraces, the latter now being payable in contrast to a few years ago. We didn’t bother paying for the terraces and just wandered around the park in the sunshine to take it all in and enjoy the wonderful views over this stunning city.
