Adiós España

Brutal 6:45 a.m. alarm.

Smooth bus trip to the airport.

Easy ticketing, easy security.  Flight on time.

Adios España

Last Day in Spain

Another late morning for everyone.  This time Dylan stayed back with me, while Jenny, Liam and Ali headed out to the beach.  Dylan and I did a little clean up, some web surfing and started packing.  After the beachgoers returned and washed up around 2 pm, we all headed out for a little souvenier and gift shopping.

We walked from our neighborhood over the the Plaça de Catalunya, in and out of little gift shops, souvenier stores and even the big department store, El Corte Ingles.   Everyone found what they were looking to bring back to the States.

Guess what came next?   Late lunch at Txapela Euskal Taberna just north of the plaza.  Good spot to have a drink, a little bite to eat and to watch the shoppers parade along the rambla before returning home to our aparment.

Jenny made a solo run to the cathedral, which we had passed on our way back to the apartment.  While there she found the one souvenier she wanted:  a “loose” baby Jesus.   Not loose that way;  loose in the sense of not being part of a complete nativity set.   We’d somehow misplaced the one that was in our nativity set, so she was looking for a replacement.  Yes, replacement baby Jesus.   He’s actually more of a toddler Jesus.   Look at our nativity set next Christmas and you’ll see what I mean.

With everyone back at the apartment by 6:30, we had some time to do a final cleanup before our proprietor Samuel came by to check out the place and, more importantly return our 200 Euro cash deposit. 

After our meeting with Samuel, we relaxed for a while then headed out for our final dinner in Spain at 9 pm.   We returned to Sagardi Euskal Taberna.   Great way to end the trip - 27 toothpicks.

Ali and Dylan made a final stop at Tomo II for a crepe and then it was home to bed.

Two Wild and Crazy Guys - part 2

What really happened at icebarcelona?

Two Wild and Crazy Guys*

* this picture post to be viewed while listening to this song

Club visited after icebarcelona

Beverages

Some of our favorite beverages in Spain:

Cerveza

Fanta Limon and Fanta Limon with Rioja

Fanta Naranja

Sangria

Aquarius (kind of like Gatorade)

Mojito

Pink Fish

Vermouth on tap (image via Google images)

Monday Night in Barcelona

All that sightseeing can make you hungry, so on our way back home, we stopped at  Ciudad Condal Cerveceria on Rambla de Catalunya, just north of Plaça de Catalunya.  Ice cold beer, sangria and tasty tapas fueled us up for the walk home.

 
That night, Ali decided to stay in.  She was getting off the tapas train for a little chillaxin at the apartment.   That did not stop the rest of us.

(image via Google images)

We headed back out of the neighborhood around 10 pm and back to the Eixample for a small local tapas bar called La Bodegueta.  Four seats for us at the bar, no English, busy staff behind the bar, you know the rest.  Those tables out on the sidewalk or alongside the square may look inviting, but if you want the real experience get to the bar.   One of the bartenders at La Bodegueta, a woman probably in her 50s, began to refer to us as “la familia” and said “adios, la familia” as we left.

(image via Google images)

We got back on the Metro at 11:45 for a two transfer trip down to the Barceloneta stop.  The boys were going clubbing at the beach, specifically Icebarcelona, a club that is all ice inside.   Jenny and I walked back to our apartment, stopping for a little ice (cream) of our own at Tomos II.

Not so sacred family at La Sagrada Familia

Our soccer pilgrimage complete, we got back on the metro and returned to the Sagrada Familia.  The line was MUCH shorter.   Took about 15 minutes, during which a French couple ahead of us tried to form a group of 20 to enter immediately.  We joined in and a group was formed, but when they checked, they learned groups had to make advance bookings.   Oh well.

Gaudi’s cathedral is jaw-dropping.   It looks like something out of Dr. Suess.  The stained glass work is brilliant.   And it is a long way from being finished.   The construction is being managed by the church community and funded by private donations and admission fees.   I was glad to fork over the 54 Euros to get in, knowing it would be a small donation to keep the work going.

I’m still processing my experience at the Sagrada Familia in contrast to my experience at the cathedral in Toledo.   The Sagrada Familia left me inspired, maybe because it is still a work in progress.

Barcelona Sightseeing

We had settled into Barcelona - another late rising morning on Monday. Jenny and Alison made a quick bakery run before we headed out on our only day of sightseeing in Barcelona.

We took the metro to the Sagrada Familia, Antonin Gaudi’s cathedral that is still under construction after over 100 years. It’s dazzling on the outside, but there was more evidence that Barcelona had many more tourists than the other cities we visited - a line that went nearly around the entire cathedral block. Time for Plan B.

We headed back on the metro and headed over to Camp Nou, home of our beloved FC Barcelona.   Another long line, but this one we stayed in.   There is a convenient Pans & Co. across from the ticket booth, so we were able to get a few jamon iberico on baguette sandwiches to munch on while we waited in line.   Took about 25 minutes to get through the line, then another 10 to get in once we had the tickets.

 

I would guess there were a few thousand people going through Camp Nou.   Many times more than at the Bernabeu.   All those European football fans on vacation in Barcelona.   While the Camp Nou tour had the same elements of the Bernabeu tour (museum, trophy room, dressing room, pitchside, bench area, press conference room, etc), there were two things that made this tour different.   The tour also included the press box itself, and you were able to sit there with no one rushing you along.   Very cool view, with monitors overhead displaying photos, film and audio clips of reports and stats on the press that covers the team. 

Second difference was more atmospheric.   The Camp Nou museum/trophy area had more interactive multimedia displays and therefore seemed more contemporary than Bernabeu.  OK, there is a third thing:  we’re Barça fans.

Tapas Crawl Barcelona

The Sagardi Euskal Taberna is a stand up tapas bar that runs on the honor system.   It serves pintxos - tapas on top of slices of baguette - each with a toothpick in the top securing whatever deliciousness is on top to the baguette slice below.  The pinxtos are displayed all along the bar on two glass shelves open on both sides.   All night servers bring plates of pinxtos out from the kitchen and place them on the shelves. 

You order a drink from the bartender and pick up a plate to serve yourself.  You then walk along the bar, picking out whatever you’d like.   Secure a spot at the bar or one of the stand up tables and enjoy your tapas.  But save your toothpicks.   That is how the bartender knows how much you’ve had and what to put on la cuenta.

Amazing how quickly you can get to 25-30 toothpicks with five people!

The environment was great, because you are continually interacting with other customers as you pick tapas off the bar shelves.  Very fun and another contender for best tapas bar.

Just across the square from Sagardi is Taller de Tapas, a bit more formal tapas bar.  The food and service were good, but it would not contend for the best.

Our mini-crawl complete, we headed out into the neighborhood again for a little more exploring.   We returned to our apartment and Liam learned that cousin Danny Harper would not be able to make it to Barcelona from France, as he couldn’t make the train trip work for the time we were there.  That put a little kink in the boys’ plans to go clubbing Monday and Tuesday nights (or, rather, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings).

Sunday Morning in Barcelona

Our late Saturday night caught up wth all of us, me especially.   So, we had to take a traveller’s dispensation for Mass.  Jenny and Liam headed out to find breakfast pastry and while wandering discovered that Barceloneta beach is only a 10 minute walk from our apartment.   Looks like we had a plan for the day.

After their breakfast nosh, Jenny and the kids packed up and headed out to the beach.  Me, of the fair Irish skin and wee hangover, stayed in for a little while longer.   I eventually caught up with the crew about two hours later.  The beach is great.  Incredibly diverse crowd from all over and so close to downtown Barcelona, with a metro stop right next to the main marina for those not lucky enough to be within a ten minute walk.

Late in the afternoon we headed home to clean up and head out for a mini-tapas crawl El Born style.

First Night in Barcelona

Our first dinner in Barcelona was at Tapaç 24, recommended as a go-to spot in our Ramos guide.   This is the tapas place run by chef Carles Abellan, who trained with Ferran Adria at El Bulli.  Abellan runs an even better known restaurant called Commerç 24, where he puts his molecular gastronomy training to work.   But getting a table there requires advance reservations, especially during high tourist season.  We tried, but they were booked.  Another to-do for our return trip.

Tapaç 24 is in the Eixample (eye-sham-plah) neighborhood in Barcelona, a few metro stops north of our apartment, or a 20 minute walk.  It was jammed when we arrived, but after a brief wait with a drink barside, we were able to get a table on the street.  We had our first serious rival for best tapas bar.   The tapas were a bit more inventive, like you might expect from the kitchen of an Adria-trained chef.  Had we been able to sit barside, or even inside, Tapaç 24 might have narrowly edged out Bodega Castañeda as best tapas bar.

patatas bravas

grilled squid

effect on tongue

On our way back to El Born we stopped by the cathedral, to see if we could figure out when masses were held on Sunday.  The cathedral is currently under renovation, so there are limited mass times.   We also strolled through the neighborhood a bit more, stopping by Tomo II, an artisenal gelateria and crepe shop, which, of course, we sampled.

crepe with gelato on top