The Rain in Spain - Travelogue Part 1 - Barcelona

Parc Guell, designed by Antoni Gaudi, and a beautiful view of Barcelona (look, no rain!)

Hola, mi amigos! We’ve recently returned from a dream vacation to Spain. Two weeks, three cities, total of five diverse regions to explore. Wow! The culture, the architecture, churches, museums, all the walking. Friendly people, both locals and fellow travelers. Food and drink that more than lived up to its stellar reputation. Foodie trends in the areas where we stayed – Barcelona/Catalonia, and the Basque Country (San Sebastian/Bilbao) – include gin-tonics (the ‘&’ is silent), tapas, and pintxos: small plates and even smaller bites eaten while standing in a crowd of friends, new and old. 
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Pintxos bar in San Sebastian -- just look at all the options!

Spain is a fascinating mix of people, languages, culture and food, but if there is one thing all Spaniards share, it's a love of food and drink.
                                                                                 -- Jose Andres,  World renowned chef

We’re going to borrow the small bites concept and apply it to the format of this España travel post. We will serve up mouthwatering morsels of local flavor to illustrate a full tasting menu of our Spanish vacation. Destination details, cultural cues, foodie finds, and travel tips. All will be revealed. Forks up, and away we go! First off, let’s get our lingo squared away. 
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Tapas: Small Spanish savory dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar. Origin: Tapa literally means ‘cover, lid’ (because the dishes were given free with the drink, served on a dish balanced on, therefore ‘covering’, the glass). (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)

Pintxos: Pronounced peen-chos, pintxos are Basque snacks served in bars, resembling tapas. the main difference between pintxos and tapas is that pintxos uses toothpicks to avoid the food top from falling off the bread slice bottom. (Source: YourDictionary.com)
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​Next, we need some music. How about a little tango by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra?

We heard them perform an excellent program of Mozart and Haydn at the beautiful L’Auditori concert hall. ​

​TRAVEL TIP: It's fun to participate in the local cultural scene aside from yet another museum or made-for-tourists event. Check an online events calendar for neighborhood festivals or free concerts in the park. 

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Okay, now we’re ready, vámonos.
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First impressions of Barcelona, the first stop on our holiday:

• Stunning architecture, modern and centuries-old, side by side with urban decay, graffiti, and the detritus of daily life. Interesting to see that Barcelona does not attempt to “Disney-fy” the tourist areas by making everything clean and sparkly all the time. This is what a modern city with an ancient heritage looks like in 2017.
• Loud and busy, like most cities. Our rental apartment in a beautiful old (uninsulated) building faced the street, so I can tell you that garbage pick-up begins at 5am and traffic revs up around 7:00.
• Scooters everywhere. My theory is that Barcelona bebès are issued a motorcycle helmet and a starter-pack of cigarettes (also everywhere) as soon as they vacate the birth canal. 

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

That Antoni Gaudí fella – what a character, eh?! A brilliant, creative, obsessive visionary of an architect who left his mark all over this beautiful city. We were lucky to visit a few Gaudí sites – La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, and La Pedrera. They’re all extremely crowded with tourists and more tourists, but if you’re in Barcelona you need to visit them anyway. Be sure to allow enough time for exploring the colorful and imaginative work of an artist who saw the world through his own distinct lens.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

Gaudi was only one of many architects and artists to make a splash in Barcelona. There are many fine museums and public art displays around the city. We visited the Picasso Museum, theMuseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), and The Fundació Joan Miró. On an excursion to the Costa Brava we visited Salvador Dali’s museum in Figueres. What. A. Trip. 

TRAVEL TIP: Your stamina may be better than mine, but as a general rule visiting more than one museum per day is a baaaaad idea. Mix up the routine with some nature/outdoor activities. 

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

The people of Barcelona love to spend their free time outdoors, whether it's strolling La Rambla in the evening or sharing space with the pigeons at Placa Catalunya or congregating with friends in the squares and stand-up bars in El Born and the Gothic Quarter. One of the city's green treasures is Parc de la Ciutadella near the Arc de Triomf, a well-used park with fountains, sculptures, gardens, and playgrounds. We also spotted The Mojito Man, a local entrepreneur plying his wares to the sun-worshippers all over the lawns. We did not wave him down, but gave it careful consideration. 

Now let's discuss the food and drink. Yes, it's true that meals start later and last longer than we Americans are accustomed to -- 90 minutes or more for lunch (with wine), and 9pm is about the earliest time you can make a dinner reservation -- but never fear, you will not go hungry during the "off hours" in this foodie-friendly city. You can always find a tasty snack at one of the many bodegas, tapas joints, and pintxos bars that stay open seemingly around the clock.  

• We made only one dinner reservation in advance and it was our least favorite meal in Barcelona. My advice is to browse in person and be spontaneous in your dining choices. 
• That said, there's an excellent restaurant in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya called Oleum - highly recommended for lunch during your museum crawl. 
• A big advantage to renting an apartment vs a hotel stay is the ability to keep fruit, wine, cheese, charcuterie, etc. on-hand for breakfasts and light suppers. It's convenient and economical.
• Grocery store wine in Barcelona is really cheap and surprisingly delicious! 
• As I mentioned earlier, gin-tonics  are very popular in Spain and so is vermouth. We tried them both and went back for more G&Ts. Interpret that as you will. 
• Jamon Iberico (ham) is a delectable specialty of this region. Be sure to try it at least once. And if you are like us, you'll bring home a delicatessen's worth of vacuum-sealed meat in your suitcase.  

​Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

Finally, a few travel tips if you're planning a trip to Barcelona:

• This is a city best explored by walking. Comfortable shoes will help you navigate those cobblestone streets much more easily than stilettos, just sayin'. 
• Buy your skip-the-line tickets in advance for the big attractions such as Sagrada Familia. 
• That said, do allow yourself enough freedom in the schedule for spontaneity. The unplanned moments often turn out to be the most memorable.
• The hop-on hop-off (HOHO) double-decker tourist bus is a great way to gain an overview of the city on Day 1 or 2 of your trip.
• Although most locals speak English, it's courteous and much appreciated to be prepared with a few phrases in Spanish or Catalan. 

We will now say "Adios y Gracias" to Barcelona, and plan to return soon with another post about Basque Country, the next stop on our awesome Spanish vacation. Until we meet again!