Convent dels AngelsBarcelona is a lively city with great architecture, many excellent food choices, an easy to use Metro system, an army of well-priced taxis and no discretionary 'service' tax like London. We stayed in an Air BnB just off La Rambla, which did not quite live up to its description - as sometimes happens - but was handily situated to be able to go anywhere easily. Continue reading
It's always a pleasure to go to Barcelona!
Having spent three weeks there with Helen, our daughter, last year and not spoken a word since, my Spanish was more than a little rusty, but the Catalonians mainly speak their own dialect anyway, so it doesn't really make much difference. Continue reading
So many good restaurants and so little time!
That is the problem, even with three weeks in Barcelona - and that does not include all the fabulous other attractions. We still haven't got anywhere near going to Figueres to the Dali museum and many other things which were on the agenda. Two weeks stretching our brains with Spanish grammar (though it really needs to be four to cover all the tenses) at language school just ate into our time... Continue reading
Well, as I begin what one of my young professional friends described as my 'new nomadic life' I take my law degree and business degree in hand and ... go to Barcelona to study Spanish of course!
![sashimi]](https://sabato.co.nz/media/wysiwyg/images/Blog/13_Japan/sashimi.jpg)
I don't know if any of you find actually getting away the most stressful part of the trip, but I do!
Life has been almost too busy with births, deaths, and also farewells to some staff moving overseas and then welcoming new people, plus house purchasing. Our lovely Spaniard, May, from our showroom, now has little Pablo, who rolled over by himself the other day! Hattie who started as a student 7 years ago has moved to London with her fiancé Nick, and we certainly have had enough funeral practice in the last few months with the deaths of Johnnie from our showroom, Phil's father, and then Bettina just before I left, who 7 years ago started in our showroom, but most recently did in-store tastings for our retailers. Our very best wishes go to her and Johnnie's families. Continue reading
Barcelona remains a very cool place to dine. From the humble tapas bar with a small selection of cured meats and padron peppers to the more avant garde Michelin-starred restaurants, the spectrum of Spanish food is well covered. Don't expect the tapas bars or the small local restaurants to be cheap. If they are serving up a quality experience using good quality ingredients, you will pay for it. Continue reading
Thursday in Barcelona and the last day of Alimentaria. However with a general strike throughout Spain planned and definitely no Metro or trains operating, getting there and back would be more than problematic, so we don't even try.
We are awakened by the sound of protesters heading to La Rambla to show their solidarity. Small bunches of the discontented passing underneath our hotel windows. Shopkeepers determined to keep open, lower the bars protecting their shops from the street as the protesters pass by Continue reading
We arrived at 8am on a crisp Sunday morning. No queues, taxis galore and virtually no traffic made us think the trip to the hotel would be extra simple, as we did not know about the marathon.
'The roads are closed around your hotel, so I will drop you nearby and give you directions,' said the taxi driver. Great. Just what we needed after 30 hours getting there. Continue reading
Extra long travel times, lost luggage and colds punctuated our recent journey to Spain, but we travelled widely, saw a lot, and ate and drank, on the whole, extremely well.
Would you like to know more?
Go there! It is one of the most civilized cities in the world - but it has a special magical touch all of its own. Continue reading
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