To begin, for a city of 1.6 million, BCN doesn’t seem that big. Perhaps this is because of its topography – hemmed in by hills on three sides and the Mediterranean on another – it spreads out side-to-side.
Thus it is possible to walk from top to bottom in 1 ½ hours. Amazing for such a large city. Or perhaps it’s because the people are friendly, engaging, and welcoming.
In our El Born area, shopkeepers wave to us every day – you would think we lived here! (And, fyi, Barcelona draws more tourists per year than Madrid which is twice as big – perhaps because of all the above.)
Recently, the two of us enjoyed an ancient Moorish hamman that exists under El Born. There apparently were baths here from Roman times, and this re-creation has been lovingly and carefully done. Elsa went to Baños Arabes two times and then successfully talked Dale into trying it out – the temperature pools, the steam bath, and massage. It was terrific!!!
In our little area there are three squares we have grown to love.
Plaza de los Olles (plaza of pots, or stockpots, or rotten pots – take your pick). Interesting buildings, nice shade, and Cal Pep, the most famous tapas restaurant we never visited.
Passeig del Born, the slender square where medieval jousts were held, full of people on any given night whether warm or cool.
Plaza de la Santa María del Mar, 30 feet from our door, always crowded with tourists and locals alike, talking , drinking, eating – gazing at the beautiful church.
Every time we walk by any of them Elsa wants to take another photo – reflecting the wish to keep them with us every day.
Then there’s the trash – now, did you ever wonder how the trash is picked up in these teeny streets? And, it’s picked up often. Really – it doesn’t stay near the trash bins for long. Well, they make really small trash trucks to pick stuff up, and they come by often. Dale thinks this offers great job security and recommends it as a career path.
We’ll miss ole Chris Columbus, pointing away from Barcelona (we could have gone into more detail during this blog about BCN’s persecution complex – for more info, email us.) We prefer Picasso’s rendition of CC to the statue – and here is it.
And we’ll miss Gehry’s headless fish, the beach, and the clubs we never visited – because most of them don’t even open until 1 AM, well past our bed time.
The food has been amazing, as you can tell from what we have written. One of our favorites, Senyor Parellada, is housed in a boutique hotel, Banys Orientals, located nearby on Carrer Argenteria (the silver street). The interior is classic Art Nouveau. The restaurant is jam-packed day and night. The day we left, we had our last meal there.
During our last week we lunched at the Restaurant 7 Portes – named for the seven different rooms in this old and very famous restaurant where supposedly the best paella in Barcelona is served. Well, we’re not sure it was the best – but the restaurant itself was lovely, as was the service.
We met a young American woman on a semester-abroad program in BCN – Frances, the cousin of a Smith friend – and she clued us in to some of the happening places that students love.
Bó de B was one – again very near our place (but face it, everything was near our apartment). It is kinda' the Subway of Barcelona because you select the various vegetables you want to have on top of the meat, along with various sauces, thus creating huge sandwiches on delicious bread with great meat (beef or chicken) and lots of fresh vegetables on top (for about $5.00). A great bargain for students – we appreciated the bargain and loved the food. There is a line there every day, all day and night long. And the comparison to Subway undervalues it – these sandwiches were amazing! Go Frances!
Every now and then we craved something quick and easy – for us that was generally the BCN equivalent of a gyro pita – without the pita bread as we know it. Below was our favorite spot -- right on the way to the beach!
And then there were the wonderful little restaurants we discovered just by accident, walking around.
L’Ou Comballa, near our apartment on a small narrow street not on the normal pathway, is one. We saw the candle-filled place as we ventured by, loved the ambience, checked the menu, and decided to give it a try. The menu features Moroccan, Spanish, French, and Italian food.
We tried the Moroccan fare and were very pleased with a wonderful fresh fruit salad starter, a pastilla with chicken, a beef tagine with couscous, and poached fresh figs for dessert. It was a delightful meal in a lovely setting on a Sunday night. We had intended for this to be an early evening, but we got engrossed in the food and the experience, and it was near mid-night when we arrived home.
Ah food – we go on and on about it – such an important part of our daily living.
A few more memories --
Sagardi's little tapas
and the larger and more sophisticated raciones from Taller de Tapas.
Now the photo of the peppers -- another secret we've been keeping from you. Pimientos Padron they are called, and they are awesome! Picante, but not burning hot. Crisply roasted with coarse salt -- incredible. We found out that Padron refers to a kind of pepper, so we bought seeds and brought them home. Soon, on the West Coast -- Pimientos Padron!
We’ve been saving Bar Salvador – our very favorite nearby place – to tell you about.
For only 10 Euros/person its menu del día was so tasty, with a woman who cooks the most amazing onion soup and a different chicken every day from a tiny kitchen.
She also makes a mean bocadillo con huevos fritos y bacon – basically a fried bacon and egg sandwich. All the while great jazz and oldies such as Frank singing in the background. Such a great place! Oh, we’ll miss it!
We also loved the markets in Barcelona. La Boqueria is a very large central market right off Las Ramblas that is fabulous, huge, and beautiful. In the above photo it's all decorated for the holidays.
We walked there often, sometimes just to gaze at all the wonderful various food displays.
And who can forget the Santa Caterina market just a 10-minute walk from our apartment with its distinctive multi-colored roof.
All of the markets are beautiful montages that reflect the variety of foods that make the Barcelona lifestyle so wonderful.
Light fixtures – have we mentioned them before? Don’t think so, and yet there are so many different designs all over the city. Who could choose? Here’s one.
Elsa's favorite building on Las Ramblas -- whimsical, eye-catching -- who could say more?Or public fountains? Not spouting fountains. Not what we think of as drinking fountains. Fountains where you would fill up your water jug – or even do your laundry. And, in this old part of town, these fountains are everywhere. Beautiful concept – both in its intent and in the design of the fountains.
The cathedral Santa Maria del Mar – so many candles we’ve lit there, in such a beautiful space.
As we left Barcelona, we said good bye to several of the shopkeepers we had gotten know a little during our time here.
And to the beautiful shops and streets of our neighborhood.
We didn’t realize, but in more than any other Spanish city we have been in, much less any northern European city, Barcelona decorates for the holidays. On November 30th, lights came on all over the city.
There are Christmas markets as well -- markets not unlike those in Germany, albeit without the glugwein.
Well, we could go on and on about all we loved, but we're not sure that really explains the attraction of this city -- and yet it had such a feeling of liveliness, exuberance, wonderful architecture at every glimpse, the ability to walk everywhere with no need for a car (something us Angelenos both can't imagine and really appreciate), great food, and a capacity for life and living that we haven't experienced in many places. Enough said . . . .
On one of our last days we came across a very quaint square (Plaza Sant Josep Oriol) in the old town near the church Santa Maria del Pi and consumed a local favorite at an outdoor café – hot chocolate (not just any hot chocolate, but hot chocolate rich, dark, and almost thick enough that a spoon would stick straight up) and churros.
It is a lovely square -- plentiful light, cafes, shops nearby. As we enjoyed ourselves and looked around, we saw a flat for sale sign.
(Now, side bar here, back to the public water fountains. There is a particular fountain at the top of Las Ramblas. In the old days, this fountain was considered very special because it was linked to water pipes carrying the freshest water from the river nearby. Today, the legend is that, if you drink from this fountain, you’ll return to Barcelona. Well, we drank from the fountain.)
We left with a tear at sunset, headed for London on one leg of the trip home, knowing so much more than when we arrived ten weeks earlier. Very sad to leave.
So if we go missing, consider looking for us at the Plaza Sant Josep Oriol in Barcelona. We might just be there.
Terminado y amor,
Dale and Elsa
A final PS -- we've received so any lovely emails from all of you who've enjoyed our blog -- thanks for following us through our adventure!
