Mrs. Fantastic and Popsicles in BCN

Buenos dias!

Mum, Dad and I have had an amazing weekend in Barcelona - I was very sad to say goodbye to Dad this morning, but luckily Mum is staying until Thursday!

Mum arrived on Friday around 1pm and we went straight to a beachside restaurant recommended by her hotel (Hotel des Arts) called CDLC. It was an Asian-Spanish fusion and had wonderful sushi - my first in Barcelona so now the bar is set. We may or may not have order three (small) bottles of champagne, and we definitely did not go get massages at the hotel spa afterwards instead of walking around Barcelona. That first night, we stayed at the hotel and went to the famous restaurant here called Enoteca - it has a Michelin star and was pretty unbelievable. Lana - reminded me of the time when we were 18 and accidentally went to a Michelin star restaurant with no prices on the menu ... haha I have pushed the memory of that bill out of my mind forever.

 Beachside lunch at CDLC

The next morning we walked along the beach to the W Hotel. It is nice on the inside and a very cool, young place but unfortunately it is an eyesore on the Barcelona coast and hated by most of the locals. Apparently it is illegal to build on the beach - the Hotel des Arts (where Mum and Dad stayed) was an exception as it was built for the Olympics in 1992, but the W Hotel got around the laws by claiming that they are not actually on the beach, but on the port. 

When Dad arrived, we went to a famous restaurant called Tapas 24. The chef, Carles Abellan, is like the Mark McEwan of Barcelona. The restaurant was a lively, upbeat place and had fantastic tapas. We then walked around Las Ramblas and down to La Boqueria, one of Europe's largest outdoor markets, and picked up a bunch of flavoured chocolate almonds and dried fruit. Yum.

Tapas 24 - sitting at the bar.

We also went to Parc Guell and did a bike tour of the city to see a bunch of Gaudi building, street lamps, etc. and Sagrada Familia. Apparently the inside is finally finished (as the Pope was here in November) and is quite beautiful - must go inside soon! On our way home, we accidentally found ourselves amidst a parade ... something to do with night lights and mythical characters. Almost like a halloween parade but with people breathing fire down the streets etc. and lots of loud music. While this was happening because it was a holiday/Saint day (which are monthly) and they always have a celebration of some sort on these days, I have learned that Barcelonans have festivals for everything and always find a reason to celebrate.

Mum with the street musicians - of course, she just jumped in there.

Other restaurants I went to with Mum and Dad include Botafumeiro (delicious, fresh seafood, traditional Catalan recipes, fairly plain, live music), Ciudad Condal (local treasure, tapas, so busy that Mum had to sweet-talk a group of people for their table), and Merendero De La Mari. The last place was probably my favourite - it is right by the port and thus known for its seafood, particularly the 'Fisherman's Paella' (which we all got). That was definitely the best paella I have had to date, although Mum and Dad said Mrs. Throop's paella is just as good!

 Walking our bikes through the Gothic Quarter

Nighttime in Barcelona

Today, Mum and I are going to walk around the El Born area and explore art galleries, shops and cafes. I am so excited as this area is a bunch of little streets and alleyways that are so beautiful and romantic - the old part of town! It is quite cool and a place that you can never get tired of because you apparently never learn your way around the Gothic Quarter or Born - it is like a maze!

Miss you all tons and hope to hear from you soon,

xx Hilary

PS - Mrs. Fantastic is what the staff at the hotel have nicknamed Mum. She now insists I call her that.
PPS - Happy Valentines Day!

Fun facts about Barcelona:

- Gustave Eiffel actually built the Eiffel Tower for Barcelona but when he showed the plans to the city, they hated it. He then took it to Paris.

- the beach in Barcelona (about 7km) is entirely man-made for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona

- Madrid is building the super fast train (that goes from Paris-London) underneath Sagrada Familia (the famous Gaudi church here that has been under construction for almost 100 years). Madrid claims that their engineer said this is the fastest way and that it must go under this focal point of the city. Since they are not even sure if Sagrada Familia will even be able to be complete due to the weight of the planned 18 towers (they are currently only four), this train makes the likelihood of the church being successfully completed even riskier. Needless to say, Barcelonans hate Madrid.

- Barcelona is known to be one of the most well-planned cities. Apparently it is one of the most common case studies in the world of urban planning.

- Barcelona kind of looks like it has a layer of smog across the whole city (when you are 22 floors up, like in this hotel) but it is actually pollen from trees that were planted hundreds of years ago all around the city. Many people are protesting to remove these trees as they cause allergy problems at certain times of year.

- Catalonia is to Spain what Quebec is to Canada. Enough said? (Barcelona is in Catalonia)

The above are courtesy of our bike tour guide, David, who actually has a blog about Barcelona (www.pulsobcn.com) which is pretty sweet.

"The Blind Leading the Blind"

Mum and I are having a great time laughing at each other's clumsiness. In only a few hours, we:

- have tripped over everything

- cannot find our way around the hotel, or back to the hotel

- we went up and down the elevator trying to find the spa

- went to the spa and found ourselves in the men's change room accidentally

So much fun. Cannot wait for Dad to join tomorrow!

xx Hilary

PS - Lauren asked me to tell you how to comment ... I think you can just by pressing the pencil button at the bottom? I know it is all in Spanish but I don't know how the page appears for you ... translate.google.com has been my savour this trip.

CDLC - Gwyneth Paltrow recommended. Awesome.

Kobe Beef burger ... really Spanish.

Three hour lunch with wonderful champagne!

The beach ... and it is winter here.

View from Mum's hotel room - you can see Sagrada Familia if you look carefully!

Food Revelations in Barcelona

1.     Peanut butter is practically non-existent in Spain. I went two weeks without it when I first arrived here (the horror), but finally hunted it down in a random supermarket after some serious investigation.

2.     Spanish people love their baked goods.

3.     Supermarkets are around but pale in comparison to ours in terms of quality. To get good food, you have to go to one of many markets around the city, bakeries, and places that specialize in meat/cheese (or just ham – yes, they have that).

4.     Spanish people are obsessed with cured ham. While I love it, after four months I may have to take a small break from this.

5.     Even the cheapest sandwich sold at a convenient store is made on baguette. And it is next to impossible to find ham AND cheese on a sandwich – one or the other. Or a Spanish omelette sandwich (potato omelette).

6.     Spanish people eat everything on this baguette – lasagna, fish, omelettes, potatoes, etc.

7.     They hardly have breakfast. Just a croissant and café con leche (coffee with milk).

8.     Lunch really is around 3pm and dinner really is around 10pm.

9.     Good paella is harder to find in Barcelona, as this is characteristic of the south.

10. Candy stores and Nutella are everywhere.

11. The meat/fish at any market includes pig hooves, brains, whole rabbit (with or without fur), massive whole fish, chicken without the feathers removed, and some other unidentifiable meat/fish that I am not sure I want the translation for.

12. Mushrooms aren’t half-bad.

13. My new favorite sandwich addition is olive oil (with good quality cheese on baguette … oh my).

14. There is no such thing as whole wheat in Spain. They laugh, and say (in Spanish): “my dear, you’re in Spain!”

15. The variety of food is (perhaps obviously) not the same as in Toronto. It is a lot harder to find good food that isn’t Catalan, Spanish or Italian. Please send some sushi in the mail.

16. Apparently only tourists order Sangria. I am still not past that stage.

17. There is a whole new world of restaurants that have come to my attention with Mum and Dad here.

18. Barcelonans have a season for donuts, or banyols – it is now. I didn’t know donuts had such healthy, seasonal ingredients? (Yes, they have them in bakeries every other month of the year … but now they are cinnamon/orange flavoured).

19. Waiters in Barcelona never rush you to leave – it is actually very hard to get your bill. They expect you to linger like the Spanish do and have a 2-3 hour lunch.

20. Lunch pretty much always includes dessert, wine, and café con leche, as these are included in the daily menu (ie. the best deal, usually 10 euros and the freshest food).

Sevilla & Granada

Buenos noches!

I have just arrived back from a wonderful five days with about 25 exchange students in Sevilla and Granada (Southern Spain). Neither of these towns are on the coast but they both have stunning architecture and gardens, as well as amazing food.

Sevilla was a gorgeous town, mostly because everything there was built with tourism in mind. There are massive parks and impressive gardens everywhere; more orange trees than you could imagine; horse-drawn carriages; cobblestone streets; a beautiful river and extremely impressive architecture. It was a little bizarre that the town's history revolves around Spain being poor, deciding that tourism was the best way to fuel the economy and consequently constructing these stunning structures or gardens. I am used to going to a European city and hearing about what a building was used for or who lived in such a place, etc. – but this was really just for show! Haha it was so beautiful though that I didn’t mind.

In Granada, the main attraction is an Arabic Palace called Alhambra that is perched on a mountain overlooking the city and surrounded by more beautiful gardens. Words or pictures really can’t do this justice … but I just posted pictures on Facebook that try to. We spent three hours walking around there and still probably didn’t see everything. It is supposedly even more beautiful in the Spring when the flowers have bloomed and the gardens are more impressive, but I was pretty much speechless the entire time – I loved it that much! I may see if Tor wants to go back when she comes in May. There is an AWESOME little hippie hostel in Granada that is probably one of the more unique places that I have been yet. The rooms are essentially in tree houses and there are actual treehouses and hammocks everywhere. People are always playing guitar and everybody is so friendly. Because of the Arabic influence on Granada, there are tea shops everywhere (a rarity in Spain) so the hostel also had loose leaf tea! I was in heaven. People were joking about how happy I was there. Haha. Unfortunately, I did not stay in this hostel – my friends did. The hostel I stayed in (with a few others) had nothing to offer but a bed. Literally. Not even soap in the washrooms. Lesson learned: choose hostels only by recommendation!

Tapas – smaller plates of food that are meant to be shared – are what most people think of when they think of Spanish food. However, Tapas originated in the south of Spain and thus are in a whole other league of deliciousness than they are in Barcelona. The best part is that in Granada and most other places in the south (other than Sevilla), you get one free tapas with every drink you order! A lot of travelers don’t get dinner and just go straight to a bar and drink and eat simultaneously. Unfortunately, we didn’t really conclude that this was an easy way to save some money on dinner until the very end. Oops!

While I had a great trip and it was good to get out of the city before I officially start school, it is great to be back in Barcelona. It was so nice when we landed this morning and we were happy to be ‘home’ … definitely made me realize that I am slowly but surely settling in here and recognizing this city as my (temporary) home! I will miss the tapas and the carefree attitude of traveling and literally having nothing but wonderful things to do, but it will be good to finally get in a routine with school starting tomorrow – hoping to cook more and walk around the city a bunch!

Mum and Dad are coming to visit me this weekend and Mum is staying for the week – I AM SO EXCITED. Kiddies and all other potential visitors: book your tickets! This city is just getting better and better as it warms up. And I am making a valiant effort to discover the best tapas and bakeries in Barcelona, so I promise everything will be great when you come! Also, the sooner you book, the more likely we will be able to get good FC Barcelona tickets (ahem, Jonathan).

Lots of love and please email me updates!

xo Hilary

PS I am hoping that I will not always have such long blog entries, but I haven’t had reliable access to internet for about a week so lots to catch up on (and I really only skimmed the surface).