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We were returning to the same hotel in Barcelona, the Indigo. Barcelona is another city that uses ZBEs. I was pretty sure that I had seen that the hotel offered parking, but when I called to verify that they could register our car, I was told that they don't have parking; there is a garage around the corner. We didn't feel confident that we would be able to have them register the car, so we decided to return it early.
If we had known that we did not need parking for this stay in Barcelona, we probably would have chosen a different hotel and maybe even a different part of town for our return trip. But we had already planned our next few days based on that location, and it turned out fine.
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| Hotel Casa Fuster, designed by Montaner (not Gaudí) and built in 1908. |
We drove to the airport car return. The navigation directions were confusing but in retrospect I see they were correct. You have to keep to the left on a service road, which from American airports I assumed was for airport vehicles. So we took a wrong turn when confronted with the service road signage and had to loop around and try again. Then, where we got to the taxi-only signs, we needed to cross a parallel road and then turn right to be in the lane farthest from the terminal. Then we finally saw the rental car parking garage. It took us a couple tries and a few choice words to arrive, which made us happy that we were coming early and not trying to do this right before a flight.
Travel Tip: When dropping a rental car or going to the airport, or anytime you go to an unfamiliar place with a time deadline, look at the navigation directions in detail, including street view. We had enough difficulty here with one driver and one navigator - it would have been so much harder solo.
So, car-less, we had to cab to our hotel in the city. We asked for a room away from the street and were placed on the side of the hotel facing the patio and pool. We got a little upgrade (thanks, IHG membership!) for a room with a sitting area and patio. We had some time to kill before dinner. I considered to pool, but nearly a month had passed since our first stay and I decided it was too chilly. Instead I hit the gym for some cardio. As I mentioned before, it was humid and not the cleanest space, and in fact, I took a pass on doing any floor work there.
Our dinner reservation was at Botafumeiro, who touts their market seafood from daily fish auctions. The website and reviews looked good and I was really looking forward to our meal (keep reading).
We arrived and were promptly shown to our upstairs table. We could see across the stairway and part of the downstairs, admiring the collections of china that themed the decor. We took our menus and were trying to decide what to eat and what wine we might like. When the waiter came, we were asking for a wine recommendation as we were planning to have different foods. This, I think, is where the evening started to go wrong.
To inform the wine recommendation, we told the waiter what we planned to eat. There may have been some miscommunication as to when our main courses would be ordered from the kitchen. He asked if we were ordering now. We also wanted some appetizers, and also I wasn't trying to be rude ordering so quickly, so I told him we weren't in any hurry. He left the menus on the table and returned with the wine. We had some soup. And then, nothing. We were left with an empty table for about 30 minutes after the soup and had to call a waiter over, only to discover that the main courses we had ordered had not been sent to the kitchen. This, despite plenty of waiters attending (and, just standing around in) the dining room, topping up our wine and water etc, but never asking for our order. Now the dish I was planning to have was no longer available. We just ordered two more starters, which arrived promptly, and skipped the mains. When the bill arrived, it totaled more than the full courses we had taken at so many wonderful restaurants. All in all, a very expensive but thoroughly disappointing experience. It may have started with a miscommunication but defintely resulted from some attitude from the waiter. Absolutely would not recommend this place; avoid it.
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Inside the chapel. Black Madonna perched above the altar. Boys' Choir preparing to sing. |
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We had tentatively planned to go to Montserrat on this day. Even while we thought we would have the car, we were unsure whether it would be better to book a tour or drive it ourselves and try to park. Without the car, we still wanted to go so we booked a tour.
We were able to walk, umbrellas in hand, to the meeting site along a plaza. The plaza spanned a block and we were waiting at the wrong end, but we were able to get help with a call to the tour office. We hustled down to meet the guide. Soon we boarded a motor coach and headed out of the city.
Our guide was personable and gave us an informative and humorous history of Barcelona and Catalunya. Along the way, I was surprised to see the long stretch of slow, inbound traffic - Barcelona has quite the rush hour. After about 40 minutes of unimpeded outbound travel we started to climb and wind into the mountains. Now I could see why the guide asked people to leave the front bus seats open for anyone who might become queasy.
We saw plenty of parking available, had we driven -- but this was late October on a rainy day. In other seasons it would be more crowded. Below, I will have travel tip for planning your own visit. Buses park closer to the entrance, so we didn't have far to walk in the rain. Our guide gave us an overview of the available activities - shops, cafeteria, liquer tasting, art museum, funicular up to the top of the mountains, etc. We were to meet again after about an hour to go into the chapel and hear the famous Boys' Choir. We chose to use the time to grab some lunch in the cafeteria, as it was our only opportunity and there wasn't really enough time to appreciate anything else.
Travel Tip: Not all Montserrat tours include the choir performance. If this is important to you, make sure you find one that does. You could also look into booking tickets on your own, though I'm not sure that is possible.
We entered the chapel as a group, but it was open seating and the group split once again. It was already hard to find space, and we ended up sitting on a bench to the side. We were not especially close but we had an unobstructed view. Silence is expected in the chapel, and that was mostly obeyed and shushed when it wasn't.
The singers are students of the exclusive Escolania de Montserrat boarding school for boys aged around 8 to 12, when their voices start to change. We were told that admission requires audition playing 4 musical instruments. While I had never heard of this place, apparently graduates can pretty much write their own tickets in the musical performance world. The choir sang three pieces, and it really was enchanting to hear.
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| Montserrat from the Mirador and views from our hike. Click here and here for amazing 360-degree sphere views. | ||
We were instructed to work our way to the return trip meeting point about 30 minutes after the choir performance. But the clouds had started to lift and we wanted to head up to the top of the mountain for some pictures. We had previously read about taking a train trip for the tour, but the pages I read made it sound complicated due to a rail change. But we scouted it out and found that we could get ourselves back to Barcelona easily and for about $15 each. Some of the confusion I had was around ticketing; people were complaining about buying tickets they didn't need or not having the ticket they did need. But I think much of this online conversation was about the funicular and not the train.
Travel Tip: Book your own trip to Montserrat. Now that we have seen it, I can say it is not complicated. The rail change is simply from the regular train to a cog-wheel train that can handle the steep grade up to the monastery. The station is right there in the middle of where you want to be. And you can spend as long as you want, minding the train schedule.
So, we purchased our tickets and and found our guide to let her know our plan. We thanked her and gave the proper tip, and she presented us with souvenir treble clef pins. And off we went, up the mountain.
The confusion about the funicular ticketing is because there are loads of hiking trails. Some people hike up and tram down, others take a ride up and hike down. You can get round-trip or one-way tickets, and people don't always realize they have gotten one-way by accident. People also hike up and down from the monastery, foregoing the cog-wheel train.
The story of Montserrat that we were told: The mountains there have many caves which were used by shepherds or goatherds. Some people saw a light coming from a cave wherein they found a carved wood Madonna and Child. The wood had darkened over time, and so she become known as the Black Madonna, or La Moreneta. She was said to cause miracles, and people began to visit from all over. The monks down in the lower lands decided they wanted to bring her into their own church, but as the workers carried her, she grew heavier and heavier, until she could not be transported and instead the monks had to build a new monastery around her. She sits in the chapel and you can see her during the Boys' Choir performance. The chapel may be open at other times, and there are tours where you pass by for a close-up view.
Only a little of this story appears on the Wikipedia page, so who is to say what is true. The statue could date from the 700s, or maybe only the 1200s. In any case, it exists, and the mountainside is still full of caves and ruins of chapels.
We spent a couple hours hiking around at the top. We followed old trails, some quite dicey, to see old encampments and chapels. There were great views during the sun breaks. And the geology alone makes the trip worthwhile. The once river delta, sedimentary rock has been uplifted then eroded into fantastical curves and shapes.
We eventually rode the funicular down, to catch the train back. The trip took about an hour, and unfortunately there were not enough seats. I won't tell you to be rude about it, but there was pretty much a mad dash for seating. If you take the train, when you board go immediately to seats in the middle of the car as the seats near the doors are priority for people who need them (although, we were unhappy to see many young, able-appearing folks sitting in those, glued to their phones, while some older people stood wobbily in the aisles). All of the stops for the first half-hour saw people boarding and no one leaving, so if you have to stand, it might be for most of your ride.
At dinner time, we walked out to Suculent for dinner. It's a small restaurant, with a few tables for 2 lined along the wall across from some bar seating. There was also a dining room in the back, but we were happy with our little table in the front room. The website mentions broths and sauces making everything delicious to the last drop, and it did not disappoint. We took the tasting menu and wine pairings. Once again I apologize for not being able to describe any of the dishes. The wine pairings were unique, not only Spanish wines as we might have expected, but others as well. There was a particularly interesting wine that the waiter was having a hard time telling us about in English. The solo diner at the bar piped up with some details, as both he and the wine were from Bulgaria. We also sampled this rare brujidera grape wine from GarageWine in Castilla La Mancha, which we apparently like enough to take a photo of the label.
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| Arc de Triomf. Castel dels Tres Dragons, with cute dragon fence. A quiet morning in the França train station. | |
On this morning we were happy to head out for more walking. We passed through the Arc de Triomf and into Ciutadella Park. This Citadel Park plays an interesting role in Barcelona's political history and has a tie to Montjuic, which we visited during the first part of our tour.
We meandered along the southwest avenue, admiring the buildings, flowers, and noisy parakeets, and exiting at the entrance to the zoo. Next time we go, we will have to walk the northwest side to see the ponds and fountains. We popped into the Estación de França train station for a photo op, then headed to the beachfront.
Observation: Fronting the Somorrostro beach is the Hospital de Mar. It was unexpected to see a hospital on what is surely prime real estate, but I also couldn't help thinking that the views of sand, water, and sky must do wonders for recuperation.
We walked the wide concrete "boardwalk" and out onto the Mirador de Pedres breakwater. The constructed jetty has fitness playgrounds that were quite busy. There were also some group fitness classes and even some one-on-one kickboxing lesson. We saw a lot of outdoor fitness training in parks throughout out travels. It was quite windy and the waves were splashing so we did not go all the way to the end of the jetty, but we were able to take in the sights and sounds and feel the energy of the water.
Observation: The beaches in Barcelona erode and need their sand replenished every year. We heard from one tour guide how the nude beach was excluded from the budget so all the nudists moved to the beach in front of the fancy and expensive W hotel. I think the nude beach got its maintenance after that, but according to one Barcelona travel forum I read recently, the nudists have stayed.
Soon we had to turn away from the coast and head to our cooking lesson and lunch. We found the address but had no idea where to get in or how to find the right apartment, but fortunately the chef / instructor was outside to meet us. We went up to the top floor to the event loft where we joined a group of ladies from North Carolina for our class.
After a champagne welcome, we got to the first dish, pan con tomate or, tomato bread. We had had this once during our visit and really liked it. I am sure that everything depends on the quality of the ingredients, because it is so simple: lightly toast some bread so the surface is a little rough and crispy; grate a clove of garlic on it, then grate a half-tomato on it until it is rubbed into the bread and you are left with the peel in your fingers. Discard skin, and eat. You might want to add a little salt or olive oil. The instructor told us that typically this dish is presented in restaurants in this do-it-yourself way, but we had only experienced it ready-made.
Next, making the sangria. We all chopped fruit, he added the wine, and then stuck it in the fridge for the flavors to meld. Fortunately, he had a ready-to-go pitcher in there for us to enjoy. I can only assume our pitcher would be poured for a future class.
Not for the squeamish, next we were cleaning and slicing squid. Well, I guess they were already cleaned because it was pretty neat and easy. We had to take the heads and the "pluma" - the easy-to-remove internal bone that looks like a clear feather and is quite pretty. You do want to be careful to ensure that no piece has broken off, however. We sliced the squids into rings for paella.
Now we moved outside where a big gas burner and paella pan were waiting. We each took turns adding ingredients and stirring. A couple tips we picked up included to slow cook the onions for hours, the day before, and likewise to prepare the peppers the day ahead for extracting the best flavor. We were provided these from the refrigerator and got them going with other ingredients to make a paste, then added and fried the bomba rice for about 15 minutes before adding liquid. He also told us that the longer you fry, the less liquid is needed and the more intact and flavorful the rice. We have put this to use at home in Mexican and Indian cooking and it seems to hold true. He added just enough liquid to cover the rice, then we students tucked in the shrimp, squid, and mussels. He brought it to simmer, then set the whole pan inside to finish cooking and rest in its own heat.
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Fountain and monument to Bartomeu Robert. Torre Glòries in the distance. Paella on big gas burner. |
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Meanwhile, we got a new pan going on the burner for making garlic shrimp. This also is about as straightforward as it sounds - heat oil but not too hot, add garlic and flaked red pepper to infuse the oil, then heat a little more to quickly cook the shrimp.
We ate all these dishes for lunch, plus the chef's helper added a tortilla - the Spanish omelette with potatoes and a custard dessert. The food and company were good, the afternoon very pleasant. For people who don't cook very much, this is probably about the right level. We would have liked it to be a little more hands-on. Also, the chef said he would email the menu later but he did not. Overall for us, it cost more than it was worth, but I wouldn't discourage you from booking it. I think this is an accurate review, if that helps you decide.
We had a long-ish walk back to the hotel, which we took slowly as we were so full. We got to see some other, more business-y and less tourist-y neighborhoods.
Our final dinner reservation was one of the highlights of the trip: Direkte Boqueria. Unfortunately, I almost messed it up. Our other reservations this week were at 8pm and I thought this one was as well. But while we are killing time wandering around Las Ramblas, I got a call asking if we were still coming, as the reservation was actually for 7:30. To make it worse, it was a seated dinner with all tables being served the same courses at the same time. So we were holding up everyone at the three other tables.
Travel Tip: Make sure to keep your reservations or cancel in advance. This is pretty common in fine dining everywhere that I have seen lately: if you don't arrive for your reservation, you will be charged for the meal anyway. People get upset about this, but it arose due to too many no-shows. Restaurants run on very thin margins, and most of the restaurants we enjoyed so much on this trip were very small, so even one seat going vacant would be significant for them.
We hustled to the address, but had trouble finding it. We were about to call back when we saw them, in a corner inside the back of the Boqueria Market. We jumped into our seats and the 10-course service began. The menu varies based on what is local and in-season, and features Catalan, Mediterranean, and Asian flair. The opening course was a soup "constructed" at the table with a pour of steaming broth over vegetable and maybe seafood morsels. Mushrooms, seafood, and edible flowers featured prominantly through the evening. I think my favorite was a seasonal mushroom dish, and my husband's was a dessert of a sort of spice-cake with ginger ice cream and streusely topping and sweet potato chips. He has tried to replicate it a couple times and of course I have been happy to provide feedback. Maybe I will keep telling him it's not quite right, just so he will continue working on it! But honestly, he made it for Thanksgiving and it was really good.
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| Fitness playground and Barcelona beachfront. |
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On our final day, we went down to the corner from the hotel, to a restaurant whose sign was touting breakfast and cocktails. We had a giant and tasty breakfast but skipped the cocktails. However, a table near us was imbibing and the drinks looked pretty good. Maybe this is a good shop for brunch or some hair of the dog. As we were eating, a big storm blew in with heavy rain and lightning. We enjoyed watching one of the waiters wandering around with a baby that belonged to one of the patrons. He was taking it to all the other staff and saying hi, showing it the kitchen, and just having a grand time. Eventually, the storm cleared and the mom and baby left, along with the rest of us who had been waiting for the downpour to pass.
We went back to the Indigo and got everything packed up, leaving accessible just what we would need for our final night and departure. Our flight out was at 6am, necessitating a painfully early airport arrival. When we booked the trip, we expected to return the rental car in the previous afternoon, so we had booked the Meliá INNSiDE hotel right by the airport.
The hotel was surprisingly nice. The interior, 6 floors I think, looked like what I think of as the inside of a cruise ship - an open area with a high ceiling surrounded by balcony walkways and hotel room doors. There were many worktables, seating areas, and shelves of books, almost like a library. It's near the airport so not really good for tourists, but would be a great place to hold a conference or business meeting that people traveled for.
The Meliá's gym was probably the best hotel gym I have used, in terms of quality, variety, and cleanliness of the equipment. The restaurant was ok, not great, but the atmosphere was nice and there was a patio seating as well. Our room was very comfortable and surprisingly quiet given its proximity to the airport. They also provided an airport shuttle, even at 3am. Overall I would recommend a stay here and would consider looking at their other locations, based on our experience.
Upon our bleary-eyed arrival at the airport, we had to wait for the service desk to open so that we could check our bags. We got straight through security, no waiting, and walked through the darkened terminal to the deserted gate. We even had to wait for a cafe to open to get some breakfast. But this is all preferable to fighting crowds and being late.
Soon enough we were on board, content to be headed home but also sad to end this enchanted month in Spain and Portugal.
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