Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Barcelona

Saturday : Leaving Bev, the Barcelona Airport Lounge, BA into Heathrow and Bus to Hotel

Saturday was the day that we were all returning back to the UK, Bev on Ryanair as she likes the jeopardy, with Ross and I departing with British Airways a little later on during the day. Without a huge desire to traipse heavy bags around for the day, we thought that we’d walk slowly around the city and then get onto the Metro to the airport. And that day started with a delicious goat’s cheese roll with doughnut and coffee at Cafe Bazar, with the advantage of people watching as the cafe windows overlooked the busy nearby market. I can’t recall a city with so many cafes, this was my sort of city….

It was a bit hot, but these narrow streets do a very decent job of shading walkers from the overheat sun pounding down on them.

Pub one and needs must… This was a sheltered terrace so that I wasn’t sitting in the sun itself, but it allowed Bev to feel free in the outdoors. We pondered whether we might have been better with the pub next door as their food looked quite exciting, but I got beer of sorts and that sufficed me. I know my loyal readers (or reader might be nearer the mark) might comment that this sounds very relaxed of me, but I had already accepted I wouldn’t be getting craft beer on this day.

Free olives, I was sold on this pub after that.

Bev, busy looking at the football scores, she was a nightmare doing that, always wanting to see how her favourite teams were getting on and getting the latest news on the transfer markets.

After the pub we had a little walk through the nearby park, which offered views over the city.

The second pub and more free olives. Bev ordered some dumplings as well, Ross gave up on beer and I just had to tolerate what they had. Such a trooper….

I’m glad I have a new phone now, as my old one didn’t produce the quality of the photos I’d like (obviously it can’t possibly be my fault that this photo is blurred). This was us waving goodbye to Bev as she was departing from a different terminal. I’m pleased to report that she got back safely with Ryanair and National Express, but that’s the end of Bev’s story on this blog. She was marvellous company as usual, glad that she’s out and about again.

That meant just one more stop on the Metro to get to Terminal 1, where we were departing from. As I mentioned earlier on in the week, I was impressed with the Metro system, it was clean, reliable and we rarely had to wait for more than a couple of minutes. Other than when Bev posted her ticket into the machine itself, we had no issues with the tickets either.

Safely at the airport with its grand sweeping spaces which felt rather under-used. Think of the number of craft beer bars that they could fit in there.

Ross wanted to go to Burger King, it says one minute but it took us about half an hour to find the bloody thing.

Not that I’ve ever tried smoking, and it’s not exactly likely I ever will, but this is a good idea for an airport, having an external outdoors area which is embedded within the airside section of the building. Smokers can then do what they want in this area, away from sensible non-smokers.

The lounge was easier to find than Burger King and we were welcomed in by a friendly member of staff and it’s fair to say that I was surprised at just how large it was. There were also plenty of power points which transpired to be useful.

More of the spacious lounge and I noticed that the staff were obsessively cleaning, always reassuring.

The food and drinks area, with a range of high and low seating. I prefer high seating and so we perched about three metres from the food for about three hours. What a time to be alive….

Cold meats and cheeses, some of my favourite food and quite a lot of this disappeared quite quickly as I needed to test its quality on numerous occasions.

Light bites. Ross had already gone to Burger King as the reviews of the lounge that we had already read didn’t make it sound very decadent, but I’m glad I didn’t get anything as I was surprised and delighted with the food options here. I took the risk that food would be available as I was hungry (again) and the lounge didn’t let me down.

There was a selection of pre-made rolls, or customers could make their own.

Pastries and biscuits.

It wasn’t busy at this time in the late afternoon, but it got much busier later on, but it was never going to be anywhere near capacity. This is the non-Schengen lounge, there’s another one for those boarding Schengen flights. I won’t mention that I’m quite jealous of them, as that might suggest how much I quite like the border-free arrangement of most of the EU.

They had three different beers which at least gave me some variety, although there was nothing that surprised and delighted me in that regard. There were plenty of different soft drinks though, so no shortage of choice and there were some spirit options as well.

The hot food only came out a little later on in the day, I’m not entirely sure why they couldn’t have been more generous with the hours that this was served. The portions were small, but the food had a depth of taste, and it was easy to just get another portion. This was the chicken curry, which wasn’t overly hot in terms of spice, but the chicken was tender and flavourful. The pasta was perhaps a little bland though.

Off we go, we were the 19:10 flight to London Heathrow.

This isn’t the plane we were getting, but I liked the view out of the window over the tarmac. The airport itself was spacious with plenty of seating and nowhere felt particularly busy, although it was clearly a well-used terminal.

The boarding gate and everything was neat and organised here, with plenty of seating. There was boarding by group number, which meant we could get on to board early on, giving me sufficient space to put my bag over my seat. I mention this as one group of three people put their bags in the overheads by the exit row seat before walking about twenty rows back, which gave the crew later on at the empty gaps for bags were at the back of the aircraft. I’m not sure why passengers do this, they’re in danger of the crew moving the bags into the hold if no-one in the vicinity identifies them as theirs.

Our aircraft, and again I’m writing this too far after the event to work out what the registration number was to see if I’d flown on this before. A pointless hobby of mine I accept, but it occupies me for a few minutes.

Boarding the aircraft, with the crew being friendly and personable. I wore my mask out of habit on the aircraft and only noticed mid-way through the flight that nearly no-one else was, namely because they weren’t required. It occurred to me that unless there’s another outbreak then this might have been the last time that I had to wear a face mask, so that’s the end of an era. Or, at least, I hope it’s the end of an era.

I had an exit row seat and there was no-one else in the row. Given that, during the flight I went to find Ross who was stuck at a middle seat somewhere near the back and suggested he moved forwards, which he did.

The usual snack on-board, so I can’t write anything different to what I usually do, which is it’s basic but I appreciate having something provided. Perhaps British Airways could though at some point rotate the snacks, as those customers who fly weekly deserve a little change. Maybe they could offer Hula Hoops, or something just that bit more decadent such as Roast Beef Monster Munch.

We sailed through security into T5 without any delays, always a relief when getting late at night. It was a quick walk to the bus stop at T5 to get the first of our two buses.

Waiting at the bus stop for the second bus to get us to the hotel and this is the Longford Pump, a Victorian water pump.

The accommodation situation wasn’t ideal, but the cheapest hotel in the area was the Holiday Inn Express and Ross and I can’t afford the luxury of the Sofitel that Richard always goes for. We got to the hotel just before midnight and I, as usual, had worried that they would have given our rooms away, but my concern was unnecessary. Although, that reminds me, they didn’t bother to reply to my email saying we’d be arriving late, so I’m now post-annoyed as I had forgotten I had sent that. Our hotel was the Holiday Inn Express T5, although it’s not hugely convenient for T5 if I’m being honest, as it requires two buses or taking the over-priced Hoppa Bus which I haven’t used for the best part of a decade.

I’ll take this opportunity to write a little about Barcelona, although I’ve alluded already to my thoughts about this rather really marvellous Spanish city. I was very much of the opinion that this was a city at ease with itself, as although Barcelona has problems with so much accommodation turned into holiday lets, the heart remains. The markets are vibrant, there are endless cafes, the food is of a decent quality, the people were friendly and the streets were clean. The beach area contrasted with the bustling city centre, the suburbs maintained their own identity and last, but definitely not least, there was decadent craft beer. I look forwards to going back, this was a city that felt on-trend, modern and well-run, I liked and enjoyed it very much. And thanks to Ross and Bev for keeping me company.

May 24, 2022
Friday : A Pointy Barcelona Sculpture, More Craft Beer and a KFC

Our final full day in Barcelona was spent walking yet again, this was a surprisingly healthy week, even given all the craft beer bars that Ross demanded to go to. This is the Earth and Fire sculpture, designed by Joan Gardi Artigas. I’m not quite sure that I understand the point of it (excuse the unintentional pun), but I suppose it adds something to the public realm. And there are plenty of sculptures adorning the street of Barcelona, it’s an artistic city.

I very much like Barcelona’s grid pattern of streets, it feels very ordered. This is an interesting part of Barcelona’s history as their grid pattern shouldn’t logically be there, it’s an ancient city which had meandering medieval streets, not a new settlement such as those in the United States where planning was required. It’s all down to Ildefons Cerdà who connected the old city to some smaller satellite settlements with an urban infill which was very orderly. This took place at the end of the nineteenth century and so is relatively recent, but it all integrates so well into the older areas that it feels like the entirety of Barcelona is neatly laid out. I don’t think it would be controversial of me to say that they made a much better designing modern Barcelona than the British did with Milton Keynes.

Lunch was at Taca de Cafè which is very well reviewed and has a relatively small menu, which always feels reassuring to me in smaller premises. The beer was generic, but the starter of the three course meal was suitably refreshing.

The pastrami bagel was adequate, I removed the cheese and the pastrami itself was a little devoid of taste and I don’t think it needed to be heated at all as that seemed to make it lose flavour. Presentation was a little slapdash, such as the marked tomato which they could have just chopped up for the salads rather than presenting it like that. But, I didn’t have time to be too negative, as Bev was muttering something about her pasta meal that she was carefully working through, muttering something about bland.

The dessert situation was a little odd as the waiter listed several items and we all ordered different things and we all got the panna cotta that I had ordered. It was again adequate, but I’d say this meal rarely moved beyond that, I had expected some more bursts of flavour from a local cafe that was so well rated. The prices were though moderate and the service was attentive and polite. I would say that it all seemed quite authentically Spanish in the set-up, but that implies that the food in Barcelona is generic, which it most certainly isn’t. The concept was good though and lots of customers clearly enjoyed their experiences here.

With lunch out of the way, Bev thought she’d like to go a modern art museum, which doesn’t overly excite me, and I think it’s fair to say that she was generally in agreement with my assessment when she returned. Ross and I went to a craft beer bar, CocoVail. They had a few decent options on, with most beer styles being covered.

It’s less bar and more beer hall, a sizeable location that seems to be a mixture of German style design and American food. The beer selection was reasonable, although not exceptional, and it was relatively peaceful when we were there. There were though some British stag groups descending and it would be wrong to generalise and say that they were raucous and showed a lack of respect to their environment, so I shall just hint at that. Straight off the plane and straight into the bars, which is acceptable perhaps if drinking decent beer and not getting drunk by 15:00, but I mustn’t judge.

The table set-up here shows that they’re used to dealing with larger groups, I can imagine that this is quite a loud environment in the evenings.

Next stop was the Growler bar, a quirky little place where I went for the really rather excellent Cure for Cold Feet from Freddo Fox brewery, a not insubstantial 8% DNEIPA. We were quite tired by this time, several days of walking everywhere had started to take its toll, but we bravely battled on. They had a range of bottles as well to top up the options on the board, a wide range given the size of the venue. This constant use of blackboards across the craft beer bars makes things much easier, you don’t get that in Nuremberg…. (well, I did in one venue, but I didn’t get any customer service there, so that wasn’t much use as an overall package).

The internal decor, which was perhaps sometimes style over comfort in terms of the design as some of the seating options were a little uncomfortable. But the service was polite and the surroundings were comfortable. It was at this point I could have had a nap, but I don’t think very many bars appreciate their customers doing that. If I had a pub, I don’t think I’d put a bike on the wall, but there we go, everyone is different….

Final bar of the day was Brew Wild and I went for the Beti Smile by Gross and Onda Vital IPA by La Quince Brewing. This is a venue that I would like to return to, and likely will, it has a bar area at the front and a large restaurant at the rear. It was quieter than I had expected, but the Spanish do eat late and so I’m sure that it got much busier later. The food is primarily pizza, so that would have been me more than happy. Polite service and the beer selection was listed on Untappd, something that I always comment favourable about. It’s a very well reviewed venue and I liked the informality and wide range of beers, it was all suitably on-trend.

And that was that, we had planned to go to a Nepalese restaurant, but tiredness had crept in and so we agreed to get the Metro back to the apartment. KFC was a handy and convenient option, with Ross checking in advance that they had screens so he didn’t have to order at the counter. I bought some cheap meal deal, Ross appeared at the table five minutes later with half the menu on a selection of trays. There’s not much that I can say about the food, but it’s not as good as KFC in Poland. I think it’s fair for me to mention Poland here, I haven’t done for a while….

And, this is the apartment, three bedrooms and all sufficiently comfortable, although it’s not as luxurious as an Accor hotel of course. I very much appreciated the fan in my room as I’m not one for heat. Bev worked out how to get water from the sink, which is something that perhaps shouldn’t have been as complex as it was, and it was entirely beyond me. The kettle also didn’t work, but the hostel owners (who rent out the apartment) acquired us a new one and Bev enjoyed making lots of cups of coffee.

And Bev got the private balcony, which she didn’t utilise, not least because it was being used as a cleaning storage area and there wasn’t really space for a chair or any other little luxuries. The weather remained moderate all week, not too hot and so it was always a tolerable temperature for me, although this is the day that was the hottest and so I did seek out shade during our time walking.

As another aside, I’m getting a little behind with the blog, so I will do my best to get a burst of posts out, as I don’t want to upset my very loyal (and very small) readership who must be getting quite upset at the moment.

May 23, 2022
Thursday : Mikkeller Bar in Barcelona, A Steak Gone Wrong and the Beach

Sculptures aren’t often easy to define as cute, but this giraffe is winning the argument here, although it’s designed to look flirtatious. I wonder how that bid was put to the city planners, as a vision for a flirtatious giraffe is certainly something different. Known as Girafa coqueta, it was designed by Josep Granyer and placed here in 1972.

Perhaps Prince of Wales Road in Norwich could do with a flirtatious giraffe? We had quite a lot of meandering around in the morning as it was a ninety minute to our destination of the Sagrada Família.

Lato Cafe, a rather pleasant spot for lunch. The service was attentive, but the beer selection was poor and limited to a choice of one. Not ideal, but the surroundings were delightful and the staff particularly welcoming.

Beautifully presented, a sweet ceviche, which felt like healthy eating to me, an ideal way to complement the craft beers I was planning for later on in the day.

Ever the professional photographer, I’ve put a slight lean of the Sagrada Família in here. The new tower is visible on the right hand side with that star thing at the top. Work started on this cathedral in 1882, with Gaudi taking over as the architect the following year and it’s in his style which has made the building one of the most identifiable religious structures in the world. It is meant to be completed in the 2030s, although I can imagine that the timetable will slip somewhat as it’s already one of the longest running architectural projects in the world.

I didn’t go in because I’ve been in before and the admission charge is expensive, at over £20. I climbed the tower last time and the building is certainly a work of art. I’ll go in again when they’ve finished it.

Whilst Bev was inside the cathedral, Ross and I popped to a local cafe. They had signs sellotaped on every table saying that visits should be limited to thirty minutes and although I approve of the general passive aggressive nature of the messaging, it did make it feel unfriendly. The service was warm and friendly, but we were the only customers in there, so I decided that we could safely have a stay of over thirty minutes.

When I return to Barcelona, which is now nearly certain, I will spend more time investigating the cake options.

Our intrepid photographer.

We had an hour or so walk to the sea, but after all of that effort, Ross and Bev refused to go swimming.

I must admit that I wasn’t tempted either.

There’s a large beach area and there were people playing volleyball and the like, although there was plenty of space for anyone who did want to sun bathe.

I had identified a craft beer bar to go in that Ross would like, but it didn’t open for forty minutes, so I diverted us to Poblenou Cemetery. It’s a substantial sized cemetery where I imagine there are tens of thousands of burials. The first cemetery was laid out at this site in 1775, but it was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops and so was reconstructed in 1819. There have been numerous extensions added to the cemetery since given the number of burials.

Some graves were more ornately decorated than others.

A little ostentatious perhaps, but this is one of the many family tombs. Some of the tombs had been emptied out, I assume with the knowledge of the cemetery, but it’s very much an active site.

There was a lot of squawking when we walked past here.

The culprit, a seagull protecting its eggs.

This is just a little confusing, as one of my most favourite bars is Hoppiness, but that one is located in Warsaw.

Some interesting beer options and the bar surroundings were laid-back and welcoming, so it appears that I now have two bars called Hoppiness that I am quite partial to. I was very impressed with the beer here, I went for the Don’t Jinx It from SOMA beer, which was a formidable 8% DEIPA showing just how good Spanish micro-breweries can be. And if that wasn’t enough, I then went for the 11% Melting Moment imperial stout with white chocolate, another rich and decadent beer. This bar really was quite a treat, I’d certainly come back here.

I spent a little too long deciding how much I liked Hoppiness, which led us rushing by the Monument of Tribute at the large Parc de la Ciutadella. Just enough time for a quick photo though.

Our evening meal was again booked using The Fork, with 30% off the food at Craft Barcelona.

The drinks selection had a few Thornbridge options which was very acceptable, although I’ve had these before and wanted to have some more Spanish options. I had the Carolina del Sour from Milana and the Nancy from Cerveses Almogaver, the latter of which was an intriguing fruity and hazy IPA.

My bar food was entirely adequate, although the chorizo in cider sauce was a little bland, which is something that chorizo really shouldn’t be. However, the Nachos, chicken wings and the like all tasted fine, although with regards to the fried foods, it’s hard to get those wrong and Ross was content with his burger. Bev muttered for several minutes about her steak, but Ross and me didn’t get involved, although in the end, they didn’t charge for the meal and so I thought that was very positive. To my annoyance though, the restaurant pretended to The Fork that we had no showed, which I thought was petty of them. I did ask them to correct that, but they didn’t, so The Fork intervened directly. Disappointing and shoddy I though, I was going to leave them a positive review before they tried playing that game. I had quite liked the venue, but it’s one I hardly dare go back to now.

Erotic waffles? I don’t think you can get these on Norwich market. I hadn’t even noticed this shop, I just noticed Bev charging towards it with her camera. Ross and I didn’t say anything….

Mikkeller, an on-trend craft beer bar which has quite an international presence, particularly in their home territory of Scandinavia.

The beer list by the door, with quite a lot of gaps. I went for the La Federal from Cierzo Brewing Co, a porter which has chilli in it, with that heat being evident.

Mikkeller wasn’t as busy as I expected, I had thought it might be quite busy in the evening. Given that the staff member wasn’t doing much, I thought they were a lacking a little in engagement, but I had beer and so I was entirely content. It wasn’t clear whether food was served or not, it was mentioned on the web-site, but didn’t seem available and Bev had hoped for something as she had only eaten half a steak. It was though a suitable nightcap, before we got the Metro back to the apartment, with this time Bev managing not to post her ticket into the machine itself.

May 18, 2022
Not Going to Barcelona…..

Given the whole health situation at the moment, I’ve cancelled my proposed trip to Barcelona for the beer festival just before Christmas. The cost of PCR tests is a factor, but I’m not sure how this new variant is going to affect travel over the next couple of weeks. I cancelled my Accor hotel without charge and BA also sent me a voucher for my now cancelled flight to Barcelona, and it only took them about an hour to do that. I had paid for the flight with vouchers anyway, so there’s no great loss there.

Fortunately, I hadn’t paid for an LFT for my trip back to the UK, as that would have been something of a waste since the rules changed, but I’ve now booked a PCR test to be collected at London Heathrow T5. Or at least, hopefully that’ll work out. I can’t see me going overseas again in 2021, so the Barcelona beer festival will just have to wait for another year. It’s been several years since I’ve been to Barcelona, but I’m sure it won’t be too long before I get there again.

December 2, 2021