Bella Barcelona - Part 4, Restaurants

We ate our way through Barcelona and found the restaurants to be abundant, inexpensive and really fabulous. Meal times are much later than Anglo or even French habits, but we got used to that. Once we had dinner served to us at midnight.

Our habit was to leave the apartment at mid-morning and find a place for esmorzar (breakfast in Catalan). We always ordered orange juice,  croissant and a café con leche.  After a long night of sleeping, what better way to start the day than by relaxing in the sun?

There are lots of wonderful cafés everywhere you go in the center of the city. It is just a matter of choosing one.

Dinar (Catalan for lunch) was generally our biggest meal. We had some really memorable mid-day meals.

Don't arrive before 1PM, since they will still be setting up, and things don't really start jumping until 2 or 3.

We had the distinct advantage of having a friend with us who lives in Barcelona and could identify the best places to eat. We had one of the most pleasant lunches we've ever had at La Mar Salada. Located on the harbor, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food was divine. On the terrace where we sat, the sun was shinning gloriously and the waiters were charming and attentive. We were nurtured from top to bottom. I had a green tomato gazpacho and tuna steak dressed in a delicious teriyaki sauce. For dessert, the chocolate bomb. We also realized that we'd read about this restaurant in the New York Times.

We loved the tapas, particularly the gambas al Ajillo (garlic shrimp), Calamares Fritos (fried squid) and patatas bravas (fried popatoes served with aioli and paprika sauce). The sea food was particularly fresh, the sauces particularly tasty.

Spanish wine is quite nice as well. We enjoyed some fabulous crisp whites and mellow reds. We had a wine cellar not far from our apartment. My favorite white was Viña Sol, so easy to drink, like grapefruit juice, and so refreshing.

Bella Barcelona - Part 3 Joan Miró

Joan Miró was born in Barcelona in 1893 and lived until 1983, so he witnessed and was influenced by all the chaos of the twentieth century. He was friends with the poet Garcia Lorca who was killed by Franco during Spain's fascist period. During the dictator's reign, it was a capital offense to speak the native Catalan language. Miró spent the Franco years in France.

During the final years of Miró's life, and with the encouragement of his Majorcan wife Pilar Juncosa, he built Fundació Joan Miró on Montjuic, not far from Franco's execution grounds. This is one of the loveliest and most entertaining museums I have ever visited. It was easy to spend an entire day there.

I was not particularly a Miró fan before visiting the Fundació, but I certainly left there a committed one. His work is colorful, playful and seems to be very appealing to children.

The architecture of the museum is modern, in the best sense of the word. It is expansive and clean. There is a lovely garden with panoramic views of Barcelona, a gift shop, book store, café and restaurant. There are lots of places to sit down and many rooms to visit. The collection is impressive. Like Picasso, Miró was extremely prolific and lived a long life, working until the end.

He did large colorful paintings and charming fanciful sculptures.

The museum also had a fun temporary exposition while we were there. Each artist had an entire wall to decorate. They were mostly fresh and fun. They seemed exuberant, which is how the entire museum space feels.

 

My next post will recommend some restaurants in Barcelona.

Bella Barcelona - Part 2 At the Market

Wandering through a fresh-air market is fundamentally nurturing. Barcelona has several fine ones. During our first morning, we discovered the Mercat St. Josep, in the old town. Something about food, so colorful and elegantly arranged, satisfies all the senses and makes one dream of pleasant pass times in the kitchen. Of course we took most of our meals out, so my consumption was through the lens of a camera.

It seemed quite remarkable to me that even in early March, there was so much gorgeous produce available.

We returned to the market on our last day in town, just before leaving for the airport, to purchase some Spanish ham and cheese. Of course these products are easily available in France, but it's such a pleasure to purchase them from the source.

Although I think it's difficult to beat French breads and pastries, Barcelona does have some wonderful bakeries with a Spanish twist on their baked goods. Generally they are a little hardier and less delicate, which, from time to time, makes quite a nice change.

Bella Barcelona - Part 1, Architecture

 

We have just returned from five days spent in Barcelona. It was our first visit to the city and only our second time in Spain. The stay was long enough to absorb the atmosphere and learn our way around. With the highly recommended Top 10 Barcelona by Eye-Witness, we were able to discover wonderful little corners, bustling markets, gorgeous architecture, must-not-miss sites and fabulous museums, not to mention some outstanding restaurants and cafes. We experienced all the four seasons in the brief time we were there. It rained, it shone and it even snowed while the temperatures varied wildly between about 35 - 75 degrees. We rented an apartment in the Poble Sec neighborhood just at the foot of Montjuic and a short walk to the Harbor and sea. 

I have so many nice photographs of Barcelona that I will post several blogs about the city. This post mostly focuses on the architecture and general ambiance of the city.

Barcelona, like many Spanish cities, has narrow shady streets (cool in the hot summer months) which open out onto large squares, where people congregate.

 

  

 

  

 

Barcelona is a city that has been greatly influenced by her native sons, particularly by the modernist architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926). His fantastical church, Sagranda Famillía which has been under construction since 1883 is not estimated to be completed until 2026.

 

Many of the buildings in Barcelona are extravagantly ornamented. Certainly Gaudi and those who came after him have lent much to the city's decoration, but Barcelona's history is long and many of its buildings have stood for hundreds of years. It seems always to have been a place of architectural taste and experimentation. It has often, throughout its history, been a very prosperous city.

 

 The harbor and Mediterranean Sea were just a short walk from our apartment. Our first day in town was clear, bright and warm. We had lunch next to the harbor and walked along the boardwalk afterwards.

Next post will feature Barcelona markets. I simply can't resist taking photos of food!

Salon du dessin

Do you love drawing? Do you adore Paris? Here's your chance to enjoy them together...an exceptional show, they immodestly proclaim. I believe them. If you're not going to be here between 24-29 March, enjoy the virtual experience.