Barcelona - Summer 2019

July 15, 2019

Barcelona - Summer 2019

We have now returned from our epic European Summer Vacation and I will now be boring you all with the summary of our trip in the next few blogs.

Our first stop was the wonderful city of Barcelona. I am not sure if it was because it was our first stop when travelling from India, but we all instantly fell in love with this beautiful city. The weather was spectacular, the roads and traffic were smooth and organised, and we were welcomed with open arms, and Cava !! What’s not to love?

We started our European vacation with a fabulous food tour with the company, Devour Tours (which we can highly recommend), and loved our tour with Alvaro. Alvaro had spent some time living in Sydney which we could tell as he let slip a couple of Australian-isms (references to Hungry Jack’s and also describing that a place used be “a little bit dodgy”) were dead give aways. Our meeting point was the wonderful market called Mercado de Santa Caterina, which is a local market, not very touristy at all which made it even more appealing. The store owners loved having us all there and it was such an insight in to daily life in Spain. The assault on the senses as we walked through the doors was nothing short of fantastic – the beautiful fresh produce and meats were
sensational.

Some of our favourite taste tests were the La Bomba, Monchego cheese, Croquettes, Paella (of course) and many more. After Alvaro advised us that the Spanish were known to have two breakfasts and a pre-dinner meal we now believe that Jack may, in fact be Spanish.

The tour provided us with a great history on the Catalonian region
and the ongoing push to separate from Spain and to be a seperate country. It was interesting to think that there could be two countries to visit within the boy’s lifetime. The way the history was delivered by Alvaro even kept the boys interested and curious. He took us to some fabulous places and we tried some of the best food in Barcelona !

Jack had a few favourite foods from our time in Spain – the
croissants filled with Mascarpone cream from the amazing small patisserie shop
called Hoffman, are an absolute must when in Barcelona – not necessarily
traditionally Spanish, but so delicious. He also loved the Pan Con Tomate, which is a lovely tapas or starter made with lovely freshly baked bread with olive oil, garlic
and tomato rubbed on it. The beautiful Catalonian tomatoes that are very juicy are widely used in Barcelona to make this staple at all restaurants. Again, what’s not to love - bread, olive oil, garlic and tomato’s !!! His final favourite was, of course, the heavenly Churros with hot chocolate sauce.

Max was more on the savoury side, falling in love with Patatas Bravas, Monchego cheese and the black hock acorn fed Jamon. Of course, Mike and I loved it all but had an added enjoyment with the afternoon tipple of Vermouth and the great Spanish wines and beers.

We did do more than eat and drink while in Spain – I promise – doing an average of 15km walking each day. It was such a pleasure to be able to walk around on proper footpaths and just be part of the city without being stared at, that we made the most of
it.

In addition to the food tour, we had some wonderful restaurant visits while we were tripping around Barcelona. Some of these were:

Kalamata - a small tapas bar near our hotel in the Sant Marti region. It was our first night and the boys instantly fell in love with the Patatas Bravas, Pan Con Tomate and the Jamon, just to name a few.

Can Dende - a great little café that serves a brilliant breakfast/brunch.

And our final recommendation for a restaurant is for Raco De La Vila for a traditional Catalonian dinner.

A fun fact that we learned while in Barcelona was the process of having a siesta. Apparently, the process of having a siesta involves sitting in a chair – definitely not lying down in a bed – you must be sitting up ! You must also have your keys in one of your hands. While sitting and holding the keys you close your eyes and dose
off. In 45 minutes (by all accounts 45 minutes exactly), your hand will naturally open and you will drop the keys and be woken instantly. This is the perfect amount of nap time to allow you to keep working through the afternoon without feeling groggy. I haven’t had a chance to test the theory, because I am a very grumpy napper and the boys are not
willing to let me test it out.

A few of our favourite sights to see in Barcelona were:

Gaudi, Gaudi everywhere – his amazing artwork is seen all over
Barcelona, and all his works were stunning. Our favourites, along with most peoples were Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. They are both stunning pieces of art that will continue to inspire and entertain for centuries to come.

We enjoyed the Hop on Hop off Bus – not something we do in most cities, but due to the heat and distances in Barcelona, we found it a good way to get around. It even allowed us to stop off at the famous football stadium, Camp Nuo. I am not a big football fan, unless our boys are actually playing, but Camp Nuo was a fabulous experience and we spent an
entire morning here seeing all the trophies, the behind the scenes of the stadium and a great VR experience. Highly recommend if you can do it.

Our hotel was closely located to the beach and I loved that I had
the opportunity to go for morning walks to the beach and enjoyed the clean and
safe streets to walk each day. When in Barcelona a trip to the beach is highly recommended.

Many people say that Sydney and Barcelona are very similar and I have to say that I don’t disagree. They are two of our favourite cities and I really hope we get to visit Barcelona
again one day.