A day in... Barcelona

I am not a person to improvise, I don't have a life that lets much space to improvising either, so I have an excuse not to improvise, so planning 30 hours in Barcelona on a Monday and booking flights for just five days later almost made me threw up.

But I didn't, and those 30 hours in Barcelona were awesome (except for the part where I couldn't have dinner because I had eaten too much and felt sick for a couple hours).

The Plan:

What to do in 30 hours in Barcelona?  This time there was no shopping involved (surprisingly!). This is a map of what we did:

You must know that (i) we were in no hurry to see anything, and (ii) we had already been to Barcelona, and therefore, there was no need to see/do all the tourinty stuff, even if I we did.

The Execution:

First you get up at 7:15 and try to get to the airport in time to take the 9:30 flight to Barcelona, not so easy when you have to convince someone else that getting up even before than weekdays is an excellent idea.

Second, the plane takes off and an hour later... you're there and your weekend finally starts.

And our tour of Barcelona, Such is Life edition starts here:

A. D. and H. - Quick stop at the hotel and off to a place that has the power to impress anyone who visits it, even if it does not have the name Gaudi written on it.

If you want a hotel a walking distance from almost everything, with wifi, laptops and even an exercise bike (yeah) in each room I'll have to recommend our hotel: http://www.hthoteles.com/es/hotel-petit-palace-museum-barcelona/, I cannot say much about the service however, they couldn't make me a chamomile tea during my food comma crisis, but...  

B.- Not 20 minutes from our hotel is el Palau de la Musica Catalana. Subject to political scandal and controversy in recent years, that does not mean it is a place that can  be overlooked. Totally worth to see its magnificent interior for 17€ per ticket, and you get a guided tour, which includes a little bit of Mendelson. Yes, music was surprisingly present everywhere we went so I will mention Mendelson and his organ concert played by a computer.

For more information on the Palau, here's their website: http://www.palaumusica.cat/ca/

I have to say that before our guided tour we had already stopped to grab a bite and a beer sitting in the sun at the cafe of el Palau, enjoying the first days of spring weather at last! It was gooooooooood.

We even took a couple of minutes to walk about the Barrio Gótico, with its narrow and dark streets, and felt odd to walk past this building in Via Laietana which seemed to spy on us with its hundreds of eyes pinned to its facade.

 But we were focusing on B, and its glass interior. That is for me the most impressive thing of the building.

 C.- 30 minute visit ofel Palau and that left us enogh time to walk up the Paseo de Gracia, enjoying two of Gaudi's landmarks (which any tourist would know). I may or may not have accidentally kicked a metal hurdle on the way while posing in front of Casa Batlló for a picture (taken with my BB because someone forgot to charge the camera, and I swear it was not me).

Lunch at Roca Moo, the restaurant at Hotel Omm was just a massive spectacle of food, champagne and good company :) We were even lucky enough that it rained while having lunch, but not after!

Short nap and opportunity to change the battery of the camera, and off again for an afternoon walk.

E. and F.- Around Plaza Real, and the Barrio Gótico, I posed for endless pictures which I may never get back (at least not until I have insisted a million times, let this count for one). We then heard the music, and then saw the enormous crowd, and then we just stared for a while.









During those minutes I stared I realised that Sardana is not so different from Sevillanas, first easy, then more intricate and difficult.

Then comic book stores, and Star Wars galore, and we were quite exhausted for the day. So we made our way back to Paseo de Gracia and Carrer de la Diputació.

G.- This place deserved to have been in our route for dinner, but I was sooooooooooooo full I couldn't even sit straight without feeling sick.

Still, Tapas 24 was in my plan for a light early dinner so I will post it anyway, cause the choice for dinner was just not too good to blog about it.

I.- Sunday morning, late morning, ideal for brunch, not that I found that many places to pick, not at least online, but I went for the most "alternative" choice and made a reservation at Dostrece, in the heart of el Raval. 

I have to admit we were a bit unsure at first, but benedict eggs and pancakes convinced us we were totally right, and we even got to see a Sikh procession through the window of the bar which was quite cool. I have no pics, but I found this link to a blog with some good pics http://lamevabarcelona.com/la-comunitat-sikh-de-barcelona/.

J. and K.- Down the Rambla (packed on a sunny Sunday), to the sea, around the Maremagnum and past the Museum of History, we met this groovy guys who brought the best of Cuba to our ears.

There was even a guy that produced Mojitos from a back pack, which was the most unhigenic thing I saw in all the weekend, and maybe in a long while, but it was three in the afternoon, we had had a massive brunch and we were in need of refreshment, so I remembered a very cool and hipster place I saw at Plaza Real, and we walked our way back there to lay back in the sun and drenched our thirst with a nice gin & tonic.

My pair of empty frames just made me blend in enough to enjoy Barcelona and take all this Instagramy pics,

And with that... our weekend was over.

I am counting the days to repeat it, somewhere else or anywhere else, otherwise what would become of this section, right?

Such is Life.

M

A day in... Stockholm - Part II

Last time I walked around Stockholm I stopped to catch my breath and I lost track of time in a lovely little shop right around the corner... o where were we?

Ah yes! Ostermalm:

E.- Next Stop in our route is a shop you can find anywhere in Stockholm, but, since you have to walk by on your way to F, you might as well stop in E, and get me ANYTHING. Lagerhaus is an IKEA for little home stuff, very affordable, and colourful, and cute.

www.lagerhaus.se

F.- Last stop before lunch is THE most lovely store for home design, pottery in particular. The colours, shapes, the fabrics, the details... everything about Bruka has Scandinavian written all over, and that means IWANTITALL, over and over again. Prices do not help my now damaged economy (five shops later I have not won the lottery damn it!

If I wasn't so scared of the flight back home, one of my three empty suitcases (yes, I am bringing three suitcases full of goodies for my sis and I am bringing three suitcases full of goodies for myself), with all that mint pottery.

Check the website here: http://www.brukadesign.se/

G.- And finally... Lunch. But why not shop while you choose what to eat? Of course! cause we have not done enough shopping yet, and my visa is not soft piece of plastic by now...

Lunch at Ostermalms Saluhall is the only natural alternative in our shopping day:

http://www.ostermalmshallen.se/

So much stuff done during the morning, we may have to take things slow in the afternoon, so only two more shops to come before dinner, but for now I think it is time to rest, and walk around Saluhall checking all the stands.

Truth is, if we are going to spend the afternoon in super hipster Sodermann maybe just two stops around there won't do the trick... 

I start to wonder if 6 shops before lunch (between 9 and 13:30 hours) is not too much... 

Maybe it is too little. Two weeks to find out. Stockholm. 

Such is Life

A day in... Stockholm - Part I

Easter holidays are going by fast!

And I am already thinking on the next few days off work that I will (hopefully) enjoy in May.

Where to go... where to go?

Of course Stockholm, Stockholm is the official European capital of 2013.

So here I am planning a day out in Stockholm and getting all excited about it.

From breakfast to dinner including a lot of shopping, this is the first part of a post series that will take you to my choices to spend a day of shoppinng in Stockholm:

 So it's Thursday morning, you get up early and fuss about your sister's place for a while and finally get out to the cool of Stockholm's May morning.

Where to go first?

A.- Let's start the day in Kungsholmen, a nice and quiet neighbourhood close to almost everything, and hiding a little super cool (super dickhead, I mean hipster) shop, where you can either buy a skull or have a nice cup of coffe.

Not the cheapest place to buy stuff, but a good idea to get inspired for the rest of the day.

Grandpa has an unlikely name but a cozy interior, and an online store which may be interesting to visit:

http://www.grandpa.se/

B.- Very, very close by, around the corner actually there's the best shop ever to buy all kinds of boxes, organizers, baskets, bottles... and tables that you can carry on the plane back home and totally affordable. Granit.

http://www.granit.com/

 But we are still in Kungsholmen, and the good stuff, the really good stuff is somewhere else! 

Let's take the train to Ostermalm, just 11 minutes away from Granit (Kungsholmen).

C.- Not everything will be home design in this shopping day, but before we move on to the usual and still unusual letter D, we have to stop in another super expensive yet cool place in Ostermalm:

 

 http://www.designhousestockholm.com/

D.- One more stop before we stop for a Diet Coke to recharge. Although it is vastly known in the East Coast it is not so in Spain, so everytime I travel abroad there is a search I always do online: is there an  Urban Outfitters store?

In case of Stockholm... Yes!!

An in case you have not done so yet, go check their online store, it is the best...

 http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/page/home/ 

And...

I need a break.

More Stockholm is coming soon, and next time, lunch is on me.

Such is Life.