We spent 4 days with Chris and Julie in Barcelona just relaxing and enjoying the city. They took us to some great local restaurants including an awesome craft beer place and a local micro brewery (of course).We also got a chance to check out Chris’ new store in person, have a coffee at El National (“the first multi space restaurant in Barcelona”) and visit the design store Vinçon which is closing down, but still interesting to walk around the building.
Chris manning the shop
Our first night, dinner at a local burger place
Our second day, lunch at a craft beer and sandwich joint
Third day, brewpub
El National is a new restaurant complex housed in a great old warehouse that had previously run down to the point that it was being used as a parking garage
Vinçon was selling all of its remaining products including the store fixtures, but most of the space was lined with their old shopping bags. The dying breath of a design shop that fell victim to the crisis
Our second night was the festival of Sant Joan (Sankt Hans for the Danes out there) where we hosted a BBQ with a number of Chris and Julie’s friends. The food turned out fantastic despite some initial debate about whether a medium sized Weber grill could manage 2 whole chickens and a 1.5 kilo beef roast at the same time. We also got to sample a Sant Joan specialty (the Coca de Sant Joan) and learned of a couple other great traditions from Catalonia (see Fun Facts).
Picking up drinks for the party. Yes, that’s right, 1 liter of wine for €1.40
Even after all of the meat, the coals had enough left for some veggies
Enjoying a warm evening on the balcony
The Coca
We spent our last full day at the beach and ate lunch at a local restaurant where the service was comically bad, but on a sunny day, with a view of the beach, it was hard to get too uptight about it. The next day, we visited the Picasso museum for a show comparing his work with Salvador Dalí and then boarded the car ferry that evening for Savona, Italy. All-in-all a fantastic 4 days in Barcelona.
Picture taken with waterproof phone. Why? Because I can
Okay, now i’m hungry, thirsty and i really need my mac fixed. I could also use a swim and when i’m tired of it all i’ll be ready for Starfleet Academy and wherever that may lead. What a trip.