Barcelona: Rediscovered

Remembering to be a tourist once again.

Maybe it takes a family member visiting you to remind you of your early days of discovery your chosen city.

After those initial days, you find yourself getting accustomed to city living and becoming a local.

My son, who lives in Washington state, came to visit us for two weeks. It was his first venture leaving the United States in many years. He even had to renew his passport. As a good mamá, I bought his ticket and arranged his travel. Seattle to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Barcelona via Lufthansa. Glad his routing took him up and over the northern hemisphere as the world has gotten a bit crazier since I bought the ticket in January.

His flight was a bit late but ultimately arrived on time and with his luggage. The only hiccup was that he thought we could enter baggage claims as you do in the US to meet him. It took a few back-and-forths on WhatsApp to get that straightened out.

Here in Europe, we wait for our arriving guests outside the baggage claims area. In the USA you are permitted in baggage claims.

Finally we saw him exiting the baggage claims. With a big smile and a grand abrazo and all, we claimed him. 

As he hadn’t slept during his 28- hour journey, we took the normal airport bus into Plaza Cataluña, where we transferred to a taxi twenty minutes later, we arrived at our apartment in García. Total travel time is about 45 minutes from El Prat airport to our home using the Areobus to Placa Catalonia and  allowing the gentle decompression process to begin.

Home sweet home.

To an American eye our apartment is tiny as he said, our whole apartment could fit into his living room. The size of the scale and cost of living would be topics of conversation over our time together.

During the next two weeks he would visit Sagrada Familia Church with Maximo and take the elevator up to the newly finished areas. I chose not to walk as my knee was bothering me.

He also got to visit Casa Batlló, by himself as we sat across the street having a coffee and tapas as it was a beautiful sunny day.

We also did Park Güell as a family on another beautiful warm day. The staff there is amazing as my knee was really feeling bad, so they obtained a wheel chair for me making the experience much better for all.

Zack wandered all over the park as Maximo and I chatted.  No closeby cafe until you exit the park. The city vistas are awesome on a clear day. Many large tankers are parked out there riding high in the water signifying that they are empty.  All these wars affect peeps in different ways no matter what your belief system is.

We even went to one of my favorite Gaudi buildings called La Pedrera for an art exhibition called the Nabis.

The Nabis were a group of avant-garde French painters active in Paris from 1888 to 1900, recognized for their flat areas of color, decorative patterns, and Symbolist style.  These painters were influenced by Gauguin’s palette and began painting intimate domestic scenes, everyday items, sometimes mystical or decorative styles.
Very easy on the eyes. Paintings with lush intense colors, lithographs and black and white woodcuts.

This show was enjoyed by both my son and my partner, and afterwards we went for a bit to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Secrets. A plate of fresh vegetables smothered in a house made creme fraiche, chicken with lemon and a side of mushrooms too.  My son has the burrata  burger with sweet potato fries.

We discovered a new restaurant as we are all meat eaters, especially after living in Argentina for many years. 

Maison de Carne was a space my son discovered when touring the Sagrada Familia Church.  He overheard this couple extolling the fantasticness and tastiness of this restaurant.  We actually went twice.

The space viewed from the street view features a cooler full of hanging bone steaks, making your mouth water with anticipation.

The only thing on the menu is steak, a rib eye cut that is cooked medium rare. Punto. Delivered to your table with a little hibachi for additional cooking.  The meat comes with an excellent green salad and french fries. Bulk wine is served from magnum bottles. Starter is small, sliced rustic bread with a delicious pate. The pricing is good.

My partner and I split a steak as we  were fascinated as my son finished a whole one on his own!

Another night we ate at a wonderful local restaurant Desbaux which is two blocks from our apartment.  Another night we went to the Garage, a made to order fresh pizza place. Not gluten free but so delicious I am happy with a bit of knee creaking.

We walked and cabbed all over the city. Most days the weather was a warm early spring day with a few rainy days. On those days we were all happy to hang out at the apartment and do our own thing, cooking dinner in the evening together.

Evenings at the apartment brought lively if slow paced  discussions –  my son does not speak Spanish and my partner’s English is still growing.  Out come the phone translators making the conversations a little slower than normal. But remembering language is for communicating, makes it all worthwhile.

My son shared some of his observations about Barcelona.  The food quality here is very high and the prices are not.
The women are always looking good here.
The pace of life is too slow here, as being late is endemic here.
The quality of the people’s relationships here is far superior to anything he has experienced.

And in general people are caring and take their time with everything.

Links:

Secrets

Maison Carne

Barcelona tourism

La Pedrera