Barcelona Baby!

What an amazing city, our first time there. Even though I have had a old roommate Gisela (a native Catalan) living there for over 10 years it took me this long to finally go and visit! ButI knew one of these days I would get to see her and it was like seeing her yesterday! Here we are catching up over delicious Gin and Tonics with am amazing view of the city. Barcelona is only a 1.5 hour flight from Zurich. We arrived around 9am and after checking into our hotel had the whole glorious fun filled (hot&humid!) day in front of us!
Tapas,Paella, Gaudi, Picasso – we wanted to see it all (and I wanted to eat all of these!!!!).

We strolled out of our hotel along the Passeig de Gracia passing all the posh shops – YSL, Dolce and Gabbana, a huge Burberry-you name it, they’ve got it – great fashion and great architecture in this city! Our destination however was the somewhat more humble Las Rambles market – a covered farmer’s market with every fabulous fruit, vegetable, prosciutto and seafood you could ever want!
All the fresh ingredients for Catalan cuisine!
If the cue wouldn’t have been so long we definitely would have eaten at this little spot that was dishing out amazing looking shrimps, lobsters and paellas – looked amazing! We stayed at 2 different hotels – the modern Hotel Omm right off of the Passeig de Gracia (on the roof a great contrast of old and new). And then in the El Born neighborhood Hotel Bany’s Orientals. Near the Omm we were around the corner from some great Gaudi and modernist architecture. We also discovered nearby the museum of Antoni Tapies (an artist I had not previously known about). The Sagrada Familia is a must see -one of Gaudi’s unfinished project which is in the process of being completed and will be done in 2012. This architecture is so complex and unusual you wonder who or how anyone could complete this project – wow!

Also another unfinished Gaudi project – Park Guell. The Picasso Museum is an absolute must – you learn so much about the artist and see an entire other side of his huge body of work – really incredible. We did not make it to the Miro museum, just didn’t have the time so that will be next time! BTW, a great guidebook also available as an app is Cool Barcelona (thanks Laura!).
A few restaurants to mention. First night, we ate at the “cafe” of Hotel Omm. Why does everyone in the lobby of this hotel look like someone out of a Disaronna ad? They offer lots of little plates so we tried pasta with truffles, risotto, and a cheese course to name a few.
The next night the formal dining room – full on fusion cooking! No hashbrowns on the side of this golden egg! Incredible, unusual food and this dinner went from 9:30 – 1am! Now we’re talking – a real Paella! Lunch with Gisela at 7 Portes - a real feast with lots of dishes which required a nap afterrwards! That night Gisela invites us to her home for a perfect simple Spanish dinner: the famous Tortilla Espanola , tuna with olives, melon with ham and amazing tomatoes! Our last lunch at the Hotel Banys Oriental’s restaurant – elegant and delicious and not too expensive either. What we loved about Barcelona:
1. The architecture- everywhere you go there is some amazing building
2. The art – wonderful museums: Picasso, Miro, Tapies
3. The fashion – lots of style not to mention so many hot girls on mopeds and pretty people too!
4. A big city but much more relaxed and easier than Paris (for example)
5. Great metro to make getting around easy
6. Delicious restaurants – lunch or dinner, take your time, it’s Spanish style!
7. The beach – we didn’t even have time to explore this (next time!)
We flew out of Barcelona around 7pm to a glorious sunset – what a perfect ending! Next stop Geneva, Switzerland for a little Swiss French flavor!