Pardon my absence…I’m back from Spain! It was a fantastic trip from start to finish. This is part one of the adventure…
I arrived in Madrid on a Wednesday morning. My dear, sweet Alexa was waiting at the airport for me. I can’t tell you how great it was to spend time with her. Love, love, love.
Me and Alexa...hot, hot!
First stop: Alexa’s apartment. She rents a room in a cute, cozy apartment from a lovely Spanish girl named Teresa. It’s a great neighborhood and I was happy to see her digs. Alexa put the coffee on, I hopped in the shower and we hit the streets (staying awake was key so I could sleep through the night that night). We took the bus down toward the city center. Alexa had a lunch spot in mind where we ate from the menu del dia. If you don’t know, this is a great way to eat la comida (the Spanish main meal of the day). For around 10 euros you get a salad, main course, dessert and wine. It’s a steal.
After lunch, Alexa headed to class and I decided to walk around and pop into some shops. I walked along the park near the Museo del Prado and then up onto Calle de Serrano which is sort of like Fifth Avenue in New York. An hour or so later, I get a text from Alexa that her class is cancelled so she met up with me. From there we decided to have a drink. We went to a couple of classicly Spanish bars – “old man bars” as Alexa fondly calls them. A drink, tapas, another drink, tapas….etc. By this time it’s getting close to 9:00 and with very little sleep on the flight over, I was wiped. So we called it a day.
The next morning we made our first stop ARCOmadrid – the contemporary art fair that I recently blogged about. We met my boss Peter Doroshenko there. He was in Madrid that week because he organized a panel with collectors who have created private museums to house their collections. We walked around the fair. As usual at fairs, there is always too much to see but we made the rounds, saw some great art, saw some not-so-great art and ate some over priced sushi. The nature of the biz…
However, one of the most interesting things we ran into was ROYALTY. Upon arrival, Peter told us very nonchalantly that the prince and princess were in da house. Alexa freaked. I wasn’t really sure what to be looking for but we made our way around the maze of galleries and then found it – the crowd of people gawking like we were about to do. We took some terrible photos with our iPhones and checked “Spanish Royalty” off our list of things to see.
Prince and Princess of Asturias at ARCOmadrid
From there Alexa headed to class and Peter and I decided to hit the Museo de Reine Sofia and a gallery which was showing Doug Aitken’s film “Black Mirror”. Both were great. I took a break to rest up for the evening out.
Hernan, Alexa’s super sweet and handsome beau, met us at the apartment before heading out. First stop was Cafe Melos in the Lavapies neighborhood, a diner-like place with bad lighting and bad service (a common trait of Spanish restaurants) – but packed with people and really great food. We ordered wine, pimientos (a fave of Alexa’s), empanadas and a zapatilla (which translates as “slipper” – not sure why except that maybe it is because it is as big as a shoe).
Hernan and Alexa
empanadas y pimientos at Melos
zapatilla at Melos
From there, we headed over to a bar called Delic – cozy, warm and had good mojitos. Lorena, a Spanish friend of Alexa’s, met us out. After a drink at Delic, Lorena wanted to take us to the Bar Cock. It’s not what it sounds like. This was a cool spot – had a nice ambience and an interesting crowd of people. It felt like the days of the Owl Bar in Baltimore (kind of funny…cocks and owls). We had a drink there but were needing to call it a night soon since Alexa and I were getting on a morning train to Barcelona. But with the Spanish, it’s not that easy. I will give it to Lorena – she tried her hardest to make us a stay. But alas…we had to go. We needed to sleep and Barcelona was waiting for us.
Alexa, Lorena and Me
Barcelona bound! Friday morning we got on the Ave train to Barcelona. Was it expensive? Yes. Was it super comfortable and worth it? Yes. Upon arrival, we went straight to our hotel – Grenados 83. It was a cute, modern boutique hotel in a great location. Nice customer service, a metro stop close by and a sweet coffee shop run by a French lady across the street – I totally recommend it. That day we walked around. Alexa led me around several different neighborhoods. We stopped at a little café for la comida. Consumed: chicken soup with cabbage and garbanzo beans, paella and flan. We then walked around and did some shopping…Zara and Hakei among others.
me and Paella
breakin' the sweet sugar crust...
After shopping and then a break at the hotel, we decided to do a bit of a bar crawl in the Raval neighborhood. Our good friend (from Baltimore) Andy Stella who is living in Barcelona with his lovely wife Laura, made a super fab google map of bars that they like in this neighborhood.
Andy Stella's stella map
The first stop we had a glass of wine and admired the two very hot bartenders. One noticed that we were looking at the other. We couldn’t help but live up to what they probably already thought – that we were silly, shallow American girls. Yes! Then we left needing a little food in our bellies. As we walked down the street Alexa spotted a falafel joint. Perhaps it was because we were really hungry, but I do believe this was the best falafel I have ever had. We gobbled it up and made a couple more stops. Along the way, we kept spotting cats, pirates, cows (a lot of cows for some reason) and superheroes. A and I were speculating on why in the world all these characters were roaming the streets. As we I asked our concierge. He said, “Carnival.” With a tone that said, “Are you kidding me? Carnival, you idiot.” I said, “Oh, right. Thanks.”
Saturday morning we headed to the northern part of the city to go to the Museum of National Art of Catalunya (MNAC) and the Mies van der Rohe pavilion. Both great stops. MNAC had a solid collection of Romantic, Gothic and Modern art. Going over to the Mies pavilion was an unexpected treat. I didn’t know he had a building in Barcelona. Apparently it was built in 1929 for the International Exposition in Barcelona. It was then taken away and after about 50 years was rebuilt. Oh, Mies! How I love you…it actually makes me miss the Highfield House in Baltimore.
Me and Alexa at MNAC, Barcelona
Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona
Mies van der Rohe pavilion...with the Barcelona chairs
After a lot of art looking, we needed a bite to eat. La Boqueria for fresh juice, cod fritters and a selection of empanadas. It’s impossible to take a bad photo in this place. Beautiful colors everywhere…and it was buzzing with people.
La Boqueria
Me and Jamon
From there we went to see the water and to have a refreshing glass of cava. Aaah…
Alexa by the sea
After a full day, we had plans to meet up with some Catalan friends for drinks and dinner in a cool neighborhood called Gracia. After a quick nap, we were refreshed and back out the door. We were meeting Marta and Jordi — friends of Alexa’s which she met in Baltimore while they were living there for a few months. These two were sweet as pie…we had a great night together. First they took us to Elephanta, a bar which specializes in gin and tonics (this seems to be a Barcelona trend). We had a couple of drinks and snacks and then were off to the next place for a typical Catalan meal.
Alexa and the Catalans - Jordi and Marta
gin and tonics, chips and guac at Elephanta
Marta, Me and Alexa
Marta and Jordi ordered the spread — meat and cheese platters with ham and chorizo, grilled artichokes, cod salad with fresh tomato and onion, roasted eggplant and red peppers and bread toasted with tomato. We shared a bottle of wine, enjoyed great food and great conversation (topics including but not limited to the WIRE — always a plus).
typical Catalan meal at La Llesca in Gracia
Sunday morning Alexa and I went different places. She wanted to head back to the MNAC to see a bit more and I wanted to go see Gaudi’s Casa Batllo. I got there right as they opened so I didn’t have to wait in line. Perfecto. I have always seen images of Gaudi, but what a difference it was to see it in person. He must have been a whack job. I can’t even imagine. And on the tour I learned that he was there every day while it was being built because the builders only had a drawing and a model to work from. What a nightmare!! Even though he was probably very eccentric (nuts) he was certainly a genius. Alexa recommended I go here and it was definitely a highlight.
Gaudi's Casa Batlló, Barcelona
Me at Casa Battló
Afterward, I made another Gaudi stop — Sagrada Familia. Stunning. But lines were too long so I didn’t go in.
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia
Alexa and I then met back up to meet with our Charm City friends Laura and Andy Stella!!! So GREAT to see them. We all greeted each other with big American hugs!! Andy is there working on a Master’s degree. We met them at their super cute apartment and did a quick catch up. Us girls went out for a quick bite and then made plans to meet up for dinner and drinks. We met up for dinner that night at a place in their hood. Then walked to a place called Madame Jasmine. It was strange (in a good way)…dark with a sort of warm red glow, good cocktails, great music and bartenders whose sexuality was uncertain.
The Charm City Gang (nerd) - Laura, Andy, Alexa and Me
Alexa and Miss Laura
Me and Andy
Marta met us out too!
For our final day in Barcelona, Alexa took me on a bit of a walking tour. We checked a few more bits of fabulous architecture, did some good people watching and then it was time to head back to the train.
Then we were off to Madrid for the rest of the week. Zuzu in España z02 to follow…
Check out ALL the photos up to this point on my facebook page…love you.
Zuzu Bluebottom 