Barcelona Eating and Drinking

So as often is the case, my experience of any city is all about the food. I knew I liked Tapas. But beyond that, not too sure what to expect other than possibly the odd paella. And I guess in a weekend it is hard to venture much beyond that with only a few meals to be had.

We ate an amazing paella on the first night. I guess thanks are due to my brother in law and Jonny for their "research" whilst the rest of us took a siesta...I'm sure that was more than one beer you had and we won't mention the hubbly bubble (oh I just did - oops.) I have never seen a paella dish so large - a six person dish was bought to the table. Great fresh seafood as you would hope from a port. I think my homework is to learn how to make a good paella.

Early evening on the Friday prior to this, my sister in law and I decide a sit down on the Ramblas is probably a good idea - we had been walking quite a bit due to navigation failure to find the metro stops. The boys decide to get a beer. I consider a coke but when in Spain, it seemed wrong not to have a small sangrea. This is what turned up:

So much for a small tipple. Jonny was not disappointed with his beer:

And a quick pit stop turned into a 2 hour people watching stop on Le Ramblas where I saw a naked man riding a bicycle and we also saw hens and stags and all sorts. I seem to remember a good football quiz too. Lots of laughter was had.

I struggled slightly on with the eating at midnight culture, but I guess the one advantage is that I was absolutely starving on the Saturday night and we destroyed a large amount on Tapas between us, which was very good indeed after the not very good sandwich we had eaten for lunch.

For those younger than us, or not with their wives maybe, there is an all night drinking and clubbing culture in this city that passed me by. I can see, however, why it is so popular for stag parties. I thought this may mean a culture weekend maybe somewhat marred by beery lads etc but I wouldn't let that put you off. This city has so much to offer beyond being stag do central.

We finish our visit with a long brunch down by the marina near our hotel. It is about 30 degrees, not a cloud in sight, and we relax and breath in the pleasure of being somewhere so warm and relaxed during mid October. One last beer for the boys at Placa de L'Angel and it is time to head for the airport. In short, good food and drink seems to flow endlessly in this place, and with the relaxed pace of life for a weekend, the two seem to go hand in hand. Gracies.