Sunday, March 29, 2009

Most of the rain in Spain is falling in England?

Friday night we left Vienna for a long 4-day weekend in Barcelona in and attempt to enjoy warm weather and tasty tapas in this the beautiful city. Upon arrival in the HCC Open Hotel, centrally located close to Placa de Catalunya we met Kerstin’s cousin Anja,who is living and working in Barcelona for drinks in the 7 Sins Bar just opposite her flat. It was great to go out at 2230 and just wear a light jacket as it was so mild.

Saturday morning though, while we had breakfast together in a small Catalan bakery Escribo it started to drizzle with rain lightly. We headed towards La Rambla, stopped by the
Casa Camper Barcelona, a cool design-hotel Anja is working for and had to finally give in to the water pressure and bought an umbrella as it did only stop shortly raining every now and then in order to restart again soon. When Anja started working at 1400 we headed towards on e of the best Tapas Bars in Barcelona, Tapas 24 where we had to queue for 45 minutes in order to get a table. The bar is very well designed, though its only visible once you are sitting there and have time to check it out from your seat. Very friendly staff and excellent tapas have been absolutely worth the time waiting.

The later afternoon we spent in the sea. Unfortunately not the way we expected it and wished it for, swimming, but walking through the
Aquarium, a huge marine zoo by the port with numerous small and large fish. We felt like back in Koh Tao or the Similan Islands diving at times and spent hours inside. It seemed we felt that we would not miss anything outside as rain continued and rather intensified.

Ever seen such a strange fish?

At 2200 we picked up Anja after work again and we headed tor Tapioles 53, a tiny restaurant run by an Australian chef. The restaurant has no fix menu but offers each day different dishes to choose from. It was not typical Spanish food, but absolutely mind-blowing. The setting of the restaurant, in an small former warehouse resembling more a lofty living room than a restaurant made this evening pretty special and made us forget the water coming down.

Kerstin & Markus

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