Barcelona: Top restaurant picks
Many restaurants are closed Sunday and Monday. So you will need to make sure you visit your top choices Tuesday – Saturday (unless they are among the few open on Sunday & Monday). Also, most restaurants don’t open before 7pm, so going to the Markets and getting some cured meats and cheeses along with a bottle of wine is a great to do, especially if you have rented an apt. It really submerges you into the local culture. I wish we had markets like this here in the states, but being able to experience them for a week was a real treat.
Here are a few of my MUST GO TO tapas bars from our last trip:
Inopia - Carrer Tamarit 104 - This is a must on your list of tapas bars to have dinner at. They are closed Sunday and Monday, as are many of the best restaurants, so make sure you put this on your list to go Tues – Saturday. The service is great and the food is fantastic. Some of our favorite tapas included the Tuna, octopus, smoked sardine salad & smoked salmon with yogurt and honey. They open at 7. Get there by 7:30 to get a seat, otherwise there is a good chance you will have to wait in line. Mario Batali said about Inopia on his website www.spainontheroadagain.com: "Best Tapas Ever", and he was not wrong.
Here are a few of my MUST GO TO tapas bars from our last trip:
Inopia - Carrer Tamarit 104 - This is a must on your list of tapas bars to have dinner at. They are closed Sunday and Monday, as are many of the best restaurants, so make sure you put this on your list to go Tues – Saturday. The service is great and the food is fantastic. Some of our favorite tapas included the Tuna, octopus, smoked sardine salad & smoked salmon with yogurt and honey. They open at 7. Get there by 7:30 to get a seat, otherwise there is a good chance you will have to wait in line. Mario Batali said about Inopia on his website www.spainontheroadagain.com: "Best Tapas Ever", and he was not wrong.
Before going to Inopia stop at Bahia Porto Mar Restaurante Sabor do Brasil on Ave del Paral-lel 127-129. They have the best Sangria I have ever had. It is 2 blocks away from Inopia and worth the trip if you like Sangria.
Paco Meralgo – Another must on Tapas bars. This was one of my favorites on this trip. We went twice and would have gone back a third time. You must ask for the raw tuna steak, it is amazing. Other things on my favorite list included Shaved artichokes, Fillet with garlic (fried), Octopus with caramelized onion, steak tartar and salmon. Their wine list is fantastic and the service is great. I enjoyed sitting at the bar. You are close to everything and you get to see a lot of what others are getting. This gets 5 stars in my book!
Cerveceria Catalan – this tapas bar is open on Sunday and Monday. Save this for one of those 2 nights. The servers at the table were not as helpful with suggestions as the woman at the bar so here are a few of ours: Get the selection of tapas, Veal Filet Bruschetta, Bacon, cheese & dates, Salmon bruschetta, and the grilled prawns. We had a bottle of the Camins de Priorat 2007. We had it first at Inopia and found that it became out favorite wine of the week. It was good and not too expensive.
La Champagneria - When you go here you must order cava. Then you can have food. It's a local hangout near the beach where you are sure to have a fantastic time! Calle Reina Christina
La Sagrada Familia.....OMG!!
For all the hype that you hear about La Sagrada Familia, nothing will prepare you for how awe-struck you will be when you see it. You really get to appreciate not only the full scope of Gaudi’s work, but also the magnitude of something this grand being built in this day and age. Wow!!! How amazing it must be to be one of the artisans building it. Do not miss this! I am definitely going to go back and see it finished in 2030! If you had read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, you will feel transported back in time. (If you haven't read it, you should put that on the top of your book list.)
We opted for the audio tour because we had missed the guided tour.
You can’t buy your tickets in advance and then come back. You have to stay there and wait. If you really want the guided tour (admittedly, I think it would have been great had we not had to sit and wait for over an hour) plan to arrive about 30 minutes before the tour. Tours are daily at 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm. However, the audio tour was really well done. Also consider doing some of his smaller museums first. It will help you to understand what he did so uniquely before seeing his his most spectacular work of art.
Palau de la musica Catalana
This gem located in the heart of Las Ramblas should be a must see on your list. The music hall is known for it’s beautiful ornate stained glass ceiling and mosaic work throughout the building.
You can only see the inside by going on a guided tour. They sell out quickly so you should buy your ticket in advance (a day or 2 before is plenty). The last tour is at 3:30 daily. Try to see what is playing on their website and see a show there. Apparently the lighting and acoustics are quite dazzling. I wish we had thought to find out in advance what was playing. After having seen it on the tour during the day, I was very disappointed to have missed seeing a performance at night. They have everything from flamenco to opera and classical music concerts. They even have pop concerts there as well. www.palaumusica.org
Sunday is for Museums and Gaudi
Sunday is a great day to go to the museums. As most of the shops are closed, and if you are not there during the summer when the beach would be the obvious choice, plan to go to a museum or 2. Here are a few suggestions:
The Picasso Museum is in the heart of Las Ramblas and it’s free to get in on Sundays after 3pm. Picasso’s early work is quite different than the Picasso that most of us associate with him. It was more detailed and realistic. The audio tour is good to get as it will help you understand how different influences changed the face of his work. However make sure you follow the numbers to each room as it is not clear that they are numbered at the beginning of the tour.
Casa Bastllo is another great museum to do on Sunday.
It is open till 8pm and it is a fairly short tour so you won’t feel overwhelmed by seeing too many museums in one day. I recommend the audio tour. It is a little wordy but it does guide you, especially if this is among the first Gaudi museums of your trip.
Spain is known for its Cava and it wine. Sunday should also include a stop between museums for a glass of Cava and some tapas.
Just up the street from Casa Bastllo is La Pedrera or Casa Mila also by Gaudi. The name La Pedrera means Stone Quarry.
Casa Mila got its nickname La Pedrera owning to the way its façade appears to be carved out of the rock. It is an apartment complex that Gaudi was commission to build between the late 19th and early 20th century. The tour takes you through one of the apartments that is the museum portion of the building, while the rest of the building is residential. Again, the audio is really great and will give you a better depth of understanding of Gaudi’s work and life.
