Lilla Travels

Paul:

In general, I’m not a fan of buses. Don’t care to ride them, even if it’s to the neighboring town for a football game. But in Europe, the scenery trumps all that. With Karen not feeling well, the kids and I walked to the bus station and hopped on for a 1 hour trip to Bilbao. The ride was beautiful, as the highway weaved through the mountains passing farms and lots of grazing animals. The final approach to Bilbao was pretty industrial, but once we got off the bus, and started walking, the scenery changed. We passed the beautiful and relatively new soccer stadium before finding our way to the river walk that led us to the Frank Gerhy designed Guggenheim Museum.

The building itself is an incredible piece of art, and no matter what angle you view it from, it’s captivating. The kids had fun taking pictures of the museum and some of the other works around the outside. We contemplated going inside the museum, but the line to get in was huge, so we went to lunch.

Across the street and not far from the entrance to the museum, we found Serrantes III, where we ate some delicious pintxos.

At this point, the kids were clamoring to get back to San Sebastián and get one more beach trip in before we leave Basque Country.

Karen: We spent the afternoon at the beach with the kids jumping off the platform and sliding down the slide into the ocean. Note that when I say afternoon, I mean 4-7:30pm. Paul has someone say “buenos Dias” to him at 12:30pm. The Spanish sense of time is definitely different than ours. 

For dinner tonight (9pm) we explored the pintxos bars again. The first stop, Bar Larra, had Metallica blaring and items the kids loved: 16 baccalau fritters, 2 burritos, 2 toasted ham egg and cheese sandwiches, 2 “Haragiz Betetauo Piperrak” aka stuffed and breaded meat peppers, and a glass of txocholi for a total of 12.80 euros. We then made a pit stop to El Fuego Negro for inventive and less traditional pintxos including a McKobe burger and a funky ice cream sandwich that looked like a tie-fighter from Star Wars. After that, I was ready for bed so D and I returned to the apartment to pack. Paul and Miss M stayed out, so I’ll let them continue the post with their update…

Miss M: Daddy and I went to La Chuchara de San Telmo for carrillera — braised veal cheek which he loved. And then we went to La Vina which had the really good cheesecake from the other night so daddy had that with a glass of Pedro Jimenez wine. Mommy was sad she couldn’t join us because she’s sick and had to go to bed. On our way home we were walking past a store with bracelets and daddy spotted one that said Mari on it!! We bought it, just like how we bought one in Italy that says Marianna on it.

Today is a special day: 1) it’s our goddaughter’s 16th birthday 2) Paul and Miss M are guest bloggers today since I’m under the weather. So here we go!

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Miss M: This morning daddy and D woke up early and left the apartment to go to a supermarket while mommy and I were fast asleep. After the slow morning we went to the beach. It was such a beautiful day out, it was hot but not that hot and the water was so nice! There was a platform that was approximately 300 ft away from the shore. The platform had a high dividing board and a fun water slide. Plus the actual platform had an open square in the middle so it was like a perimeter.  Daddy, D and I all went there two times and that includes swimming back so in all we basically swam 1200+ ft each.  Damian and I were in the water most of the time and daddy and mommy rested and tanned on the sand. D and I both got a lot of exercise today which makes up for all the food we have been trying. 🙂 

After 5-6 hours on the beach we were tired and cold so we headed back to the apartment. Mommy, D and I stayed at the apartment for the next 2 hours and rested up as Daddy went and explored around San Sebastián. And now over to Daddy!!!

Paul: Around 5:30pm, I headed out and decided to walk around the perimeter of Parte Vieja (the old part of town) and then up Urgull hill, which basically sits at the center and northern point of a peninsula that forms the heart of San Sebastián.  I apologize in advance as all my picture-taking was done on our new camera. As I walked along the ocean, I got another appreciation of the strong surf, crashing into the rocks and walls below. I likely walked around 3/4 of the peninsula before heading up the hill to the Castillo De La Mota, and the statue of Jesus that looks down upon this enchanting city. The walk up the hill was steep, but relatively short.  It’s about 123 meters (about 400 ft) and the views are beautiful.   It’s slightly shorter than the views from Monte Igueldo that we experienced yesterday, but a completey different perspective.  Additionally, the Castillo is an old fort and very cool. There are old cannons, prison cells, narrow arched walkways, and a chapel to boot. Also, before making the climb to the Sacred Heart statue of Jesus, there is an exhibition of San Sebastian’s history; how it was founded, developed, and pieces elaborating about it’s beautiful culture.
After heading down the hill, I walked the Parte Vieja, picking up some local wine called Txakoli (a white wine, that is cheap, sparkling and goes great with all the pintxos) and a sweet wine named after the grape Pedro Ximénez. By now it was about 7:30 and the old tiny streets of Parte Vieja were just starting to come alive for pintxos. After going back to the apartment, we all headed right back to this hive of activity and culinary fun and returned to La Viña and Gandarias, which have been the 2 best pintxo bars we’ve experienced. To tell you how the night ended, I’ll throw it back to Mari……..

Miss M: After Dad got home we, just like he said went to our two favorite pintxos bars and had some very yummy things. We went back to La Viña because it was sooooooo good. At La Viña we had more Guindillas peppers, chorizo, ham croquettes and we tried these new meatballs that D had 4 plates of! We then went to the next bar, Gandarias where we had more things like that and tried some other interesting things. After that Mommy went home to go to bed and Daddy, D and I went to go and get some ice cream! It was so good, we all loved the flavors we picked out. Daddy got almond and caramel, D got vanilla and cookies and I got mint and chocolate chip!! After we finished our ice cream we called it a night and walked home.

We first heard the rain at 6am and it was too late to rescue our beach towels and bathing suits that were drying on the large balcony of our apartment. I’ve also attempted laundry in San Sebastián but cannot figure out how to dry our clothes, so there is laundry and towels hanging everywhere.

We got a slow start to the day and shopped at a four story Zara, before a yummy lunch at Cochon. Our waiter was an English major who helped us with our Spanish pronunciations while ordering.

D’s lunch: jamon, French fries, eggs and roasted red peppers

Chorizo, Patatas bravas, a stuffed pepper, lightly battered mushrooms

Foie gras and a fried prawn

This afternoon we walked the length of Playa del Concho, the large stretch of beach in San Sebastián. There’s a covered walkway the length of the beach, umbrellas and tents for rent, a small above ground swimming pool on the sand which looks like it could be part of a kids camp, and more. No tacky boardwalk with fast food and rides….just a wide boardwalk with ornate light posts and people strolling.

At the end of the beach we took a funicular up Monte Igueldo to enjoy the tiny amusement park and beautiful views. It rained and was overcast all afternoon, but we still had a good time. The kids especially liked the coaster built in the 1920s on the edge of the mountain with the ocean 200+ meters below.

At the bottom of the mountain is an art installation called Combs of the Wind (Peine del Viento) by Eduardo Chillida. There’s also portals in the sidewalk where a force of sea mist and air gets pushed up as waves crash against the rocks.

For dinner we explored multiple restaurants again for pintxos. D was exhausted while our night owl Miss M comes alive with the chaos of the scene.
At La Vina we enjoyed a cone of cream with an anchovy filet, multiple orders of the best ham croquettes, multiple chorizo sausages cooked in cider, and four slices of cheesecake. Everything was delicious but the cheesecake was exceptional. You can see the multiple pans of cheesecake cooling. They can’t make it fast enough to accommodate demand.

Guindillas peppers

Cheesecakes cooling

Typical scene lining up for pintxos at the bar 

We then moved on to Bar Martinez for another plate of pintxos.

Jamon on bread, a Gilda (olives, peppers and anchovies), octopus salad, omelette on bread

After some wandering around the old town, we went back to La Vina for more ham croquettes but they were sold out for the night, so, more cheesecake!

San Sebastian is a feast for the senses!

Today’s adventure began early in the morning at the Barcelona Sants train station. We arrived an hour before the train was supposed to leave, enjoyed some croissants for breakfast, and had our bags scanned by security. When it was time to board, we were pulled aside since our EuroRail pass wasn’t stamped. We had seats on the train, but the passes were never activated by EuroRail customer service in Paris, and the pass activation date was different from our first train trip. Multiple errors on my part not fully understanding the archaic EuroRail system. They let us board anyway, and when we arrived in San Sebastián we had it stamped. Still not perfect but probably good enough for our last leg of the trip in a few days.

The train trip from Barcelona to San Sebastián was slow going. The train provided some entertainment for the kids showing Alvin and the Chipmunks and Hotel Transylvania 2 in Spanish. And we enjoyed the scenery. But unlike the Paris to Barcelona train trip, this train went much slower for the latter half of the trip winding its way through the Pyrenees mountains.

San Sebastián is a beach community on the northern coast of Spain in Basque country. Our modern, one bedroom apartment is on the sixth floor, a 5 minute walk from the town’s 2 beaches.

The architecture is stunning. Green mountains surround the beachside community, and the buildings are so ornate, it makes us feel like we are in Austria.

We were on the beach by 5pm, and quickly shooed away from the area where Paul and the kids waded into the water as it is reserved for the surfers and surf school. The area where people are allowed to swim is adjusted every 15 minutes by lifeguards constantly monitoring the surf. A lot more topless women here and Miss M made an excellent observation — that women in the US would never go topless at a beach because we have such a judge-y society, whereas here you see people of all shapes and sizes, comfortable with their bodies.

By 8pm we arrived at our first pintxos bar, Gandarias Jatetxea.  Pintxos are the Basque version of tapas, only smaller. You grab a plate, fill it up with the pintxos you want from the bar, order a drink and pay for the whole thing. We got a pic of Paul ordering at the bar of our first stop (below) so you can see the yummy mushroom tower on bread but not the sea urchin. No pics of our second spot where D feasted on a potato, egg, ham and cheese omelette. But here’s a pic of the third set of plates from Baztan.

We would have been remiss if we stayed on the same block as the Gaudi-designed Casa Batllo and didn’t take the time to see it, so we rectified that this morning. The audio tour came with individual screens that allowed each of us to view the rooms at our own pace, seeing the space as Gaudi would have intended it. Looking through the screens, a swirl would come to life as a seashell, or a uniquely shaped fireplace would show up as a mushroom and then implode into flames. This augmented reality was really effective for keeping D engaged: as we left he exclaimed the tour was “so much fun!” and we haven’t had that kind of reaction from him for other sites with audio tours.

In the afternoon, we went to the Gothic Quarter. D was ecstatic that he found a place selling two plain croissants for one Euro. He’s loved the endless supply of croissants and snacks on them every day, not just for breakfast. Unfortunately the grocery store Paul was hoping to visit and the market that we explored earlier in the week were closed, as well as most shops in the Gothic Quarter, since it’s Sunday. We found a place for a quick lunch and then changed plans for the remainder of the day.

Late afternoon we spent at a public swimming pool in Barcelona that was built for the 1992 Olympics. Beautiful views of the city from the pools. There’s also a diving pool that’s closed to the public. Only a few tourists and a few topless sunbathers…the pool was very warm from the sun, and we all had fun relaxing and enjoying the views. 

Tonight we repeated dinner at Cerveseria Catalana near our apartment. Two pitchers of sangria tinto, fried calamari, ham and cheese sandwiches for the kids, a sopresata and cheese sandwich for D, two different anchovie dishes, fried salt cod with pickles and olives, fried calamari, montadito baguette with slices of Iberico pork loin and Spanish pepper, and some yummy desserts. 

Then we hopped on the train (again) to Montjuïc where we saw “The Magic Fountain” a Bellagio-esque fountain show set to music. But it’s not just about the fountain with colors set to music at Montjuïc, there’s several other buildings with fountains and plazas and street vendors and thousands of people. We got pretty doused with water standing close to the fountain – squeels of delight from young and old. It’s quite the scene and so beautiful. Truly the highlight of the Barcelona leg of the trip for Miss M. She wishes she could sit there and watch all night, but it only runs for 90 minutes. Heaven, for Miss M, would be to stick the twinkling Eiffel Tower in the middle of Barcelona’s large, multi-colored beautiful fountain set to music. 

An 11:30p pit stop for gelato and we’re finally calling it a night — our last in this bustling, vibrant city.  

Today’s adventure involved a German rental car, a pilgrimage of sorts, and a road trip to explore the Costa Brava.

We took the metro to Hertz and it took us a bit to get acclimated to our standard shift rental that was initially set to speak German. Between my iPhone and our buddy’s European GPS that we borrowed for the trip, we made our way to the first stop on today’s adventure: Badalona.I guarantee that very few Americans visit Badalona in 2016. But in 1992 as part of the Barcelona Summer Olympics, it was the 13K capacity host arena where the Dream Team played….the first American Olympic team to feature active NBA players, such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan. Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley.

After an hour, we reached the city of Girona. It felt like we were in Tuscany or Umbria. Narrow winding stone streets, two beautiful cathedrals, an outdoor antique market (including rotary phones, records, old books, and an original Star Wars puzzle in Spanish) and small shops, all by a small winding river.

Then off to our next stop – an hour through the mountains just miles from the French border. We passed through Figueres, Dali’s hometown where there is a museum and his burial place. The road wound up one side of the mountain, and then back down the other side, offering breathtaking views.

The other side of the mountain from Figueres is Cadaques – a beautiful seaside town with white washed buildings and light terra cotta roofs. 2,000 residents in the off season, but 10x that in the summer. The Mediterranean was clear and still, 100 boats docked in the bay, topless swimmers and people enjoying the rocky beach. 

We enjoyed lunch at Miratim Bar, right on the beach, with the kids eating burgers and patatas bravas, and Paul and I had razor clams in lemon and oil, and Cadaques cockles – very lightly battered clams.

After Paul, D and Miss M swam in the Mediterranean for an hour, we boarded a boat the took us up the coast — in and out of beautiful coves — where we saw Dali’s house, and the three of them jumped off the boat when it docked briefly to cool off from the hot sun. 

We spent the evening strolling around the narrow streets and walkways of Cadaques, enjoying the scenery, people watching, and stopping for dinner seaside. We couldn’t get enough of the views, as the sun set, the buildings took a golden hue. And as night fell, lights decorated the white buildings making them glisten as the moon rose over the mountain.

It’s currently 11pm and according to the GPS we’ll be back in Barcelona by 12:45am. We have the rental car until 9:30am, so plenty of time to squeeze in one more adventure… 

Today Paul and I celebrated 16 years of marriage. All day the kids have insisted that we go out “on a date” in recognition of this milestone, so after some coaxing we took them up on it. Bought some sushi at the local market for the kids to enjoy back at the apartment, and we headed out to Tapas 24 for a delicious dinner: zucchini flowers stuffed with bacala, eggs and potatoes with Iberian ham, sausage  with honey on tomato toasts, and a mini foie gras burger with foie spread that melted in your mouth. Located only a few blocks from our apartment and down a set of stairs….so glad we took the time for dinner just the two of us, and the kids needed the break too. 

After dinner, we grabbed the kids and headed to the legendary Granja Viader for hot chocolate and churros. Unfortunately the place was closing shortly so there were no more churros. 

We strolled back to the apartment – another end to a great day. 

Last night we had dinner Barcelona style — at 10:30pm. Paella and sangria for Paul and I, while D managed to get most of his salad and croquetas eaten before falling asleep at the table!

This morning we began the day at Camp Nou — the 99,000 seat stadium for FC Barcelona. We spent 2.5 hours on a self guided audio tour (press box, the pitch, visitor locker room, interactive displays, rows of trophy cases) all set to dramatic music. Throngs of people streaming in to pay homage to the legendary football club and shop at the 3-level gift shop.

Camp Nou is the second biggest attraction in Barcelona, after Sagrada Familia. It’s amazing how much money they take in on non-game days:

• 1″ cubes of grass, labeled for the season on which it was played, for 10 Euro;
• Childrens jerseys 100 Euro;
• The tour tickets were expensive, and you pay extra for audio tour;
• They take pics where they photoshop you into scenes with the players and sell them in an official album for a starting price of 55 Euro;
• and they even try selling you a Barca reusable bag for your purchases.

Despite all that, it was still a cool experience. If we had a few more days in Barcelona we would have been able to catch the opening game.

For lunch, we took the metro to La Boqueria Market. D kept saying he wanted to have what Phil had. The kids had sandwiches, fruit, and ice cream, and set off on their own to shop while P and I grabbed two stools at El Quim de la Boqueria for an amazing lunch. I had the house specialty: two fried eggs with baby squid. Paul had buttifara sausage with beans and garlic sauce. And we enjoyed a side of blistered padron green peppers with salt.

The kids loved exploring the market on their own while we had lunch, and loved taking us around to the stalls they liked the best.

A few blocks walk up Las Ramblas popping into a few stores before arriving back at our place for a siesta.

This morning we slept in late and relaxed at the apartment. Despite being on a very busy street, the apartment is completely quiet with sound proof windows and room darkening shades (that the kids enjoyed raising and lowering by wall switch.)

After a short subway ride, we arrived at the beach….Playa Bogatell on the Mediterranean. We rented an umbrella and three lounge chairs for the day, the sand was soft, the water warm and crystal clear, there was a nice breeze…absolutely perfect.
Everything moves at a slow pace around here…we were seated next to a couple of rugby fans from South Wales for more than 2 hours before anyone came by to take our money for the rental, or food/drink order. This is exactly the pace we needed for today to rest and recharge. 

D can’t sit still for long though: he went back and forth from our chairs, to the water, then elliptical machines on the beach, to the spider web style climbing structure. Not a lot of children on the beach, but a fair amount of topless women. He eventually befriended a Dutch boy with a soccer ball. 

The waitstaff brought our lunch and sangria to our chairs, complete with wine glasses, plates and silverware — no plastic!

We were so comfortable on the beach, that we ordered another round of food and drink late afternoon. Nothing to rush back to the apartment for ….we can get used to this.  

Today is our self proclaimed day of Gaudi. We purposely packed a lot of Gaudi into one day so the rest of the trip can be less structured. So here we go!

Gaudi site #1: We began with a commute to Park Güell — a short subway ride and then 15 min walk up lots of steep, steep, steep (did I say steep?) stairs and escalators to a park, and then within the park is the protected Park Güell space. Park Güell was designed by Gaudi as a neighborhood with 60 plots for Barcelona’s wealthy in the early 1900s. Gaudi had a vision for residential spaces and a central market, but after his business partner Eusebi Guell passed away, his estate donated the space to the city. In 1984 UNESCO declared it a Cultural Heritage Site.

Even though it was morning, the sun was hot. It got increasingly crowded as the morning went on, and the kids were more interested in fighting over the new camera than sketching with the books and colored pencils we had dragged along for the trip. This was a great place to start the day, in that it showed the way Gaudi viewed the interaction between nature and his architecture. At the end of it all, Miss M said she especially liked the hibiscus flowers and D liked the serpent fountain that he sketched.

Back on the subway we went to the Sagrada Familia area for lunch at “Chill Bar” which had no A/C, so not really chill! We were all sooooo hot. Between that and the American music playlist, we we’re ready to go to church!

Gaudi site #2:  Sagrada Familia was impressive and we had a nice audio tour that provided the highlights of the interior and exterior. Amazing that it’s still a construction site with the altar and two largest steeples incomplete. The elegant interior is like a forest with the columns representing trees. M We took an elevator up the “Nativity” facade for some nice views, and then back down the winding stairs.

Gaudi site #3: Casa Batllo — on the same block as our place. Huge crowds around it so we’ll go inside another day. 

After some gelato and a siesta we headed to a quick tapas dinner at El National, a recommendation from our friends, before heading to…

Gaudi site #4: La Pedrera also know as Casa Mila –we had 9pm tickets for a tour of the building, including a laser light show on the roof. La Pedrera was Gaudi’s last completed work (he knew he wasn’t going to live to see Sagrada finished) and is considered his finest project.

Ended the night with some gelato, D’s first cup of frutti di bosco (his favorite flavor) since we were in Italy four years ago.

A full day of Gaudi and so impressed with his vision, his concept of bridging nature and man, with respect and love of God.