Last Day in Nice

For those who were trying to connect with us, our "free" internet connection that we discovered at our apartment weakened preventing us from getting online. But we are alive and well. We depart tomorrow morning and should be in Orange County by 11pm PST tomorrow.
The past few days was filled with road trips. The Cote d'Azur government provides regular buses to the outlying areas for on 1.3 Euros per trip. On Thursday, we went to St. Paul de Vence, a medieval walled village filled with artist galleries. On Friday, we drove up the coast to Monaco. We saw the royal palace and the church where Grace Kelly married the Prince.
On the 26th, we went to the Nice Opera's performance of La Vie Parisienne. The Opera house was stunning. The performance was well done, but the Opera, itself, was a bit convoluted ending with a 10 minute "Can Can" dance (don't ask me to explain it, but the French were loving it).
We also found time for a trip to the Modern Art Museum. Interesting museum, but not as good as the Barcelona museum. As I don't have a lot of time to post pictures, I have attached a bunch from our recent trips.
We have not eaten out as much as in Barcelona because it costs about twice as much. Instead, we have enjoyed some lunches and eaten some nice foods at home (there is reasonably priced take out food here).
Today, we took a gourmet tour of the local market and a cooking lesson from Canadian Ex-pat living in Nice. She is a gourmet writer who is well versed in Provencial cuisine. She took us through the market talking about the local produce and delicacies. Then, we went back to her home to cook a large, and delicious, lunch. After lunch we went to a Olive Oil specialty store to learn about and sample different olive oils. The tour is a bit costly, but it is a real good time. I wish we could have taken the tour at the beginning of the week, so we would know about what foods to buy to eat at our place.

Opera/Modern Art Museum/St.Paul de Vence



Monaco and some Bars

Christmas Day Walk in Nice

Here are some shots from a Christmas Day walk here in Nice. There were alot of people out; many restaurants were open, but few shops. The Mediterranean looked absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy, although quite mild.

Merry Christmas

Arrived in Nice

Lindsey and I took the train from Barcelona to Nice on Sunday. We decided to walk to the train station, but discovered we went the wrong way and had to rush to catch a taxi to get us there on time. As this is a 10 hour train ride, we decided to buy first class tickets. Here 1st class costs about 30% more and only means a nice seat and a bit more leg room, but is well worth it as it made our journey pretty comfortable.
We arrived in Nice Sunday evening and it was raining. We met up with the property manager who showed us to the apartment. The unit is on the 5th floor (which is really the 6th floor in North American terms) with a terrace overlooking one of the narrow streets of the old town. The stairs are a killer (I am really starting to feel the burn), but the unit is really nice. The property managers had a little welcome basket with coffee, tea, wine and some biscuits.
The next morning proved to be a real nice day. We could have walked around with only a sweater and felt pretty comfortable. We went and got some groceries to last us through the Christmas holidays. It wasn't very much fun carrying 50 Euros worth of groceries up 6 flights of stairs. Afterwards we walked around the old town. The area is full of little shops and restaurants. It looks to be a great starting point. Below you can see pictures of the apartment.

Commerc 24 Experience

One of the things I wanted to do while in Barcelona was to eat at one of its many world famous chefs. One of the chefs that I identified was Carles Abellan, a young up and coming chef who trained under Barcelona's famous chef Ferran Adrai. Last Friday, we got a reservation to his new Barcelona restaurant, Commerc 24. The experience was definitely beyond our level of sophistication, but definitely memorable.
The restaurant serves a series of small dishes of tapas designed to give the customer a full dining experience. On arrival, we were advised to order the festival menu of seven dishes including desert. Knowing we are small eaters compared to a traditional Barcelonan, we asked to share one order. They said that 2 people had to each order the menu emphasizing that these are small plates. We couldn't fathom any plate so small that we could each finish seven plates, so we decided to order four dishes a la carte from the menu.
We ordered a wild sea bass, a cuttle fish and morel ravioli, a chicken rice with prawns, and beef entrecot with potatoes and wasabi. We followed up the meal with a desert platter of one of each of their desserts. As you can see from the pictures below, the meals were intricately designed to maximize presentation. Each dish (except the prawns) demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of flavors and how unusual flavors can mesh to create a unique dining experience.
For example the sea bass dish (we forgot to take a picture) looked like a desert. It had a flat round slice of sea bass covered with a flat, round piece of salt water ice, topped with a small scoop of raspberry sorbet that had a tiny sliver of red onion on top. If you just ate a piece that had only the salt water ice and the sea bass, the flavor would be incredibly salty. But if you consume a piece of sea bass, with the ice, sorbet and the red onion slice, you would experience a unique, yet balanced, taste. Can't explain it, but it worked.
The ravioli and the beef dishes were equally amazing provided you pulled all the flavors together into a bite. The chicked rice with prawns was something that wasn't on the menu, just added for the night. It was a big disappointment and felt like it wasn't designed by the same chef who built the other dishes.
Overall, it was a unique and memorable experience. Although, I admit it may be a bit too sophisticated with both of us.

Oh, and About that Spanish Soccer Game...

We learned a tough lesson that when in Spain if you buy a ticket for a soccer game on a Sunday and they say that the they will announce the kick-off time at a later date, that announcement may also change the day of the game. We got a notice that the game was to start at 8pm, but did not notice that the day was changed to Saturday! Thank god we did not get all dressed up in RCD Espanyol gear, we would have looked like some dumb tourists. Oh well, on the bright side we got to know the Barcelona metro (very nice and clean) and got some incredible views of the city.

Sight Seeing Day 2

The second day of our Barcelona Tourisme Bus experience saw us take a southern route into the olympic stadium area and then along the waterfront. Unfortunately, the day was cloudy and cold, so it was not the most fun riding in the open top of the double-decker bus. Therefore, you may see that the weather affected the quality of the pictures.
We made that trip quick, so that we could make the 3pm tour of the Palau Musica. The Palau Musica is a concert hall built by a rich Barcelonan patron during the beginning of the 20th century. It is built in the architectural style of modernisme and is filled with intricate statues, mosaics and stained glass. The center-piece is a stained glass window in the ceiling of the concert hall in the shape of a water drop and made to look like a sun. It would be an amazing place to see a concert. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take pictures of the inside, but you can see pictures here.

Lindsey's Birthday!

There was not much fanfare for Lindsey's 29th birthday. After that long day of sightseeing, we headed home to rest. Around 9pm, we went out for dinner at a nice restaurant. I had a lamb shank whose meat just fell off the bone. Lindsey had a tuna steak with soy and ginger served with tempura vegetables. We followed it up with a decadent chocolate cake with coffee mouse. It was quiet and romantic. We headed home around 11pm.
It is still weird to be walking home at 11pm and seeing people go into restaurants to start their dinner.
Yes, I realize we did not take any pictures of Lindsey at her birthday dinner.

Finally Some Sight Seeing

Sagrada Familia


Parc Guel


Other Barceleno Landmarks


Determined to see the wonders that Barcelona had to offer (and not the wondrous bars), we awoke and headed to Placa Catalunya for 10am to purchase tickets for their tourist bus service. For 23 Euros, you can ride open-topped double-decker buses through two tourist routes in Barcelona. We hopped on board and visited La Pedrera, Sagrada Familia, and Parc Guell (a Gaudi theme today).
La Pedrera was an apartment building that Gaudi designed at the commission of a wealthy Barcelona family. It is known to be his finest example of modernist architecture. The next stop, Sagrada Familia, was Gaudi’s 40 year passion on creating a cathedral for the ages. Words are hard to describe the sheer scale of the building. One has to wonder if it is a bit overboard to design a church that will take approximately 150 years to build (especially with today’s technology helping the process)? It is impressive the unique vision of Gaudi coming alive with all the little details. Park Guell may be where Guadi’s architectural style is best represented. It is an outdoor park filled with architectural wonders inspired by nature. Again, hard to describe, but it feels like one of the few areas where nature and man-made structures co-exist symbiotically.

Barcelona Monday

On Monday, Lindsey and I decided to live in true Barcelonan style. We arouse around 9am to get out of the flat by 10am. We strolled around the streets of El Raval and toured the National Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum had a interesting exhibit that focused on art in the United States and Europe post WWII (1946-1956). It demonstrated how art was at the forefront of the cold war and how the new emerging themes of the era affected art.
After the Museum, we strolled through the Placa Catalunya into La Ribera area. We settled into have a Barcelonan lunch at El Quatre Gats. El Quatre Gats was a café where Picasso had his first public exhibition of his artwork and was known to be one of his drunken hangouts. We each ordered the Plate of the Day which is a fixed price 3 course meal with wine. I had a lasagna and swordfish; Lindsey had a soup and pork loin.
Definitely feeling full, we waddled home to have a siesta. It is amazing how a little walking and a big meal can knock you out. We slept until 6pm.
At 9pm, we headed for supper. We went to Le Quinze Nits in Placa Real. We had seen line ups outside the place every night, so we decided to see what the fuss was about. The food was OK, but very reasonably priced (A starter, two entres, and a litre of wine for about 30 Euros). Again, full we expected to head home as Monday was known to be Barcelona’s quite night.
On the walk, we saw a bar that was full of people. We went in and noticed that a number of the groups were speaking English. We started talking to a group from England and enjoyed the opportunity to speak English with people besides ourselves. At around 1:30am, they were heading out to a dance club on Las Ramblas called Fellini’s. Lindsey really wanted to go dance, so we joined them.
The bar played an interesting assortment of rock music. From AC-DC to the Doors to Oasis and to Nirvana, it was an interesting mix that you are not likely to hear in North America. Even more unlikely than hearing the music mix would be the packed house dancing to the music. My dancing queen got right into to it; she jumped up on the stage and didn’t come down for over an hour (just look at the photos – she was having a good time). We left the bar at 4am (the bar was still packed)! Truly like Barcelonans – and this is Barcelona’s quiet night?
The next day turned into a right off as Lindsey paid the price for being the disco diva. We only went for hot Xocolata (a cup of thick, melted chocolate and a little bit of milk) around 4pm. We walked through some of the markets, went home, made our own dinner, and I was in bed by 9pm.
For those of you keeping score, we have been in Barcelona for 5 days and two were write-offs due to hangovers. We are able to see the sights the next day.

Barcelona Day 2

The next morning was pretty rough. We learned a tough lesson that we should start slowly when in a new city. We slowly made it to our pre-arrange morning walking tour about the cuisine of Barcelona. At this point, the last thing I wanted to think about was food. It was a rough two hours for both of us. As soon as it was done we bolted for our apartment and slept through our second day in Barcelona. We got up at 8pm and headed out for dinner. We found a nice little restaurant/bar called Ginger, ordered a couple glasses of nice wine and three tapas plates. That filled us and we decided to go home early, in the hopes that we would be better rested to actually enjoy Barcelona by day.

First Days in Barcelona

Lindsey and I arrived safely early Friday morning. The flights were long, but bearable. The Barcelona airport was nothing special to look at. But they look to be building a brand new modern terminal that will look nice. We passed through customs with no problems and took a taxi to the downtown area where we met our rental owner.
We got into the apartment a little after 9am. The apartment is very quaint. Located right in the heart of the gothic quarter, it is a stone building with 20 ft ceilings. This makes it very difficult to heat up. I find it unusual that the Europeans use so many energy efficient appliances, but they haven’t added insulation to these buildings. We didn’t get much sleep on the plane, so we fell into a pretty deep sleep and awoke around 6pm.
We slowly got ready to go into the city. We headed to a tapas restaurant around 7:30pm for a light pre-dinner meal (remember, Barcelonans don’t eat diner until 9:30pm!). We ordered three tapas dishes and a half-bottle of wine and we were stuffed. I have no clue how the Barcelonans eat so often?
Feeling adventurous and full, we decided to find a bar to have a drink. We found this English pub, The Wooden Spoon, to have a pint of beer. Like most bars in this area, they somehow fit a pub into a tiny stone building. Most of the buildings have high ceilings, so their create floor space by adding levels. The bar was pretty quiet. It was 9:30 and well before most locals even think about going to a bar (they are eating dinner, remember). We decided to move to another bar.
We stopped in at the Bar Pastis. In my notes it said, “Quirky Bar” and it didn’t tell the half of it. Think of setting up a bar in your living room, decorating it with weird art and news articles and inviting over a bunch of artistic individuals and you have the Bar Pastis. The bar appears to have one owner and sole bartender who has been their forever. They have one beer on tap and they serve it in tiny glasses (un canya). It is features one sit-down table, two bar stool tables and an old typewriter. It is filled with people talking in Spanish or Catalonian. Occasionally, a person will walk up to the typewriter and start typing; his friends will circle around and start to laugh. Is it bizarre? Yes. Incredibly interesting to a foreigner? Quite possibly. Were we entranced? Yes.
At this point, we decide to make a pub crawl out of the night and moved on to the Indian Lounge. The bar is long and narrow with a main bar area, an upstairs that is a Houka bar (a middle eastern tobacco tradition), and a downstairs that is a lounge. We ordered the special of the day, Mojitos, and went downstairs. It was a comfy place and the mojitos were strong and good. I looked at my watch to see it was 1am. We needed to keep moving if we wanted to make the last bar.
The final stop on our tour was the famous Bar Marsella. This is the absinthe bar that famous authors like Hemingway and artists like Picasso would frequent to drink absinthe and get inspired. Absinthe is generally prohibited in many places around the world (due to its ingredient wormwood and its rumored hallucinogenic properties), if you buy it in the US it is a version without wormwood. This bar serves the real thing.
Walking into the establishment, you immediately notice two things. First, the place is packed with people who are very animated and loud. Second, this place hasn’t been dusted since Picasso was there. You have to fight your way up to the bar. Since most people order the Absinthe, they already have it pre-poured into rounded cups (about 3oz!). They give you a lump of sugar and a small fork. A big part of the drink is that ritual of preparing it. You dip the sugar into the absinthe; scoop it out with the fork; balance the fork with the sugar over the glass; and light the sugar on fire to dissipate the sugar into the drink. You add some mineral water to dilute the drink, stir and you are ready to drink. Without a doubt that drink ended our night (As Lindsey says, “That drink is stupid!). It really hits you like a tonne of bricks. One and your done (especially with all the drinks we had earlier). I told Lindsey, we come earlier one night to get a seat and people watch. The crowd and the liquor make it a very interesting scene.

Where Are We Going?

The flights are booked and we have finalized accommodations for 14 of the 16 days of the trip. If you're interested, we hope to post regular updates of our trip over the 16 days. Ideally, we want to post recent pictures and videos of our experiences, so that all of you can enjoy them with us. That's the plan; we'll see how it goes.

Barcelona

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Nice

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