Woman covered in bobbles

Today was sort of chilled. We didn’t go to any sites per se, though we did walk through the Arc de Triomf and through the City Gardens.

Mind you we started pretty late, not leaving the hotel until almost 11am. This was because we have such an early start tomorrow morning. And because we’re, basically, holiday-lazy. Which reminds me, I haven’t talked about the hotel yet.

So…The Hotel.

It’s the NH Collection Barcelona Centro and is the second NH Collection hotel we’ve stayed at (the previous one was in Cordoba) and they’ve both been very good. The bed is massive as is the room, which is quite handy really, otherwise the bed wouldn’t fit in. And it’s not two beds pushed together so I have no idea how they managed to get the mattress in. I assume they built the actual bed in situ.

The shower is very hot and the pressure is very good but it’s an over bath job rather than a walk-in shower like I prefer. Still, it’s okay…except that the little handle one turns to move the shower head up or down for short or tall people seems to be supa-glued in place because I couldn’t move it. I guess it must be at Mirinda height because she hasn’t said anything about me fixing it.

The room itself is on the corner of the building so we have a double aspect looking down two alleys, which is very nice. Being in the Gothic Quarter, the traffic isn’t always existent (except in the morning and then only a few delivery vans) and only a few people. It’s extremely handy for everything around the Rambla.

One thing is the fact that my pyjamas keep turning up in different places. In fact, yesterday the top and the bottom were in different places all together. Most peculiar but delightfully eccentric.

But it’s not very interesting when there’s nothing wrong with the hotel so, moving right on along…

First up this morning we headed for the cathedral where we stopped for a coffee in order to watch the strange mass of humanity milling, thronging, begging and trying to entertain for a pittance. The chaps with the musical instruments at least had a bit of talent but I’m not sure what the woman covered in pompoms and flowers was supposed to be. I did assume she’d lost a bet, but who knows, it may have been some sort of strange Catalanian folk tradition.

Eventually we left our seats and headed for the cathedral. Mirinda thought it was like every other European cathedral we’ve ever seen and, after Sagrada Familia, irritatingly dull and ugly. Mind you, while the interior left her somewhat cold, she did rather like the cloister with the herd of geese.

But it wasn’t just the geese that attracted our attention this time. Inside the cloister garden a couple of workmen were packing up Mary and Joseph and the rest of the nativity for the year. They dismantled everything and brushed it all down with a brush before hoiking the plaster figures under their arms and hauling them away.

In between we saw the geese. I remember last year that we went quite late in the day so the geese were half asleep but not today. They weren’t just awake, they were manic. Every time someone said something they’d start honking and squawking and racing over to the fence to screech their disapproval. It was quite insane especially when the leader of the geese had a punk feather-do on top of its head.

Another odd thing was that people would drink from the fountain in the cloister garden. Mirinda reckons it was probably ‘magic water.’ It’s very interesting that most people think the Barcelona water supply tastes yucky but they’re happy to drink out of a very old, moss lined, bird poo enriched, slimy fountain. Odd.

Once back into the normal world of reality, we headed across towards the Arc de Triomf. Quite by accident we found the best restaurant of our trip so far, a trendy little ‘gastrobar’ called Elsa y Fred. While the food was all pretty special, I really couldn’t not mention the amazing steak tartare and wasabi taco I had. The best taste sensation I’ve had for a very long time.

But it wasn’t just the steak tartare, all the food was delish and the place was a delight.

After a stroll around the gardens we ended up at the General Franco railway station where we caught a bus to Horta.

This is one of those things we do sometimes. It’s ostensibly so Mirinda can see where the ‘people’ live who do not inhabit the actual city. The idea is we just get on a bus and keep going to the end of the line. I do it because it’s an opportunity to sit down for a goodly length of time while the world moves around me.

Anyway, Horta seems okay though quite hilly. We didn’t stop for long and caught a different bus back to the Gothic Quarter and, finally, the hotel. I feel like we’ve managed a proper circle today.

It was then siesta time which included the most harrowing episode of The Archers since Nigel fell off the roof before we headed out for a Michelin starred restaurant. It’s called Cinc Sentits and it’s fantastic. One of the best meals we’ve ever had.

It only serves taster menu and you have to have what they give you. We chose to have the wine selection with it. It was extraordinary: a gourmand experience of exceptional quality and taste. We’ve had many meals in many restaurants and in many countries in the world but, seriously, this one is well up there. In fact we’d put it in the top three meals we’ve ever had. It was truly incredible. My tastebuds will take a while to recover and revert to cauliflower rice and salmon.

There was a problem however and that was before we left the hotel. We’d booked in for 9:30 and we figured all was well but then Mirinda noticed she’d had a phone call from them. She rang and a chap answered who seemed to be saying that our booking had gone because we’d not re-confirmed. That sounded like absolute nonsense and Mirinda gave him short shrift on the phone. However, our booking was changed to 9pm and we hightailed it up to the restaurant.

But then, after all was said and done, the food and the service was so brilliant that we just forgot about any inconvenience caused by the phone call.

Cinc Sentits was the perfect end for an excellent week in Barcelona.