How did I get here

And so after a few days of being a tourist in Barcelona, I spent a few days being a worker; up with the sun, taxi to the office, work work work, taxi back to the hotel. And dinner. Not that amazing and hence not that blog-worthy.

Me, at work.

The reception area. I did have to update the map with my office in California 🙂

Perhaps noteworthy: there is a Lamborghini dealer on the first floor of our building. Are we paying our staff too well?

On the second day, I decided to walk back from work – took about an hour, but was a great setup for what I was hoping would be an awesome dinner at an incredible restaurant; ABaC, another Michelin-star.

Nope

I have to say, it was an incredible disappointment. Pretentious dining at its worst, with presentation and innovation taking the place of flavor. And the wine pairings were ridiculous. Beer with chocolate? Sake with sugar? Forget about it. Picture me lecturing the sommelier on port vintages, and it’s all you need to know about this meal.

Anyway, that was it, the last day before the extended voyage back…

The perfect way to end a day of rambling Barcelona is to have dinner on Montjuic, the hill adjoining the harbor which overlooks the city. Great views of the sunset…

This was quite the shot

Watching the full moon rise was awesome, and a perfect end to another amazing day. And so once again I ask, well, …

One more day of touring – well, traveling (def: difference between a traveler and a tourist: a traveler doesn’t know what will happen that day) – one more day to see Barcelona. And so I took off on foot for the Sagrada Familia, hoping to see many other things on the way. And I did.

Digression. I have a spiffy new iPhone 12 Pro. I have to tell you I bought it for the color; a smokey gray/blue. But the camera system is unbelievable. The optical zoom is super nice, you can really zoom now, not just isolate and fuzz, but the wide angle is amazing. You can be right next to a large building and get it all in a shot without walking backward a half mile. Nice.

One cool thing I encountered was a sort of outdoor library; a whole series of little shops selling antique books…

The famous Gaudi buildings, amazing to see in person…

After a couple of hours, yay, there it was, the huge as-yet-unfinished cathedral of La Sagrada Familia.

So I have to say that I was not blown away by La Sagreda Familia. It’s amazing, but in a Disneyland kind of way, not in a this-has-been-here-for-1,000-years kind of way. Many of the gothic cathedrals which dot Europe were built over 100s of years as tributes to God, a religious activity. This feels like it was built as a tourist attraction…

Onward, more rambling through the city …

Earlier I mentioned Barcelona is a town of people on the street. This is the memory of it I take away. La Rambla is a wide boulevard cutting right through the city, and it is full of people at all times…

I was looking for a place to stop for a drink, and poof, I happen into an awesome little square in the middle of things … I could have spent any amount of time just sitting there, and I think I did 🙂

Well time to head back … and get ready for dinner … on Montjuic!

Saturday! A pre-designated “work day” though, because rain was in the forecast. And unfortunately the day dawned sunny and bright. But still it was a day on which I must get Stuff Done.

I headed upstairs to the rooftop work-atorium.

But no. On this day, I needed a flight back from Khazakstan*. Down to the room, curtain closed. Focus.

* there was this time…

Many cups of Spanish coffee later – many – Stuff was Done. Yay. And in fact just in time, because – ta da – I had made that reservation for dinner at Enoteca Paco Perez. Woo hoo.

Well what can I say? Twelve courses, seven wines, unbelievable food and the service was superb. THIS is what Michelin two-star feels like. I can’t do it justice and I won’t try, but wow, amazing.

And you may ask yourself .. and I did … well, how did I get here?

Oh, and I should mention the tricycle taxi ride back to the hotel which was wild and crazy and possibly the highlight of the whole day 🙂

You visit a Mediterranean city on the water, you have to actually go on the water, right? And so it was on this day …

A nice little three-hour cruise at sunset. What could be better?

First a nice long ramble down “La Rambla”, to the waterfront …

… and after a bit, the extensive waterfront – Barcelona is of and by the sea…

The walk took me past several harbors, including one filled with unbelievable yachts, the .001%-er place to be

Then I reach the Olimpic Harbor – built for the ’92 Olympics of course – and I found my boat. A nice 45′ Beneteau. Yay.

I meet the skipper and my fellow passengers – about 8, from Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and one other from the US, pour a little white wine … and we are off into a stiff little 15 knot breeze.

And now I discover that the skipper Eduardo does not know how to sail! OMG. Seriously he is floundering trying to get the sails up. It’s kind of dangerous because he’s asking the other passengers for help and they don’t know what they’re doing of course … pulling the wrong lines the wrong way, using winches incorrectly, sigh. I am biting my tongue so hard I cannot tell you.

Finally he gives up, rolls up the sails, and we motor all the rest of the tour, which turns out to be a tour of the inside of the .001%-er harbor. Well that’s fun, I guess…

The crescendo for Eduardo was he didn’t know how to dock properly, ended up with a 3′ gap between the boat and the dock, and people were having a hard time getting off. I jumped off and walked away fast. It was “fun”.

And now for dinner! What will happen? I need something nice to recover. Google “Michelin star restaurants”. Wow there is one right nearby, Enoteca Paco Perez. I walk over.

Now I have to confess, I am dressed 100% yachtie. My white shorts (see previous posts), Gucci polo, topsiders, white Helly Hansen jacket embroidered with my boat’s name (for the record, it’s “Mojito” – no not the drink, but “little magic”). I walk into the restaurant and they are super nice but sorry so sorry we are full. But would you like a table tomorrow night? Well thank you, that would be lovely. Stay tuned for more on that! 🙂

Meanwhile, dinner tonight. Walk down to the water, find Agua, and have a rather forgettable paella which was at least paired with a nice wine. So be it. You get up in the morning, you never know what will happen.

Did I mention my spiffy Barcelona hotel has a nice rooftop cafe? I didn’t huh, well, let me tell you, it does.

And so this brings up the interesting question, is it better to work in such an environment, with distractions at every hand, or in a cell, isolated?

It’s an interesting question. There was that time I was flying back from Khazakstan – another “how did I get here” story, for sure – and I coded an entire database access subroutine during the flight. Suboptimal conditions, or perfect for work? Not clear.

Anyway after a time I decided the rooftop was just fine for work, and worked, and felt much better for having done so. Until it was time to ramble…

Como … Florence … Rome … what could be more amazing? How about … Barcelona?

Up early, repack, and after a couple of meetings in Rome, it was on to the airport for a short 2 hour jaunt to Barcelona. Yay. Another amazing city! What will happen?

Well the first thing that happened was the AirBnB I booked was terrible. Many things were bad and nothing was good, but the thing that was absolutely a fail was the temperature; about 1,000 degrees, and the A/C did not work. Okay, when you get headed, you tack.

On to a nice little Kimpton Hotel in the Gothic district …

This turned out to be a great recovery as the hotel was closer to everything, including the waterfront.

Time for a walking tour and a search for dinner…

Ended up at a Basque restaurant – great food and local wine…

One of the first things you notice about Barcelona is that people are out. It is a walking city. Many people and everything non-threatening, just out having a good time being out.

Another amazing day in another amazing city, what will tomorrow bring?