I had been on a leisure trip with Mrs Travel Freak to Barcelona for the weekend.  The weather had been on side and we had enjoyed a great weekend.  It was the last day of our trip and we only had a few hours before we needed to get the train to the Airport.  We had asked in the Me hotel where we could have a bite to eat and then catch the train and were told that Passeig de Gràcia was the best plan.

We hailed a cab and 10€ later we were in the street.  This was clearly an upmarket street – Hugo Boss, Armani, Yves-Saint-Laurent, Chanel etc. all had a presence here.  Luckily for me (and my Amex) it was a Sunday and all the shops were closed.

Continue Reading…

I had taken a weekend trip to Barcelona with Mrs Travel Freak.  Our flight had landed on time, our car had picked us up from the airport as arranged and the hotel check-in had gone well.  We had asked the barman for somewhere we could go for some traditional Spanish food (it was now already 11pm) and he recommended Bilbao Berria.

We had jumped in a cab as instructed.  The journey from the Me hotel to the restaurant took about 10 minutes and cost 9€.

As soon as I entered here I knew I was going to enjoy myself.  There was a large bar / counter which had rows and rows of Pintxos.  The barman had described these as “small snacks on bread” but I hadn’t really understood what he meant.  There was maybe around 30 different types of Pintxos split into three main sections: fish, dessert and everything else.

Continue Reading…