Boyd's First International Trip (not counting Canada)...To Barcelona!!

All of the blogs for our week in Barcelona are now uploaded...enjoy! We did!

Guest Author: Boyd (aka. Coop)

I arrived in Barcelona at 5:30 pm not knowing what was in store for me in terms of immigration lines and inspections. The 26 hours of traveling had worn my nerves thin to say the least. Surprisingly there was just a short line and a quick stamp of the passport and I was in. No inspections or questions of any kind. Heading downstairs I found my bags and Teri. We gathered everything and headed to downtown Barcelona via taxi. Our driver knew little English but his dreadlocks and O’neil T-shirt were obvious indications that he was a Spanish surfer. I asked him if he surfed and he perked up nodding. We explained that we were from Hawaii and asked where the good surf was in Spain. Laughing, he somehow explained that there were no places in Spain with waves like Hawaii. 30 minutes and some wrong turns later we arrived at the Hotel Pulitzer.

After a short nap for me, we decided to head out for some dinner. Tapas restaurants are abundant so we asked Andrea (at Hotel Pulitzer's concierge desk) to recommend a good one. She told us to head up the street to Ciudat Comdal, a local eatery that was still busy at 11pm. The recommendation was perfect as we enjoyed both the food and ambiance. It was crowded enough to let us know that the place served up good food, but not so much that we had to wait long to get it.

Our dinner consisted of 4 or 5 tapas dishes, some seafood of course for Teri and some meat for me. All went down well with Spain’s official beer Estrella Damm and Sangria, Spain’s unofficial wine. After finishing up we decided to head up the street to take a quick walk around the block near the hotel.

We cruised the area and came across La Tramola, another small Tapas Bar/Restaurant. Inside the bartender, Kami, was wiping down the bar and preparing to end his shift. He welcomed us and served up drinks. He was friendly and knew enough English to talk with us for a bit. We asked him for spots to hang out in the area and he informed us it only was limited to how late we wanted to stay up. There is an endless amount of places to go, but seeing as it was nearing 2am on my first night there we decided to call it a night. We finished our drinks, paid Kami and promised to return for more drinks before we left Barcelona. I’m sure with the good service he gave we’ll be back.

Heading back to Hotel Pulitzer I was definitely ready for a real sleep. Our room is cozy and it didn’t take much to get comfortable and crash for the night. It was a brief first day in Barcelona but we managed to squeeze some good Spanish cuisine and flavor in.

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