Barcelona Supper Club: Comedor Clandestino

When Javier of Comedor Clandestino reached out to me about his supper club, I wasn't sure when I would be in Barcelona to attend. Luckily my good friend Susan and Vahndi were visiting this past June and I sent them the invitation. Check out the youtube below for an interview of their amazing cuisine and hospitality.

Travel: Yoga in Barcelona

I was determined to fit in my yoga practice during my travels in Barcelona. No day should ever end without a proper down dog, right?  Center Cos (Gran de Gracia) and Let's Speak Yoga (La Eixample) were both English friendly speaking classes in the city. I managed to hold crow's pose for the first time ever in Center Cos because my teacher was determined for me to defeat my fear of breaking my wrists (it didn't break!) And as my 12 days in Barcelona were winding down, what I looked forward to the most was my 3 day getaway to the foothills of the Pirinees with SansYoga (Las Ramblas). 

Yoga in the Catalan countryside was so picturesque and relaxing after a week of sites and sounds.

The day is filled with meditation, two 90 minute yoga classes, three family style sit down meals from our in-house chef, and free time to hike/ride bicycles or do nothing at all.

Many thanks to everyone for going out of their way to speak/translate/adding gestures to keep me in the conversations. A big IOU to Bruno for the ride. And a big hug to Sandra for sharing her practice with me.

Sandra holds multiple retreats in the Barcelona area. The next one is October 5-7, 2012. Contact Sandra for more info: sandra@sansyoga.com or http://www.sansyoga.com/en/

More pictures here: http://www.sansyoga.com/en/gallery/

Travel: Where I Stayed in Barcelona

Two weeks in BCN was going to cost me a lot of money if I stayed in a hotel, so I opted for AirBNB and rented out a room. It was my first time using a site like this, and I was a bit wary of how the experience would be and what random stranger I would be living with.

In the end, it came down to 1. The picture of the hosts' face. Someone who didnt look crazy.  2. Decor. I wanted a room that felt like I was in Barcelona, not filled with Ikea furniture and a big poster of the Brooklyn Bridge. (There were a lot of those listed). 3. Location. After mapping out my itinerary, I went with L'Eixample because it was more or less in the center of my map. (Gracia, a mini Williamsburg but not really comparable at all was my 2nd option, the southern point of El Ravel closest to the sea was not quite gentrified enough for me, and Barrio Gothic would be like living in LES/Union Square, a bit too hectic).

I lucked out with a secured elevator building, one block away from the subway, with sun filled rooms for $471, on the border of L'Eixample y El Ravel. Good deal!

And the biggest perk was that my host, Jesus, a talented well traveled photographer (born and raised in Spain) and I got along so well! We stayed up till 3AM one night talking about travels and life experiences. I know its not typical for hosts and guests to hang out, which made this experience even more neat. He took me riding on his motorcycle and we grabbed beers with his friends, had a Sunday stroll to the book flea market, hung out at home with his GF.

Ha, I even met his mom Pura, who was visiting from Madrid for the weekend and staying with her daughter elsewhere. My flight had arrived early, so Pura was the only one home to greet me. She spoke zero English and I barely speak Spanish (seriously, un poquito). We gestured for the most part and I frantically looked up words in my dictionary trying to communicate to her. Its kind of amazing how well we got along and how much we understood each other. When I saw Pura again the next day, I remembered I had the Google Translate app where you can speak into the phone in one language and it spits out the translation in a matter of seconds. Our conversations totally upgraded to a whole new level. I had no idea how much she cursed until I read the translation on the phone! Shocking. Hehehe. Un beso!

Travel: El Vaso de Oro + Generous People

In the neighborhood of Barceloneta is a long narrow standing-room only tapas restaurant called El Vaso de Oro, packed with locals.  I arrived straight after yoga, stomache grumbling, credit card in tow. I knew exactly what I wanted to start with: foie a la plancha and a beer. (P.S. This trip is the most beer I've had my entire life). Foie a la plancha is chunks of rich, fattened liver topped with sauteed onions on a fresh piece of toasted bread. I couldnt get enough of the combination melting in my mouth-- I've had foie gras plenty of times, but this was creamier, a little sweeter (could have been the onions), seared to perfection. I wiped down the entire plate of its drippings.

As I was about to add onto my order with the waiter, I overheard some customers being rejected from using their credit cards. "Cash only," said the waiter. My jaw dropped, heart sank, face turned beet red. All I had on me was 10 Euros and my credit card. Credit card, not ATM card. I froze in disbelief.

And then, the most generous act of kindness was bestowed opon me. Ernesto and Montserrat (childhood friends of each other) who had just placed their orders, complete strangers to me, saw me in my despair, and said something along the lines of, "Join us. We've ordered more than enough to share". Seriously. They were 100% genuine. And so, with another round of beer, assortment of tapas, wine and dessert, I became friends with two amazing Catalans. Their overwhelming kindness will always be remembered.

El Vaso de Oro
Carrer de Balboa, 6
Metro: Barceloneta
CASH ONLY

Travel: Barcelona, Spain: Markets

Here are some amazing visuals we normally don't see at our markets in the states.

*ginormous octopus
 *fish displayed with its skin peeled back

 *skinned rabbit (look at those eyes!)  Didnt recognize it was a bunny without the ears at first.

Everyone raves about La Boqueria when visiting Barcelona. It's listed #1 on Trip Advisor for shopping. Reviewers would say it would be sacriligious not to visit, like missing out on 42nd St. Time Square or Empire State Building on your first trip to NY. Normally I would avoid such reviews especially since La Boqueria is located right off of Las Ramblas (think 34th St during lunch hour) and offskirt of El Ravel (think Canal St, Chinatown). Hello, it's clearly built for tourism. 

But, I'll concede with the ratings on this one, because La Boqueria is a wonderous site. It was just as shocking as Hong Kong's Sai Kung and Lei Yu Men fish market. Go once (okay I went twice since its impossible to order everything I want as a solo traveler and I really wanted to taste the food at El Quim and Pinoxto) take your pictures, enjoy your Estrella/ delicious tapas, and then scurry out of there.

If you can do without the mass crowds, you can easily see smaller scales of similar products of La Boqueria at Mercat de Saint Antoni, Mercat Santa Caterina, or Mercat de la Llibertat instead. I went to all four local markets; and none are disappointing. Anyways, the food I ate at the Boqueria and other markets were all undeniably good, but for the most part, I've eaten simliar dishes and they all tasted familiar ie: chipirones (squid), gamba (shrimp), xuxo (beef cheek), botifarra (blood sausage).

The one dish that did get me giddy like a school girl was from El Quim:  huevos fritos con llanguetas (fried egg w/ itty bitty tiny fish). Those black speckles you see? Thats their eyes! The texture in general is like a moist fish hash, but gritty because of the small bones. It's a delicacy (18.75 euros for the dish, while others are just 2 euros) and was delightful!

Read This: Brooklyn Magazine

(Flight to Barcelona).
I realize I've already posted about Brooklyn Magazine in October, but I'm big on Brooklyn and my heart grows fonder for my borough each time I read about it. Brooklyn Magazine is a quarterly publication that covers style, design, food, and interviews. Besides the aesthetcis: photography & design layout of each issue, I'm drawn in by the intimate interviews with Brooklynites and the discovery of talented people that make Brooklyn so special. No matter how far and often I travel, I know I'll always belong in Brooklyn.

You can also read them online here: http://bklynmag.com/.

Barcelona till February

Off to Barcelona! Nine days of wandering the city, 3 days at a yoga retreat :)