Overall Impression
From the pictures on the website I was keen to stay at the Petit Palace Opera Garden as I had wanted to stay here the year previous, but couldn’t due to budget constraints. This year on a quick trip to Barcelona I had my chance. The building is nice and centrally located near La Boqueria market and Placa Reial just off La Rambla.

While the hotel was totally adequate, I found that it didn’t live up to the website. Yes it is a boutique hotel, but it is a cheaply finished boutique hotel. The cool looking wallpaper decor is actually just printed musical notes on construction paper that is stapled to the wall. Not exactly high end finishing.The hallways were also a bit dark and eerie.

With that said, if you can get a decent deal to stay here I wouldn’t shy away from it I just feel that it is over-represented on the website. Just be aware that it may not be as nice as it looks from the website. Compared to the Eurostars La Rambla though this one loses out, but I would recommend this place on a good deal.

My Rating: 3 stars

What I would pay: $100-150 USD per night

My recommendation: Stay on good rate

Location
This is the best part of this hotel. It is fabulously situated just off La Rambla and close to the Barcelona metro for easy mobility. It is also a reasonably short walk to Barceloneta Beach.

Amenities
Courtyard

Service
The service was very good.

Elevator Speed
No elevator issues

Atmosphere
Cheap boutique. Except for the lobby. The lobby is cool.

Bed Comfort
I had one of those overly firm European twin beds that splits apart. They call this a double sometimes, but it is really two twins squished together.

Internet
Free internet.

Room Cleanliness
The room was clean.

Toiletries
HT Hotel chain toiletries.

Family Friendly
Yes. No waterslides or anything though. Just basic goodness.

Rates
I’ve seen this hotel anywhere from $120-$300 per night, but would only stay here again on the lower end of that spectrum.

Other Notes
The hotel is owned by HiTech Hotels, a European chain. I’m not exactly sure what was high-tech about it though? My internet was a bit slow. Not what I would call high tech.

Number of Stays
1

When
Winter 2009

Frequent Flyer Miles / Hotel Points
Not sure.

Related posts:

1. La Champagneria Barcelona: The Return
2. Cool Bars in Barcelona
3. La Champagneria Barcelona (Greatest Bar Ever!)

This time around on my second trip to Barcelona I felt much more relaxed. I knew what to expect and the place seemed smaller and less confusing — familiar.

As with any other city my main focus was to find the best place to eat and drink. I went to a bunch of different places in the La Rambla and Barceloneta areas, and here are my top 3 recommendations for hip eating and drinking in Barcelona.

1.) La Champagneria (Can Paixano)

La Champagneria Barcelona

La Champagneria is my favourite of all the Barcelona bars I’ve been to. It’s wild, it’s crowded, the drinks are cheap, and the food is simple and bad for you — all good things when you’re on holiday. Don’t be surprised when the floor becomes littered with napkins and trash. That’s the custom here for this style of Tapas bar. Try the Morcilla, the sheep’s cheese, and the Jamon Iberico. A glass of Spanish Cava goes for about €0.65 to €1.00. Totally reasonable by any standards. I prefer the extra dry Cava as it is not so sweet, but the full range is available. It wouldn’t feel like a trip to Barcelona without at least one stop at La Champagneria. You can find it in the Barceloneta area near the Picasso statue on Passeig de Colom. See Map.

See also: Greatest Bar Ever! or La Champagneria: The Return

2.) Marmalade Bar Barcelona

Marmalade Restaurant Barcelona

Marmalade is located in the slightly dodgy neighbourhood of the Raval located behind La Boqueria Market on La Rambla. The interior of the bar is classy kitsch with cool wallpaper, backlighting, and funky lamps. I was there on a slower night and the bartender decided to play a long list of cool 80′s tracks that I had totally forgotten about. I also had some incredibly good tapas, some nice wine, and the best White Russian I have ever had. I highly recommend the Shrimp Brochette and the Crunchy Camembert Ravioli. Both were to die for. The Raval is a bit sketchy and is undergoing a change as these hip yuppy joints open up. If you plan on travelling through here at night try not to do it alone, and be aware of your surroundings. I didn’t find it that bad, but nobody I talked to had any positive things to say about the area. Use your street smarts. To get here take a right on Carrer Del Carme off La Rambla and walk about 10 minutes. See map.

3.) Milk Bar and Bistro Barcelona

Milk Bar & Bistro Barcelona

Milk is owned by the same couple that owns Marmalade and was actually first on the scene and really changed the dining scene in Barcelona. The restaurant is not that big so a quick call ahead may be in order. This is more of a place I’d come for dinner, and the Sunday recovery brunch is becoming legendary in Barcelona. The food is not particularly Spanish, but is fairly rustic — stews, burgers, gourmet sausage. If you’re not familiar with the area Milk can be a bit of a chore to find. You can find it on Calle Gignas just off Carrer D’Avinyo. See Map.

Related posts:

1. La Champagneria Barcelona: The Return
2. La Champagneria Barcelona (Greatest Bar Ever!)
3. Hotel Petit Palace Opera Garden Barcelona Hotel Review

If you are in Barcelona I highly recommend a trip here. It’s a crazy crowded space, but if you can deal with being packed like a sardine it is an awesome fun time!

La Champagneria (Can Paixano)
Barcelona Cava (Champagne/sparkling wine) Bar
Reina Cristina 7, Barcelona, Spain
[t] 93 310 08 39
Hours: Monday to Saturday (approximately)
5pm to 10pm (likely open earlier in the Summer)
Closed the last two weeks of August

See also: Greatest Bar Ever!

To call my return to Barcelona’s La Champagneria one year later triumphant would be a bit of an overstatement, but that’s how it felt in my head. On a whim I decided to fly from Lisbon to Barcelona and in the front of my mind the entire flight the infamous cava bar.

Unfortunately upon my arrival I was a bit tired and ended up napping past their closing time on Saturday night. They tend to close around 10pm and they also close on Sunday, so I spent that Saturday night at Milk and the Sunday night at Marmalade — both of which are owned by the same couple and are also well worth a look if you are in Barcelona.

So on the Monday I finally make it to my favourite bar and thankfully this time it’s not quite as busy. To my excitement my awesome barman from last year, Danny, remem

bers me. Crazy! I must have made some kind of impression, but I did go back several days in a row and was totally over the moon about being there (see Repeat Diner Theory).

This time we get to chatting and pathetically my Spanish has not improved at all. I vow to get Rosetta when I get home and start learning. I stand by Spanish as probably the 2nd most useful language to English in the world, but some people may want to debate with me.

Anyway, this time I’m at La Champagneria on my own and I have to say it was everything that it was last time. I really do think this place is fantastic. The only down side is that on your own the drinks go down a bit faster and you get full very quickly! If you’re in Barcelona I highly recommend a trip to La Champagneria.

For a more detailed account of La Champagneria please see my other article: La Champagneria Barcelona: Greatest Bar Ever!.

Related posts:

1. Cool Bars in Barcelona
2. La Champagneria Barcelona (Greatest Bar Ever!)
3. Hotel Petit Palace Opera Garden Barcelona Hotel Review

Related posts:

1. Cool Bars in Barcelona
2. La Champagneria Barcelona: The Return
3. La Champagneria Barcelona (Greatest Bar Ever!)

Pintxos in San Sebastian

If I were a rockstar I would move to San Sebastian, learn to speak Basque, and do nothing other than drink wine, have plentiful sex, and eat Pintxos (pronounced Peen-chos) until my heart failed. If you don’t know what Pintxos are this will probably sound a tad dirty, but let me assure you that it is just really exciting tapas style food and nothing more…well, depending on how much you like food.

Last winter I had planned on spending a couple of days in Donostia-San Sebastian before moving onward to Bordeaux which is a short 1.5 hour train ride away across the France/Spain border, but instead I ended up skipping Bordeaux altogether to stay in San Sebastian. The motivation for the change of plans was simple. Stay for the food.

Old Town San Sebastian at Night

It’s late and I’m wandering the streets of Old Town (Parte Vieja) San Sebastian past the dinner hour and keep seeing all of these tiny bars loaded with locals standing around having a great time in front of these massive platters of food. My stomach is starting to eat itself, but I’m a little intimidated. McDonald’s would be an easy choice, but that would be sacrilegious in a town like this.

I find a bar that has a younger staff banking on them speaking a little more English than the older, more traditional set. I step into Txondorra Pintxos bar and approach the bartender for some advice. He is friendly and explains to me in English all about the Pintxos.

Help yourself to whatever you want on the platters lined up on the counter and then show your plate to the bartender so he knows how much to charge you. Cool. I take an assortment of the small Tapas and start chowing down.

I immediately fall in love with the Pintxos.

Pintxos at Txondarra in San Sebastian

It’s such a simple combination of things that make up Pintxos but they are fantastic. Prosciutto with cheese and julienne cut carrots with corn and olive oil, or a variety of mushrooms and cheese, all of which are served on small pieces of baguette. Some of them are more like little meat pies, some of them seafood based. I’m sure this is all meant as an appetizer, but I more or less decide that I would be happy eating this as a full meal all the time.

The next night I go back to the same bar and try some more of the local suggestions. The bartender buys me a couple glasses of wine and has the cook make up some of his favourite Pintxos for me. Once again a fantastic night of eating with a little more local insight. Going back to the same restaurant more than once while travelling really does buy you an entirely different experience (see Repeat Diner Theory).

All-in-all I was thrilled with the Pintxos experience and can’t wait to make a pilgrimmage back to the food heaven that is San Sebastian again. I find the city itself very relaxing and with food and wine like that I don’t need anything else — except for the rockstar salary, and the plentiful sex of course.

Some San Sebastian Resources:

Todo Pintxos

Gridskipper

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This is the greatest bar ever! A bunch of people mill around out front chatting, smoking and basking in the glow of the dim yellow light from inside Barcelona’s La Champagneria. The place is no bigger than a small coffee shop and is bursting at the seams. My friend Erin and I force our way in as politely as possible.

The inside of La Champagneria is like a really small barn, but instead of cows there are people, and instead of hay the floor is scattered with empty food wrappers and napkins (as per custom in certain Spanish Tapas bars). Of course as the name indicates the place is also stocked to the brim with Spanish Champagne — known as Cava . The great thing about this place is that the Cava is cheap! At present, the going rate is between €0.65 – €0.95 per glass, which is totally reasonable, and to add another layer on the cake this stuff is miles beyond the battery acid I’m expecting to drink — it’s actually pretty damn good!

We belly up to the bar, forcing our way through the crowd of people all sipping on their wide and shallow over-filled Cava glasses. Getting to the front seems a chore, but we get there and attempt ordering. As per my usual, I ask for a recommendation. I have no idea what might be good here, and all I can see are multiple hanging meat slabs still lightly resembling their parent creature. I’m not put off by it, I just don’t know how to order pieces off of animal legs.

Luckily our man behind the bar, Danny, who I proceed to make friends with very quickly over the course of the next 85 glasses of Cava, prepares us an assortment of rudimentary tapas — cured meats, sheep’s cheese, black pudding and all kinds of deep fried goodness.

This stuff is probably going to kill me, but I’m loving every second of it. It’s not just the food and the cheap Cava that is fueling my love for this place — it’s the people. There’s something awesomely authentic about this place. There don’t seem to be too many tourists here, and even if there are, most of them are Spanish. Of course there are a few travellers in the mix, but the majority of people seem to be local. Everyone in this place seems over the top happy despite being packed like a sardine into a tiny bar on some random Barcelona side street. I’m still loving it. My friend Erin reminds me that I’ve declared my love for this place at least 10 times since we entered, but assures me that is okay. She loves it too. I proceed to get loaded in every sense of the word and eventually cart my now pregnant with meat carcass belly out into the streets of Barcelona. The walk back to the hotel is a little slow, but I feel fantastic. I return to the great La Champagneria 3 more times before I leave Barcelona, dragging everyone that I possibly can with me. Apparently I also declare my love for the place at least another 100 times, and drink at least 200 more glasses of Cava.

If you’re in Barcelona I highly recommend this place. It’s not too far off the beaten path, but just enough.

La Champagneria is located about 10-15 minutes walking from the Christopher Columbus monument (Plaça Colon) at the bottom of La Rambla. It is roughly 15-20 minutes from the Kabul Hostel and probably about 20-30 minutes from the Plaça de Catalunya. Click for Map

Related posts:

1. La Champagneria Barcelona: The Return
2. Cool Bars in Barcelona
3. At Marmalade in Barcelona – Raval