More of a travelogue than a wine post, and in truth it's because we really didn't want to go to high end on wines and just decided to order either an Albarino or a Txakolina when we wanted white and a Crianza or a Ribeira when we wanted Tinto. We did also enjoy the odd glass of Cava.
Let's start with Hotels
Barcelona
ONE shot Aragó 257. We stayed 3 nights
The good: Excellent location, right next to the Passeig de Gracia, nonexistent lobby, good size room, excellent bed and linens, excellent shower. Quiet. Not too expensive (relatively)
The less good: No TV in the room (which didn’t matter much) no a/c which would have probably been a bummer in the summer, no place to sit or put a suitcase to open, no restaurant or café on premises, though plenty nearby. But the worst is I had trouble sleeping in the room, it was too stuffy. Not going back
Zaragoza
NH Gran hotel. We stayed 2 nights
Good location, nice room, much more modern with all the amenities. Beautiful old hotel with a modern renovation.
Haro
Los Augustinos. Stayed 1 night. Thanks JC
Wow, old school but charming and delightful. Loved it. Beautiful inside patio with a great buffet breakfast. Really really special
Bilbao
Gran hotel Domine. Stayed 1 night
Excellent location, room looking at the Guggenheim and the Jeff Koons puppy, modern, chic, good restaurant, but valet parking was €25 and the hotel was full of American tourists.
San Sebastian
Hotel Londres stayed 2 nights, thanks JC and Danny
A beautiful hotel, splurged for a room with a view of the bay, stunning, great service, not pretentious at all, wish we could stay longer. Only issue was the self parking at €27 a day is a ripoff when one could park in the same parking lot for a fraction of that.
Restaurants and Bars:
Barcelona
Cuines de Santa Caterina, near the Santa Caterina market for decent tapas, Good patatas bravas and yummy grilled cuttlefish.
Edition Hotel Roof bar
Had an expensive Jack Daniels, crowded, overrated view.
7 Portes
Excellent paella, good service, crowded
Batea
Absolutely stupendous; A jewel, but there are not many tables, and a reservation is difficult, but great imaginative food, especially the appetizers, not too expensive. Go without hesitation.
Caelis – One Michelin Star
Excellent, expensive but that is expected Great service, great food. We had four white wines by the glass, interesting and different. Probably one of the better restaurants we’ve been to in the last few years.
Tajo Bajo was mentioned in a blog recommended by Danny T. https://wineddinedandrested.com/. Excellent salad and by far the best potato croquettes anywhere in the galaxy.
Bar Circo for tapas where we had the best out of at least a dozen tortillas de patates we sampled all over Northern Spain. Light, fluffy, perfectly seasoned. I have made tortillas de patates myself countless times, never have I come even close to this one!
Logrones
Tapas crawl during Saturday lunch. Crowded, fun, tasty, nothing too overdone. Wash the tapas down with house Txakolinas or Cidras
Haro
We skipped dinner, the tapas in Logrones did us in and we were both nursing a bad cold
San Sebastian
Tapas crawl
Bar Sport for good patatas bravas and a nice sea urchin mousse, came back for a great cheesecake at the end of the crawl.
Bar Martinez for decent cod croquettes, and a rare excellent salad.
La Cucharra de San Telmo for the sensational roasted goat cheese with grilled chiles and chile emulsion
Kokotxa – One Michelin Star
Only place we could get in, market menu was imaginative with the asparagus dish and the lamb shoulder being the stars, I asked the sommelier for an interesting white that could stand up to fish and meat, he recommended an Iri Txakolina (see photo) with interesting salinity and some oxidative notes. A fun experience.
Wineries
Well we didn’t really visit, Haro had a bunch of bodegas that sold tastings; Lopez de Heredia, Muga, Rioja Alta and more, we skipped them as these are wines we are pretty familiar with and we both had a cold.
On the road from Logrones to Haro we stopped at
Marques de Riscal for a incredible sight of the Frank Gehry designed hotel, we had a glass of Riserva with a cheese platter on the hotel patio.
About wines, I love Rioja and other Spanish wines and buy and drink them with pleasure but these can be found everywhere and their prices are going up fast making them less competitive with French and Italians comparable wines.
Sights
The sights on the other hand were wonderful; In my very humble opinion, the Sagrada Familia puts anything Rome and Florence have to offer to shame and that includes the Sistine Chapel and the Duomo (sorry TomInDC). The Park Guell, the Casa Mila, the Casa Batlo and all other Gaudi structures and designs were just amazing.
We took a day trip to Monserrat to breath some mountain air and visit the monastery with the awesome views.
The Guggenheim in Bilbao is stunning outside and in, even if I wasn't crazy about some of the exhibits.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TQxixA2UAWQFkEfz8
San Sebastian is a lovely city, with a beautiful beach and a charming old town.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/61QEKGGecBtWYPpr7
The countryside is warm and inviting with easy polite driving everywhere. We stopped in Pamplona to pay homage to Papa Hemingway’s bust and the streets where the bulls will run free in July.
Next visit to Spain we will try Valencia for a real paella, Andalusia and the Costa del Sol.
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