lillabella

We were extremely impressed with the quality and sophistication of the food. Definitely gourmet. A couple of examples: a very elegant foie preparation and a beef with a slice of foie from two different stops on the tour. Despite the repeat of the ingredient, the tastes were extremely different. The ham and cheese plate included the highest grade of ham, Jamon Iberico de Bellota. According to the Spanish government's grading scale, this is the highest of the four Iberico hams which, in turn are higher than the three Serrano hams. The cheeses were from artisanal producers and delicious. There was no let down in quality throughout the evening.

 

The wines/alcoholic beverages were equally special. We wimped out on the opportunity to drink from a porron, a decanter that is delivers wine at great distance. The wine that gets consumed using a porron tends not to be the finest wine Spain has to offer, but the tour includes this experience as a stop since it is a traditional part of the food and wine culture.

 

Here's a photo of a man drinking from a porron the expert way -- at reasonable distance:

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608053428213252503&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

 

 

Here's a photo of what the average person on the tour looks like, if anyone even dares to try: (Actually this fellow is holding the decanter a surprising distance from his mouth given his obvious novice status.)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=drinking+from+a+porron+images&qpvt=drinking+from+a+porron+images&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=338ADBE2A7A02327F77BFEE1D0BD5CBE7C971C99&selectedIndex=21

 

 

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.607998452631146296&pid=1.7

 

(Apologies in advance if the attachments don't work. I've never attached a photo from the internet.)

Thanks for the feedback! Sounds delicious - Foie Gras is actually one of my favorites.

Here's a bit more detail about our Spanish Trails experience. The evening is scheduled to last about six hours which may seem quite daunting; however, the guide created a route that was very manageable. We began the tour at the Placa Catalunya and, from there, walked to places in the Eixample, the Gothic Quarter, and El Born. Seeing the various neighborhoods and hearing the guide's comments about them was a nice bonus en route. The itinerary and distances were organized to allow us to take a nice break between eating/drinking experiences. By the time the walk began to feel long, we were at our next destination. (At the end of the evening, we were walked out and took a taxi back to our hotel.)

 

Some weeks after our experience with Spanish Trails, I happened to run into another person online who had taken a tapas tour with a different guide in the company. She had visited Ciudad Condal (Eixample) as part of her route. This is a very well popular tapas place for locals and tourists alike. I had read about it before the trip and several people recommended it while we were in the city. My husband and I had a tapas lunch there one day. Despite the restaurant's good reputation, we had a very mixed experience. For example, the grilled razor clams tasted delicious but they were filled with grit which really detracted from the flavor. I'm confident that the Spanish Trail guides know the menus and avoid the less-than-stellar dishes at otherwise well-regarded tapas places. The DIY diner doesn't have that advantage.

We are thinking that this might be a great way to end our trip in Barcelona. As far as your Spanish Trails tour went, could you comment a bit on the food you were given to try? More specifically, we are wondering how "gourmet" the gourmet tour actually is. Thank you.

Also, if wanted to take a taxi it would be about €5-6.

 

Just so you don't get confused when you get there it is Casa Batlló not Batilo.

 

That was a typo on my end. :o Unfortunately, I can't edit my original post but at least anyone doing a search for Casa Batllo in the future will see this post.

Excellent. I really appreciate the feedback. It's nice to know it's walkable if we are up to it and also have the option of using the metro system if we are feeling lazy!

Hello everyone. Is it practical to visit both Casa Batilo & Sagrada Familia in one day? If so, anyone know approximately how far it is between the two? Is it walkable?

Thanks for your help.

That's excellent information to have, thanks for passing on the chart.

Japan also has evening surcharges for their taxi service.

Thanks for the feedback I was really less concerned about food and more concerned about problems with arriving late to a small hotel within town. Thanks DragonoftheSeas, that was interesting and helpful information about the taxi surcharge after pm. We will most likely have transportation lined up to take us to our hotel but that is good to know for any of the other evenings we may need transportation.

Thank you all for the feedback. :)

Thanks for the feedback. By the responses, though they are mostly food related, I am assuming then that most of the hotels are accustomed to late check-in's? We have been to areas in the world where check-in's after 9 pm are not allowed.

We have a international flight arrival into Barcelona around 7:30 p.m. - having never been to the airport nor the city, I'm wondering if it would be better to stay at an international hotel closer to the airport (Hilton, Renaissance, etc) the first night or just as easy to make it to a hotel in the Las Ramblas or Gothic Quarter.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.