Goethe

10:15 am  •  18 June 2013

At the Tate Modern - might I suggest the scone and tea? (at Tate Modern Restaurant)

10:15 am  •  18 June 2013

50thingslondon:

Barcelona Hit List

Full disclosure - we spent a lot of time looking at Gaudi’s works and the rest of the time eating. But, oh, the eating! Other confession - we did the majority of the eating around our hotel, which was on the Passeig de Garcia.

Bites

Best cafe ever: La Cuina D’en Garriga
This cafe boasted the most amazing coffee and tea, as well as fantastically delicious food. I’m genuinely sad that this cafe doesn’t exist in Toronto or London. See my full review.

Tapas 24
If you’re looking for tapas, this is the place to be. Absolutely delicious food and really scrumptious wine, Tapas 24 was the first food we had in Barcelona. A tough one to follow! Definitely worth a try. Best croquetas I’ve ever had, really. Mouth watering just thinking about it.

Restaurant El Passatge del Murmuri
We walked by this place on what might be the fanciest little street in Barcelona, Passatge de la Concepció. It’s actually a hotel restaurant, but what a great (affordable) place to either sit outside and watch passersby or just have a really enjoyable meal inside. The chocolate truffles for dessert were amazing.

Boca Grande
Before the above dinner, we stepped into Boca Grande (also on Passatge de la Concepció) for a drink. What an amazing place to sit for a tipple. Lots of interesting characters were about, the drinks were served very creatively and they were delicious (as they should be at 15 euro a pop, gulp). I sort of regret not trying the food.

De Tapa Madre
We randomly wandered past this place on our way back to the hotel from Sagrada Familia. The tapas were delicious, the wine was good, and the service was very friendly. The decor is cosy and welcoming. Definitely a recommended spot if you’re in the area.

Mauri
Desperate for a treat of some sort, we passed Mauri (Calle Provença, 241) and were enticed by the cake in the window. A cute little bakery with lots of delectable nibbles to choose from, it’s worth checking out. Both the desert we tried were fab.

Casa Mila
We didn’t go up to the rooftop in the end, only because we spent so much time gawking at Gaudi, we decided to go to the Picasso Museum on the last day of our visit. We did, however, go inside Casa Mila’s cafe / restaurant for a light lunch. We didn’t go for the food, we went to be inside one of Gaudi’s buildings. Nonetheless, our sandwiches were amazing and the clara (Spanish shandy) was the best we tried. 
BONUS: If you’re looking for a Gaudi souvenir, Casa Mila has the best gift shop.

Culture 

Battlo House / Casa Battlo
We didn’t go inside (again), despite that this was about two streets from our hotel. Fail. BUT we did sit outside the building for ages on several occasions. It’s such a great building on such a great street. I really do need to go back to Barcelona just to go inside.

Park Guell / Gaudi House Museum
Definitely a must-see, Park Guell is situated atop a big hill, so you’ll get great views of the city. Aside from that, this park is a wonderland of Gaudi’s genius, from the weird and wonderful sculptures to the breathtaking caves and structures he built. What an amazing way to spend an afternoon. We toured around the Gaudi House Museum as well, to find out about our new favourite artist. If you have the time, you must do this park.

Sagrada Familia (second photo)
I don’t care if you’re on a layover and you only have two hours in Barcelona. GO HERE. It’s the most beautiful building I’ve seen in my entire life, and no, I’m not exaggerating. Pictures cannot capture the true beauty of this place, it’s incredible. Yes, it’s a church, but even if you’ve never had any interest in a church, you just have to see it.

Picasso Museum
Dedicated to Picasso’s early life and influences as well as his obsessive study of Las Meninas, it’s one my favourite Picasso exhibit that I’ve seen. Check it out for a Gaudi-free few hours (Picasso hated Gaudi, which delights me for some reason).

Passeig de Gracia
The. Shopping. It’s the best shopping street in Barcelona. Regent Street doesn’t compare. It was heavenly… The food was amazing, too. It was the luckiest luck, staying on that street. 

Which leads me to our hotel, Eurostars BCN Design. It claims it’s a five-star hotel. It isn’t. But what it lacks in breakfast (disgusting), it makes up for in location (and bed size, what a big bed!). It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’m so glad it’s the hotel we ended up with. It was central, clean and near all the Gaudi!

6:38 am  •  18 June 2013  •  1 note

“People like me write because otherwise we are pretty inarticulate. Our articulation is our writing.”

— William Trevor (via theparisreview)

4:41 pm  •  17 June 2013  •  1,131 notes

“Background noise creates a distraction, but balance is key. A moderate level of background noise creates just enough distraction to break people out of their patterns of thinking and nudge them to let their imagination wander, while still keeping them from losing their focus on the project all together. This distracted focus helps enhance your creativity. The study’s authors explain that “getting into a relatively noisy environment may trigger the brain to think abstractly, and thus generate creative ideas.”

— Research suggests the right amount of ambient noise increases creativity – which makes sense, considering the unconscious processing phase of ideation. (via explore-blog)

(Source: , via explore-blog)

4:41 pm  •  17 June 2013  •  611 notes

50thingslondon:

I woke up at 3:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. At 4:45, I decided to go for a walk around the deserted streets. I walked around Camden, Primrose Hill, Belsize Park. It’s hard to believe that I have less than a month left in London… I feel like I have to make the most out of every moment.

3:21 am  •  17 June 2013  •  2 notes

Anna does her sign language interpretation of Cee Lo’s Fuck You for a college class. Brill.

12:40 pm  •  16 June 2013  •  4 notes

50thingslondon:

Barcelona gem: La Cuina d’en Garriga

After being directed to Bracafe by some of my research, I was set up for disappointment in regards to the coffee in Barcelona. Not to mention that my guidebook told me that brunch is difficult to find in Barcelona. So I was delighted to find La Cuina d’en Garriga on C/Consell de Cent, 308 (between Passeig de Gracia and Rambla Catalunya). Not only was the coffee amazing, the food was delicious AND very brunchlike. 

The hotel breakfast (Eurostars BCN Design) was the worst breakfast in history, so we ventured outside the hotel and luckily, the cafe was right on the next street (it’s also very close to Casa Battlo if you’re going there). The eggs were cooked to perfection (some of the best eggs I’ve ever had) and the spinach was equally delicious. We also had the salmon on toast, which is great if you’re not too hungry.

The service was amazing as well, the staff were helpful and friendly. We ordered the traditional tomato toast and the waitress showed us how to rub the tomato on the bread, which was fantastic.

Illy coffee alongside Mariage des Freres tea was much-appreciated and fuelled two days of sightseeing. I even bought the biscotti they served - it is SO good. 

We paid about the same that brunch costs in London, which was about 10-15 Euro each including coffee. I absolutely loved it - I’m glad our hotel breakfast was so atrocious!

5:34 am  •  15 June 2013  •  2 notes

(Source: iamdavidkent, via ratsoff)

2:30 pm  •  13 June 2013  •  3,943 notes

50thingslondon:

Casa Batllo by Gaudi in Barcelona

5:53 pm  •  11 June 2013  •  6 notes