Cataluña and Barcelona November 2010

We were in London and Cataluña, including Barcelona, on november 13 - 27, 2010. We have separated the trip in two entries ("London November 2010" and "Cataluña and Barcelona November 2010").

We visited numerous medieval towns in Cataluña, where we discovered the extraordinary wines of the Empuria Apellation, among which the best are those of Castillo de Perelada. We also did the Dali triangle (Figueres, Cadaques and Port Lligat, and Gala´s Castle at Pubol), without a doubt, a trip that all Dali lovers must do at least once in their lives.

We stayed at the Hotel Perelada Wine Spa & Golf (c/Rocabert s/n, Perelada), a good hotel, with large rooms and perfectly well located to explore the region. Its restaurant is quite good and reflects the extraordinary Catalan cuisine, consider by many the best in the world.

We had lunch at the Restaurante Mas Pau (1 Michelin Star, Carrt. Figueres, Olot, Avinyonet), a gastronomic delight with experimental flavors based on sea and land fruits, with an eclectic decoration in a remodeled XVI century farm house.

In Barcelona, we stayed at the Hotel Colon (Avenida Catedral 7, Barcelona), which although has only 4 stars, it provides large and clean rooms and is perfectly located across the Cathedral. Across the square is the fantastic Taverna del Bisbe (Avinguda Catedral, 6-8), where it is possible to enjoy breakfasts, lunch and dinners of excellent quality and at very reasonable prices.

The two lunches at the Circulo del Liceo (Rambla 65) were very memorable because of the architecture and decoration of this typical building from the Modernist days, and with an elevator of wood, velvet, stained glass and bronze, which is in itself a trip back to the Belle Epoque. Service was impecable.

Finally, dinner at Restaurante Silvestre (Santalo, 101) was a bit disappointing because despite being a restaurant en vogue (it was full), the service was impersonal and plates that did not make justice to the huge possibilities that this region provides given its products and wines which are among the best in the world.

Salvador and Illuminata