Eating out in Barcelona

As you might know, I've been to Barcelona last month. I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite restuarants. I must admit, it took me a bit to discover them, but they are absolutely worth trying. The quality of the food is generally very good plus they are reasonably priced, so if you are looking for decent food without going over board with the costs they might be for you!
 

Breakfast/ Brunch

 

Vitamias'

C/. Hospital, 81 - Telefone: 933 128 855

This is a small corner café with delicious baguettes, bread rolls, croissants, little sweet treats and exceptionally good coffee. The prices are reasonable (3€ for a huge baguette + coffee) and it is situated just a few meters of La Rambla de Catalunya. Definetly love the atmosphere, because it is such a small cosy place and the two owners are very nice and friendly.

 

Lunch/Dinner
 

Organic

Junta Comerc, 11 - Telefone: 933 428 103

www.restaurantorganic.es

This is a vegetarian restaurant which cooks with organic ingredientes. A set lunch with soup, salad, main course and dessert is around 10-12€. The quality of the food is quiet good and I definetly did not miss having meat. (near La Rambla de Catalunya as well)

 

 

Maitea

Carrer de Casanova, 157 - Telefone: 934 395 107

(between CarrerParís and Carrer Córcega)

www.maitea.es

This is where you can get proper Spanish food and you won't find a lot of tourists. Definetly don't miss out on the tapas and the delicous fish dishes.

 

Bar/ Restaurant
 

Dos Trece

Calle Carme, 40 - Telefone: 933 017 067

www.dostrece.net

Love their tapas that you can order until 9pm, and their cocktails are very good as well. It is open from 10am until 3am. I definetly recommend this place if you are looking to have a nice dinner and want to stay for a good drink afterwards. The atmosphere is very nice, and the waiters were more than attentive.

Market

La Boqueria is a nice food market situated on La Rambla de Catalunya. (this is where the photos were taken!) It is good to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies, but I don't necessarily recommend it for proper eating out because there are very few places to sit. But it is definetly worth having a look at it, even though you might not be up to buying something.

By the way, apologies for the long absence. I just moved to England and it took me a while to get settled in and to get Internet around the house!

Geneva from above

Let me share with you some pictures I took when flying in trough Geneva a few weeks ago. It was a rather sunny day, so I had the chance to capture quiet a bit of the beautiful setting and scenery the city of Geneva is set within. 

 

The Alpes in the background

 

The famous Lake Geneva

If you aks me, Switzerland is definetly underrated as a holiday destination. We (me anyways) always want to go South, somewhere warm and sunny (the Carribean for example), and miss out on the beauty that is so close...

 

Ever been to Switzerland? Can you recommend it?

Lincoln

I promised to reveal where I will be moving in 5 days: Lincoln, located in England and capital of the region Lincolnshire.

Lincoln is a rather small city, with little over 80.000 inhabitants and a stunningly beautiful cathedral.

Thought I'd give you a brief overview about Lincoln now, but stay definetly tuned for the occasional update once I have settled in.

How to get there?

Unfortunately since Lincoln is rather small, there are not a lot of airlines that serve the three nearest airports: Robin Hood Airport, Humberside Airport and East Midlands Airport. You can get there fast and easily by taking a train from London's Kings Cross train station, although prices vary a lot and train tickets can get quiet expensive. The fastest connection takes little over two hours with one change in the nearby town of Newark. Taking the National Express (bus) is far less expensive but it also takes a lot longer, between 4:50 and 5:30 hours.

Sights?

The Cathedral Quarter is quiet nice and the cathedral itself of course. Apart from that, there is a castle and apparently the anual Christmas Market is said to be a highlight but since I’ve visited in August I did not have a chance to see it for myself. But I am very much looking forward to the Christmas Market this winter.

Accomodation?

For a town being so small, I was quiet surprised of how expensive accommodation is. However, there is a large variety of Bed and Breakfasts to chose from and also some upscale hotels, but a youth hostel is nowhere to be found. (prices from 40 Pounds for a double room with ensuite bathroom)

My recommendation:

If you are already near Lincoln, or very interested in catholic cathedrals it is definetly worth visition for a day. Anyways, I assume it would be a good starting point for excursions to the British countryside. I have just been there for a few days, but since I will live there fore nearly one year, be sure there will be a lot more recommentations to come!

If you are hungry, try the Italian restaurant Pomodoro e Basilico (12-13 Guildhall Street) near the Waterside Shopping Mall. It is delicious and excellent value for money, especially their lunch deals.

Where will I move?

 



The next and last set of hints about where I will be moving next week is this photograph and a set of clues:

1. It is a city located within a European country.

2. I do speak the language of my new home rather fluently. (If only you'd know what languages I speak :p)

 

This is an easy one, right? I think the picture says it all... Let me know what you think! I will reveal the name and location of my new home at the beginning of next week.

Can you guess?

I will drop some hints during this week: Can you guess where I will be moving on September 15th?

The first hint are the following two pictures:
 

 

Good luck guessing, I'm sure you won't disappoint me!

Anjuna, Goa, India

Anjuna, famous for it’s full moon parties in the 70s, is Goa's nightlife spot number one. The beach really is not that special. In fact, I did not like it at all.
 

Anjuna beach

What I liked about Anjuna was the fact that there was at least some nightlife going on, opposed to all the other places I've visited in South India. For me, it was a nice change at that time to go out for the first time in weeks. It wasn't a very big or very special party, just a bar that also had a dancefloor. (called Curly's ) Since I was there during the off-season, the party wasn't very big or very special. But I heared (try typing in “Curly's Anjuna” into Youtube) that during high-season the parties should be pretty big.

I looked very much forward to the weekly Anjuna flea market taking place every Wednesday, but upon arrival we were told that this event only takes place during high-season.

Accomodation:

In Anjuna, we stayed at two different accommodations. First at Villa Anjuna, one of the only hotels in Anjuna, which was ok but nothing to write home about. After 2 or 3 nights, we moved on to a private accommodation which is located in the backyard of a very big house next to “Chill Out”, just ring the bell and ask for their bungalows. Very good quality and reasonably priced with flatscreen TV, small kitchen area and a small terrace.

How can you reach it?

Anjuna can be reached by local transport via Mapusa when coming from the South.

Next to Anjuna are the two beaches Vagator and little Vagator, which are similar to Anjuna but without the infrastructure that makes Anjuna attractive (to me). It all depends what you are looking for really but I myself did not really like Vagator or little Vagator.

Standing right between Vagator beach and Little Vagator Beach, looking into the direction of Little Vagator
 

Little Vagator beach, you can't see it but it really is "little"

I always see people visited the posts I made but nobody ever leaves comments. I would love if you could leave a comment telling me if you like the topics I write about or if there are other topics you would be more interested in, in terms of travelling.

Palolem and Patnem, Goa, India

Let's get on with the remaining beaches of India I wanted to give you a brief overview of.
Today's topic: Palolem and Patnem.



cows at Patnem beach

These two stunning strips of sand are located directly next to each other and are just separated from each other by a formation of stones.

Palolem is a small beach town, consistent of about 2 to 3 streets. It has a variety of good restaurants and some decent accommodation possibilities.

Patnem is by far my favorite beach of all the Indian beaches I’ve seen. When I was there, during September, it was very quiet and very few people there. Though I guess this might change during high season.

Patnem

 

These two beaches are located at the Southern tip of Goa and can be reached by local transport as well as by taxi from the major Goan train stations.

What is so special about Palolem and Patnem:

Nothing really, those are just two excellent beaches with some nice beach town infrastructure provided in Palolem. I can really recommend the restaurant “Cheeky Chapatti” which serves excellent quality food. There also can be found some decent accommodation, but don’t expect anything too fancy.

Nightlife: As Goa is famous for it’s excessive parties, you might wonder about the nightlife going on in Palolem. Since I was there in low-season, there wasn’t going on anything except for one bar which was open all night. I can imagine this to change in the busy season.

I stayed at Oversee’s Travel which had quiet a good standard for a reasonable price. It is located next to Cheeky Chapatti. For a good breakfast, check out Casa Fiesta which is a bit cheaper than Cheeky Chapatti and right next door.

Palolem beach

How can you reach it?

Since Goa is the smallest of all Indian states, you can reach almost any part in 2,5 hours or less by taxi. Palolem is about 1 hour by taxi from Madgoa, one of the major train stations. You can also travel by local bus service, which takes a bit longer and is a bit less convenient but a lot cheaper.

The sea at Patnem beach

My recommendation:

If you ask me, Patnem was the most beautiful beach of all the beaches I have seen in India. Paired with the nice beach town of Palolem, it makes a great getaway to relax a few days from a tiresome journey or just enjoy the nice surf.