Escape to Barcelona

In October we decided we needed an escape to reset and recharge. So we took advantage of a direct flight to Barcelona for a week. I had been to Madrid quite some time ago and I wasn't entirely impressed with anything other than the very disturbing bull fight. Barcelona is a different story, we started off with a fantastic (albeit expensive) Tapas lunch near one of the main Plazas. We were immediately taken by surprise at the amazing Catalonia cuisine. We found a small apartment to rent for the week in a great part of town, tiny little alleys with tiny little apartment style flats stacked on top of each other. Laundry hanging from lines outside of windows, you could be on t
he 6th floor and your balcony is only 10 feet away from the neighbouring balcony on the opposite side of the road. The smell of human excrement intermingles with the delectable smells of bakeries, cafes and tapas bars. Nearly every morning began with a run around the city followed by a cured ham sandwich and fresh coffee, believe me coming from The Gambia this was AWESOME. We did all the tourist stuff; double decker buses around town, the harbour, the markets, Gaudi architecture (the Sagrada Familia church is otherworldly) I don't know how Guadi got inspiration a century before Tim Burton and Disney but it worked. Right around the corner from our Apartment we found a tiny little bar that served only craft beers..obviously we became loyal customers the entire week. One of the best things to do in the evening is Tapas bar hop for dinner, Tapas are essentially a small single serving of some type of local fare, they are all fantastic. Go from bar to bar trying local wines, beers and tapas all night. Bodegas are another amazing thing that I really wish the U.S. would adopt, simply a small alcove of a cafe but the walls are lined with casks of wine and Cava (a local type of champagne) all of this is plumbed through tubing to the main counter where it is on tap and you can get a glass for 1 euro. I must attest that Spanish wine can compete with any other that I have tried around the world. One morning we decided we wanted to rent a Vespa (tiny scooter) to cruise around and see some more sights. We ended up getting it for 2 days, one of which we drove all the way out to Montserrat which is a couple hours (by vespa) out of town, then up a pretty large mountain. I was pretty please to see that the only other 2 wheeler that ventured the trip was a Harley Davidson. Montserrat is a stunning mountain with unbelievable views from the top where we had our lunch of ham sandwiches, fresh olives and wine. It is also the site of a really old Benedictine Abby...I have no idea how old. Then back down the mountain and cruise our little 90cc hog back to Barcelona, the scooter rental guy said that most tourists aren't brave enough (or dumb enough) to do the trip on a scooter so we took it as a challenge and it was great. We took a local cooking class, saw a flamenco performance and even found a couple local breweries while walking around town which is a prerequisite for us.