Six weeks ago, we had a lovely Eurotrip. It began in Brussels, continued to Madrid, and culminated with our wedding celebration in Barcelona. This is the last installation on the blog about that wonderful journey. Many people asked us "why Barcelona for a wedding site?" as we do not have any family ties to the city. We answered "why not?".  It is easily accessible by plane or train, the sun is always shinning, and fantastic food. We were fortunate enough to travel to Barcelona last October to scout a location for our party and were completely sold with the city for the celebration, especially since most of our guests were coming from Europe.

At Bar Rosso at Hotel Market Photo by Italo Morales

We had friends arriving from as far as Beirut, Atlanta, and Vienna and as close as Madrid and Barcelona. The goal was to spend as much time with our friends and family whether it was their first or tenth time in the city.  Thankfully, the Dutchman and I have been to Barcelona several times and have had our doses of La Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas.  We wanted to spend time eating, celebrating, and spending time with our friends who traveled from so far.

The Cellar of Jaume Giro i Giro Photo by Carlis Sanchez

Drink:  Given 95% of our guests came from outside Spain, we wanted an affordable and well situated hotel. We found that in Hotel Market, lovely boutique hotel nestled in a residential street of Eixample neighborhood. One of the features we enjoyed the most was the hotel bar, Bar Rosso. The bar is a popular spot for locals with its carefully crafted gin and tonics, beautifully upholstered furniture, and dark red interior. There, we had a lovely cocktail party with our guests, shipping on their signature mojitos and gin and tonics.

New Friendships Over Cava

As many of our guests have been to Barcelona before, we wanted for them to have a unique experience. Given the tips of local friends, we planned a tour of the Cava cellar of Jaume Giro i Giro in Sant Sarduni d'Anoia in the Penedes region. We had a private tour of the winery by the owner, Ramon Giro. He passionately went into detail about their artisan method of cava making and gave us a tour of the grounds. We had planned to go to other cellars bur ended up spending the afternoon drinking cava at the beautiful garden of the winery.

Dish from Little Italy BCN Photo by Little Italy BCN Website

Eat: One of the main reasons we chose Barcelona is the food. From tapas at a bar to haute cuisine, Barcelona has an amazing culinary culture. One of my favorite places to eat is El Born. We met up with friends and had tapas at Mercat Santa Caterina.  I love the open location and the diverse menu from traditional tapas to Asian noodles. One of our most memorable dinners was at Little Italy BCN.  Funny enough, I found it via Instagram and love how cozy and welcoming this restaurant is. We dined on a Thursday night, when they play live jazz during dinner hours. Although we had a large party, we had a lovely time on the lower dining area with great live music in the background. We sampled tuna tartare and risotto, which was to die for. One of my friends kept on raving about the yummy mojitos.


Walking the Streets of Barcelona Photo by Italo Morales

Be Married:  In my previous post about Ca la Nuri, I raved about the the delicious meal we had at the restaurant. One of the highlights of that special day was taking pictures with Italo Morales, a friend and amazing photographer. We walked around the inland neighborhood leading to Barceloneta to take pictures. Not only did we take lovely pictures, but we felt so much love from the people of Barcelona. We received well wishes from the twenty-somethings having their Cañitas at the bar to a couple celebrating their 45 years of marriage. We made it to Ca la Nuri close to sunset where we were met by the sound of the Spanish guitar and our friends and family sitting at the terrace to witness our exchange of vows. 


Getting Marriage Advice From the Experts Photo by Italo Morales

At the Terrace at Ca la Nuri Photo by Italo Morales

When I decided to write the Restaurant of the Month series, I wanted to focus on DC, but April is a special exception.  We spent a wonderful week in Barcelona to celebrate our marriage with our European family and friends. The highlight of the trip was our wedding party at Platja Ca la Nuri.  Last October, we scouted several restaurants for our party along the coastline of Barcelona.  At a recommendation of a friend, we visited Ca la Nuri.  It was the first restaurant we visited. Although we visited others afterwards we knew it was the one when we tasted the paella. 

Restaurant with a view: Ca la Nuri Photo by Italo Morales

The restaurant is located in Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta (Somorrostro Beach) which an ample terrace on the sand facing the ocean.  We also loved the views: to your left facing the ocean you have the iconic Frank Gehry Fish Sculpture and to your right you have the amazing architecture of the W Hotel.  During our initial tasting, we fell in love with three things: the mussels, goat cheese salad, and of course, the paella. We worked with the special events manager, Vanessa for months with the menu and the details of the party. She did a wonderful job at keeping us informed and helping us put together a delicious menu. She even added to the menu a mille follie of potato and bacon the chef, Toni Bosch had posted on Instagram that I fell in love with. The day of the wedding, the team was spectacular, taking care of every detail from the free flowing cava to the delicious cocktail hour tapas (sad I missed those as we were taking pictures) to the spectacular dinner menu.

Starting with Calamari

The Dutchman and I are both foodies and it was one of the main reasons (aside from the beach) why we chose Barcelona for a wedding destination. Needless to say, we did not have many regrets when we sent out the map-themed invitations. One of the main things we wanted to offer our guests was an unforgettable dinner.  Mussels, goat cheese, and calamari were served as starters. For the main course, the guests were able to choose (on site, which I loved) seafood paella, chicken in a prune sauce, or a cod filet. Instead of a wedding cake, our guests had a choice between profiteroles sitting atop a brownie, mango panna cotta, or chocolate mousse with berries. 

Dessert Being Served Photo by Italo Morales

We said our vows close to sunset and our guests witnessed sitting at the terrace. We laughed, we cried, and we were taken by the locals passing by taking it in as much as we did. We drank plenty of cava and ate until stuffed.  We had a vision of what we wanted and the Ca la Nuri executed it exactly how we wanted it. When in Barcelona, make sure to make a visit. I recommend the lunch menu. 

All photos by Italo Morales

Two weeks ago, I shared my vows with my husband for a second time. This time we did it in front of our European family and friends in Barcelona. Given the rising cost of airfare, I decided to make a few stops to cities that are very close to my heart on my way to the big party: Madrid and Brussels. In Madrid, I only spent 24 hours but had a lovely walk around the city that reminded me why this is one of my favorite European cities. My dear friend Carlis from SpicyCandyDC was my travel buddy for this trip and we loved every minute of our adventure.



Carlis and I in front of Madrid City Hall

  After a late arrival from Brussels, we got some much needed sleep and started our day quite late. It was warm and sunny in Madrid as we began our tour at the Gourmet Experience at El Corte Ingles. Let's start with the view: if you are short on time, this is the place to be. Have a tinto de verano and tapas like we did and observe all the iconic landmarks of Madrid. After stuffing our faces on montaditos, we decided to walk it off and see El Palacio Real (Royal Palace). We cut through the Plaza Mayor, which is always a pleasure to indulge in its magnitude with the tourists, local students, and questionable performance artists. Afterwards, we walked by the famous Mercado San Miguel.  From there, we found the Palace via Plaza de Oriente, where you can have a lovely cocktail and indulge in people watching of tourists and locals alike.

View from The Gourmet Experience, Madrid

We continued to walk by the tiny streets and alleys of Madrid with my dear friend Santiago, who has lived in Madrid for three years. We admired hidden churches, secluded plazas, and little details which make this city so great to visit. We found ourselves taking a break at Posada del Leon de Oro, a small hotel with a lovely bar with ample windows to the street and an interesting glass floor. There, we sipped on more tintos de veranos and reminisced about old times and good times in Brussels, the city where Santiago and I met.

The Floor at La Posada del Leon de Oro

Plaza del Oriente

Magical Alley near Plaza de la Villa

As the sun started to set, we continued our walk to make the most of our time in Madrid. We walked by Parque del Retiro, which I love for running (did many training runs there during my prior visits) and took in the beauty of Madrid City Hall. We ended our aggressive walking tour with a little shopping in the fashionable Salamanca neighborhood where I bought a fabulous cocktail dress at Trucco for my wedding after party. This was my fourth time in Madrid and although it was only 24 hours, it did not disappoint. Many people focus on Barcelona for travel in Spain, but Madrid also has something very special. I love the history, architecture, and old soul of Madrid. A must go, even if for 24 hours....

What to Bring Home? Esparadilles!

Photos by Carlis from SpicyCandyDC