Madrid's a little harder to get into than the (limited) Spain we've seen so far. Granted, it's the commercial centre so the focus is primarily work and not tourism; however, it's been hard to find a good meal and harder still to see what the attraction of the city actually is. Whilst there are plenty of places to eat, they're smoky little places with the telly & football on and the tapas aren't that great. It's also meant to have great nightlife, but we've found only more smoky little bars. And when I say little, these bars are full at 40 people, they are just tiny and the streets are literally lined with them, but still not the energy we expected in a big city.
We spent one full day shopping at an "outlet" mall about 40mins out of town (which is a long, long way out of town anywhere in Europe!). The mall has a lot of the big name brands such as Ralph Lauren, Diesel, Boss, Bvlgari, Versaci etc. But we got lost getting to this place and ended up in a nearby suburb and you could see all the housing they've built or partly built that now lays empty and often unfinished. They have "Vendi" signs everywhere and whenever we speak to locals they tell us just how messed up their property market is here and just how disinterested the population seems to be in getting their economy back on track.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Days 16 to 19 - San Sebastian
This is a gorgeous town; facing a really sheltered bay it has wide sandy (not shelly at all) beaches, a beautiful tree lined river and mountains form the backdrop. It was also the summer playground for the Spanish royal family and has obviously had some money spent on it.
The architecture is beautiful and far more decorative and varied than is more typical in France, the shops are quite high quality too and there's no getting away from good food here! San Sebastian is well known as foodie mecca, with more michellin stars than anywhere else in the world. This translates to even average food being of a truly excellent standard, significantly better than the food we encountered in France. The old quarter is home to seemingly hundreds of tiny bar/restaurants, all with Tapas lining their bar tops. Even better, as eating doesn't start until 8.30 - 9.00pm (we couldn't order an ensalada at 8pm last night!) it seems that an ice cream before dinner is quite the norm!!
We did the walk to the top of the Jesus statue for great views over the town yesterday and then just wandered the city to enjoy the squares, parks and plaza's. This town is only a few hours away from Barcelona, Madrid, the Riviera, the Pyranees and Paris, it's large enough to happily live in and close enough to the rest of Europe when you want to do something a little different.
The architecture is beautiful and far more decorative and varied than is more typical in France, the shops are quite high quality too and there's no getting away from good food here! San Sebastian is well known as foodie mecca, with more michellin stars than anywhere else in the world. This translates to even average food being of a truly excellent standard, significantly better than the food we encountered in France. The old quarter is home to seemingly hundreds of tiny bar/restaurants, all with Tapas lining their bar tops. Even better, as eating doesn't start until 8.30 - 9.00pm (we couldn't order an ensalada at 8pm last night!) it seems that an ice cream before dinner is quite the norm!!
We did the walk to the top of the Jesus statue for great views over the town yesterday and then just wandered the city to enjoy the squares, parks and plaza's. This town is only a few hours away from Barcelona, Madrid, the Riviera, the Pyranees and Paris, it's large enough to happily live in and close enough to the rest of Europe when you want to do something a little different.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Arzak - Ruined!
San Sebastian is a reasonably sized town in the Basque region of Spain, up near the Pyranees, on the border with France and in a bay sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean. It's also a quite prosperous city and has the highest number of top 50 rated restaurants outside of Paris. We tried Arzak, currently number 8 restaurant in the world and consistently in the top 10. So how good could it possibly be?!
The restaurant certainly doesn't depend on any razzle dazzle for it's ratings. The decor is of course very well done but simple and sparse. There's no view to speak of and no ornate architecture, just well spaced, large tables with room to present the food at it's best and that's where the supurlatives begin!
The food is exquisite, stunning and quite exceeded all expections and anything I've ever had anywhere else! We start with a chef's amuse which appropriately was composed of 5 small tapa dishes, the highlight of which was a tasty sliver of anchovy atop a strawberry! Sounds aweful doesn't it but the strawberry flavour had really been extracted and highlighted in a sauce and this allowed the strawberry to match the flavour of the fish, it was just a gorgeous food match.
These tapas were so good we were concerned whether this standard of food could be maintained for the degustation courses that we had selected but we needn't have worried. Another highlight of the degustation here is that for both the fish and the meat course, we are offered a choice of 3 dishes. This allows us to select a different plate each.
The next dish is a caramelised bubble of foie gras (my mouth is watering already!) on a disc of apple. This dish was beautifully presented and just divine, great flavours to start with and just beautifully balanced. Again we doubted this level of food could be maintained but I believe this is what sets this standard of restaurant apart. We've had meals at Vue and Aria that had a couple of truly amazing dishes but also a few misses. These Arzac dishes have set the bar above anything that I've had elsewhere and the following dishes lived up to this level.
We also asked the somellier to match 3 to 4 glasses of wine to the food for the night and we had some fantastic wines that we'll have to follow up when we get home; even better, the prices were reasonable. I know the dollar is great against the Euro right now but we came out of this night at around $750, so the value was also really good.
The next dish to arrive has an almost cult rating, it translates to Egg of the Moment and is basically the "first laid" egg of the day, poached and presented in a bowl with crunchy little tasty bits including caramelised sesame seeds that looked like silver shot. When we break the egg and stir it into the crunchy bits, it creates a gorgeous blend of flavours and textures and is just quite stunning.
We're starting to lose superlatives to describe the food, we're hopelessly unable to convey our appreciation of the food to the wait staff and this extended to Elena (the chef) when she came out to talk to us. Another "gold star" for the restaurant as she makes an effort to talk to all tables despite the number of languages that must be present on each evening! She is coming to Australia next March so seemed to make a real effort to talk to us.
The next course is the fish dish; I had the sea bass and Greg had the monk fish. Again, beautifully presented. My dish had a sauce spread across the plate like sand with little sauces made to look like shells, a curacao star fish and red "seaweed" and it tasted sensational. Greg's dish similarily had amazing presentation with what looked to be walnuts and green garlic but which were in fact perfectly matched flavours shaped as walnuts and green garlic cloves. Whilst the flavour was more subtle than my dish it was still very yummy!
We're also not too full! While we haven't wanted each dish to end that's because we don't want the flavours to be gone! But the degustation has been really well created so that by the end, we're not too stuffed but very happily satisfied. The last of the main dishes was the pigeon for Greg and lamb for me. The pigeon was melt in the mouth tender with a gamey flavour while the lamb was quite rare for what we're used to but incredibly tender with the sauce just enhancing the flavour. That's been quite consistent; the sauces and other "decorations" on our plates have just enhanced the flavour of the dish itself and added to the presentation of the meal. The main ingredients though have been the highlight of each dish.
By this stage of the night we've been exchanging looks of "OMG this is good" with another Aussie couple on a nearby table so we finally got together to share stories on what had brought them here. There was an American couple on the table next door and they'd lived in Oz and really knew their food and wine so we also invited them over. We unanimously agreed that this was by far the best dining experience we'd all enjoyed (and the Aussies had done Tzetzuyas) and our only regret was that we were probably ruined for eating out anywhere else! A nice touch was the special cake for our anniversary celebration, we've been milking that for a while now!
So the deserts started and this has been a dish that I've always been disappointed in with degustations. Perhaps I'm usually too full by desert but I actually think it's because they're trying to be too tricky and haven't used enough chocolate! But not here!! Gregs plate was scattered with little chocolate moose serves, each topped with a sugary wafer. My dish was little balls of chocolate in a strawberry sauce and basil sorbet and believe it or not, the basil matched perfectly. The little chocolate balls were just an explotion of liquid chocolate flavour when they popped in my mouth; these were extraordinarily good.
Finally a plate of bite sized sweets with a pineapple jelly, apricot wafers and chocolate covered in cocoa. Our new American friend shouted our tables a bottle of Le Grand Dame to celebrate the occassion and the six of us shared travel, food and wine stories into the early morning! We finally noted we were the last standing, including the staff (!) so regretably left Arzac and the finest food I have ever experienced behind.
The restaurant certainly doesn't depend on any razzle dazzle for it's ratings. The decor is of course very well done but simple and sparse. There's no view to speak of and no ornate architecture, just well spaced, large tables with room to present the food at it's best and that's where the supurlatives begin!
The food is exquisite, stunning and quite exceeded all expections and anything I've ever had anywhere else! We start with a chef's amuse which appropriately was composed of 5 small tapa dishes, the highlight of which was a tasty sliver of anchovy atop a strawberry! Sounds aweful doesn't it but the strawberry flavour had really been extracted and highlighted in a sauce and this allowed the strawberry to match the flavour of the fish, it was just a gorgeous food match.
These tapas were so good we were concerned whether this standard of food could be maintained for the degustation courses that we had selected but we needn't have worried. Another highlight of the degustation here is that for both the fish and the meat course, we are offered a choice of 3 dishes. This allows us to select a different plate each.
The next dish is a caramelised bubble of foie gras (my mouth is watering already!) on a disc of apple. This dish was beautifully presented and just divine, great flavours to start with and just beautifully balanced. Again we doubted this level of food could be maintained but I believe this is what sets this standard of restaurant apart. We've had meals at Vue and Aria that had a couple of truly amazing dishes but also a few misses. These Arzac dishes have set the bar above anything that I've had elsewhere and the following dishes lived up to this level.
We also asked the somellier to match 3 to 4 glasses of wine to the food for the night and we had some fantastic wines that we'll have to follow up when we get home; even better, the prices were reasonable. I know the dollar is great against the Euro right now but we came out of this night at around $750, so the value was also really good.
The next dish to arrive has an almost cult rating, it translates to Egg of the Moment and is basically the "first laid" egg of the day, poached and presented in a bowl with crunchy little tasty bits including caramelised sesame seeds that looked like silver shot. When we break the egg and stir it into the crunchy bits, it creates a gorgeous blend of flavours and textures and is just quite stunning.
We're starting to lose superlatives to describe the food, we're hopelessly unable to convey our appreciation of the food to the wait staff and this extended to Elena (the chef) when she came out to talk to us. Another "gold star" for the restaurant as she makes an effort to talk to all tables despite the number of languages that must be present on each evening! She is coming to Australia next March so seemed to make a real effort to talk to us.
The next course is the fish dish; I had the sea bass and Greg had the monk fish. Again, beautifully presented. My dish had a sauce spread across the plate like sand with little sauces made to look like shells, a curacao star fish and red "seaweed" and it tasted sensational. Greg's dish similarily had amazing presentation with what looked to be walnuts and green garlic but which were in fact perfectly matched flavours shaped as walnuts and green garlic cloves. Whilst the flavour was more subtle than my dish it was still very yummy!
We're also not too full! While we haven't wanted each dish to end that's because we don't want the flavours to be gone! But the degustation has been really well created so that by the end, we're not too stuffed but very happily satisfied. The last of the main dishes was the pigeon for Greg and lamb for me. The pigeon was melt in the mouth tender with a gamey flavour while the lamb was quite rare for what we're used to but incredibly tender with the sauce just enhancing the flavour. That's been quite consistent; the sauces and other "decorations" on our plates have just enhanced the flavour of the dish itself and added to the presentation of the meal. The main ingredients though have been the highlight of each dish.
By this stage of the night we've been exchanging looks of "OMG this is good" with another Aussie couple on a nearby table so we finally got together to share stories on what had brought them here. There was an American couple on the table next door and they'd lived in Oz and really knew their food and wine so we also invited them over. We unanimously agreed that this was by far the best dining experience we'd all enjoyed (and the Aussies had done Tzetzuyas) and our only regret was that we were probably ruined for eating out anywhere else! A nice touch was the special cake for our anniversary celebration, we've been milking that for a while now!
So the deserts started and this has been a dish that I've always been disappointed in with degustations. Perhaps I'm usually too full by desert but I actually think it's because they're trying to be too tricky and haven't used enough chocolate! But not here!! Gregs plate was scattered with little chocolate moose serves, each topped with a sugary wafer. My dish was little balls of chocolate in a strawberry sauce and basil sorbet and believe it or not, the basil matched perfectly. The little chocolate balls were just an explotion of liquid chocolate flavour when they popped in my mouth; these were extraordinarily good.
Finally a plate of bite sized sweets with a pineapple jelly, apricot wafers and chocolate covered in cocoa. Our new American friend shouted our tables a bottle of Le Grand Dame to celebrate the occassion and the six of us shared travel, food and wine stories into the early morning! We finally noted we were the last standing, including the staff (!) so regretably left Arzac and the finest food I have ever experienced behind.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Day 16 - Barcelona
But 1st a few observations from the past few days. We've been travelling with Greg's little Dell netbook (a tiny little laptop that he uses to record laptimes etc in his car!) for this trip and it has been a holiday saver! We wanted it to be able keep up with any urgent emails and to log our holiday blog but it's also come in useful as a back up for precious photos. However; from the moment we were told our flight to BCN wasn't on, this thing has been a holiday saver!
At 2am in a dodgy dive of a hotel in the even dodgier town of Tangier's, we happened across a flight taking reservations from Malaga to BCN; BCN had just re-opened!! This would save around 9 to 10 hours of driving time and time was insanely tight at this stage. We brought our ticket and reserved our seat on line and there were plenty of seats available. By the time we arrived for this flight however; it was jam packed! The queue at the airport to get on one of the rare flights operating was huge! We didn't get to Malaga with a lot of time to spare so had we ended up in the queue we would have missed the flight and more than likely have missed getting to BCN and the F1 experience.
A funnier moment was sitting in Marrakech train station, using Segafredo,s (cafe a few 100 mtrs away) wi-fi when a Pom comes up asking for the IP address we're using - every Westerner travelling was making plans on the move - so we get up the IP and he takes out his IPOD and takes a snap shot! It just seemed an insight into the future of travel!
On the train from Casablanca to Tangiers, there were 4 other Westerners all taking phone calls and texts with travel options for the next stage of their trip. They were hoping there trip back to London could be done in about 4 days!
But we're back on track now. Needless to say we didn't end up with any time to see BCN but we did manage a stroll along both the port foreshore and up La Rambla to a fantastic tapas bar. So we've seen enough to know that it's a great looking city with a very active nightlife and amazing Tapa's bars! Mo-vida isn't a patch on this style of eating - the bar is just lined with great looking, colorful plates of food, there's a whole section of fresh seafood that when selected, disappears into the kitchen for a few minutes and comes back as a dish that makes your mouth water! And it's cheap! Definitely have to come back here.
At 2am in a dodgy dive of a hotel in the even dodgier town of Tangier's, we happened across a flight taking reservations from Malaga to BCN; BCN had just re-opened!! This would save around 9 to 10 hours of driving time and time was insanely tight at this stage. We brought our ticket and reserved our seat on line and there were plenty of seats available. By the time we arrived for this flight however; it was jam packed! The queue at the airport to get on one of the rare flights operating was huge! We didn't get to Malaga with a lot of time to spare so had we ended up in the queue we would have missed the flight and more than likely have missed getting to BCN and the F1 experience.
A funnier moment was sitting in Marrakech train station, using Segafredo,s (cafe a few 100 mtrs away) wi-fi when a Pom comes up asking for the IP address we're using - every Westerner travelling was making plans on the move - so we get up the IP and he takes out his IPOD and takes a snap shot! It just seemed an insight into the future of travel!
On the train from Casablanca to Tangiers, there were 4 other Westerners all taking phone calls and texts with travel options for the next stage of their trip. They were hoping there trip back to London could be done in about 4 days!
But we're back on track now. Needless to say we didn't end up with any time to see BCN but we did manage a stroll along both the port foreshore and up La Rambla to a fantastic tapas bar. So we've seen enough to know that it's a great looking city with a very active nightlife and amazing Tapa's bars! Mo-vida isn't a patch on this style of eating - the bar is just lined with great looking, colorful plates of food, there's a whole section of fresh seafood that when selected, disappears into the kitchen for a few minutes and comes back as a dish that makes your mouth water! And it's cheap! Definitely have to come back here.
Day 15 - I've Died and gone to Heaven
OK, life does not get any better than this. Today I drove a Formula 1 car flat-out and Sharen has been taken for a spin in a 3 seater Formula 1 car. I have wondered for a long time how it would be to actually drive a F1 car, but my imaginings could not prepare me for the actual experience. It was awesome beyond words, thrilling, genuinely un-nerving and such a violent and overwhelming assult on all of the senses. Despite your brain saying this is crazy, this car is going to kill you, just enough concious will remained to keep the throttle flat.
Yes, that's me!
I would like to be able to say that I drove like Michael Schumacher, but I cannot. This is a whole new solar system of car performance that I just could not come to grips with in the 5 laps I had. I drove it as fast as I dared, but not so there was any chance I would suffer the ignomy of crashing their very expensive F1 car, like one other driver did... It was made all the more difficult by my too-large feet fouling the accelerator and brake, causing a few tense moments when I couldn't release the throttle fully. Anyway, I did experience an F1 car at full throttle, reaching over 300kph on the front straight, talk about INTENSE. Very similar intensity to skydiving. The F1 car I drove was the Benetton that Giancarlo Fisichella campaigned in 1998 and got one Pole Position, has a 780hp Cosworth V8 and only weighed 650kg.
We have incar and external video of the drive which, I'll upload when I return.
Me in the Formula 3 car
I would like to be able to say that I drove like Michael Schumacher, but I cannot. This is a whole new solar system of car performance that I just could not come to grips with in the 5 laps I had. I drove it as fast as I dared, but not so there was any chance I would suffer the ignomy of crashing their very expensive F1 car, like one other driver did... It was made all the more difficult by my too-large feet fouling the accelerator and brake, causing a few tense moments when I couldn't release the throttle fully. Anyway, I did experience an F1 car at full throttle, reaching over 300kph on the front straight, talk about INTENSE. Very similar intensity to skydiving. The F1 car I drove was the Benetton that Giancarlo Fisichella campaigned in 1998 and got one Pole Position, has a 780hp Cosworth V8 and only weighed 650kg.
We have incar and external video of the drive which, I'll upload when I return.
Day 13 and 14 - Planes Trains and Automobiles (and Ferrys and Buses)
Well it had to happen, the volcanic ash has now closed Madrid and Barcelona airports, thowing our travel plans and that of most of europe into disarray.It's incredibly chaotic, the shutdown of all flights into and out of Europe just doesn't happen and everyone has somewhere they need to get to. The airport provided little information beyond the fact that there are no flights. So, we've had to make very hasty alternative arrangements. Unfortunately, it seems everyone else is having to do the same, so hotels, trains, car rentals etc.. are all under massive strain. It would have been fine if there was no time pressure, however in just 36hours I was due to drive the Formula 1 car, so our own real life episode of Race Around the World was on.
Look at all the cancelled flights!
So what was supposed to be a nice 2hr flight to Barcelona became;
So what was supposed to be a nice 2hr flight to Barcelona became;
- 3hrs waiting for a train in Marrakech
- 9 hours on the train to Tangier
- A 1am arrival at a dive of a hotel in Tangier that would do Fawlty Towers proud. Thanks to Alan for arranging the only hotel with availability in Tangier at 3:30am Melbourne time while we were stuck on the train. Fortunately this hotel had wifi, so sitting in bed at 2am, we discovered that Barcelona airport had just been reopened, and we managed to quickly secure a flight fromthe south of Spain to Barcelona. Now we had to catch our flight...
- A mad scramble at 5:30 am to a Ferry from Tangier to Tenerife, which incidentally involved throwing money at helpful locals to magically skip the long customs queues, the only thing that got us on the Ferry in time.
- 2hrs on a Ferry across to the Europe mainland,
- A 1hr bus ride to Algecerias
- A further 1.5hr bus ride to Malaga
- And finally, a 1.5hr flight to Barcelona.
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