9 AM
Just as no two breads are alike, no two hotels are alike". These are the words of Anna Bellsolà, the owner of the Baluard bakery, integrated within the Praktik hotel in Barcelona, the hotel that one could almost say arrived with a baguette under its arm in the city. Upon waking, its rooms, designed by Lázaro Rosa-Violán, are minimalist and perfectly combine wood, tiles and a neutral white that invites one to stay asleep, the most normal thing is to feel like eating the world, literally, since this hotel has an advantage over the rest: the fact of waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread. The trend of pairing accommodation and gastronomy ages well and acquires new nuances, such as the smell of freshly baked bread. It's 9 am and we are in the antechamber of one of the most homemade breakfasts in the city where you can find those soft-dough, crispy-crust croissants again, like the old ones, like always, and with a coffee with milk, we start the day in the sweetest possible way to head to our next stop.
10 AM
Less than 20 minutes walking separate our breakfast, enough to digest it, from one of Barcelona's most photogenic urban sanctuaries, the spa at the Yurbban Passage hotel. Upon crossing the threshold of this building of textile roots converted into a hotel and located above a passage frequented by merchants, neighbors and travelers, one can feel how the life of the city is left behind and we advance towards a dreamlike world of sensations where well-being and luxury prevail. It's 10 in the morning and we have an appointment reserved at its spa, the first vegan one in Barcelona. Its interior is rather dark although strategically lit. People speak softly, breathe calmly and walk slowly. Signature Organic Spa is a space where one can, and should, enjoy silence, and make the most of the battered connection between body and mind. In this spa you can enjoy the water circuits that end with a relaxing bath in the water area and you can opt for any other treatment. The products they use for all of them are organic and vegan, because here, the practice of slow beauty is preached by example.
12 H
Relaxed and harmonious, we head towards the Alma hotel on a 15-minute journey that, after the spa session, one can almost say is covered floating instead of walking. And since nothing is impossible, or almost, in a hotel, the Alma presents us with a delicious breakfast proposal to go, in case anyone was still hungry this morning. Pensada para huéspedes con prisas que no pueden disfrutar de un desayuno en condiciones dentro del hotel, también se puede comprar para llevar. Este take away está repleto de productos delicatesen como bollería francesa, mini baguettes de cereales y jamón ibérico, una chocolatina 70% cacao o café, además de un surtido de quesos catalanes artesanos o fruta fresca de temporada. Es el llamado The Good Box, el take away del famosísimo desayuno (catalogado como uno de los mejores de España) del hotel Alma.
1 PM
On the same rooftop that 120 years ago hosted the first studio of a young Picasso, El Sueño is currently located, within the magnificent Hotel The Serras, an elegant boutique hotel, which has only 30 rooms and a marked New York style. And here, on this terrace that maintains the same views of the Mediterranean and the Port of Barcelona that served as inspiration for the Malaga artist, we can dedicate a time of pleasant work now that the world is more virtual than ever. Of course, the ideal is to accompany the meeting by having a signature cocktail, a glass of wine or some of the gastronomic specialties of the Michelin-starred chef, Marc Gascons (1 Michelin star) and do it by the fireplace in mid-winter, but enjoying the outdoors. The space is a new necessity in which working like this, and here, is another story.
2 PM
One of the needs that are emerging given the circumstances we are going through is to feel comfortable, safe, a bit like home, but better, of course. And is that possible? Well, it must be said that at the Casa Bonay hotel they are putting all their efforts (literally) to achieve it. This is how Bodega Bonay is born, a temple of natural wine and quality products, a place where stridency stays at the door, because here what prevails is, above all, simplicity. It has been throughout these months, and together with the sommelier of the house David Amat, when the property realized that they did not want a restaurant as such, but a winery. And with Giacomo Hassan, the hotel's chef, in charge, they have launched a gastronomic project that favors the closest producers, adapting the menu based on the product that can be found in theEixample and in the rest of Barcelona. And yes, for some cuts of meat they have traveled to León, but they assure not much further. The result are delicious dishes such as leeks with pesto, artichoke tatin, guinea fowl and foie farcellets or curry meatballs. Casa Bonay once again demonstrating that where there's a will, there's a way.
4 PM
We are now before one of the great open secrets hidden in some of Barcelona's historic buildings, among them the Hotel Astoria. This boutique hotel can boast of possessing two excellent art collections that are well worth a visit: that of poster art from the early 20th century (with modernist and art nouveau artists with a clearly advertising theme. Mad Men lovers, this is for you) and the museum-room dedicated to the artist Ricard Opisso, Gaudí's apprentice. In this last one, you can take a tour through a lifetime through more than a hundred works by the illustrator, a regular visitor to the tavern of artists and bohemians Els Quatre Gats, in Barcelona, where, for example, he coincided with Picasso. His works represent a realistic chronicle of the artist's life and of the cultural life, especially Catalan, Spanish and French, of the first half of the 20th century. Essential.
7 PM
It was about time to see the sea, and to do so, no less, than from the heart of Hotel Arts and with a drink in hand, and not just any drink, but one of the creations by the mixologist of the hotel Diego Baud. And here we are, in P41 Bar, one of Barcelona's newest cocktail bars, a space full of sophistication and elegance where everything seems to pair perfectly.
And since we are eager to travel, but for now it is complicated to do so, nothing better than embarking on a liquid travel proposal that draws from Barcelona and enhances its flavors towards New York or Tokyo, passing through London, Porto or Chicago. Our journey combines colors, lights, ingredients and flavors from all over the world. Unique creations that are a whole experience and that have an extraordinary, very elaborate, and, why not say it, quite memorable presentation. It is the aperitif ritual before starting dinner, a gathering that, although it has been somewhat lost, we should try to recover. This unique journey through mixology is well worth it.
8 PM
One of Barcelona's iconic hotels, the Majestic, has just redesigned its package including a tasty novelty in its accommodation, breakfast and dinner proposal for two, with a special menu in which truffle takes on, and what a joy, a delicious leading role. When Dickens uttered "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times," he probably didn't imagine what humanity would have to go through two centuries later, although as can be extracted from the British author's texts, not everything is so bad. We can attest to that. Barcelonians can today enjoy our own city and our hotels, and do so at reasonable prices, tasting dishes such as the low-temperature egg with parmentier or the roasted chicken cannelloni in its juice and truffle. After dinner, served in the hotel restaurant from 7 to 9:30 at night, nirvana awaits us in any of the luxurious rooms of a hotel that in its time received Ernest Hemingway and Antonio Machado, and after a five-year renovation carried out by interior designer Antonio Obrador, it has regained its place in the iconography of the city. And now it's our turn to enjoy it.
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