It's Delayed But It's Okay

Having got used to the never-ending stream on Manhattan streets, it's very hard to imagine a city being quiet in the late morning. Although, an in-advance restaurant reservation had dropped me a hint that everything in Barcelona opened late, it still took me sometime to adjust. 

Xerta Restaurant at Ohla Eixample Hotel

The Prelude

So, like I said, the story started from a restaurant reservation. I really wanted to try some traditional Catalan cuisine and seafood, per a friend's recommendation, I finally locked on to Xerta Restaurant at Ohla Eixample Hotel. By clicking on the drop-down list to choose a time slot, I found the earliest was at 8pm and this kind of freaked me out. My only thought then was if this restaurant had no earlier time slot left, I would not have a chance for other more popular spots, or, I had to eat at 10. However, my anxiety was soon relieved after landing on Barcelona. 

Celine store in Barcelona

Slow Down Your Life in Europe

I soon discovered that other than the bakeries and breakfast spots (which were not too many), restaurants serving lunch usually start their business at 1 p.m., and dinners usually won't start until 8 p.m. That being said, my original plan of getting brunch for lunch was not going to happen. Instead, we had to eat bread everyday if we started our day early as tourists. This was not my first time in Europe but I was still surprised by the pace. Well, it might be good timing to slow down, take a sip of coffee and wander around. That's how leisure travel works, isn't it?

At 9 p.m.

Shops are mostly closed at around 7, and fun time begins. Restaurants were so packed, and neon lights blazed. Tapas after tapas, sangria after sangria, and I was actually very confused about if they still needed to work the next day because I heard they didn't postpone the working hours for people who have a desk job as they did to the restaurants. For me, I wound up going to bed after 2 a.m. everyday so my stomach got enough time to digest the carbs and protein, savory and sweets. Ugh... What a schedule! After we were finished with the food and on the way back to the hotel, I still saw people eating and drinking in the street tents. ONLY IN BARCELONA.

Tomato Bread

Assorted Tapas

Razor Clams so yummy!