Inside BCN Barcelona Apartments

Inside-BCN Barcelona Apartments
http://www.inside-bcn.com/

Why did we pick Barcelona? 

(1) We got tired waiting for the euro to come down. 
(2) The limited amount of time off that I had meant that we had to go to an easily navigable place where we can acclimatize easily, relax and enjoy ourselves. 
(3)  We like yummy food, of course.
(4) A previous trip to Madrid and Seville was loads of fun.
(5) Other friends have raved about how cool and charming Barcelona is. 

So we used easyjet to get from London Luton (pronounced "loo-ton," roughly 45 minutes outside central London via trains from St. Pancras station).  This airline is as no-frills as it gets.  Seriously, this is THE steerage class and is a few rungs below most, if not all, the no-frills airlines we have here in the US.  The flight took about an hour and a half and roughly cost around $60 each.  Which is pretty darned cheep.  Mooo.

We used Inside BCN to book a studio apartment in the Sants area, which turned out to be super awesome.  This residential neighborhood is walking distance to Sants station (convenient to the airport) and we did not really see a tourists here.  It felt like we had a more local experience given that we shopped, ate and gawked along with everybody here.  


There is a little plaza where the local kiddies hang out, but it never got as rowdy/noisy as the plazas in Madrid (our pensione then was smack dab where partygoers were drinking in the streets till the morning).  There are some bars and restaurants in the immediate area, which was great for us. 

Sants was pretty convenient to everything. The Metro and bus stops were close by (Barcelona has an awesome user-friendly  local transport website).  The main street here  is Carrer de Sants, where there are lots of cute stores, cafes and bakeries.  A short walk away was a convenience store, Open Cor, where we got our supplies (spaghetti, bread, laundry stuff, chips, etc.).  There was even a market, Hostafranc, close by where we could do serious food shopping. 

The studio apartment itself was a pleasant surprise, and was quite bigger than what the pictures portrayed.  The internets was a tad slow, but all the other amenities were great.  Definitely felt like home.  We were able to rent the place for about 55 euro/night, which was a steal compared to some of the tourist-class hotels in the downtown area. 

The Eagle, London

The Eagle
Islington, London


Of course, our last night in London was not complete without a few pints at a local pub.  The Eagle is a neighborhood pub with some nice taps.  Definitely not as crowded as all the other places we passed by at Angel. We had fun trying a few brews.

Fruli--- a strawberry fruit beer.  It was thick and sweet, like a shake, or a dessert. Amazingly tasted like pureed superripe strawberries.  DJKung's cousin loves this beer.

Cheers! Dark Star ale is on the right.  The one on the left has a very familiar logo...  In any event, DJKung and I were very amazed at how full flavored and smooth they were.  In reviewing Dark Star's online info, it appears that it is an American-style pale ale, which I never would have guessed!

Here's DJKung and cousin M mugging for the camera.  We reallllly enjoyed our stay in London, and that's not the beers talking!