Lyrtch Eathan Edwards have yall heard of Azurmendi? 3-star Michelin in Bilbao: https://azurmendi.restaurant/menus/ Just got rezzies for my last night
Have I heard of it? lol. I haven't been but have some friends that have worked with Eneko and been there and by all accounts it's worth the price of admission. That trip in general is a top tier/bucket list culinary trip.
I don't remember which series it was from but if you want some hype material the Bourdain episode with Jose going to El Buli was one of the best episodes he ever did.
Top 5 in my somewhat educated opinion but it's not the easiest trip in terms of hitting everything in a normal vacation timeline.
This place looks badass to watch 1 game, looks like they don't have any other tv or anything to watch other games though.
Possibly my favorite food city in the world, you’ll love it. My recs will mainly be all old town. I keep a list for when friends go of places we loved. I’d actually recommend you take a pinxto tour when you get there. Gets you the lay of the land, makes sure you know all the customs and rules and helps you avoid the tourist traps. For the most part the top pinxtos at each place you’re gonna order from menu not just eat off the bar. favorite foods: la meijillonera- amazing mussels bar goiz argi- gamba with garlic ganbarra- the mushroom dish txepetxa- anything anchovies La vina- cheesecake zapore jai- not a pinxto place but a great shop to pick up amazing iberico ham for snacks Favorite vibes: all these have great food as well but are more upbeat/social and will all speak english depending on your spanish speaking proficiency atari- had a great beef cheek. great place for a drink right by the church gandarias- probably most touristy on my list but great beef a fuego negro- untraditional pinxtos but younger crowd la cuchara de san telmo- also more modern we also did Arzak which was only ok, but honestly cancelled our other michellin starred meals because we just enjoyed pinxto hopping so much. For non-pinxto stuff La perla on the beach was a great spa. Go early enough to enjoy the facilities. They have tons of indoor treatment pools and spa treatments are really inexpensive.
It's impossible, I feel like it would take three trips to really do it right. And even then missing some great stuff. Southern Spain (Seville, Gibraltar, Malaga, Valencia) Barcelona/Madrid/Toledo Northern Spain (San Sebastian, Bilbao, etc...)
My man Couple of these were on the list -- Ganbarra, La Vina, La Cuchera. And already got a pintxo tour on my first day, then hitting everything else. I'm probably about 90% pescatarian these days and love any and all seafood. Can't imagine a much better place in the world.
I think I've mentioned it before, but we did a Spain/Portugal trip that was incredible about 10 years ago. Started in Madrid with a few days there, including a day trip to Toledo. We then spent nights in Cordoba, Granada and Seville - all travelling by train. Once in Seville, we rented a car and went south, spending nights in Cadiz, then Lagos and then Sagres before headed up to Lisbon for a couple nights. I highly recommend that trip to anyone that wants to be more on the go and see a lot of countryside.
This is what we're thinking of doing, along with Gibraltar/Algeciras so we can take a day trip to Tangier. I'd like to hit Cartagena too, but it might be too far out of the way.
On the ongoing "Air BnB has utterly gone to shit" the new thing here seems to be completely unreasonable check-in windows. The last two times my wife has tried to book one (in situations where she's having girls weekends and having like 6 people staying in one place) they've had to do last minute venue changes because the place imposes a "3pm to 5pm" check-in time.
The one a few weeks ago no. This one after messaging Air BnB who then told the property manager if they didn’t allow a wider window they’d refund the booking and ding their rating and suddenly they can check in until 8
Granada is goated (outside the summer months). Proper tapas (free food with every drink order, which get progressively more involved the more drinks you order), access to the beach in an hour and less than 30 mins to great climbing and hiking. It's a bit of a pass through tourist city for Alhambra but the pace of life for non tourists is impeccable
it’s been quite a while since I went to Granada but you are 100% right. Drank and ate so much tapas I didn’t even make it to Alhambra when I was there. Had to lie to people about seeing it after
This day in age with electronic keypads and lock boxes there is no need for some dumbass window like that. Was it in the listing?
Doing a more local esque trip to Paris. Spent two hours sitting outside at Les philosophs drinking wine. Best french onion soup I've ever had. People watching and relaxing. 10/10 city every time
The amount of people I know that are in Paris right now is crazy. My one friend is being absolutely crushed by their metro system and is hating Paris at the moment.
He went out to Versailles today. Took him over 3 hours due to cancelled trains and he missed his ticket time window due to the delays. He's now stranded out there because they're cancelling all the trains back into Paris. He also doesn't speak a word of French so finding someone to help has been impossible
We had trouble getting to Versailles eight years ago because the RER C was flooded so we had to find an alternate/indirect route didn't really like Versailles anyway
Saw an asshole wearing one at Kerry Cliffs in Ireland in August. Wanted to punch him in the god damn face
I think it was more the train station/platform than actual Versailles. I haven't been sleeping much lately so I was the only one awake for him to bitch at about it.
I was sporting a Cal cap at Black Sand Beach near Hana several years ago when some potbellied Floyd from Ohio MAGA asshat wanted to talk to me about how the commie Dems in CA want to take everybody's guns away. He was taken aback when I laughed and said I owned nine, three of which are on the Endangered Species list, and I never once worried about anybody taking my guns away. What I didn't say was JFC motherfucker, you're on vacation in Hawaii give it a fucking rest
Versailles is a huge tourist area and the officials at their train station def speak English also the uber app works the same way in France as it does here
Flying back from stuttgart as we speak. I went to Wasen last night which is Stuttgart’s version of Oktoberfest. It was probably one of the cooler experiences I’ve ever had in all of my travels.
Did you go to this Opera that caused 18 people to seek medical treatment? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ra-of-live-sex-and-piercing?CMP=share_btn_url
Pulling up to Paris tomorrow morning. Got a house at the north end of the Marais district for 3 nights. Appreciate any recs you have based on your recent trip worth passing along. First time in France, so everything is on the table, but we mostly hope to mix in a fancy meal or two while walking around soaking up the vibes and getting our fill of wine and cheese.
Best piece of advice I can give you, go on YouTube and download a "French for Tourists" video. Learn extremely basic French and give it a shot. Do not approach any locals and ask if they speak English. If you make an attempt at French, even extremely poorly, you'll get a lot more good will from locals. A simple "Bonjour" goes a long way too.
totally agree. I speak a little French but they seemed to appreciate that you tried, which everyone should frankly. Never had a bad experience in France.
My Paris advice from our trip last year that made me look like a dummy: the metro travel pass is a very small ticket with a magnetic strip. Do not keep this ticket in your wallet with your credit cards, as it will deactivate then you’ll look like a dumb tourist trying to go through the turnstiles and getting rejected while everyone else goes around you annoyed. However, the employees at the major stations are used to this and will simply replace the ticket.