Calle Ronda (for a start)
The BBQuest is on again, at last!
More than one month has passed since our last episode, due to the fact that we all went on holidays and/or trips back home around Easter time - and some more time, too.
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Tonight we are happy to have Jon, and most importantly his camera!, joining us.
As a start, we decide to try the newly reopened BAR ARITZA, in Calle Ronda (the first of the Seven Streets of Casco Viejo). Despite its diminute size and plain air, the place has a good atmosphere, with several customers inside and people hanging around outside. We order Mahou Classic plus a Dubbel trappist, while we tell each other tales from our vacations (should I mention Alex ending up sleeping in the woods in Lithuania? Maybe not). Noteworthy fact: when the time to leave arrives and, for once, Bea steps up to buy the first round, the barman shows his sharp disapproval at the idea of three men letting the only girl in the group pay for them.
As a start, we decide to try the newly reopened BAR ARITZA, in Calle Ronda (the first of the Seven Streets of Casco Viejo). Despite its diminute size and plain air, the place has a good atmosphere, with several customers inside and people hanging around outside. We order Mahou Classic plus a Dubbel trappist, while we tell each other tales from our vacations (should I mention Alex ending up sleeping in the woods in Lithuania? Maybe not). Noteworthy fact: when the time to leave arrives and, for once, Bea steps up to buy the first round, the barman shows his sharp disapproval at the idea of three men letting the only girl in the group pay for them.
Stopping at CAFÉ TEATRO LA VILLA is a walk down memory lane for Jon: he tells us that this used to be "the" place during his teenage years. It still works as a late-night bar, as one can guess from its dark colours and the not-so-vague smell of something that is not cigarettes. But it's too early for teenagers and dancers, and too smoky for us. We grab our Heinekens and drink them in the fresh air outside. In the photo below: Ivan and Alex cautiously entering its sinister doors.
Although it is not exactly on our list of top places to go for a drink, 100 MONTADITOS in Calle María Muñoz still has to be included in our Quest. It's a popular franchise where chips and tinto de verano (wine mixed with soda pop) are all the rage, but we opt for a Cruzcampo and a Radler for Bea (she's part German after all, so we can forgive her). Ivan is displeased with the size of our glasses, that only allow for very small cañas.
Our following stop is TABERNA ASKAO BERRI in Calle de la Esperanza. They offer quite a wide variety of rolls and bites, so it can often be crowded, but tonight it's a slow Friday and we are almost the only ones in. The ceiling displays an artsy decoration with a net of coloured threads holding upside down glasses. The beer here is, once again, Heineken.
The last bar featured in this episode is GRAN CAFÉ EL MERCANTE in Calle Arenal, where we have the third Heineken of the evening. A spacious café-restaurant facing the tree-lined square of Arenal, this place boasts colourful stained glass windows, elegant wooden interiors and industrial chic lighting: it even has a cocktail bar-inside-the-bar downstairs.
Since we end the evening in another part of Casco Viejo that has already appeared on our blog, we can only conclude by putting a couple more pictures of us not being photogenic. Until next time, cheers!
Since we end the evening in another part of Casco Viejo that has already appeared on our blog, we can only conclude by putting a couple more pictures of us not being photogenic. Until next time, cheers!
