november-2010

112 | DESTINATION GUIDES
Asturias
Spain
DIALLING CODE +34
CURRENCY €
FLY FROM
Geneva,
London (STN)
FROM THE
AIRPORT
TAXI
SINCE
2005
Pre-book your taxi
at easyJet.com.
A local taxi to Oviedo
costs about €53, Gijón
€45 and Avilés €23.
The Express bus
runs hourly from
6am–10pm to Oviedo
and Gijón. Tickets:
€6.15. Buses to Avilés
cost €1.30 (alsa.es).
Visit the Europcar
desk for special
easyJet rates.
BON APPETIT
UP TO €30 Llagar La
Morena (Alto de Viella,
tel: 985 263 944) Known
only to locals, this cider
bar serves excellent
stuffed baby squid and
other tapas dishes. Wash
it all down with cider
made on the premises.
EXCLUSIVE Casa
Arturo (1 Plaza de San
Miguel, tel: 985 229 488)
Asturian fi sh is truly
excellent but if you’re
pining for a good steak,
this asador (steak house)
will not disappoint. Try
the meat cooked over a
hot stone, accompanied
by a fi ne red wine.
AFTER DARK
LOW KEY Bar Tienda
Mari Luz (2 Gonzalez
Besada) This small,
memorabilia-packed
wine bar is a popular
place to stop off for
a pre-dinner drink.
LATE & LIVELY
Buddha (23 Marques
de San Esteban, Gijón)
A cool crowd calls in to
this funky venue after
a late supper. The music
is a mix of Spanish and
international pop.
THIS MONTH
SHOP More than
a bread shop,
Santumedé’s shelves
groan with goodies
including freshly baked
empanadas (pasties) of
octopus, cod or cockles
(14 Jovellanos, Oviedo).
SEE Don’t miss the
Amagüestu Festival,
held during the second
and third weekends of
November. Chestnuts
are roasted in the open
air, served with cidra
dulce (sweet cider).
Karen Thomas
NO WAY!
Gijón boasts the
largest building in
Spain. Its Universidad
Laboral claims to be
two-and-a-half times
larger than Philip II’s
vast and imposing
monasterial palace El
Escorial, near Madrid.
Athens
Greece
DIALLING CODE +30
CURRENCY €
FLY FROM
Berlin, London
(LGW), Manchester,
Milan (MXP), Paris
(ORY), Rome (FCO)
FROM THE
AIRPORT
TAXI
SINCE
1998
Pre-book your taxi
at easyJet.com.
A local taxi costs €35.
The E95 express
bus goes to the
centre. Tickets: €3.20.
Visit the Europcar
desk for special
easyJet rates.
BON APPETIT
UP TO €30 Kyr
Kostas (Agia Irene
Square, Monastiraki)
This place is rumoured
to serve the best and
most authentic souvlaki
in Athens but you
have to get there early
because Kyr Kostas
shuts up shop by 4pm.
EXCLUSIVE Elaias Gi
(4 Olympionikon Street,
Politia, tel: 210 620
0005) This ultra-smart
restaurant, with its
emphasis on traditional
Greek cooking and its
spectacular views of
Athens, is now offering
a set menu for €35.
Included are 15 different
dishes, and a choice of
seven main courses.
AFTER DARK
LOW KEY Santa
Botella (115A Panormou
Street, Ambelokipi, tel:
210 698 1032) A funky
street bar situated right
in the middle of a row
of bars and clubs at the
lower end of Panormou.
LATE & LIVELY
Shisha (Peace and
Friendship Stadium,
Paleo Faliro, tel: 210 483
4190) An open-air club
by the sea. The music is
up-beat and mainstream
and there’s live Greek
music on Sundays.
THIS MONTH
SHOP For serious
shopping therapy in
Athens there is only
one solution that really
hits the spot: Kolonaki.
Browse this road for all
the must-have fashion
items, including original
Greek and foreign
designer labels.
SEE Don’t miss the
Acropolis Museum’s
fi rst exhibition on the life
of the ancient Athenian
statesman Pericles
and the building of the
Parthenon and the other
amazing buildings on the
Athens Acropolis. Using
ancient artefacts such as
coins, inscriptions and
sculptures, the exhibition
recreates ancient Greece
(newacropolis
museum.gr).
NO WAY!
The current prime
minister of Greece,
George Papandreou,
comes from a long line
of politicians: both his
father and grandfather
were elected PM, too.
Eva Webster
Barcelona
Spain
DIALLING CODE +34
CURRENCY €
FLY FROM
Amsterdam, Basel-
Mulhouse, Belfast (BFS),
Berlin, Bristol, Doncaster
Sheffi eld, Dortmund,
Geneva, Lisbon, Liverpool,
London (LGW, LTN,
STN), Lyon, Milan
(MXP), Newcastle
FROM THE
AIRPORT
TAXI
SINCE
1996
A local taxi costs
around €30.
The Aerobus
heads to Plaça
Catalunya. Tickets: €5.
Trains service the
Sants Estació.
Tickets: €2.50.
Visit the Europcar
desk for special
easyJet rates.
BON APPETIT
UP TO €15 El
Tropezón (26 Carrer
de Regomir, tel: 93 310
1864) Neither the décor
of a sit-in kebab joint, nor
the blunt service inspire
much confi dence, but
if it’s great tapas you’re
after, this is your place.
Find it in Barri Gotic.
UP TO €30
La Paradeta (7 Carrer
de Commercial, tel: 93
268 1939) A suitably
nautically themed
interior greets diners at
La Paradeta, a seafood
restaurant in El Born
where clients are invited
to point at their supper
fi rst before it is weighed
and cooked. Sensational
mussels and prawns are
highly recommended.
UP TO €50 Bestial
(30 Ramón Trias Fargas,
tel: 93 224 0407)
Located beneath Frank
Gehry’s Fish sculpture
at the Port Olimpic,
Bestial occupies a prime
piece of real estate with
views over the indigo
Mediterranean. The
kitchen serves up a
modern mix of Italian
and European cuisine,
while the ambience is
very much along the
lines of the chic bars it
rubs shoulders with.
EXCLUSIVE Drolma
(70 Passeig de Gracia,
tel: 93 496 7710)
Drolma, the restaurant
of the Hotel Majestic
boasts one Michelin star
and some of the best
Catalan cuisine in town.
Rare combinations, such
as sea bass with bacon,
snow peas and truffl e
vinaigrette, help justify
the special prices.
AFTER DARK
LOW KEY Le Journal
(36 Carrer de Francisco
Giner) An interior fi lled
with old newspaper
prints on the walls,
shabby furnishings and
smoke: Le Journal has all
the hallmarks of a classic
bohemian dive bar.
During the day students
pass the time over
coffee; by night cocktails
are the drink of choice.
LIVE MUSIC
El Paraigua (2 Pas
de l’Esenyança,