Shhhhh! Be very, very quiet. I am nourishing my inner aspect right now. Last week I mentioned that Thursdays are like my own little passive-aggressive holiday. Because every Thursday, I am guaranteed of at least two things: my next door neighbors will have a very loud band practice, and Gwyneth Paltrow will release a completely unaware snooty Goop newsletter. As soon as I read the inner aspect tagline, I want to beat her over the head. In an internet sort of way, of course. This is my sort of nourishment.
Today Gwyneth takes us on a Goopy tour of Barcelona. It’s about the best us plebeians can do, so we’re thankful for whatever little patronizing morsels she can give us. Lest you think a 19-year-old Gwyneth was staying at the Four Seasons and paying the locals to pave the streets in gold before she walked on them, her Goopiness talks about the rough times she spent in Barcelona, when all she had was a little bit of pocket money and a backpack. The daughter of a famous actress and a director. Something tells me Gwyneth would never suffer such indignities – why that’d be like pretending she makes $25,000 a year! – And she’s already told us she can’t do that.
Barcelona is a city full of wonder and beauty. I first went when I was 19 years old, with some train money and a backpack and not much else. I fell in love with the city’s passion for life, its food, culture, and of course, its architecture. Where else can you surf in the morning, do a master tour of Gaudí’s surreal buildings (the Sagrada Familia and the Parc Güell, just to name a couple), eat the best tapas of your life and get lost wandering the labyrinthine, majestic streets of the Barrio Gótico? It is a city worth exploring and falling in love with….
¡Que vagi bé!
Gwyneth
[From Goop.com]
Here are a few of Gwyneth’s suggestions for where to eat, stay, and what to do while you’re in Barcelona. It’d almost be enjoyable to watch her try to write for what she believes to be the common people. You know, if it weren’t so infuriating.
Inopia
I would fly all the way to Barcelona just to eat at this completely regular-looking, crowded, noisy tapas bar. I had one of the best meals of my life here, and every dish is a must-have: the croquettas, patatas bravas, tiny fried fish, olives, boquerones, pineapple with molasses and strawberries with sherry vinegar caramel (if they are in season). Their dishes are truly sublime. Go when they open at 7 p.m. because you can’t make a reservation and the lines are surreal.
Can Pineda
Really traditional Spanish cooking, very old-school. Good rice with mushrooms. Chef Mario Batali, food critic Mark Bittman and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols went during the filming of our PBS food and travel series, Spain…on the road Again.
Hotel Arts Barcelona
I adore the Arts. It is a big hotel done RIGHT. Amazing views, beautiful rooms, great service. It’s where I bed down in Barcelona most of the time.
[From Goop.com]
Ahh, nothing like some good old fashioned name dropping to nourish the inner aspect. Two of Gwyneth’s friends contribute their own picks for the eat/drink/stay categories, and somehow they come off so much better. It’s probably just because I know it’s not Gwyneth saying it, but somehow I’m thinking, “Oh what great ideas, even if I couldn’t afford it,” whereas with Gwyneth I’m thinking, “Why you conceited little…”
Next week Gwyneth promises us her favorite cookie recipes. Which, based on the general tone of her other emails, she must make all the time. You know, since she manages to go everywhere, do everything, and see everyone. How she has the time to fit in writing a sanctimonious email every week I’ll never know.
Here’s Gywneth leaving the Byron & Tracey hair salon in Beverly Hills on March 25th. Images thanks to Pacific Coast News.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbmxiZ4Rws9aypZ6smJS9orjTq6awl6OWxrSr0qGcmK%2BVo8GgwM6YmZqqk5q5sLrAmK6irJiUt7a%2F05iYmJqRmLixrcKklpqmlJTBs63Ip5amp56axnA%3D