Nasvhille Day 2: Stuffed to the Vince Gills

On our second day in The Music City, we woke up at 6:30 AM to grab breakfast in the executive lounge at The Westin. We wanted to make sure we had an early breakfast since we knew we were going to have a huge lunch and then dinner later as well. I would have skipped breakfast altogther but I guess we had FOMO and wanted to take advantage of our free breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed back bed for several hours. There wasn't really much we were interesting in seeing while in Nashville and we were happy to get a chance to relax. By 11:30, we set out in the freezing cold to Hattie B's for lunch. The wait was over an hour long but it was well worth it. I ordered the chicken tender plate with fries and mac n cheese and peach cobbler for dessert. Drew ordered the tenders and waffles along with bacon cheese grits and fries. I had expected the chicken to be spicier than it was so I ordered the medium. It definitely wasn't too spicy but I do actually like to be able to taste my food so it was perfect for me. I'm sure I could have handled the hot, although probably not the extra hot.

I had never seen Drew eat so much! The meals were huge and worth every last bite. I wasn't expecting to like the mac & cheese because I'm not a huge fan of Pimento but it was surprisingly delicious. I also wasn't expecting the peach cobbler to be as good as it was. It was $3 and I figured, why not try a bite or two? I ended up eating the whole thing...ugh!

By the time we walked back to our hotel, I was frozen solid. I got right into bed with my clothes on and was still cold an hour later when drew came back from watching the end of the Pats game in the lobby. However, we needed to pack up so we could head over to Hyatt Place.

Once we got there, we grabbed a drink at the bar and then went for a short walk to the Goo Goo Shop to buy some treats. On the way, we noticed a pedestrian bridge and took a walk up to view the river, the Nissan Stadium and the beginning of a sunset. We had made dinner reservations for The Southern Steak & Oyster for 8 PM but were still so full, we popped in and asked to change our reservation to 9. They happily obliged.

We then proceed to head back to our room at the Hyatt to watch some more Netflix before getting ready for dinner. The restaurant was only 2 blocks away which was perfect because I didn't want to wear my heavy winter coat. We both ended up ordering the chili dusted sea scallops with sweet corn cotija grits, shaved brussels sprouts and bacon tomatillo chipotle sauce. It was beyond delicious, very creative dish. Towards the end of the meal, I had never been more full in my life and couldn't even finish the last few bites as hard as I tried. I don't know why but I still wanted to order the bananas foster bread pudding to bring back to the hotel with us. I mean how could we not?

Since it was still early and also because I was too full to walk all the way back to our room, we stopped at the bar in the hotel to grab another drink. I ordered the white sangria and the bartender had accidentally made extra so he gave me two for the price of one. Score!

P.S....I have no idea who Vince Gill is but I figured there must be a country singer with Gill for a last name...and, according to Google, he just so happens to be a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. How fitting.

Nashville Day 1: Brrrrreakfast & BBQ

A few months ago, Drew and I booked another trip on a whim when we heard flights were on sale to Nashville...roughly $44 or 3,200 Rapid Rewards Points per person, each way. Considering we already had Barcelona booked, we wanted to give ourselves at least a month in between the two trips so we settled on the end of October.

When staying at a hotel, I always like to get there as early in the day as possible to make the most of our time. I always think it sounds like a good idea until the day comes and we only have a couple hours of sleep before we have to head to the airport. Nonetheless, we opted for a 6 AM flight and were there before 8 AM. Although cabs charge a flat $25 fee for the short ride from the airport to downtown, we decided to take one to our hotel. Lyft is the more popular, wallet friendly option in the city but I hadn't quite hopped on the bandwagon yet.

Drew still had a free night to use at an SPG property and I still had my annual free night at a Hyatt Category 1-4 Property through my Hyatt Credit Card so we decided to stay at The Westin Nashville for our first night and Hyatt Place Downtown for our second. The hotels were only a 10 minute walk away from each other so it worked out perfectly.

As expected, a room wasn't ready for us at 8 AM so we left our suitcases with the concierge, bundled up, and walked over to grab breakfast at Biscuit Love. It was in the low thirties...almost 20 degrees colder than in Boston! Anyways, I heard that the earlier you get to the restaurant, the better as lines can get super long. We only ended up waiting for about a half hour before reaching the counter to order. We both opted for the Blackstrap Hash and we also decided to split an order of Bonuts (fried biscuit dough in the shape of a donut hole with lemon mascarpone and blueberry compote).

It was probably one of the best, yet most filling, breakfasts I've ever had; setting the precedent for the rest of our trip. After breakfast, we walked towards Broadway to do a little site seeing and browse the various souvenir shops. I was shocked to see bars open with live music so early.

We had booked a Discover Nashville tour and needed to be back at the hotel by 1 PM so the tour bus could pick us up. I was hoping that the tour would help give us a good idea of things to see and do for the rest of the trip, but to no avail. The bus stayed mainly in the downtown area and didn't spend much time showing us around.

The majority of the time was taken up by a visit to The Ryman Auditorium and The Country Music Hall of Fame. We drove by a few other sites, such as the Parthenon, but weren't given time to get off the bus and walk around. We are definitely not museum people, so this was a bit of a let-down. We did know in advance that the tour included tickets to the Ryman and the Country Music Hall of Fame but we still figured we'd enjoy the rest of the tour. However, the tour was more like transportation service to the two sites instead of a tour. Definitely not worth the $65 tickets in my opinion...especially considering we could have walked to those two places, IF we wanted to. Granted, I know we're in the minority in terms of not liking museums so for those who want to see those two attractions it's still a great tour. I will say that the Ryman wasn't that bad...we watched a short, 3D animation history of the auditorium and were let out with just enough time to take a picture or two of the auditorium; short and sweet. Although, fair warning...Drew claims he fell asleep during the presentation. When it came to the Country Music Hall of Fame, we were both bored out our got-damn minds but tried to kill time by taking pictures.

By the time the tour guide dropped us back off at our hotel, our room was finally ready. They upgraded us to a deluxe corner room which was quite large and expertly appointed. SPG properties have the most comfortable beds and pillows ever!!

Before heading out to dinner we stopped by the executive lounge to relax and grab some hors dourves...they served sodas, coffee, nuts, dried fruit, a deli spread, flatbread and some bbq brisket.

We had a long day and didn't want to take a nap in our dirty clothes so we decided to grab an early dinner at Martin's BBQ which was about a 10 minute walk down the street. I ordered the pulled pork shoulder sandwich with a side of cornbread and mac n cheese. The sandwich was AMAZING...the sweet pork was perfectly balanced by the tangy slaw. The mac n cheese was also to die for whereas the cornbread, which came in the form of a pancake, was not as sweet as I would typically like. However, it paired nicely with the other items on my plate.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and up to the rooftop bar for a drink. It was beyond freezing at that point but I had to go outside to take a few pictures. Once we were sufficiently frozen, we decided call it an early night and headed back to the room to watch some Netflix.

Does Homesense Make Sense?

I was so excited when I first found out that TJX Companies would be opening a new line of home stores in the US called Homesense. I was even more excited when I found out that they would be opening their first location in Framingham, MA; less than an our away from me!

Unfortunately, due to Drew's and my hectic schedule, we didn't make out way out to Framingham until this past weekend. Prior, I had spoken with several friends and family members that had been and didn't seem to like it that much. I was told that it was full of junk, that it felt like a yard-sale and that it was overpriced. Regardless, I was sure I would love it. I love home stuff, I love all of TJX's other brands and I love hunting for good deals on expensive merchandise. How could I not?

As I walked in, I was immediately giddy because I saw a giant wooden moose. Anyone that knows my father knows he's obsessed with moose and his love of them has kind of rubbed off on me. However, I can't image anyone spending $1,999.99 on a giant wooden moose.

I did see a lot of good quality products there; definitely not junk. There were Boos Butcher blocks, All-Clad pots and pans, and a huge selection of well made furniture and lighting. However, I don't see it as a place I'd want to go to as often as Marshall's or Home Goods, for example. I would probably go there if I was looking for something specific such as a new couch. I saw a few couches that could easily sell for $5,000+ in Pottery Barn but were only $1,300.

It also seems like a great place to shop if you own a business. There were giant stock-pots, an industrial sized mixer and a huge madeleine tray.

Overall I loved the store but I'm not sure how well it will do. I didn't buy anything while there and can't see myself going there to make smaller purchases. However, I will definitely make it a destination for furniture shopping, when needed. I feel a bit conflicted saying this because I LOVE TJX Companies and it's in my blood. My great grandmother's uncle, Morris Fedlberg and his brother Max started Zayre's Corp. which went on to launch T.J. Maxx in 1977. Also, my grandmother worked for the TJX home office until retirement and I remember going to her retirement party there when I was really young. One day, I'd love to work for them myself.

Barcelona Day 7: Easy Like a Sunday Morning

Just this week while watching some commercial on TV, I told Drew I didn't understand the song. How are Sunday mornings easy!? It's the last day of the weekend and I'm constantly struggling with wanting to stay in bed vs. getting out of bed and being productive.

Then, when I was thinking of what to name this post, the song came to mind. It was the easiest Sunday I've had in my life: I woke up to the most gorgeous sunrise over the ocean without even having to leave bed. When it started to get too bright, I pressed the button on my nightstand to close the light filtering screen. A few hours later, Drew and I headed down to Wave for a delicious champagne brunch, which again was included because of his Platinum status.

After taking another short nap, we headed down to one of the pool decks to lay out and sip some Cava Sangria. We didn't stay for long though, as the sun had shifted to the other side of the hotel and it got a little chilly.

As much as we wanted to just stare out of our hotel room windows all day, we also wanted to explore the beach area a little bit so we went for a short walk. I can't believe how many nude old men were on the beach, standing up, and "reading newspapers." Like who stands on the beach reading?

After seeing my fair share of saggy balls and fake boobs, we decided to head out to the street and do a little more exploring. I loved the cute residential streets.

For dinner, we decided to eat at Pez Vela, which was right beneath our hotel. We ordered the Pan con Tomate, Charbroiled Galican Style Octopus and Arroz Negro (baby squid black rice with artichoke) along with a few glasses of wine. The Octopus was a tad too salty and not as good as the octopus at the W but the Arroz Negro was delicious. The bill came to roughly $100 US before tip which seemed a tad over-priced, especially considering the wine was only €3.50 per glass and the fact that we both could have eaten more paella. It's not like rice is expensive...

I had my heart set on having dessert back at Wave since we didn't get to have it the night prior. I ordered the White Chocolate Satin Sphere and Drew ordered the W Style Sacher. While we were waiting for our orders, we noticed the waitress bringing a delicious looking drink to another table. We called her over to ask what it was and although it sounded good as well, we decided against ordering it as we had an early flight the next morning and had already had a few drinks.

Once we were finished with our desserts, the waitress and hostess surprised us by bringing us each one of the drinks we had asked about along with a selection of delicious chocolates.

 

I can't remember everything that was in the drink but can only describe it as light, fruity, a tad spicy and refreshing. It was probably the best drink I've ever had and paired excellently with the chocolates. Now that I'm looking at the menu, it may have been the "Lost Island," which is described as Brugal rum with falernum, lime, spicy mango syrup, homemade caramel syrup, Angostura bitters and lime foam. As we were finishing up our drinks, fireworks had started outside again. What a perfect ending to a perfect night and vacation.

Barcelona Day 6: The W

There was a lot we wanted to fit in on our last half day before switching hotels. Our plan was to get everything out of the way so we could just relax at the second hotel.

We woke up super early to have breakfast and head to Park Güell for the second time. We knew we had a long walk ahead of us and had to be there by 9 at the latest. We got there just as the sun was rising and wow does that park fill up quick! It was so busy that we had to wait almost 20 minutes just to get into the gingerbread house which honesty ended up being a waste of time in my opinion. The interior was just an empty house with blue walls. What am I missing? Not to disrespect anyone's artwork...just not my cup of tea.

 

After spending about an hour in the park and spending €3.50 on a Fanta Limón (which is delicious and my new favorite drink by the way), we decided to head back towards Las Ramblas. First order of business: check out the new Uniqlo and Zara Home. Zara Home is the coolest store I never knew existed. Unfortunately, I didn't have much room in my suitcases so I settled on buying some hand-towels for our kitchen.

After shopping, I wanted to grab a juice from Merkat de La Boqueria. I got the coconut raspberry while Drew refused out of fear he would get food poisoning. Story of my life with Mr. Stubborn. He doesn't know what he was missing out on...that juice was amazing!

Next, we headed to Granja M. Viader for churros and hot dark chocolate. I was definitely glad we got to experience it but....I've had better churros at Disney World. They just didn't melt in my mouth the way I expect churros to. The hot chocolate was very unique in that it was super thick, almost like a pudding. It wasn't bad but definitely nothing earth shatteringly good.

The last stop on my hit list was Chök. I had seen them all over social media and they had the best looking donuts I've seen in my life. Granted, we weren't about to eat donuts right after churros so we got them to go for later on that night. Drew got all excited when he saw vegan donuts and ordered one of those....although I'm not quite sure why, as he most definitely is not a vegan. Anywho, whatever floats his boat.

We got back to the hotel at around 1 and had planned on leaving by 2:30 for our next hotel. I decided to be practical for once in my life and agreed to take a cab to our next hotel, W Barcelona. It only ended up being around €17. I was so excited to finally get time to relax. Little did I know how amazing our room was going to be.

SPG Platinum members are supposed to be given the best available room upon check-in, up to a standard suite. Drew didn't think this location would upgrade us at all based off what he read on Trip Advisor, etc. However, they did us one better and placed us in a corner suite on the 12th floor. When we saw the room, we were awestruck. It had the most gorgeous views I've ever seen in my life. The living room had a view of Barcelona and Barceloneta Beach while our bedroom overlooked the Balearic Sea. All you could see was the sea out of that window. In addition, the rooms had automatic shades, automatic pull out tvs, a rainfall shower head, a spa tub in the bedroom and Bliss bath products throughout...my favorite! The pics don't even do the room justice.

 

For dinner that night, we decided to eat at Wave Restaurant inside of The W. We ordered the Spanish Tapas Selection for an appetizer which included Cabrales cheese and caramelized apple croquettes, octopus skewers, razor clams with Espinaler sauce and “Bravas” W style. For our meals, we both ordered the lemongrass infused salmon with coconut foam, curry and roasted pumpkin. Everything was amazing. I wanted to order dessert but had remembered about the donut I was saving for later that I didn't want to go stale. As we were finishing up our meal, fireworks had started over Barcelonetta Beach that we could see from the window.

 

Once we were done, we headed upstairs to Eclipse. I ordered a passion fruit mojito and Drew ordered a beer. Once we were finished drinking them, I was ready to head back down. Noisy, clubby bars aren't really my thing unless I'm with a bunch of friends. Instead, we retreated to the lounge and had another drink while rocking in our swinging chairs. I ordered the Candy Shop martini, which was surprisingly not sickeningly sweet. I wish I knew how to make it.

And then it was back to the most awesome room ever. Oh, how I wish we could live there.

Barcelona Day 5: Drew's Birthday

September 22nd: Drew's Birthday. I'm a terrible girlfriend and didn't really plan anything special, mainly because I wanted him to pick what he wanted to do...which, let's be real...he's incapable of doing.

We wanted to take the cable cars we saw down by the beach up to Montjuïc. However, due to poor planning yet again, we accidentally took the Teleferic de Montjuïc and not the Transbordador Aeri del Port which seemed a lot more thrilling and had better views. I had waned to see some of the gardens at the top but apparently, it was the wrong cable car for that too. Instead, we settled on the Castell de Montjuïc which ended up having pretty amazing views.

 

 

By the time we were done exploring, we were pretty hungry. I was dying for a ham and cheese sandwich but Drew wanted to head straight to Diagonal Mar to do some shopping. I wasn't buying it because I didn't know if they had good food or not. I convinced him to stop at Glòries on the way because they have a cute cafeteria on the ground level. We decided to eat at Enrique Tomas which I personally thought was delicious...it was one of the best sandwich I've ever had. Come to find out, it was rated only a 2.5 online due to some people getting food poisoning and others thinking it was overpriced. I would still go back. I just probably wouldn't order one of the take out sandwiches that have been sitting there for hours...

After lunch, we headed to Diagonal Mar. I wasn't too impressed. Glòries is a much nicer mall. However, I did find a super cute faux leather jacket at the Zara in Diagonal Mar for €24.99 or roughly $30 at the then exchange rate. Afterwards, I saw the same jacket back home for $39.99. I should have known Zara was cheaper in Spain and bought more!

Once Drew got his shopping fix, we went back to the room to rest up a bit. I tried to get Drew to choose a place for dinner but yet again, he claimed he wasn't hungry. After browsing for a bit I saw that Picnic was only 2 stops away and had some food I thought he would like. Once he saw the pictures, he finally decided he had room for food. Thank god.

At the restaurant, we ordered the fried green tomatoes and spring rolls for our appetizer and fried fish and chips for our meals. The appetizers were delicious but the entree was a little too salty for my liking and overpriced. We each got 3 small pieces of fish and a small handful of fries for roughly $14. We were originally going to get dessert as well but Drew was a little turned off by the amount of food they gave us and decided we should check out the food truck festival at the Arc de Triomf to see if they had anything good. Well, apparently Spaniards and Catalonians don't like their desserts, because out of 50 food trucks, not a single one had anything sweet, whatsoever. Regardless, it was still fun to check out.

the cone was only half full with fries...

 

We were then onto plan C for dessert: to see if any of the gelato places were still open near our hotel. Nooope. We then thought to check and see if Madeleine Mon Amour was still still open. According to google they closed at 11:00 PM and it was already past that. However, we happened to walk by it anyways and ta-da, there were still a lot of people eating in the restaurant. Drew went in to ask if they were still open and low and behold  - - they said we could order dessert. This time, we decided to sit out on the street where they had tables and chairs. It was the perfect ending to the night...especially since Drew had said he wanted to come back before we left our first hotel, which we were leaving the following morning.

Barcelona Day 4: Delicious Food

On day 4, I was rudely awakened by Drew who had already gone to the gym and wanted to hurry up and get our free breakfast at the hotel before all of the "good stuff" was gone. Mind you, there was nothing bad about breakfast at the hotel but it was a regular continental breakfast - nothing to write home about. I would have much preferred to get breakfast elsewhere but he wanted to take advantage of his SPG Platinum status to get free breakfast. Lovely.

I definitely went back to sleep immediately after we finished eating. By the time I woke up, I was craving a sandwich. I really wanted to try Foc i Oli, a hamburger joint that's currently rated #14 out of 8,303 restaurants in Barcelona on Trip Advisor. It was only slightly out of our way to Park Güell, which is where we had planned on spending the beautiful day.

After walking to the restaurant from Universtat Station, we had to wait outside to be seated because the place was tiny and only had room for roughly 10-12 people to sit down at once. Luckily, there were only two people ahead of us in line. We were seated at the bar-stools in the front window where we got to watch other couples making out on the street in front of us. I've never seen so much PDA in my life!

Drew and I both ordered "el Chivito" which is described on the menu as a sandwich with thin slices of steak, ham, bacon, mayo, salad dressing, gouda cheese, red pepper, fresh tomatoes and caramelized onions on brioche bread. We also ordered the homemade fries. They were both amazing!

After lunch, we hopped back on the metro and headed to Park Güell. I've never seen so many steep hills and stairs in my life! A half hour later, we finally got to the ticket counter only to find out that the next entry time wasn't until 4 hours later. Talk about poor planning on our part! However, instead of sulking, we decided to purchase tickets in advance for Saturday morning before we had to switch hotels. At least we got some extra exercise in!

these were about 1/10 of the steps in all!

By the time we woke up, it was almost 9 PM. Drew claimed he wasn't hungry but I still wanted to go out. I convinced him to go to El Nacional which was on the list of places I wanted to visit. It's a very touristy complex with four restaurants and four bars, kind of similar to Mario Batali's Eataly, minus the markets. We opted for La Taperia and I thoroughly enjoyed every last moment of it. At first, I was a little worried because instead of ordering off the menu for tapas, you had to raise your hand when you heard a waiter calling out the item they were circling the restaurant with...and what if they didn't call out enough items that we wanted!? Gladly, we ended up getting everything I had my eye on except for any of the paella dishes...which was fine because I would have been too full anyway. We ordered the pan con tomate, the acorn-fed iberian shoulder ham, the iberian ham croquettes, patatas bravas, and the thin chorizo simmered in cider. I finished my meal off with Crema Catalana but of course Drew was being no fun and only had a few bites of my dessert. Everything was delicious and I was surprised that the bill came to only roughly €59 including a few glasses of beer and wine.

 

Once we figured out how to obtain our check and pay (which I still don't get how this works in Spain...does someone want to explain this to me? At every single place we went to, we waited and waited for the check though the service was good otherwise. Eventually, if we couldn't get someone's attention we would just go up to the counter to pay), we headed to the cocktail bar where I ordered the L'Aperitiu and Drew ordered El Nacional, which they lit a stick of cinnamon on fire over. I loved my drink but then I ordered El Sorbeto which was a little too strong and cold for my liking. I should have known not to order a frozen drink with a sore tooth.

By the time we were good and liquored up, the Metro had stopped running for the night. I have something against paying for cabs so I convinced Drew to walk back to our hotel which was probably about a 50 minute walk. Little did he know I duped him into taking the more scenic route so we could see the Arc de Triomf on our way back. It only made our trip 0.18 miles longer but I'm sure he still would have complained if he had known. Also, we just so happened to stumble on the Casino he wanted to check out. It took us 10 minutes to get in with paper copies of our IDs and only 5 minutes to put €10 into a slot machine and "win" €6. I was happy because we then had euro change for tips...whoop whoop!