Navajas

The rain has gone, the sun is out. The train to Barcelona is easy to find and on time. The hotel is five minutes walk from the station.

We lunch at Zarautz at the bar. Lovely Monsant wine and an array of tapas, most on a slice of baguette. Kerry’s favourite is the small chorizo sausage, glued to the bread with an indeterminate brown sauce that tastes nothing like brown sauce. I get a plate of navajas (razor clams) that are delightful, with a drizzle of olive oil and a garnish of white flowers that I can’t place. When the bill comes, I discover that the navajas really are an (expensive) delicacy!

We walk to the Plaça de Catalunya and wander down La Rambla towards the water, admiring the buildings and dodging the crowds. After checking out the Monument a Colom, we repair to El Bosc de Les Fades, a themed bar, decked in foliage with a soundtrack of running water and thunder and the occasional simulated lightning storm.

Kerry has a Piña Colado - not as good as Thailand, but better than average. I stick to beer. On impulse I check Songkick and get tickets to see PVA (supported by Polseguera) at a hip local venue Razzmatazz.

We wander in the general direction of the venue as night falls. Through the Parc de la Ciutadella, where joggers jog and families stroll. To a bar called The Hive, highly rated, run by a man from Sydney. They are repairing barstools, sparks from the grinders arcing through the darkness.

Generous servings of gin and a stomach lining of nachos and Padron peppers later, we head to the venue. The gig is in room #3 and it’s almost empty (unlike Hoke & Amoeba next door). Polseguera, a local duo, come on and they are good - reminiscent of early Cure.

By the time PVA come on stage, the place is busier, though nowhere near full. It’s a great set. Neither disco nor punk, but full of energy and simmering violence (extra).

I negotiate a T-shirt/CD bundle deal with Holly, who’s on the merch stall. The CD is signed and I recommend The Hive for an after-gig beverage.

It’s busy when we get back to the bar and there’s a DJ mixing tunes. Settling into the new barstool, which feel much more solid, I tell the owner that the band may be coming along. As thanks, he pours us each a complementary homemade coffee tequila (take four bottles of tequila, add a cup of coffee beans and 100ml agave syrup; leave for a week; decant - cheaper than Patron and twice as strong).

The place gets busier and busier. The band arrives. We leave, catch a taxi back to the hotel, and pass out.