We’re not going to start this guide off at a predictable Parisian sidewalk café. You and I obviously know better than that, otherwise you wouldn’t be searching for a guide on how to holiday like a local in Paris, or be savvy enough to be holidaying with a Skrill card. And so, we begin our journey somewhere far from the Eiffel Tower and instead, entrenched in a bygone era of Parisian history…

DAY #1

Breakfast Beside An Abandoned Railway

La Petite Ceinture is a surviving relic of forgotten Paris, built in 1862, closed for over 80 years. The railroad was a circular route (hence “the little belt”), connecting the main train stations of Paris within the old fortified city walls. It’s a chance to see Paris from a different perspective as the railroad’s bridges peep over the boulevards every few hundred yards. The tracks run along the backs of artist ateliers which you can’t see from the street. There is one unique spot in the city that gives you a front row seat to La Petite Ceinture, and that is Le Mama Shelter, a hotel built by innovative French architect Phillippe Starck, where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner (or cocktails) on the terrace that overlooks this historic railroad.

Rooms start from a very affordable €89, but more importantly, the best buffet breakfast (all-you-can-eat) brunch in Paris, available for both hotel guests and the public, will set you back just €16, and it’s open for lazy little Parisians like me, until 11am. It’s somewhere I like to make myself at home on their herd of comfortable couches, armchairs and free Wifi. It’s like my trendy morning office where waiters don’t give you bad looks for spending too much time working on your laptop. In short, it’s a home away from home (at any time of the day).

But of course, sitting on that terrace, munching away on brioche soldiers dipped in oeuf cocotte with a fresh fruit salad, overlooking those mysterious abandoned tracks, always gives me the itch to explore.

So if you’re interested in taking a stroll along the Little Belt yourself, I have a little tip, that may just work on certain days to gain you access to some morning urban exploration. Upon leaving the Mama Shelter, there’s a tiny street across the road called Rue Florian. Look for the “animals” peeping over the wall (you’ll know what I mean when you see them) and you’ll see a large grey gate, which I can’t guarantee you’ll always be lucky enough to find ajar.

A few locals with a passion for gardening appear to have squatted some land on the side of the railroad, and sometimes, they just leave the gate open, welcoming anyone who cares to see what was behind the door. If you find it locked, don’t dismay, I have something even better waiting nearby…

A Celebrity Cemetery Stroll

Sending you to a cemetery is probably going to sound a little odd, but then again, this is Paris. But would you believe I often recommend it to friends looking for a romantic suggestion for a first date? Yes, trust the city of romance to have made its largest cemetery not in the least bit spooky but rather, irresistibly romantic.

Père Lachaise is like a miniature city of its own; all the winding pathways have their own street signs and names, and the tombs look like beautiful little Wendy houses (Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Maria Callas and Marcel Proust to name a few are all buried here). Strolling hand in hand with your other half, I guarantee you’ll start, rather bizarrely, hoping that one day you can be buried here with the love of your life. And the Père Lachaise cemetery, much like love, doesn’t cost a thing.

Find the side entrance near Le Mama Shelter here. 

Stylish Seafood Lunch

When you’ve emerged from your stroll in the city (of the dead) within the city, we should be approaching lunch time. A little walk down the hill towards Bastille takes us to one of my favourite Parisian restaurants, which I usually save for special occasions – but since Skrill has kindly loaded up my Prepaid Mastercard with €500, I think this qualifies as one.

Clamato is a trendy little seafood spot with a bohemian unpretentious vibe and truly un-Parisian service – that is to say, the waiters make you feel like they’re welcoming a friend of a friend in Paris. Grab my favourite spot for two at the bar, next to the window on the left as soon as you walk in. The menu changes all the time depending on what type of seafood is in season. Now trust me, I’m the type of eater that swore off this type of stuff, but it’s the sort of place that makes trying oysters or sea snails for the first time feel as easy as eating fish and chips.

Seasoned and sautéed in friendly but unusual pairings, this is gourmet seafood for people that don’t like seafood. And if you’re really squeamish, you can fill up on the accra fritters or other non-seafood options. And after lunch, on the doorstep of your new-found favourite seafood spot in Paris, there is some thoroughly good boutique shopping to be found…

Price per head including wine was €55,50 so we ended up paying €111 with the Skrill card.

Afternoon Shopping in the “Village Charonne”

If you’re coming to Paris looking for the glitzy Parisian equivalent of the Rodeo Drives, Fifth Avenues and Sloane Streets of the world, turn back now, this is not the guide for you. But if you’re looking for unique, chic and affordable Parisian fashion boutiques set in a charming local neighbourhood where actual Parisians really shop, then you’ve come to the right place.

Hidden away behind bustling Bastille, at the beginning of Rue de Charonne, a new shopping village of fashion boutiques has been quietly emerging. Quirky independent shops share the sidewalk with well-loved French names such as Isabel Marant and Repetto, making it a very useful address for shopping alongside friends with varied budgets. While Rue de Charonne is tailor made for an afternoon of shopping ‘avec les girlz’, the boys have staked their claim here too with several boutiques selling cool and casual wears, sturdy leathers and sartorial gear.

Even little ones will find some artisanal toy shops and the latest trends in micro fashion – hence the family ambiance that spills out onto the café terraces on sunny weekends. You’ll feel right at home in this off-the-beaten path shopping village in the 11th arrondissement.

Boutiques not to miss: La Fée Maraboutée (the one with that fabulous armchair), So We Are, Sessùn, Les Fleurs (on Rue Trousseau, where I ended up buying an unusual Cactus Vase for 65€), The Secret Toy Shop (pictured above) on the Passage de l’Homme.

Next we’re going to be heading towards the 5th arrondissement, where if you really feel like seeing some of the famous stuff, you can pay a visit to the Notre Dame, browse les bouquinistes (the charming little open-air bookstores that squat the banks of the Seine) and have a glass of wine at one of the cafés on the Ile Saint-Louis with a view of the sunset disappearing somewhere beyond the Pont Neuf. But then we have a date with Ernest…

Dinner with Hemingway

L’Ecurie is my favourite place to get drunk tipsy on red wine with a good paté de campagne and Steak Frites. I imagine Hemingway would have loved it too. In fact, he only lived around the corner from this little eatery, a former stable on a lovely corner of Rue Montagne Saint-Geneviève – which also happens to be the same street Woody Allen filmed Midnight in Paris (just feet away from where Gil jumps in Hemingway’s car for a time travel to the 1920s).

This lovable family-run restaurant has gone unchanged since god-knows when it opened, and feels like the ultimate French time capsule with cow bells hanging from the ceiling, rustic furniture and a traditional no-fuss menu. You can get a three-course meal here for an astonishing 12 euros and everything is fresh. The bartender/ only waiter is also excellent company– he’ll keep filling up your wine glass and eventually lose count himself.

L’Ecurie always reminds me of Hemingway’s quote from A Moveable Feast.

“We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other.”

After Dark at Shakespeare & Co

Whimsical surprises of this sort (pictured above) are the norm at Shakespeare & Company, an institution renowned for hosting illustrious writers and letting quirky strangers sleep among the bookshelves. It tends to be packed with tourists during the day because of the iconic part it played shaping the “Lost Generation” (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein etc), which is why I only go after dark. It’s one of the only bookstores in the city open until 11pm, where you can browse in relative peace and if you’re lucky, catch a late night book reading or a jazz gig.

I spend €60 on nice coffee table books there.

DAY #2

Tea & Pastries in a Moroccan Riad

Morning Moroccan mint tea at the mosque in the 5eme, host to one of the most pleasant cafés in Paris?, seperate to the prayer house, open to the public (but make sure to visit the mosque and it's beautiful mosaic courtyard too ?). The café is also open til midnight for tea (€2 a pop) under the stars ?some fascinating history within its walls (For some reading while you're there, search on the blog: "That time the Paris Mosque helped Jews escape the Nazis by giving them Muslim IDs") #Paris #mosque #café #bonneaddresse

A photo posted by messynessychic (@messynessychic) on Sep 10, 2015 at 2:14pm PDT

We begin our morning in the mosque of the 5th arrondissement, host to one of the most pleasant and unexpected cafés in Paris. Open to the public, separate to the prayer house, with winding, leafy courtyards, this is a beautiful place to sip moroccan mint tea along with traditional arabic pastries on a sunny morning. While it’s very popular, particular with Parisian families on Sunday afternoons, it’s not a place tourists are very aware of. It’s also open until midnight for tea under the stars while contemplating the fascinating history within its walls. Mint tea is €2 a pop and the waiter brought me a pastry for free because I was sitting alone.

Across the street is our next stop, the Jardin des Plantes, a cultural garden of Eden if you will. It is here that you’ll find Paris’ Natural History Museum, which sounds all very “back to school” for a science class field trip, but you’d be very much mistaken…

A Giant Cabinet of Curiosities

And the animals went in, two by two ??????? One giant #CabinetofCuriosities at the Galerie de Paléontologie et d'Anatomie Comparée #Museum #Paris

A photo posted by messynessychic (@messynessychic) on Sep 5, 2015 at 10:32am PDT

Every big city in the world has its own Natural History Museum, so what makes the one in Paris worth visiting? Well for one, there aren’t many major Natural History Museums that were abandoned for more than 25 years, closed to the public, rotting away with everything inside it until it finally re-opened in 1994.

After World War II, this great museum of the colonial empire that had once dazzled the public when it first presented its zoological collections in 1889, had ironically become a public danger. With serious post-war funding issues, the building was falling apart, the electricity was old, and with one million glass jars of different species of fish being preserved in alcohol and formaldehyde, it was potentially one giant explosive cabinet of curiosities waiting to detonate.

For 21 years, the museum sat in silence until museum researchers mobilised the government to intervene. Today, it’s a stunning tribute to the evolution of the natural world, whilst the building itself is half the attraction.

There are some stunning architectural treasures to be found hiding behind a door in the shadows of giant blue whale skeleton…

Probably my favourite thing about this building is the staircase– don’t forget to take the stairs! 

They unveil yet another layer of the building’s history when it was once the King’s own cabinet of natural history, when the Jardin des Plantes was an unparalleled scientific institution in the 1700s.

Stair porn, found on the top floor of a Giant Cabinet of Curiosities in Paris ? Find out more in the latest article up on the blog ??? #Paris #stairporn

A photo posted by messynessychic (@messynessychic) on Sep 9, 2015 at 10:33am PDT

Go all the way to the top floor and you’ll find yet another set of stairs that looks like it came straight out of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, begging to be climbed.

The Jardin des Plantes itself as a mid-gallery stroll is all part of the experience. You’ll find giant pumpkins and squash growing out in the open – not exactly something you’ll see in the famous Jardins des Luxembourg. You can spend an entire afternoon within its walls, jumping from the taxidermy to the greenhouses and finally to the paleontology gallery. This might sound more suited for a science class field trip, but again, you’d be terribly mistaken.

This is hands down the most impressive collection of skeletons you’ll ever lay eyes upon. Noah’s ghost army are in limbo here, waiting to march back to his ark, two by two. The paleontology gallery however is one of the parts of the Natural History Museum which escaped renovation in the 1990s. My guess is this building has not been renovated in over a hundred years – and I don’t mind it one bit.

The walls are peeling and the floorboards are creaking. The paper labels in the cabinets are yellowed from age and the calligraphy is of another time. You can peek up to the old archives on the top floor and see books covered in dust behind old glass bookcases. I like a museum that’s accidentally just as interesting as the things it has on display.

Visit the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle at the Jardin des Plantes, 57 Rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris.

No queues. We spent €28 on tickets with the Skrill card.

Now it’s time to leave the historic 5th arrondissement and move to a slightly trendier, if not grittier side of town…

Korean Fried Chicken & Absinthe Bubble Tea in the Red Light District

Sounds a little too risqué for lunchtime? Good. This is Paris, and no one ever said Paris was going to be boring. We find ourselves at Hero, one of the newest additions to the off-beat foodie scene in the city, from a talented group of restauranteurs that brought us the first modern speakeasy bars and hip eateries catering to what I like to consider the new “lost generation” of Paris.

Korean fried chicken, Absinthe Bubble Tea and Old School Hip Hop over the stereo. I would live here if I could ??????@Hero_Paris #Paris #Restaurant #SouthKorean #FriedChicken #BubbleTea #AllDayEveryday (Tues-Sun, Lunch & Dinner) #BonneAdresse #MySkrillSummer

A photo posted by messynessychic (@messynessychic) on Sep 7, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

This asian fusion spot is so cool it hurts. The décor is urban but pastel; kitschy yet sleek. Oh – and the food. Get stuck into the starters: Korean fried chicken buns, sticky ravioli with ragout of mushrooms and purée of soft tofu. And do not, I repeat, do not, leave without trying one of their Absinthe bubble tea cocktails.

It was definitely worth the €59,50 spent for two!

Vintage Shopping in Etienne Marcel

When someone asks me if there’s any other city I’d rather live in that Paris, my answer is L.A. And while the ocean might be miles away from Paris, but there’s something very “Venice Beach” about the quartier of Etienne Marcel. With a laid-back vibe and a distinct LA style, there seems to be a Little California budding in this corner of Paris.

But you don’t come to Etienne Marcel without navigating your way through the pedestrian cobblestones streets to find the Rue Tiquetonne. Vintage havens, skating gear concept stores, street art,and all things that a Frenchy with a taste for L.A. might need for a happy day of retail therapy, you’ll find on Rue Tiquetonne.

Boutiqes not to miss: Yaya Store, Kilywatch Vintage store, Episode, American Vintage, Royal Cheese, Chez Maman Corner Store

Paid €5 for a nice vintage handkerchief.

Heading to the Countryside in Paris

Next up, it’s time to head North to Avenue Junot, the cobblestone road that winds up to Montmartre lined with some of the most delicious architecture in Paris. It’s art deco ironwork, those tall glass windows bathed in light for artists in residence, colorful cul de sacs peeking out from behind corners; here is the Paris they wrote books and poems and made movies about. We can grab a bite at the bottom of Avenue Junot, at Au Reve, the “bistrot du quartier”.  The food is nothing fancy, but the prices are right, the service is always friendly and it’s a place to sit with locals and more importantly, feel like a local. But we’ve come to this quartier for one very particular reason…

A Secret Montmartre Bar

On a leafy avenue in Montmartre, inside the former villa of the Hermès family at the top of a secret stairway, is Hotel Particulier de Montmartre. To get in, you need to ring at two intercoms and walk through a private alley (no reservation needed). This historical townhouse mansion turned hotel has its very own private bar appropriately named, Le Très Particulier.

Drinks aren’t cheap but any cocktail enthusiast will verify that they’re worth every penny. If Wes Anderson’s characters came to life, I could imagine them all gathering here for dirty Martinis and retiring to their rooms in the early hours of the morning. Which is pretty much what I did, spending the last the my Skrill money on four cocktails for €55.

Le Très Particulier: 23, avenue Junot, Pavillon D, 75018 Paris

Nessy would like to thank Skrill online payment system for kindly sending her one of their Skrill Prepaid Mastercards, topped up with €500. The card is a handy travel companion which you can top up to match your holiday budget and use as a Mastercard in 36 million outlets worldwide, with low FX and ATM fees. For more info on both Skrill and their Prepaid Mastercards head to their website.

Meanwhile don’t forget to check out the other Holiday Like A Local posts on Urban Travel Blog, where our bloggers share their Barcelona travel tips, Rome local secrets and insider London itineraries. And if you’re coming to Paris then be sure to check our our city break guide to the French capital.

About Vanessa Grall

Raised in London, Nessy moved to Paris to discover the land of her ancestry and immediately fell in love with its Gallic foibles. Find more of her secret Parisian tips - plus random eccentricities from the web - on her blog.

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The post Holiday Like a Local in Paris appeared first on Urban Travel Blog.

Guess who got to “holiday like a local” with a Skill prepaid card loaded with €500 (it was about £330)? Oh yeah! I’m covering my #London #staycation for urbantravelblog.com alongside staycationers reporting from Barcelona, Paris, Rome and New York. Stay tuned! @urbantravelblog #urbantravelblog #mySkrillsummer #utb #skrill

A video posted by Chris Osburn (@chrisosburn) on Aug 21, 2015 at 5:27am PDT

If you followed the adventures of Blogger-in-Chief, Duncan Rhodes, when he enjoyed an action-packed two day staycation in Barcelona, then you’ll know by now that Urban Travel Blog and Skrill online payment system have teamed up to show folks how to “Holiday Like a Local” in some of the world’s most exciting cities. Duncan and contributors in Rome, Paris, New York, and yours truly in London, were each given a Skrill Prepaid Mastercard loaded with €500 and sent on our merry ways to enjoy our respective cities to the fullest extent – while taking notes to share insider tips for when others visit these cities we love so much. Dream gig? Pretty much.

So I had €500 (just under £340) burning a hole in my proverbial pocket that had to be spent in 48 hours and could only be spent on having fun and playing the tourist in London. Was I up to the challenge? I was certainly keen to take advantage of my newfound wealth to pay for some things I’ve been craving to do and try to treat my girlfriend, Kemey, along the way as well. So have a read over my two-day insider’s itinerary and see if you reckon I made the most of my “free money”… and if you think you could have done better, leave your own tips in the comments section.

DAY #1

Breakfast with a View

My first day of staycation started with breakfast 36 floors up at Darwin Brasserie. Located in the Sky Garden of 20 Fenchurch Street (the City of London’s so called “Walkie Talkie” building), it was a lofty perch from which to plot out our plans. We even had a bird’s eye view of our next destination: the Tower of London. I’d go back more for the view than the food, but that’s not to say I didn’t appreciate my plate of smoked haddock with poached egg and toast – just that the view was so incredible. After our meal we stepped out onto the 35^th floor terrace and marveled at the city laid before us.

And here’s an insider tip: it’s free to visit the Sky Garden, but there’s often a queue and no guarantee you’ll get in. But, if you have a rez at one of its two restaurants you can cut the queue.

Damage was surprisingly reasonable at just under £35 for a meal for two.

Tower of London

From the Walkie Talkie, we took the short stroll over to the Tower of London. I’d been ages ago when I originally moved to London, but I was eager to return and Kemey had never been. For a history lesson on a grand scale and to have it hit home just how ancient (and still relevant) London is, there’s no better place to visit. We got there just in time for a free tour led by an actual Yeoman Warder and after that had a gawk at the Crown Jewels.

The tower was really the only major attraction we hit during our staycation. If we had wanted to visit more big time sites, we would have been wise to consider purchasing a couple of London Passes which offer fast track access to some of the city’s most popular attractions for one discounted price.

Next stop: Tower of London! … Guess who got to “holiday like a local” with a prepaid card loaded with €500 (it was about £330)? Oh yeah! I’m covering my #London #staycation for urbantravelblog.com alongside staycationers reporting from Barcelona, Paris, Rome and New York. Stay tuned! @urbantravelblog #urbantravelblog #mySkrillsummer #utb #skrill

A photo posted by Chris Osburn (@chrisosburn) on Aug 21, 2015 at 5:41am PDT

I managed to purchase my tickets online with my Skrill Prepaid Mastercard at a cost of £23.10 each.

Up The River & Around Town

After our tour of the Tower, we hopped aboard a Thames Clipper (there’s a pier just outside the Tower’s moat) for a cruise up the river. Clippers are part of London’s public transport network. For a daily commute, they’re kind of an expensive option. But for a fun day out, they’re a scenic and efficient way to get around that’s a lot less touristy than other boat rides. We disembarked at Embankment and spent the next couple of hours roaming around. We had a lounge in the grass at St James’s Park, did some “if I were a billionaire” window shopping in Mayfair, and prowled about Soho en route to one of London’s most lavish locales for a luxuriant afternoon tea.

From the Tower, a ride on the Thames Clipper

A video posted by Chris Osburn (@chrisosburn) on Aug 21, 2015 at 5:44am PDT

Using our Oyster cards (Transport for London’s name for travel cards) a ticket for a oneway ride was £6.44, 10% off regular price.

Afternoon Tea at The Langham

Celebrating its 150^th anniversary this year, The Langham London luxury hotel has the distinction of being the birthplace of that ever so English of traditions, the afternoon tea. Served in the Art Deco opulence of the hotel’s Palm Court with elegantly crafted morsels created by Executive Pastry Chef, Cherish Finden, tea at The Langham proved a wonderful way to relax in style, recount our earlier adventures and dream a little about how we were going to have more fun the next day.

Kemey and I had booked our tea for the last possible seating, 5.30pm. With a big late breakfast and our tea edging into early evening, we had no need for lunch or dinner. Another nifty aspect to having afternoon tea that that time was we caught the beginning of a performance by a jazz trio at 7pm.

Hot jazz with my scones and clotted cream … … Guess who got to “holiday like a local” with a prepaid card loaded with €500 (it was about £330)? Oh yeah! I’m covering my #London #staycation for urbantravelblog.com alongside staycationers reporting from Barcelona, Paris, Rome and New York. Stay tuned! @urbantravelblog #urbantravelblog #mySkrillsummer #utb #skrill

A video posted by Chris Osburn (@chrisosburn) on Aug 21, 2015 at 6:05am PDT

With a topped up glass of NV Laurent – Perrier Brut Champagne, afternoon tea came to £59 per person.

World’s Best Bar?

Intent on having one more treat before heading home, we crossed the lobby of The Langham’s for a drink at Artesian. Voted “World’s Best Bar” by Drinks International for the last three consecutive years, Artesian wasn’t only a smart choice for a conveniently situated nightcap but an ideal setting to be amazed. We sipped from the bar’s newly launched Surrealism drinks menu. Taking inspiration from Salvador Dali’s cookbook, Les Diners de Gala, the team at Artesian added “the final chapter to this pivotal tome … and subverting the notion of reality, everyday objects and, once again, the idea of the traditional serve.” For wickedly beguiling cocktails served smoking or in Lego constructions or suspended from a net, it’s the best show in town.

Cocktails from the Surrealism list cost £18 each. Ouch? Yeah, but wow!

DAY #2

A Great British Breakfast

For my second day of staycation, I surfed the Victoria Line of the London Underground on a solo mission to hit a few favourite places along its route between Walthamstow in Northeast London (where I live) to Brixton at the southern end of the line.

Before catching the Tube, I dropped by local foodie haven, Eat 17 for a BLT. Served on a toasted brioche bun and loaded with bacon, it provided an especially savoury start to my day. On my way out, I dropped in next door to the award-winning Spar neighborhood grocery, owned by the same folks at Eat 17, it’s a delectably stocked shop with all the sorts of items you’d expect shelved beside some of Britain’s best artisan and gourmet products and freshly made baked goods. I got a supremely tasty blueberry, maple, pecan, cherry, and pistachio cookie for later along with a bottle of water.

Barbara Hepworth at Tate Britain … For Day 2 of my “holiday like a local” staycation with a Skill prepaid card loaded with €500 (about £330) I hit the Victoria Line of the London Underground and a few favourite places starting in Walthamstow in the northeast where I live and heading down to Brixton at the southern end of the line. I’m covering my #London #staycation for urbantravelblog.com alongside staycationers reporting from Barcelona, Paris, Rome and New York. Stay tuned! @urbantravelblog #urbantravelblog #mySkrillsummer #utb #skrill

A photo posted by Chris Osburn (@chrisosburn) on Aug 21, 2015 at 7:14am PDT

BLT with coffee set me back £8.05. Snacky shopping at Spar was about £2.

Sculpture for a Modern World

The first stop of my Tube tour was Pimlico, where I made a bee-line for Tate Britain. I’d been hoping to view Tate’s current Barbara Hepworth exhibition for some while. A fan of this mid-century British sculptor, I was not disappointed and can heartedly recommend it to anyone interested in sculpture or modern art. The exhibition runs until the 25^thof October.

Admission to Tate Britain was free but a ticket to the Hepworth exhibition cost £16.

Crate Brixton

Back on the Tube, I head south to the Victoria Line’s southern terminal in Brixton for a snoop round the recently launched Pop Brixton container village. I had been meaning to check out this “new community campus for startups, small businesses, local entrepreneurs and community organisations” since hearing about it. Lunchtime during the final day of my Skrill summer staycation seemed as good a time as any. And making down there for lunch turned out to be yummy timing.

I dined at Hook Brixton, a pop-up outpost of sustainable fish restaurant, Hook Camden (one of my recent favourite eateries in London). Not merely frying up scrumptious fish and chips, Hook sources its main product sustainably and responsibly (and commendably) from small fisheries and line fishermen in Cornwall. The menu is catch of the day, everyday – and only ever just that. Such a fresh approach adds up to a rotating menu of more than 50 different fish and chips varieties to offer (depending on what the boats brought in) alongside dozens of different homemade sauces, seasoned salts, sides, and desserts. Hook’s seaweed-soaked chips are worth noting as well, especially after receiving a spritz or two of sherry vinegar spray.

Pop Brixton … For Day 2 of my “holiday like a local” staycation with a Skill prepaid card loaded with €500 (about £330) I hit the Victoria Line of the London Underground and a few favourite places starting in Walthamstow in the northeast where I live and heading down to Brixton at the southern end of the line. I’m covering my #London #staycation for urbantravelblog.com alongside staycationers reporting from Barcelona, Paris, Rome and New York. Stay tuned! @urbantravelblog #urbantravelblog #mySkrillsummer #utb #skrill

A photo posted by Chris Osburn (@chrisosburn) on Aug 21, 2015 at 7:19am PDT

Adjacent to buzzing Brixton Market, Pop served as a perfect setting for taking in the area’s famously edgy street life, and I had a blast browsing around it as well as the warren of nearby streets.

An ample plate of fish and chips with mushy peas and beer came to £15.

Movies & Mojitos

Having returned to Walthamstow, I met Kemey at the Underground station. With a bit more money on my card, we went to the local Empire Cinema and bought some tix for a screening of Pixar’s Inside Out. What a great movie (for kids of any age)!

We might also have had a cocktail or two at Caribbean bar and grill, Turtle Bay, before moseying on home, mission completed.

Movie tickets with some treats cost about £18. Cocktails at Turtle Bay were £6.95 each (we’d just missed the generous two-for-one offer that ran until 7pm).

Chris would like to thank Skrill for kindly sending over one of their Skrill Prepaid Mastercards enabling him to Holiday Like A Local in London. The card was a handy travel companion, which you can use as a credit card, at ATMs or making online purchases, and which you can top up to match your holiday budget. For more info on both Skrill and their Prepaid Mastercards head to Skrill.com.

For more tips on London check out Chris’s Secret Seven attractions, plus of course our London city break guide.

About Chris Osburn

Chris Osburn is a freelance American writer and photographer based in London, and a regular contributor to Urban Travel Blog. His stories often bring to the fore his love of food and drink, whilst his photography has been exhibited around the world. More on Chris here.

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My first day back to work after a wonderful summer trip to Portugal and I was already tired of my ‘real life’ and longing for adventure once more. Luckily, besides a tonne of paperwork waiting for me in the office, I also returned to Rome to find out that a brand new Skrill Prepaid Mastercard, topped up with €500 of credit, had arrived in the post. My mission was to Holiday Like A Local, spending the money on all my favourite things to do in my home town – which, needless to say, was a dream come true for a Rome lover and city break enthusiast like me.

In fact, I was so enthusiastic that I didn’t care that most of the coolest places in the city, particularly the small and independent ones, would be closed on this bank holiday weekend – as I was confident that I knew my town well enough to still find a host of amazing things to see and do. In fact, as it turned out, the bank holiday was the least of my problems as a huge storm beat down over Rome for most of the weekend. But that didn’t stop me either! So please pack your umbrella and follow me on my grey but wonderful three day staycation….

DAY #1

Marble & Machines

My first stop was the Centrale Montemartini Museum, a former thermoelectric power plant now hosting an exhibition of marble statues from Ancient Rome. This striking combination started as a lucky coincidence, as in 1995 the famous Capitoline Museum was partially closed to the public for renovation and its Roman statues and ancient mosaics were moved to the abandoned rooms of the city’s first public power plant – where many of them ended up staying. This is my favourite museum in Rome, not only for combining classical art with industrial archaeology, but also because it is always very quiet and soothing, unlike the main branch of the Capitoline Museum downtown.

Being a resident in Rome, I paid a discounted entrance ticket of €6,50.

Moreover, the founding of this classical art exhibition inside a former industrial complex marked the crucial transition of the Ostiense district into an area now famous for its restaurants and nightlife.

If you like the post-industrial vibes of Ostiense district, you could embark on a (very rewarding, I promise!) graffiti hunt around Via del Porto Fluviale, after which you could check out the Non-catholic Cemetery nearby.

Shopping For Serendipity

As for me, I took a bus to the city centre to start spending some money at the few shops that were open during this bank holiday weekend. I went to the Fox Gallery, a cool shop selling posters, notebooks and artsy stuff, where I found a roll of wrapping paper with a vintage world map design, an art-therapy book for my inner child to colour in and a serendipitous book called ‘Sidewalks: a journal for exploring your city’.

Total damage: €27,50.

Gelato To Go

To loosen up after the first shopping session of the weekend I went to Giolitti, one of the oldest and most renowned cafés in Rome, which – despite the ubiquitous long line of tourists – still serves a great coffee and my favourite ice-cream in town (and it keeps its prices low – €2,5 for a small cup. Unless you want to get a seat inside its art-nouveau room, which costs extra).

Walking The Satirical Streets

I kept wandering around the city centre looking for some more nice stuff to buy, but all shops were either closed or too fancy, and so I just indulged in street photography to show you guys the pleasure of even a simple stroll in Rome.

While doing so, I walked past the ‘talking statue’ of Pasquino, next to which, since the 16^th century, satirical poems in the Roman dialect were held. Lately the statue is ‘mute’, but the street poetry scene in Rome isn’t dead: just wait until tomorrow night and you will see!

Craft Beer Garden

Locals don’t eat in the city centre, as it is full of average quality tourist traps, so for dinner I joined a friend in the Piazza Sempione zone, one of the pivotal points of the northern outskirts of Rome. Being my first day of staycation I wanted to keep it low-profile, so we went to a beer garden overlooking the river Aniene, which is a small river that runs across a beautiful natural park. The DeRiva Aniene garden is cosy and very colourful. Here we had a chicken burger and a craft beer for a total of €11 per person.

Rooftop Party

The night was still young, and at Riva Aniene it didn’t seem to get started, so we decided to go to ‘Feria’, the summer festival taking place on the rooftop of Lanificio159, which is one of the coolest post-industrial cultural venues in town. Being a former woollen mill, the place is huge and made of several different thematic areas but, unfortunately, the only one open during the summer is the rooftop of the factory. Here we had a couple of beers (at €4 each) and danced the night out.

For a video round up of day #1 check out my vlog!

DAY #2

Rain Rain Go Away

The next day, when I woke up, the situation was like this:

Another rainy day in Rome… My plans keep changing, but it still is the most amazing staycation ever! ? #myskrillsummer #holidaylikealocal #rome #rain

A photo posted by Giulia Blocal blog (@giulia_blocal_blog) on Aug 16, 2015 at 1:50am PDT

Great! Not only almost every place in town was closed, but also I needed to find something to do under a roof. While my posh day at the rooftop swimming pool would clearly have to be postponed, I made a new plan for the morning and took a bus to Campo de’ Fiori where I visited the Palazzo della Cancelleria, a Renaissance palace currently hosting a temporary exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci’s machines. I’ve always been fascinated by Leonardo’s genius, and so I really had fun at the exhibition where I could try some of the machines and even act stupid inside the mirror room.

But the real quirky thing about the Palazzo della Cancelleria is that underneath it (and therefore underneath one of the most popular squares in the city centre) there is a real lake submerging a Roman tomb, which you can see once you get a ticket for the current exhibition.

Cost for the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition = €9.

Meanwhile the weather got worse, and by the time I left the exhibition the situation was like this:

Annoying, but at least I can now show you a completely empty Piazza Navona, which is something very rare to witness, trust me!

Coffee On Camera

I took shelter inside Vivi Bistrot, a nice café on the square, which magically isn’t a tourist trap like all other restaurants of the area. I guess it’s not a complete secret either as there was an American film crew behind the counter shooting a ‘real Italian life’ documentary. Not wanting to be second best, as soon as they left I asked the waiter to prepare something typically Italian for my camera too and he made me a cappuccino (for €1,20).

Romeo and Giulia

As soon as the rain stopped (finally!), I seized the moment and walked to the posh neighbourhood of Prati, which I love to visit in August when all the offices, courthouses and fancy shops are closed. During this time the otherwise hectic ‘hood is quiet and I can stroll along its tree-lined boulevards admiring its beautiful Umbertino buildings (a typical Italian architectural style from the end of the 19^th century).

Here I went to Romeo, a boutique bakery and restaurant by the Michelin starred chef Cristina Bowerman. Usually I eat at the bakery but this time, emboldened by the healthy credit still on my SPPMC (Skrill Prepaid Mastercard!), I selected a seat in the second room, the à-la-carte restaurant, and enjoyed a sandwich made of liquorice bread and fois gras served with mango ketchup, wine mayo and fries, followed by a gazpacho with melanzane alla parmigiana, a classic Campanian dish of aubergine baked with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Despite being a Michelin starred restaurant, here I paid just €34.

House of the Owls

The weather was still uncertain and so I opted for another indoor activity, taking a taxi to Villa Torlonia, a park with three museums, a restaurant and several war bunkers. As there were no tours of the bunkers available on a bank holiday, I decided to visit the Casina delle Civette (The House of the Owls), a very peculiar construction from the 19^th century built in a mixture of styles, with interesting decorative details and architectural elements such as loggias, porticos, turrets – and of course the ubiquitous stained glass windows. The House of the Owls hosts the Art-Nouveau Museum, a lovely hidden gem among Rome’s museums.

#peacocks @ Casina delle Civette #villatorlonia #rome #roma #myskrillsummer #holidaylikealocal #artnouveau #museum #liberty #glass #stainedglass

A photo posted by Giulia Blocal blog (@giulia_blocal_blog) on Aug 18, 2015 at 11:20am PDT

Moreover, while I was purchasing the entrance ticket (€5) I spotted a book that seemed more than a touch providential, and handed over my SPPMC once again:

…and while I was at it I added two more books about Rome to my staycation expenditure: one featuring stories of rebellion in Rome and one about quirky places along the G.R.A., which is Rome’s ring road.

Damage done at the museum bookshop: €41,50.

From Biking, to the Bistrot

As soon as I began consulting my new book, the rain stopped and so I decided to join a couple of friends at Villa Pamphili, a big park in western Rome. Here we rented three bikes (€15 each) and explored the park, from the ‘Casino del Bel Respiro’ and its secret gardens as far as the lake and the wilder area of the park.

Exploring Villa Pamphili by #bike #roma #rome #myskrillsummer #holidaylikealocal #park

A photo posted by Giulia Blocal blog (@giulia_blocal_blog) on Aug 15, 2015 at 8:21am PDT

I used to come here with my grandfather, and so last time I was biking around Villa Pamphili my bike still had its trainer wheels on. This time instead, despite people saying that you never forget how to bike, I spent most of the afternoon pushing the bike with my arms, until I eventually gave up on cycling and sat down at Vivi Bistrot (they have two branches) for a much more satisfying beer tasting, while pondering over the idea of joining the free yoga class at 7pm. (I didn’t).

I Told You So!

For dinner we went to Flavio al Velavevodetto, which literally means ‘I told you so’, from the sentence Flavio is rumoured to have said when he quit his job as a chef in one of the most popular restaurants in Rome to open his own place. At Flavio’s the cuisine is traditional, and as rich and greasy as only Roman dishes can be, but we washed the meal down with several glasses of white wine. Here I paid €102, including two bottles of wine.

Traditional Roman dinner #food #foodie #myskrillsummer #holidaylikealocal

A photo posted by Giulia Blocal blog (@giulia_blocal_blog) on Aug 15, 2015 at 2:55pm PDT

Rapper’s Delight

As I mentioned in my ‘Secret Seven’ post about Rome for Urban Travel Blog, one of my favourite things to do in town is attending a summer event known as ‘Estate Romana’, an umbrella name for all kinds of cultural activities taking place during summer. One of my favourite festivals under the ‘Estate Romana’ umbrella is Eutropia and it takes place inside the ex-slaughterhouse in the Testaccio district. Eutropia is basically a music festival, but on this night it hosted a street poetry reading by Poeti del Trullo (Trullo is an area in western Rome often associated with criminality). And so, even if Pasquino is no longer lampooning from his popular corner near Piazza Navona, the walls of Rome are still speaking in rhymes in the Trullo hood, where seven poets are hanging on walls or on lampposts, their harsh poems written in Roman dialect.

This poem is about a young couple discussing having a baby:

Back at the festival and the night’s poems were accompanied with some traditional Roman stornello (which is a sort of folk song) and two popular folk singers, Lucilla Galeazzi and Giulia Anania, performed several well known songs about Rome, making the crowd clap to the beat.

This is me singing along:

It was a very special night soaked in that genuine ‘Romanity’ that I find increasingly rare these days, as everything becomes more and more commercialised. Normally you’ll only find mariachi bands in touristy restaurants that still play stornelli, so it was great to hear them in this authentic environment. The entrance to the festival was free, but I couldn’t help buying a poetry book by Poeti del Trullo at €10 and I also bought a round of beers for €25.

For a video round up of day #2 check out my vlog!

DAY #3

Arcade Flyer

I spent the morning waiting for the rain to stop, until it was pretty obvious that once again I had to set aside the idea of spending the day at one of the city’s luxurious rooftop swimming pools. Luckily, Rome’s museums were open even on a bank holiday and their exhibits are so varied that I was just spoiled for choice. But before I even left the house, I first downloaded the Skrill app to check my card balance – and when I saw that there were still 100€ left I decided to go back to Prati neighbourhood to spoil myself with another fancy meal and check out a quirky museum over there, the video games museum, where I could play at some old classics of my generation such as Pacman and Bubble Bobble for an entrance ticket of €8.

Having fun at the #videogames museum in #rome #prati #myskrillsummer #holidaylikealocal #play

A photo posted by Giulia Blocal blog (@giulia_blocal_blog) on Aug 16, 2015 at 6:19am PDT

A Fancy Fish Burger

It was time to eat something, so I headed to Settembrini. Usually I visit the most informal area of the restaurant, a library with wooden tables on which you can nibble something casual such as cheeses and cold cuts, but this time, equipped with my still-credit-carrying Skrill Prepaid Mastercard, I could enter the ‘real’ restaurant, where I enjoyed a fish burger with potatoes and a couple of glasses of white wine for €28.

Another Villa Afternoon

It seemed it could have rained forever but, at this point, I put up with it and stuck to my original plan of spending the afternoon at Villa Borghese, and elegant park not so far from the city centre.

Villa Borghese #rome #roma #villaborghese #italy #park #myskrillsummer #holidaylikealocal

A photo posted by Giulia Blocal blog (@giulia_blocal_blog) on Aug 16, 2015 at 10:40am PDT

First things first, I went to the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to buy two tickets for ‘Much ado about nothing’. As, even after my extravagant lunch, I still had some credit left on my SPPMC I bought two very central seats at €27 each. The play was at 9pm, so I had the whole afternoon to spend at the park. Villa Borghese is full of places to see, from touristy spots, such as the lake, the Pincio terrace and the – anyway beautiful – Galleria Borghese and some more local hang-outs, such as the zoo, the Carlo Bilotti Museum and the Children’s Cinema.

I opted for the Modern Art Gallery, which displays 20^th-century paintings and sculptures by well-known artists such as Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, Klimt and – of course – all the Italian vanguards.

After wandering around the park as far as the panoramic terrace, I went to the Casa del Cinema (the Cinema House), a place devoted to film festivals and indie movies. A friend joined me there and we ordered one ‘aperitivo’ served with canapés. We paid €9 each, but at least we didn’t have to worry about an empty stomach during a 3-hour play!

Much Ado About Rome

When the play was about to start, we left the Casa del Cinema and took our VIP seats at the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, which is an actual wooden Elizabethan theatre like the popular one in London. It was the first time that I attended a play at the Globe and I loved the fact that the architecture plays a big role in the show too.

Coming back home after the play, I couldn’t help thinking that Rome never disappoints me. Even under the rain, I had an amazing staycation and the best part of it is that, for once, I won’t suffer from post holiday syndrome.

Click for a video round up of day #3 on my vlog.

Giulia would like to thank Skrill for generously sending over one of their Skrill Prepaid Mastercards enabling her to Holiday Like A Local. The card was a handy travel companion, which you can use as a credit card accepted at 35.9 million locations worldwide, or at ATMs, and which you can top up to match your holiday budget. For more info on both Skrill and their SPPMC head to Skrill.com.

Meanwhile check out our insider tips from Barcelona, when Duncan Rhodes went on Holiday Like A Local… you can check back for adventures in London, Paris and New York in the coming weeks too!

Finally, if you’re coming to Rome be sure to check our Long Weekend guide to the Eternal City.

About Giulia Riva

Rome-based Giulia, known to her followers as Giulia Blocal, is a lover of unconventional destinations, street art, urban landscapes and hidden spots, all of which she covers on her blog. More on Giulia here.

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The post Holiday Like a Local in Rome appeared first on Urban Travel Blog.

So you’ve watched the above video? Who knew that being a presenter is a little trickier than it looks? But anyway if you didn’t get the gist by now, Urban Travel Blog and Skrill online payment system have just teamed up to show our readers, and their customers, how to “Holiday Like A Local“. Their marketing team must have been in a pretty good mood this summer because they’ve given me, and our other locally-based bloggers in Rome, Paris, London and New York, €500 each to spend on staycation using one of their Prepaid Mastercards. As resident city experts we are pretty confident that nobody knows our cities like we do, so come join our adventures and pick up some amazing insider tips for your own city break abroad…

DAY #1

Picnic for Brunch

When I told my girlfriend Skrill were sending me €500 to have fun in Barcelona she was pretty excited. “You can take me out to some nice restaurants,” she said (“for a change,” she implied). Unfortunately for her, my shiny new Skrill Prepaid Mastercard arrived the day after she left for Poland on holiday. Of course a notorious playboy like me only had to leaf briefly through my black book for an equally charming and good looking replacement. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the lovely.. Pierre Le Van, from Voyage Forever.

Wanting to get our “noliday” off to a good start I reserved a table at Barcelona’s brunch bar du jour, Picnic, for some hearty huevos rancheros (Pierre) and pork tacos (moi), fortified with some radioactive-looking gazpacho and a thick, vitamin-rich smoothie. The street terrace is already full even five minutes after opening but there is plenty of space inside for us to tuck in to our meal and record the above video, before we get on our way. Damage done a very affordable €24 for two.

Late brunch at Picnic in Barcelona… start of a big day exploring! Do i look like a tourist in this shirt? #mySkrillsummer #utb #brunch #bringiton

A photo posted by Duncan Rhodes | UTB (@urbantravelblog) on Aug 6, 2015 at 5:11am PDT

Best of all we’re completely powered up for the day ahead.

The Mystery Of Gaudi’s Death…

…remains unsolved, I’m sorry to say. At our next stop, Escape Hunt Barcelona, Pierre and I were locked in a room and challenged to find the holy relic which the architect was carrying with him when he was hit by public tram in 1926, dying shortly afterwards. If you haven’t heard about the escape games phenomenon that is sweeping Europe (it started in Budapest), then the concept is this… participants are locked in an especially designed room, where they are given 60 minutes to solve a series of clues, usually based around a theme, and thereby earn their escape. Pierre and I got off to flying start in our mission to discover the truth behind Gaudi’s demise, as we quickly found several keys, and managed to unlock various combination codes to reveal more clues and more keys. Unfortunately, not aided by me pulling out a light socket (things got harder in the dark!) we got stuck for about 20 minutes on one clue, neglected to use one key that we found and completely ignored another vital puzzle. Overall great fun, but take my advice and bring someone smarter than Pierre with you if you want to exit the room…

Cost of this brainercise = €50.

Paddling & Pool Time

It’s still scorching hot when we leave Escape Hunt so we decide it’s time to cool off at the beach. We ride the metro to Barceloneta and then walk up the Joan de Borbo boulevard, which always has a great holiday atmosphere about it. I make a stop off an ATM and withdraw 100 yoyos (that’s coolspeak for euros btw) using my SPPMC (that’s an abbreviation for Skrill Prepaid Mastercard btw), before we swing a right at the end up the beach towards one of the modern architectural icons of the city, the W-Hotel.

In fact we’re aiming for Pukas Surf School to hire some stand up paddle boards for the afternoon. But when we arrive there are no SUP boards available so we decide – since we are in the ‘hood and have plenty of cash in our pockets – we should enjoy a drink at the aforementioned W. The hotel’s staff are flawlessly polite, but not too impressed with Pierre’s flip flops which are forbidden at their 24th floor Eclipse Bar. However they agree to let us enjoy a cocktail by their pool, even if technically it’s only open to the public after 20:00. I sneak into the bathroom to change into my swimming trunks, whilst Pierre orders the mango and passion fruit smoothies… (€7 a pop).

Mango smoothie anyone? Playing it cool at the W Hotel pool. #highlife #whotel #Barcelona #smoothie #mySkrillsummer #utb

A photo posted by Duncan Rhodes | UTB (@urbantravelblog) on Aug 6, 2015 at 9:33am PDT

After a bit of relaxing we get a call from Pukas to tell us our boards are waiting for us and we hustle back to their beach shack. I ask the lady at the desk if we get a life jacket and she scrunches her face to make a “what kind of man are you?” look, which I guess answers that one. Still, having tried my hand at SUPing last year in Ljubljana I’m feeling pretty confident I won’t have to test my limited swimming skills too much.

Down on the shore and the still searing hot sun means I am keen to get in the water, despite the disgusting amount of human detritus that is bobbing in the shallows. Wading through the filthy surf I hop on my board asap and do a quick warm up lap on my knees. Unfortunately even the mild swell of Barceloneta beach is considerably more rocky than the placid river Ljubljanica (where I first tried stand up paddling) and the moment I try to stand up I lose my balance and take a face first dive into the sea narrowly missing a (presumably used) sanitary pad. Perhaps it’s the incentive of not face-planting on such an item again that means my second run out in deeper waters – which are thankfully both much cleaner and calmer – is considerably more successful. I wish I could say the same for Pierre.

Cost of these aquabatics = €13 per board per hour.

Beach Garden

After such rigorous exertion, it’s clearly time to relax again and I suggest a drink at a chiringuito, one of the charming informal beach huts that crop up along Barcelona’s city beaches. But Pierre suggests this is way too touristy for two hip local barflies like us, and points me towards a bar just across the boardwalk called Beach Garden. Amazingly I had ignored this little beaut until now, with its brightly painted tabletops, garden foliage and long menu of liquid refreshments. To top if off there’s a Danish dude with a guitar rendering an acoustic version of The Way You Make Me Feel to entertain us as we sip on a kiwi-flavoured (virgin) cocktail called appropriately enough Paddlesurf. I feel Pierre is finally starting to pull his weight on this staycation.

Craft Beer O’Clock

It’s getting late by the time we leave Beach Garden, so Pierre and I go to our separate homes before agreeing to convene at Cara B for a concert by a girl who comes from the same tiny town in Virginia as my American housemate. Now I’m all for a bit of live music, but even more happily this diminutive den in the hip district of Gracia is also a vendor of craft beer. Another friend of mine Carlos has three more friends in town, so we’re a merry party of six… but armed with my SPPMC I’m feeling generous enough to get a round in. It’s expensive by Barcelona standards at €36 but on the other hand the empanadas are a steal at €2. As we didn’t have time for dinner, I figure three of these pocket pastries should see me through the night. And leave me with plenty more beer money.

Things Get Blurry

You’re never short of things to do in Barcelona by night, especially if you’ve been living in the city for a bit, and when another friend calls to say he’s in Cassette Bar in Raval we make a dash for the last metro and ride it back into the centre of town. This spit and sawdust place, favoured by beatniks and skaters, only fits a handful of people so we prop up the bar with a well mixed mojito or two, getting well into the party mood. However just as we are peaking we are hit with “the three o’clock dilemma”, ie. that regular puzzle of where to go at 3am when all the bars are closed. Barcelona’s nightclubs are almost all dressed up or down discos, full of party casualties, and when we take a punt on Teatre Principal on Las Ramblas we are unpleasantly unsurprised to find it’s full of vomiting girls and groping guys. Still the music isn’t bad and we get a Spanish strength mixer with our €10 entry. I’m too drunk to remember my Skrill pin by now, but luckily I’ve still got some of that cash from the ATM, which I am able to barter for a round of Jagermeister shots… bits of worthless paper for delicious alcoholic beverages. Who da man?

DAY #2

Full Steam Ahead

With great foresight we planned our recovery session at the atmospheric Aire de Barcelona arabic baths for no earlier than 2pm. However, despite a half decent night’s sleep, there are bags under the eyes, queasy stomachs and sore limbs as souvenirs from the night before. In short, two hours relaxing in the mellow womb of these subterranean pools is just what we need. After vegetating in the saline bath for a blissful moment we are called for our 30 minute massage, where silent hands knead and pound our hangover out of our increasingly mushy bodies. The lilting ecclesiastical soundtrack that echoes in the dark supports my growing belief that I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Bit hungover today. Time to recover at Aire de Barcelona arabic baths. #sauna #spa #baths #Barcelona #hungover #mySkrillsummer #utb

A photo posted by Duncan Rhodes | UTB (@urbantravelblog) on Aug 7, 2015 at 5:17am PDT

Sadly though mine is not in fact the infinite rest of the virtuous, and once my time is up the hitherto sympathetic hands of my masseuse rudely slap my absurd sanitary slippers back on my feet and bid me make way for the next customer. It was great while it lasted. As a consolation prize Pierre and I are offered a nice romantic package of champagne and chocolates… although I can’t stomach the champagne, so I pour myself a mint tea from a samovar on a silver platter. We then spend another highly enjoyable hour reclining in various baths of various temperatures, plus a steam room and jacuzzi, before a cruel bell rings telling us it’s time to leave.

Cost of this indulgent recovery is €64 per person, for baths and half hour massage. We blag a 2 for 1 deal, as we are superstar bloggers after all.

Tapas Lunch

Safe to say we’re starving by now, so I take Pierre to my current “go to” tapas bar, a new joint called Bormuth that opened not so long ago in El Borne. When it comes to value for money I think this one is hard to beat and we enjoy a healthy lunch of Russian salad, breaded chicken fingers, choricitos in cider, jamon serrano croquettes with of course a side of pan con tomate (tomato bread, a simple dish of almost religious importance here in Catalonia). I also order a glass of gazpacho, the cold Spanish soup that rivals Polish barszcz as far as nutrient-rich hangover cures go. The meal with drinks costs less than €30 and we can’t eat it all.

Culture & Coffee

We are well into the second day of our staycation by now, and it’s high time for a token slice of culture. I’ve received a tip that the unfancied Frederic Mares museum is well worth checking out, and it’s just 10 minutes walk away, right by the sensational Gothic Cathedral. You have to feel sorry for this particular church… in any other metropolis it might well be the cynosure of the city, but with Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia to contend with this more conventional cathedral plays second fiddle. Still it’s nice to take a look, and in the square below there is a two man band playing swing music… which is an invitation for one tourist couple to have a bit of a waltz around the plaza. I encourage Pierre to join in. You can judge for yourself how he does in the video below…

Pierre’s poor man’s jig over, we heard to the museum where we are denied a media discount, despite being superstar bloggers. Guess we’ll just have to fork out the full €4.20 each entry. On the first floor there are some not quite inspiring religious statues, but Pierre does manage to find a bold work of modern art titled “Fire Hydrant – Break The Glass in Case of Emergency”. Fascinating stuff.

Up on the second floor things become a lot more interesting with a collection of ornately decorated swords and helms, plus a display of deadly looking crossbows that you suspect would moisten the loins lips of King Joffrey if he were to see them. The third floor was probably my favourite though where a fantastic collection of keys, walking sticks, cigarette holders, pipes, playing and tarot cards, matchstick boxes, stamps, paper knives, eyeglasses and more are on display, all intricately fashioned in the style of the era (end of 19th to start of 20th century).

Perhaps the find of the day though was the museum’s cafe, Cafe D’Estiu, which is perched up over one of the city’s medieval ramparts, and annexed to a tranquil courtyard replete with goldfish pond, potted plants, trees and Roman pillars.

A View From A Hill

Having achieved our mission of inserting a tidbit of tradition into our itinerary, we head back to my flat to charge our camera batteries and have a quick siesta. An hour or so later and we flag down a taxi for Bunkers del Carmel. A defunct military complex rising above the Carmelo district, not too far from Park Guell, this broken concrete eyesore atop a hill offers possibly the best views over Barcelona anywhere in the city and in recent years has become a gathering place for locals, and a few in-the-know foreigners, to watch the sunset with a cerveza. Unfortunately our taxi driver is not sure exactly where it is, and neither are we, so Pierre and I have to hotfoot around the slopes of the hill, taking several wrong turns, arriving sweaty and dishevelled just as the light is turning too bad for decent photos. Oh well, it’s still well worth it. To see the whole city laid out like a museum miniature is impressive, and from up here you can really appreciate the scale of some of Barcelona’s biggest bruisers, like La Sagrada Familia, Torre Agbar (whose red and blue lights are flashing for perhaps the last time) and the W-Hotel, compared to the average apartment block. A thick blanket of dismal grey cloud is giving the view a fleeting apocalyptic quality, before dusk turns to dark and we are left to admire the city lights.

Watching night fall over Barcelona from the epic viewpoint of the Bunkers del Carmel. #Barcelona #bunkersdelcarmel #cloudy #nightfall #dusk #mySkrillsummer #utb #localsecret

A photo posted by Duncan Rhodes | UTB (@urbantravelblog) on Aug 10, 2015 at 4:52pm PDT

(Hint: if you want to do this yourself, and your driver doesn’t know where to go ask him to take you to Restaurante Las Delicias in Carmel, address Carrer Muhlberg 1. From there you can easily walk up).

Seafood and Eat It

There’s still over €100 left on my beloved SPPMC and we’ve both starving by now. A taxi whisks us back to Passeig de Gracia, the grand boulevard that links the top of Las Ramblas with the Gracia district. This avenue is undoubtedly Barcelona’s finest and most expensive real estate, and amongst the litany of architectural gems you’ll find Gaudi’s famed Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. But we’re not here for any more sightseeing… we swing down an alley at number 24 and arrive at El Nacional, one of Barcelona’s most recently erected temples of gastronomy. I guess the best way to describe it would be as a food hall of the type you might find in a mall, except about twenty times posher and with some of the best cuisine in the Catalan capital. There are a total of 8 different restaurants and bars under the arcing ceilings of this former factory, and they all specialise in food and drink from all four corners of Espana. We manage to find a seat at La Llotja, where I order a Pomada Menorquina, a gin based cocktail hailing from Menorca and a smoked eel salad. Both hit the spot. Pierre has a glass of Rose and orders Andalusian fried prawns, which he assures me we can eat shells and all. We do, removing just the heads, and they are rich, crispy and damn delicious.

We contemplate ordering some more tapas, or a dessert, but it’s already close to midnight and Pierre has a house party to go to. My friends meanwhile are at Anti-karaoke, a kind of heavy metal version of your average sing-a-long night. I am tempted to join them but then again someone once cruelly said to me when I turned 35 that “you are closer to 50 now than 20”, and the middle aged man in me is crying for his pillow. I calculate that with cash withdrawals and Mastercard purchases I’ve only managed to spend a bit over €400 on this action-packed bromantic staycation for two, so I reason that I’ve still got plenty of euros still left for a taxi – and it’s the least I deserve. Goodnight Barcelona, it’s been great as always!

Duncan would like to thank Skrill for generously sending over one of their Skrill Prepaid Mastercards enabling him to go on Holiday Like A Local. The card was a handy travel companion, which you can use as a credit card, or at ATMs for a cheaper price (€1.80) for withdrawal abroad than most major bank cards and which you can top up to match your holiday budget. You can also download their app to check your account balance on the go. For more info on both Skrill and their SPPMC head to Skrill.com. Be sure to subscribe to Urban Travel Blog to find out how some of our other resident bloggers Holiday Like A Local in Paris, London, Rome and New York. And if you’re coming to Barcelona and you need even more great tips than above, be sure to check Urban Travel Blog’s weekend break city guide.

About Duncan Rhodes

Duncan is the Editor-in-Chief of Urban Travel Blog, a born and bred city slicker who loves urban adventure, street art, killer bars and late night hotspots. More about Duncan here.

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