Cervecería El Vaso de Oro (Cup of Gold)

Tapas and drinks are the typical stuff of daily life in Spain, and we’ve not come across a better example of Spaniards enjoying their two favorite pastimes than El Vaso de Oro (Cup of Gold) cervecería (beer establishment, not that they don’t serve every imaginable type of refreshment as well).

We had spent the day hiking up Montjüic, bypassing the funicular to hike back down, and walking across the waterfront to the other side of the harbor to find this place. All I wanted was a place to sit and rest my tootsies and a cup of something gold and cold. There wasn’t a seat to be found in the place, which was predominantly a long, narrow bar with stools, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves so much we couldn’t leave. We ordered beers and tapas and hunched against a shelf hanging on the wall. Ten minutes later two people left, and we grabbed their stools.

…and this is a Monday afternoon!

The food was delicious; we had these little pork filets on toast drenched in olive oil and some chorizitos (little chorizo sausages) with a basket of bread to soak up the drippings. The beer really quenched. We also enjoyed watching the crew behind the counter interact. There is so little room to navigate back there that they each had their stations, calling out orders to each other and passing food and drinks back and forth – always with a sarcastic comment or shout. Fun!