Stuck in London getting to Barcelona - Happy Xmas

Well, it has been an unpredictable year and mine has ended exactly that way also with all of the snow falling in the UK (despite global warming) and closing dozens of airports and meaning hundreds of cancelled flights, in the UK and around Europe.

So the long and short of the situation is that I missed my flight back to Barcelona and will not be in Barcelona for Christmas Day. Having a lot of family in England though, the thought of being forced to stay here and take advantage of:

• Minced pies and fresh cream.
• Traditional Roast dinners.
• Boxing Day (26th December) pub and sport.
• The Boxing Day sales.
• Around family.

There must be much worse places to be for Christmas. Wherever you are in the world and in whatever situation, have an excellent Christmas and hope 2009 was good for you and 2010 even better.

Madrid Barcelona - Barcelona's Best restaurant

I have eaten in probably a hundred plus restaurants, bars and cafes in Barcelona over the last few years and there is a clear winner in my mind when balancing quality, to cost, to service and to location.

I do not work for the restaurant and have no association with it - and my favourite restaurant and place to eat in Barcelona is the interestingly named Catalan restaurant "Madrid Barcelona".

'Madrid Barcelona' is located very centrally on Carrer d'Arago, 282 and generally open from around 8-830pm. The great thing about this place is that they serve very affordable food, have menus in different languages, are very efficient service wise and the food is outstanding.

This restaurant is based on the place where the old Madrid to Barcelona train used to stop at the start of the last century and this restaurant has remained one of the best places to eat every since. Yet, it is relatively unknown and discussed by tourist.