Cerveteca: An awesome beer bar!

We went out this morning to try and take the cable car up to Montjuïc; when we finally go to the station it was a 90 minute wait: 14 people a gondola, 4 gondolas an hour, hmmm  -- fuck this shit.

I really need some downtime after crushing it for work the past week, what are we gonna do?

The cable car is in the oldest part of Barcelona, Barcelonetta, an ancient fishing village. Narrow streets... but it's right on the Med. In fact, we were two blocks from the beach. Fine, I dipped my toes in the water, it was warm. Behind me was a surf shop with a rotating carousel of surfboards -- but why? There are no waves in the Med!  Really! You walk from the flat sand, down a quick slope, and boom, you're in the water. Shortly off the coast are boats: it must be a very steep shelf. But no waves at all.

We'd worked up a powerful thirst, and usually we'd avoid beach-area bars, but there's a lot of beach and a lot of bars: competition should keep everything in check.  A mediocre beer and a decent local vermouth and a Vichy Catalan water (which is soapy to my taste) was under €10, and the view was great -- folks rolling by on bikes, electric scooter, rollerblades, electric bikes, rickshaws, and all manner of boats, ships and such on the near horizon.

I knew I had to get back to work: it was Saturday after all, and my colleagues back home would be getting up soon. Did we have time to find a decent beer on the way? Barely.   Oh, that one's right on the way -- Cerveteca. Goddammit again, google says they're closed until 6pm. Well, let's head home and when we have a choice, pick the most narrow street.

Wouldn't you know: we came across Cerveteca... and the door... looked open!

Sure enough: a funky space on a narrow street, with tons of interesting beer in the coolers, and six or more taps with things that I could barely read and didn't know at all. Excellent.   In my very best Spanish I inquired about a couple, asked to try a couple more. Ended up with a pair of Hoppy Hour, made in Barcelona. The bartender, after we asked about Jalapeño beer, gave us a sample and it was quite good -- Irene had that for her second.

I enquired (practicing Spanish agin) whether they knew of any good beer place near where we were staying (Raval) or like to hang out (Sant Antoni).  Our bartender (I really should have asked his name) gave me a booklet from the 2014 Craft Beer fest held in Barcelona, and a map that showed local beer-friendly establishments. Now we've got a quest!

We took a look at the menu -- in Catalan, Spanish, and English. Horsemeat sausage? Dried tuna from Spain? Hook me up.  Beautifully served, a fine pair of tapas.  Our timing was great: they were closing for the siesta right as we finished our nosh.

What a super-comfortable place, with excellent beer and friendly staff. Thanks, Cervateca, you made our day!