Spendthrift Shoestring

Andorra La Vella: Not Just for Duty-Free Shoppers

Check out my take on Andorra La Vella on the EuroCheapo blog today.

List: White Slab Palace, Niemeyer, Promises

Back in New York and working away with Nathan on a big project. Three quick things.

1. White Slab Palace. Nothing makes me feel more like a curmudgeon than being annoyed by bad service. Most of the time, I don't really care if my waiter is preoccupied or off in his own world. But last night at White Slab Palace, the Swedishish place that has essentially replaced Good World, I found myself grumpy. The service was slow and clueless. I ordered Good World's signature Berzerker cocktail only to be told by a waitress that it wasn't on the menu. Then, after being promised a drinks menu that never arrived, I grabbed one off the bar and discovered that the Berzerker was indeed on offer. The grub was fine but nothing great. And there was a security guard who stood around blocking the route to the bathroom. A security guard? Really? The whole experience was a huge reminder that hipsterism and good dining in New York City are all too often mutually repulsive.

2. Niemeyer. I've had an architectural crush on Oscar Niemeyer's French Communist Party headquarters in Paris forever. It's sort of my dream building—modernist, brutal, undulating. It was only through poking around the other day online that I chanced upon some images of its interiors. Check out Olivier Pascaud's gorgeous photographs here. That conference room almost makes me want urgently to have French Communist business to attend to.

3. Promises. Photos of San Sebastián, Bilbao, and Santander to come.

Pau: Fragments and Signs

Sud Ouest headline.

Detail from the poster advertising the film Le Missionaire (out April 29).

Pau railway station roof.

Andorra: Political Campaign

Andorra will hold a general election on April 26. Here are some campaign posters.

Partit Socialdemòcrata d'Andorra.

Coalició Reformista.

Andorra Pel Canvi.

Verds d'Andorra.

Lisbon: Terrible Immigration Queues!

My TAP flight from Newark got in early, just past 5 a.m. I was excited. I'd had to reschedule my connection on to Barcelona yesterday after one of those airline-generated schedule changes because said change reduced my transfer time to 40 minutes. I figured that I might just be able to race through immigration and get on the earlier flight.

And then I saw the terrible immigration line. The waiting area was divided into three sections: the EU plus EEA and Switzerland line, the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) line, and the other countries line. The EU-plus line appeared to be zipping along, and was sparsely populated as it was.

The CPLP and other countries lines, however, were moving at a snail's pace. I would guess that there were 150 people in the other countries line, perhaps a few less in the CPLP line. And for each group, there was a single customs agent stamping passports. This enthusiasm-sapping pace continued for about 90 minutes.

Sometime around 7 a.m. a slate of agents arrived to expedite things, but all things considered it took close to two hours to clear that line. It was annoying, sure, but more than it was plainly disappointing to see an airport not plan for their arrivals.

State of Quasi-Neglect

Apologies for neglecting Spendthrift Shoestring over the last few weeks. I'm sorry. I'm also tired, having completed far more medium-haul travel over the last month than I ever intended to do—and having one more leg ahead of me, to boot. On Wednesday, I'll fly to Barcelona, meet my mom, and, if our tight connection allows, immediately transfer to a bus to Andorra. After a night in the Pyrenean principality, we'll make a line from Toulouse to Bilbao by train and bus. It will be entirely new territory for me. Needless to say, I'm really excited.

I return on April 23. Following my return, it will be almost three months before I travel internationally again. I'll return to a better blog posting schedule then. 

Meanwhile, in a completely independent development, Calvin Harris' new single makes me wonder if I somehow woke up this morning in 1999 or 1985. The video's a bit distracting, but the song's so good I don't really care—and nor do I particularly feel the need to resolve my temporal confusion.

Experiment Completed

I returned on Wednesday night from my first ever experience as a guest at a super high-end Caribbean resort. (The only other resorty hotel I've frequented in the Caribbean is Curaçao's Kura Hulanda, which is a different sort of place altogether.)

This resort was exquisite in many ways. While my experience there hasn't dislodged me from my shoestring values, I have a new and different appreciation for top-tier resorts. I'll keep the lid on this one until publication. For the time being, here are two views—one at sunrise and the other at sunset.

Daybreak. I woke up with a start and grabbed my camera.

A dreamy sunset, even with clouds on the horizon.

Luxury Experiment In Progress

I'm en route again in this, my craziest travel period ever. I'm on an unusual assignment through Wednesday, dipping my toes into luxury travel writing for the first time. (I suppose those city profiles I wrote years ago for Genre rubbed up against luxury travel writing, but this assignment is more explicitly high-end.) I'll link to the results of this experiment in due time.

I remain simultaneously shoestring and spendthrift to the core, however, so there's no need to remove me from your bookmarks or unsubscribe from this blog's feed. (Um, please do neither?)

Lovely Lima

Determined bougainvillea branch at Museo Larco.

Six nights in Lima passed quickly. We had plans to take an ambitious overnight trip but when push came to shove we ended up staying mostly in Lima. We spent most of our time in Miraflores, venturing to San Isidro, central Lima, and Barranco—where we watched last week's Chile-Peru football match at a bar.

Our days typically started at San Antonio in Miraflores and remained chilled-out and low-key throughout. Among the most memorable adventures were a stroll through central Lima with Betsy's family and our evening explorations of very charming Barranco.

We ate incredibly well. Lima's reputation as a culinary destination may have risen dramatically in recent years, but it can't possibly have peaked. The local ingredients, the interesting fusions, and the confident spirit of local cuisine culture are all noteworthy. Planeloads of tourists should be descending on Lima chiefly to eat. My favorites included Astrid y Gastón, Cebichería La Mar, Matsuei, and, most exciting of all, Betsy's mother's home-cooked lunch. The only meal that approached New York pricing in any way was the one served at Astrid y Gastón, and then not at all, really, not taking into account how outstanding the dishes were. 

When we finally did take our day trip, we headed south to Ica, driving lazily through pisco bodega country and riding buggies (and then sandboarding [!]) across the sand dunes of Huacachina.

Huge thanks to mis primos Phil and Betsy for the crash pad and the camaraderie.

I'm working on a few things related to Lima, all still tentative at this point. I'll link to them when they materialize.