Tag Archives: experience over things

Laser tag: Laser point Logo

Fun for adults and kids: Laser tag in the heart of Barcelona

I planned a surprise birthday for a loved one 😉 and tried to come up with a new and fun activity to do. While speaking with friends, the idea of “laser tag” came up and I decided to dig up around that theme as it sounded quite fun.

Laser tag is like paintball. It is a game played in team or individually (depending on the number of players). Each player wears a jacket with infrared-sensitive targets that other players hit with a laser ray. At the beginning, it seemed hard to find a place in Barcelona. Usually for space reasons, paintball venues are situated out of town and therefore require a car. So it had been a nice surprise to find Play Point right in the middle of Barcelona in Carrer de Comte Borrell, 88.

It is not a fancy venue but the gamefield itself is big enough to enjoy.  It is indoor so it is perfect for cold weather and rainy days like now in October. The price is also attractive: 7.50 Euros for a game, 13 euros for 2 and 18 euros for 3.

Laser tag: game on!

After a 5mn briefing, each player gets his jacket. Then the game is on. You cannot run in the corridors. That limits physical exhaustion if you are a tad lazy like me. When you play individually, you play against each other and try to score points hitting the others. In teams, you protect a base. Shooting the base is worth 2000 points and it is quite exciting to enter the adversary camp to try to hit it.

Anyone can play laser tag: kids, teens and adults (even my 65 year old mum, yes she is cool!). As we were just two of us the first time, they added us to a team of teenagers who took us under their wings. We fought against some kids and their parents who came for a birthday.

It was quite fun to go around and try to win points targeting adversaries, all this in the dark. It was also fun to hide and to protect oneself not to be a target. I was so focused in the game, I forgot the time and lived completely in the present. 20 mn felt like eternity. And the bonus? As you play with laser light, the game is much less painful than with paintball balls. No bruises going home!! But even if the venue is not huge and running is prohibited, you still do sweat! So if you go, don’t plan a fancy dinner like I did afterwards! They don’t have showers…

 

Seafood at la Boqueria

Barcelona experience: eating at la Boqueria market

Today, I want to talk about a Barcelona experience I had: eating at the Boqueria market.

This is one thing I had on my Barcelona bucket list. I do have several bucket lists organized by categories: must-do trips, must-do experiences, must-go-to places, must-do in Barcelona. And this is where we are at!

A landmark and a must-visit here in Barcelona, the Boqueria is famous for being “the” place where you can find almost anything from the food department. Are you looking for cassava leaves? La Boqueria. Bull testicules? La Boqueria. Exotic fruits? La Boqueria… The whole market offers a rich choice of fruit, vegetable, fish, meat and local specialties.

The market does not only sell food. It also hosts a good number of market stalls well renowned for the quality and freshness of their products. And this is what I planned to try out. Luckily for me, my parents went on a first exploration and found a place they raved about. So we headed there for lunch two Saturdays ago.

Eating fresh seafood at la Boqueria

The place we went to was called Kiosko Universal. It was mainly serving seafood. There is a counter where you can observe the cooks while they grill fish and shells.

All the seats at the counter were taken so we waited for a free table. We gave our name to the waiter and waited until he cleaned up. Tables are given on a first come, first serve basis. We did not have to wait much though. The turnover was quite fast although the place was always busy. But we did have to wait a while before our order was taken and before being served.

The whole staff was very nice. So the wait was the only minus. There were locals and tourists alike enjoying the food. For me, the presence of locals in a touristy area means that the food is good. Don’t you think the same? While sitting, we could observe passer-bys, hear the echo of the noise from the market and the happy chatters, smell the food cooking. The atmosphere was very nice and happy.

The menu was simple. Some Spanish specialties like pimientos del padron. But we came for seafood so seafood we will have! We ordered oysters, a parrillada de mariscos (a platter of grilled seafood with mussels, cockles, crawfish, calamari, prawns and razor clams) and a mixed mushroom dish.

To accompany the whole lot, a bottle of white wine, Afortunado, which I never heard of before but was very good. In fact, everything was delicious and really fresh. These were the perks of having supplies at hand.

All in all, eating at la Boqueria was a great experience: the food, the wine, the atmosphere and of course the company were unmatched. A market stall to revisit or a new one to try out, this experience is definitely to repeat!!!

 

 

 

 

 

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