The Jab´s report from Spain

Right now I´m sitting with Jeff in an internet cafe next door to the Hula Hula in LLoret De Mar. It was supposed to be open today but it´s shut! The sign on the door says it is only open on Saturdays now. We could stay for another day but we already booked our next night in Tarragona, which is close to Port Aventura, but about a 3 hour trip from here. We´re still debating what to do at this point.

Barcelona was amazing. We went to the Kahala 3 times, the Kahiki twice, and the Aloha once. The Kahala had the best decor, drinks, menu, and great service. Mugs were for sale but pretty expensive so I only bought 3. We took loads of pictures which I´ll post later.

The Wild Weekend was a blast! I finally got to meet and hang out with Trader Woody, but we never got a chance to visit the newer tiki bar there.

Port Aventura, Madrid, and London next!

Amazing.

Can't wait to see your pix!

Jab!

Do the Bong a favor, I've always appreciated Squire Woody, so..., give him a wedgie for me will you!

On 2004-11-26 19:42, Tiki_Bong wrote:
Do the Bong a favor, I've always appreciated Squire Woody, so..., give him a wedgie for me will you!

Ha! Too late.....I'm back in the UK! My undies will have to remain outside my crack.

I had a great time hanging out with thejab and his mates. They immediately felt like old friends. Their trip through Europe takes in so many amazing Tiki bars that to miss one or two isn't that big a deal. I can't wait to see the photos either!

Trader Woody

We had to leave Lloret De Mar and miss Hula Hula because we already had reservations in Tarragona. It was OK though because Tarragona is a beautiful town filled with Roman artifacts (walls, a coliseum, and aqueduct), our hotel (Lauria) is a 60´s modern classic, and today we went to Port Aventura. It was a strange day being in a Polynesian village and a wild west town with Christmas songs being played over the speakers by people like Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, and Buck Owens, and with all the people speaking in Catalan. The park even has a fake Mediteranean village, and the real thing is only a few miles away!

Off to Madrid manaña.

On 2004-11-26 15:02, thejab wrote:
Mugs were for sale but pretty expensive so I only bought 3.

Hey Jab, I hope one o' dem mugs is for me. I don't get out much anymore.

Ah, Jab! I am picturing you in each of these places, and I'm so happy you're getting to see/experience them all! I'm curious to see how long the line for Madrid's Maona Loa will be (if you're there on a weekend). The b*stards wouldn't sell a single mug there, and there were ones there which I'd never seen, even at all the Barcelona spots. I sinned (stole) in thought, but not in deed. Yay, verily, I was sorely tempted.

I know Spain is enjoying you as much as you're enjoying it!
Formikahini

I'm in London now and I'm on Portobello Road so I'll be ducking into Trailer Happiness very soon.

We went to Trader Vic's last night and this afternoon. It looks great but the Christmas decorations somewhat distract from the atmosphere. The drinks were great - especially the Coffee Grog I had today (it's freezing cold here!) which they made tableside with flaming rum - something I have not seen at a Trader Vic's before.

Later tonight we're visiting South London Pacific.

Madrid was a great city. It was beautiful with the leaves turning and falling. So many great old taverns. I liked the Mauna Loa and it was very close to our hotel near Plaza Mayor. But I didn't like the drinks much and I couldn't find a single tiki in there - just lots of masks. I'm glad it's still there but Barcelona's Kahala is still my favorite tiki bar in Spain.

Now, for the pictures!

Sunset in Benidorm from our hotel room:

In Barcelona now, one of my favorite restaurants we visited - Tortilleria Flash Flash, designed in 1970 and unchanged:

Of the 3 tiki bars, the first one we stopped at was the Kahiki, which ended up being my second favorite. The drinks were usually fair to good, but some were awful. The only bar that sold mugs, but they were pricey.

Lights above the bar:

Suckin' em down

Great drink presentation, complete with sparkler and dry ice, that came out better with a flash:

Nice mug selection

Under bar detail:

And along the staircase:

Jeff losing control:

The next night we hit the Kahala, hands down the best tiki bar in Barcelona, but my I left my camera behind. The third night we stopped at the Aloha. The drinks were terrible - they tasted like cheap rum with a lot of Rose's lime syrup. The mugs were similar to those at the other bars in Barcelona, and the decor was somewhat bland and run down. It was incredibly dark in there, with many rooms in the back. I remembered that Otto said people often use this bar for intimate rendevous. Since it was just me and Jeff we only stayed for one drink.

Just inside the front door:

A clipping of a newspaper article near the front door:

The cream of the crop is the Kahala, which we went to three nights in a row:

Front door detail:

Just inside the front door. The tile floor in a fish pattern was beautiful:

On the left is a turtle pond surrounded by this great stone (plaster?) work:

Down the hall is this fishtank:

Just past that is the bar, only half of it showing in this picture:

Above the bar is another tank:

Along the bar front are tiki masks, all different. I only took pics of 2:

I think we tried at least half of the drinks they served in mugs. Most were very good to excellent. The menu tells you in Spanish which ones are dry (seco) and which are sweet (dulce) with variations between (semi-dulce).

There are many seating areas, this one has a big screen TV which was luckily turned off on one of our visits.

More details:

After Barcelona, we went to Lloret de Mar, about a 2-hour train ride up the coast, to visit Hula Hula. While waiting for Hula Hula to open we explored the town, which had some great animated neon signs, like this steakhouse:

and champagne bottle with a popping cork in neon:

There was a nice small iglesia in town:

Well, we never saw Hula Hula because it didn't open that night and we had other plans the next day (Tarragona and Port Aventura).

More pictures tomorrow.

[ Edited by: thejab on 2004-12-06 18:53 ]

More! More! More!

Excellent!

Port Aventura! How strange it was being in a Polynesian theme land watching a tropical bird show spoken in Spanish. Or wandering through the Wild West land hearing old country Christmas songs while in Spain!

Where the Polynesian show is usually held (it was off season so not running):

The other end of the room:

Ice skating by a large tiki wearing a santa's hat and holding a present next to some huge mushrooms. Weird!

On to Madrid. There are so many great bars in Madrid. We only scratched the surface in 3 days. Here is Museo Chicote, a wonderfully preserved Moderne bar:

Light shines out from little star-shaped cutouts in the metal dividers. There are chrome hat and coat racks above each booth.

The Mauno Loa Bar Hawaiiano is on Plaza Santa Ana in the Huertas area. There are loads of great bars in the area. It had some great decor but no real tikis were found (only masks). I guess it's debatable whether or not it's a tiki bar but I think it is since it has tiki mugs for some drinks. The drinks were fair to good, mostly on the sweet side, but served in unique tiki mugs. Free treats offered were plentiful - sandwiches, nuts, and crackers.

When you first walk in the door, this bar is on the right.


There are two alcoves with live birds.




Down the stairs there are other levels with rooms.

At the bottom is this volcano fountain.

My favorite bar in Madrid that we visited was Cuevas de Sesamo at Calle del Principe 7. It's a cellar "beatnik" literary bar from 1950 with quotes by famous people on every wall, pitchers of Sangria, and even a piano player nightly.

One of my other favorites was La Venecia at Calle de Echegaray 7. Six types of sherry is served from barrels, and the wall behind the bar is filled with dusty old booze bottles. The rest of the place has old bullfight posters and a thick brown smokey haze over everything. I wish I got more pictures but the bartender asked that we not take anymore.

I think this is Viva Madrid, which has some great tile work:

But probably the best tiled bar is Los Gabrieles:

A typical Madrid scene: a couple kissing and necking in public (at bottom of picture). Gotcha!

There were many other great bars that I didn't get photos of with the digital camera, like Cerveceria Alemana and Casa Alberto. I heard that these bars get very crowded on weekends but we were there on Monday through Wednesday and in the off season so they were never crowded.

We had to leave Madrid without spending enough time there, but I someday I'll go back as I loved it just as much as, if not more than, Barcelona.

On to London for a 3-day layover. We arrived on Thursday, checked into out tiny hotel room in Bloomsbury that cost 66 pounds (about $120) a night, then headed straight for:

I was a bit disappointed because it was decorated for Christmas with some cheesy decorations that obscured some of the tropical atmosphere, but when I imagined the decorations were gone, it was a spectacular original Vic's, somewhat larger and more tiki'd out than Beverly Hills, but not nearly as big as Chicago.

Some of the decor at the top of the curved stairway:

The manager remembered meeting me in San Francisco (thanks JT!) so he totally set us up with VIP treatment. All the drinks were excellent. We were told that they use Havana Club as the regular rum in the drinks.

I took this pic the next day when we returned in the afternoon for some hot drinks that were flamed at our side.

The weather was in the 30s so I couldn't bring myself to wear an aloha shirt.

One dining room that had less Christmas decor:

We went to a lot of great pubs in London but my favorite was the Black Friar, that martiki told me was his favorite, and I understood why when I walked in. They also have excellent fish and chips and great ales on tap.

All I can say is (a very jealous) ZAZZ!!!!

Wow jab! Did you ever have one dull moment?!

Please say that you were able to ride the giant swinging outrigger at Port Aventura! Or were you too busy drinking tiki-endorsed Nestle Qwik while ice skating?

Thanks for posting all those great photos of your "Culte Al Tiki" vacation!

Wow! Great to see all those amazing photos! Glad to see that your camera escaped the pickpockets of Madrid & you managed to bring back some photos of the Mauna Loa. My memory of the place was tempered by the effects of their Volcano bowl on top of the rest of the evening's brandies.

Good to see that you made the most of London's pubs, too. If you ever come back to the UK, I'll make sure you get to sample some of the pubs out in the countryside.

Thanks again for posting all the photos - you've got a great eye for detail.

Trader Woody

On 2004-12-08 10:30, Trader Woody wrote:
Good to see that you made the most of London's pubs, too. If you ever come back to the UK, I'll make sure you get to sample some of the pubs out in the countryside.

Thanks again for posting all the photos - you've got a great eye for detail.

Thanks!

I'm definately returning to London someday. 3 days was too short a visit! I didn't even get to see South London Pacific.

Those were just the best from my digital camera (many were too blurry). I took 3 rolls with my regular camera, and Jeff took more than 10 rolls with his! So, I may be boring you with more pics later when I get a chance to scan them.

Excellent pics Jab, am off to Trader Vics on Sat 11th Dec for the company I work for xmas party - great choice of venue by the boss!!

sniff oh, how I miss the Black Friar.

Glad you made it there. Very jealous of your trip- looks like you had a swingin' time.

Welcome home!

Thejab, thank you for this post... Love your writing! Great descriptions, good info... You got it!
Thejab is the Tom Wolfe of Tiki journalism.
P.S. I agree with Thejab, Madrid is more fun than Barcelona. And has more Tiki. Jejeje...

Thanks Zeta! Sorry about all the broken photo links. I don't have time to fix them right now, but here's a link to them all:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcN2TRi2bM2HS